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 THE 
 
 MEDICAL ADVISER 
 
 GUIDE TO HEALTn. 
 
 ADDRESSED TO SUFFERERS OF BOTH SEXES, 
 
 BY 
 
 FREDERIC MORRILL, M.D., 
 
 BESIDEXT PHYSICIAN AT THE MORRILL MEDICAL INSTITUTE, 
 
 Xo. 3 Bulfinch Street, Bostox, Mass. 
 
 ^Revised a?id J??ila?yed JZdilion. 
 
 BOSTON, MASS. : 
 
 Published by the Morrill Medical Institute, 
 
 1871. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, 
 
 By Frederic Morrii/l, M. D., 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 The sale and circulation of nearly forty 
 thousand copies of this little work, since 
 its first publication in August last, a space 
 of little less than eight months, has satis- 
 fied me that, notwithstanding its brevity 
 and absence of detail, or attempt at any 
 thing like display in the exhibition of med- 
 ical lore, it struck a chord in the minds of 
 that large class of sufferers to whom it 
 was particularly addressed, who acknowl- 
 edged its general truthfulness, and the 
 increasing demand for it from every section 
 of the country, nas been the most grateful 
 tribute I could have received, that my 
 labors have been duly appreciated. In 
 (iii) 
 
IV MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 numberless instances I have received let- 
 ters from almost every section of \he 
 country, expressing the thanks and grati- 
 tude of my readers for the plainness and 
 candor in which I had addressed them. In 
 one, received but a few days since, the 
 writer, evidently a gentleman of education 
 and culture, says, " I have read your 
 Medical Adviser and Guide to Health 
 with care, and have become much inter- 
 ested in its contents. I think I can see 
 my own case in it as if seen in a mirror." 
 Such encomiums, coming from disinter- 
 ested sources, are much more grateful to 
 my feelings, than would be the flattering 
 criticisms of the most learned. In the 
 outset I did not undertake to compile a 
 medical hand-book, to serve as a vade me- 
 cum to the professional practitioner, nor 
 did I choose to put into the hands of the 
 numberless irregular doctors who swarm 
 in our midst, a treatise to enable them to 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. V 
 
 obtain^ in a cheap way, that knowledge 
 which I only obtained by long, laborious, 
 and expensive stud} 7 and experience. I 
 intended my book to be, as it professes, 
 an adviser merely, and if popular testi- 
 mony be of any value in a matter of this 
 kind, I think I may very safely congratu- 
 late myself upon the success of my en- 
 deavor. 
 
 In preparing this second edition for the 
 j3ress, I have complied with a wish, very 
 generally expressed by my friends and 
 correspondents, that I would add somewhat 
 to the usefulness and convenience of the 
 book, as a work of reference, in cases 
 where I could not readily be consulted, if 
 I gave some more specific directions as to 
 treatment, in cases of emergency, with 
 such simple formula, recipes, etc., for im- 
 mediate application, as might arrest the 
 progress of disease until I might be com- 
 municated with in reference to it. In yield- 
 
VI MEDICAL ADYISER. 
 
 ing to these solicitations, I desire it to be 
 distinctly understood that I have no inten- 
 tion of departing from my general line of 
 professional conduct, nor the views I have 
 expressed as to the impropriety of self- 
 treatment in syphilitic complaints, — ^spe- 
 cially paraphrasing the legal aphorism, that 
 u that he who (in law) argues his own case, 
 has a fool for his client. 77 I am still of 
 the opinion that the man who doctors him- 
 self, has a fool for a patient, even though he 
 be a doctor, and generally successful in his 
 treatment of others. The many inquiries 
 made of me through the extensive corres- 
 pondence which has been opened up 
 through the instrumentality of the Adviser, 
 has suggested the idea that some few pages, 
 devoted to the investigation of complaints 
 germaine to those chiefly discussed in 
 the first edition, would be generally 
 acceptable. The confidence kindly express- 
 ed by great numbers of my correspon- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. vil 
 
 dents, that I could convey much useful 
 information and advice upon the diseases 
 and complaints most prevalent in New 
 England especially, hardly leaves me any 
 alternative but to comply with their re- 
 quest. In doing this, I agree with them 
 that I am, perhaps, whilst obliging them, 
 merely performing a duty which, it is said, 
 every man owes to his profession. 
 
 This book, thus enlarged both in matter 
 and in the sphere of its usefulness, will 
 not lose any of its distinctive features of 
 extreme simplicity, directness, and facility 
 to be understood by intelligent common 
 sense people ; amongst whom, I apprehend, 
 it will chiefly circulate, and by whom I 
 prefer it should be read and judged. My 
 acceptance of the responsible position of 
 Medical Director and Consulting Physician 
 of the Morrill Medical Institute, a new 
 institution, located at No. 3 Bulfinch Street, 
 Boston, Mass., has opened to me a wide 
 
Vlll MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 field for medical investigation and useful- 
 ness, which I shall endeavor to improve to 
 the best of my ability. 
 
 Hitherto, in my extensive private prac- 
 tice, for reasons which can be readily 
 understood, I have committed as little to 
 writing as possible ; my numerous engage- 
 ments precluding any appropriation of 
 time to that purpose. But now, with the 
 liberal allowance made to me by the Direc- 
 tors of the Institute, I shall be enabled to 
 avail myself of any assistance I may re- 
 quire, not only in keeping an exact record 
 of cases, and the variations in treatment 
 which every phase of disease may require, 
 but materially to aid me in furthering the 
 objects of the institution, and simplifying, 
 so far as is practicable, the hitherto com- 
 plicated practice and treatment of diseases 
 which so long have been the sport, and 
 constituted the chief income of scores of 
 medical leeches, who have lived only by 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. ix 
 
 drawing, as it were, their life-blood from 
 the unwary and unfortunate. 
 
 In offering this second edition/ I do not 
 claim for it either completion or perfection ; 
 but it is all I consider necessary to be 
 placed in the hands of those for whom it 
 is designed. Very few care about reading 
 a dry, exclusively medical treatise, how- 
 ever sound and correct it may be ; such 
 books are proper only for the medical 
 student and practitioner ; but a book 
 which mirrors forth to each reader facts 
 and symptoms, the truthfulness of which 
 they recognize as coming within their own 
 personal experience, is always sought for 
 and read, with avidity. Whilst I adhere to 
 the opinion which formerly induced me to 
 publish, in separate and distinct treatises, 
 my Gentleman's Medical Adviser, and 
 The Ladies' Guide to Health, I am only 
 complying with the wishes of many of my 
 friends, by including, in this new and 
 
X MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 revised edition, some general observations 
 and directions in regard to the pathology 
 and treatment of not only diseases kindred 
 to, and similar to those particularly alluded 
 to in the preceding pages, but such other 
 diseases to which females are peculiarly 
 liable, and for the proper treatment of 
 which, they ever find it most advantageous 
 to apply to some physician, well known 
 as having made the subject of female com- 
 plaints one of especial study and investi- 
 gation. I may, I think, without vanity, 
 assert that, in this speciality, my varied 
 and extensive experience entitles me to a 
 consideration beyond that usually extended 
 to a large majority of my professional 
 brethren ; as, during an uninterrupted prac- 
 tice of over thirty years, by far the greater 
 number of my patients have been females, 
 suffering under some one or more of the 
 various forms of what are commonly termed 
 sexual, or delicate diseases, or else diffi- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. XI 
 
 culties resulting from some organic or 
 functional derangement, about which the 
 general run of the " faculty " are as 
 innocent of any practical knowledge as 
 the child unborn. I am free to confess 
 that the skill which I am supposed to 
 possess, and the great success I have met 
 with in this department of my profession, 
 has been attained fully, as much, and 
 probably more, from my habits of close 
 observation, comparison, and analysis, for 
 the employment of which I had ample 
 scope in my large practice, than from the 
 perusal of books and authorities, no matter 
 by whom written or compiled. But, 
 whilst devoting myself to the study of 
 disease, as displayed in the great book of 
 Nature, and the living subject, T have by 
 no means neglected the pages of standard 
 authors, nor the lighter, but no less 
 valuable, emanations of t\ie periodical 
 press. It has ever been my pride to keep 
 
Xll MEDICAL ADVISER, 
 
 " posted " in every thing which is going 
 on in all the departments of medical 
 learning and science in every part of the 
 world ; and, although 1 never . fail to 
 investigate each newly heralded discovery 
 or improvement, I very seldom find any- 
 thing to add to the knowledge I had not 
 already attained by my own experience, 
 nor to induce me very essentially to 
 depart from my system of treatment 
 which has so long availed me in my 
 extensive practice. The attentive reader 
 of either sex must have noticed that I do 
 not spread before him or -her, pages of 
 technical lore, tedious and wearisome, even 
 to the most devoted book-worm, nor a 
 re-hash of other men's brains, filched from 
 some foreign or antiquated book now out 
 of print, and seldom found; thus rendering 
 the plagiarism less likely to be detected. 
 My book, such as it is, is my own ; and I 
 am not ashamed to acknowledge its pater- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. xiii 
 
 nity. It has been written, from beginning 
 to end, without reference to any similar 
 work in existence ; and I defy the world to 
 point out a stolen sentence in it. If it 
 contains ought of truth and consistency, 
 if it embodies any knowledge of facts or 
 science worth the remembering, or useful 
 to the invalid and sufferer, the composition 
 is mine, and my. own brain has alone 
 guided and directed me in my labors. 
 Pseudo professors may pretend to criticise, 
 and even go so far as to attempt to sneer 
 down, in their quack advertisements, a 
 production, the effects of which they too 
 sensibly feel, in their declining practice, 
 and mushroom* popularity ; but after all, 
 
 THE TRUTH WILL PREVAIL. 
 
 1 have long been satisfied that a vast 
 amount of unnecessary pain and suffering 
 is constantly being inflicted and borne, — 
 too patiently borne, I think, — by the 
 mothers, wives, and daughters of New 
 
XIV MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 England, from their quiet submission to 
 the old, threadbare, and everywhere else 
 discarded notions regarding the treatment 
 of themselves, when in peculiar circum- 
 stances of sickness and debility ; by the 
 antiquated and effete systems usually pur- 
 sued by the ordinary country practitioner. 
 Not that these men are not, in their way 
 and limited sphere, as good as ought to be 
 expected, but they have neither the 
 opportunities to familiarize themselves 
 with either the new developments of 
 disease, or modes of treatment necessary 
 to its successful management, which a 
 large city is constantly offering to the 
 physician of extensive practice. In the 
 city, where competition is sharp, profes- 
 sional rivalry compels the aspirant after 
 success, to perfect himself by every means 
 within his reach, in every art which has 
 the least bearing toward success. He 
 reads, he studies, he examines and com- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. XV 
 
 pares, until every avenue is explored, 
 and goes to his work neither groping nor 
 doubtful of his course, but with a boldness 
 and confidence, which a self-conscious 
 ability always confers upon its possessor. 
 
 With these preliminary observations, I 
 submit this new and revised edition, 
 somewhat changed as to its title, so as to 
 render it conformable to the wider range 
 of topics treated upon, to the candid 
 examination and criticism of a discerning 
 public. Unlike any other book of the 
 kind, it will be found to contain nothing 
 which should exclude it from the family 
 centre-table, the school-room, or the maid- 
 en's collection of choice reading. There 
 is not a word or sentence in it, which 
 should preclude its open perusal at any 
 time, in any place, or in any company, and 
 all, from the boy and girl, to the father and 
 matron, may study its pages, with the 
 certainty that, by doing so, they will be 
 
XVI MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 adding to their stock of useful knowledge, 
 which, at some period of their lives, will 
 be found of essential, perhaps of vital 
 service to them. 
 
 F. MORRILL, M. D. 
 
 No. 3 Bulfinch Street, Boston, Mass, 
 
PBEFA O E 
 
 TO THE 
 
 REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION. 
 
 The Medical Adviser axd Guide to 
 Health, comprising an edition of over 
 sixty thousand copies, has now been before 
 the public nearly a year, in which time it 
 has probably had a larger circulation, and 
 a more general perusal, than any similar 
 production in this or any other country. 
 Its clear, condensed, yet popular style, 
 adapted it at once to the taste and wants 
 of a people inquisitive upon the topics 
 which it discussed and illustrated, whilst 
 its perusal and study ever satisfied the 
 reader that it was addressed to his reason 
 (xvii) 
 
XVlll MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and common sense for his good, rather 
 than to his fears and apprehensions, with 
 a design to ensnare him into a patronage, 
 or a compliance with covert suggestions, 
 having for their object the pecuniary and 
 professional emolument of the author, 
 through his book as an advertising me- 
 dium. 
 
 In the preparation of this enlarged and 
 revised edition, the author has, with great 
 pleasure, availed himself of the sugges- 
 tions of friends and correspondents, both 
 in this country and in Europe, in whose 
 judgment he places great confidence, and 
 whose opinions are of great value in 
 matters of this kind. 
 
 The second part, devoted exclusively to 
 women and her dangers, diseases, and duties 
 to herself in the various relations she sus- 
 tains, as maiden, wife, and mother, has been 
 prepared, as will be seen, with great care, 
 not only in respect to the matter, but in the 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. XIX 
 
 manner of its composition. Not a word 
 or sentence has been introduced, calculated 
 to wound or give offence to the most deli- 
 cate, modest, or refined ; and which may 
 not be as properly placed in the hands of 
 the school girl of fifteen, as in those of the 
 accoucheuse, or matron of fifty. Indeed, 
 it has been one of the chief objects of the 
 author, to place before the young and rising 
 generation, a text book upon subjects 
 hitherto sadly neglected in their early 
 education, and upon which, it is now uni- 
 versally conceded, they should be better 
 instructed. How well he has succeeded 
 in doing this, he does not fear, (though not 
 presumptuously nor arrogantly) to appeal 
 to an intelligent and impartial public opin- 
 ion. In common with every responsible 
 member of his profession, the author- has 
 been long accustomed to view, with an 
 alarm bordering upon disgust, the publi- 
 cation of books with captivating titles, and 
 
XX MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 sought to be embellished with portraits 
 and cuts of not merely doubtful, but of 
 actual meretricious tendency, as totally 
 unfit for any useful purpose of enlighten- 
 ment upon the topics they pretend to treat, 
 as they are improper, on the score of good 
 morals, to be placed within the reach of 
 those to whom they are unblushingly and 
 impudently addressed. With a view to 
 substitute something better, and no£ ob- 
 noxious to the just objections hitherto 
 made to such publications ; as well as to 
 supply an actual want, clearly indicated 
 by an increasing demand ; this work, carQ- 
 fully and conscientiously prepared, is now 
 submitted to the professional, as well as 
 general reader, confident that, if in its gen- 
 eral scope and minuteness of detail, it does 
 not constitute a complete vade mecum for 
 the former, it can neither offend, or disap- 
 point the latter, on the score of propriety, 
 or as a safe guide in all those important 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. xxi 
 
 and interesting matters upon which it may 
 be deemed necessary to consult its pages. 
 
 F. M. 
 
 The Morrill Medical Institute, 
 
 Xo. 3, Bulfinch Street, Boston, Mass. 
 March 1, 1871. 
 
THE 
 
 MEDICAL ADVISER, 
 
 AND 
 
 GUIDE TO HEALTH. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MANY years ago, when I first entered 
 upon my professional career in the 
 city of Boston, as a new and comparatively 
 unknown candidate for distinction and 
 success, I found time to compile several 
 medical treatises, bearing upon a certain 
 class of diseases always greatly prevalent 
 in our large cities. These works, the 
 fruits of careful study and investigation, 
 contrary to any expectations which I had 
 dared to form, became at once exceedingly 
 popular, and edition after edition was 
 rapidly -exhausted. Whilst they served in 
 (i) 
 
2 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 part to give publicity to my name, as one 
 particularly devoted to the treatment of 
 diseases arising from imprudence and ex- 
 posure, and all other complaints of the 
 genital organs, the extensive range of 
 study and examination of authorities and 
 cases necessary to prepare me to discuss 
 the subject properly and intelligibly, almost 
 unconsciously to myself, created that inter- 
 est in my mind, as to induce me to select 
 that branch of medical science as a spe- 
 cialty, and to make it the leading object 
 of my future investigations. Finding 
 myself thus theoretically and practically 
 prepared to combat these dread ene- 
 mies of man's pleasure and comforts as 
 well, perhaps, as any one of my age, I 
 determined to break away from those 
 restraints which a false notion of dignified 
 professional' propriety had imposed, and at 
 the risk of ostracism from the brotherhood, 
 and to be classed with those who are con- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 3 
 
 sidered as interlopers, I resolved to adver- 
 tise my abilities and to make myself useful 
 in a sphere wherein I felt satisfied that I 
 could successfully compete with any of 
 my brethren. The consequence has been 
 that, instead of a limited and precarious 
 practice, extending only to a few personal 
 friends, I have, each succeeding year, seen 
 added to my list of patients persons from 
 every section of the country, as well as 
 from the adjoining British Provinces and 
 foreign lands. Completely absorbed in the 
 cares and duties imposed upon me by this 
 increase of patronage, I have not been able 
 to revise and republish those works to 
 to which, I believe, I am in a great degree, 
 indebted for my early success in obtaining 
 so large and remunerative a practice as I 
 now enjoy. 
 
 These thirty years of close application 
 to my profession have yielded an expe- 
 rience which, added to theoretical attain- 
 
4 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 merits, acquired when professional calls 
 did not press so heavily upon me, have, I 
 believe, fully qualified me now to yield to 
 the repeated solicitations of my friends 
 and patrons, to prepare, for their use, a 
 manual which shall serve them as a guide 
 in those cases of accident and exposure to 
 which all are liable, whatever may have 
 been their training and culture, or how- 
 ever strong their sense of moral and reli- 
 gious obligations, to avoid temptation and 
 excess, in whatever shape it may assail 
 them. 
 
 Amidst all of the vast catalogue of dis- 
 eases which afflict the human race, there 
 are none which reach so many, and sting 
 so sharply, as those denominated " sexual." 
 From the stripling, hardly arrived at the age 
 of puberty, to the hoary-headed patriarch 
 of three score years and ten, we find that 
 none are exempt. Even the infant, before 
 it has been expelled from the body of its 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 5 
 
 mother, is too frequently tainted, its blood 
 corrupted, and its fair form mutilated by 
 a disease communicated to it by its erring 
 parents. Did this great social evil limit 
 its effects merely to a temporary disa- 
 bility of its immediate victims, and were 
 it apparent only in the hospitals and doc- 
 tor's apartments, where it seeks to assuage 
 its pains, and find a cure for the evils 
 arising from it, though severe and often 
 revolting, its consequences would be slight 
 in comparison with what they really are. 
 Were such diseases merely local in their 
 character, the actual cautery, and the dis- 
 secting knife might be relied upon for their 
 extirpation; but, unhappily, this is not so. 
 When once the infection has gained a foot- 
 hold upon the human system, it is not 
 merely those parts most immediately ex- 
 posed and affected, but like a fiery devil, 
 it pervades every part of the bodily organi- 
 zation. It seizes upon the blood, the very 
 
6 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 life of man, and along its currents it carries 
 the infection through every vein and tissue ; 
 and coursing its way through the spinal 
 column, it seizes upon the citadel of man's 
 power, the brain, and if unchecked and 
 unsubdued, paralyzes and enfeebles the 
 organs of thought as well as action. When 
 the evidences of such destruction are 
 daily presented to our view, can the physi- 
 cian overestimate the importance of the 
 mission to which he is called, and can he, 
 if possessed of a spark of manly feeling, 
 shrink, through a false estimate of profes- 
 sional pride, to give to such cases the very 
 best efforts of his professional skill ? 
 Human health and life are equally dear to 
 all. The wealthy merchant, the venerable 
 clergyman, — the centre and delight of a 
 highly cultivated and fashionable congre- 
 gation, — the millionaire, reclining at his 
 ease in his sumptuous " stone front/ 7 may, 
 and do ; from their position and power of 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 7 
 
 their wealth, command the attendance and 
 exercise of the best skill the country can 
 produce ; and the petted favorite of such 
 exalted patronage is looked upon as 
 particularly fortunate, and eminence is 
 awarded to him, simply because Croesus 
 and Dives head the list of his patrons. 
 The equally, and frequently more skilful 
 physician, who, with a strong and manly 
 heart, and firm hand, nerves himself to a 
 daily and hourly contest with disease, the 
 result of libidinous desires and unholy 
 passions, is looked upon too frequently 
 with scorn, and treated as an empiric 
 because he advertises to the world his 
 ability and willingless to treat those cases 
 which his more delicate and sensitive 
 brethren regard with contempt. For 
 myself, I am ready to alleviate human 
 misery and distress wherever it may be 
 found, and in whatever form it may 
 present itsel£ I have seen as much 
 
8 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 sincere goodness, as much downright hon- 
 esty, elevated and high-toned principle and 
 friendship in the unhappy victims of vene- 
 real and syphilitic diseases, as in any 
 people I have had to deal with. 
 
 For the rescue of the miserable victims 
 of intemperance, laws are enacted, which 
 have engrossed the time and attention of 
 legislators, session after session ; bodies 
 of executive officers, costly to be main- 
 tained, are organized and set in motion ; 
 retreats and asylums are established, and 
 whole communities and States are con- 
 vulsed, from centre to circumference, with 
 the exciting questions of prohibition or 
 non-prohibition, license or no license, and 
 the advocates of temperance are canonized 
 as the apostles of all good. Yet a social 
 evil of far greater magnitude than any 
 caused by mere intemperance in the use 
 of alcoholic and stimulating drinks, stalks 
 abroad in our midst at noon-day, at even- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 9 
 
 tide, and in the still watches of the night, 
 selecting its victims from the young, the 
 beautiful and the lovely. The heart of 
 society is cankered to its core, and he who 
 devotes himself to assuage, eradicate, and 
 stay this great evil, is denounced as a 
 quack, or perhaps shunned as an ignorant 
 pretender. For one I am willing to bear 
 the imputation, so long as / know that I 
 am benefitting my fellow men. Thirty 
 years of professional intercourse and deal- 
 ing with this unfortunate class of patients, 
 have taught me lessons which neither 
 books nor the more learned of my fellow- 
 men could furnish ; and the best tribute of 
 thanks which I can render them now, is 
 that, whilst in the full meridian of life, 
 with faculties ripened and matured, and in 
 the enjoyment of a full and lucrative 
 business, I devote the leisure hours that 
 may be afforded me, in furnishing to them 
 and all others who may be interested in the 
 
10 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 subject, such advice, counsels, and direc- 
 tions, as will enable them to avoid those 
 dangerous strands and breakers upon 
 which so many have suffered shipwreck. 
 
 By this I do not wish to have it under- 
 stood that I design to furnish such a 
 book as will enable any one to " doctor 
 himself. 77 Very far from it. Of all the 
 mischiefs resulting from any of the dis- 
 eases incident to early imprudence, ex- 
 cessive indulgence, or unclean sexual 
 intercourse, not the least are those conse- 
 quent upon the application of supposed 
 remedies unadvised by a competent physi- 
 cian. There can hardly occur any degree 
 of infection, however slight, but at once 
 demands the inspection and the treatment 
 of one able at .a glance, to see the 
 extent of the danger, and restrain its 
 further ravages. Men are crippled, their 
 features and limbs distorted for life, simply 
 because of some self-application of corro- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 11 
 
 sive and dangerous mineral preparations 
 by those who have become infected; and 
 who, in the first moments of alarm, have, 
 with a view to the concealment of their 
 condition, resorted to these poisonous and 
 deadly drugs for relief. Cases which, 
 even if let alone to pursue the work of 
 destruction unmolested, could not have 
 assumed more dangerous or disgusting 
 forms, have, by a dangerous and unwise 
 meddling with, been driven into the 
 system, distributing the virus to every 
 vital part, until, from what was at first 
 a mild attack in its simplest form, the 
 victim is now enveloped in a flame from 
 which he can be rescued only by the 
 boldest and most courageous efforts. 
 
 Neither is it my intention to pander 
 to a prurient and debased curiosity and 
 appetite, which seeks gratification in the 
 perusal of books devoted to subjects 
 ordinarily supposed to come within the 
 
12 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 range of the physician's or midwife's care 
 and attention exclusively. My design will 
 be simply to point out the various dis- 
 orders and complaints incident to youth 
 and manhood, through an abuse, over- 
 indulgence, or unguarded indulgence of 
 the generative organs. To do this I do 
 not deem it at all necessary that I shall t 
 enter into all the minutise. of their anatomi- 
 cal structure, nor into a pathological 
 description and inquiry as to the origin 
 and character of the diseases themselves. 
 I am not writing for doctors nor learned 
 professors of physiological and pathological 
 science, but for those who, unlearned and 
 unskilled in all these matters, are, after 
 once being satisfied that help is requisite 
 in their cases, to be restored to health, 
 if at all, it must be by the. counsels and 
 guidance of another, and that, the physician 
 of their choice. 
 
 Setting aside for the present all allusions 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 13 
 
 to hereditary taint and disease, and addres- 
 sing myself chiefly to those presumed to 
 have received from their parents at least 
 an ordinary healthy and strong constitu- 
 tion, I believe I do not err in the opinion 
 that, not one in fifty has escaped the in- 
 fluence of evil example, or, through such 
 faultless physical training as not to have 
 frequently indulged in, if not become 
 addicted to, the habits of masturbation. 
 I make use of this term because I believe 
 it to be generally understood by the most 
 artless and inexperienced. The artificial 
 forms of living, the universal use of stimu- 
 lating food and drinks, the intimate and 
 unguarded association of the sexes in all 
 the various forms of social and fashionable 
 life, have been, and are such as to lead to 
 a premature development of the virile 
 passions and desires which, implanted in 
 our nature for the sole purposes of pro- 
 creation, and the perpetuation of the human 
 
14 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 species, have, under this unnatural and 
 premature stimulus, suggested the artifi- 
 cial and ready means of relief in self-pollu- 
 tion and abuse. Whilst the boy has been 
 tenderly and carefully trained in every- 
 thing else necessary to the full and useful 
 development of all his faculties, by a fatal 
 mistake, arising through ignorance on the 
 part of parents and guardians, this great 
 evil has been ignored, and left to pursue 
 its deadly ravages unchecked. Physiology 
 and the laws of life ; the very uses of the 
 organs of procreation, other than for pur- 
 poses of bodily evacuation, have been stu- 
 diously concealed from our youth, and they 
 have been left to acquire from associates 
 and evil example a knowledge of vices and 
 habits which, before they are aware of it, 
 and long ere their natural guardians have 
 any suspicions of it, have laid the founda- 
 tion of a train of evils and diseases which, 
 if unchecked, will inevitably lead to early 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 15 
 
 decay and death. How many of these 
 victims have I known, whose broken down 
 constitutions, indicated by the faltering 
 gait, the vacant stare, and almost idiotic 
 countenance, are pointed out as objects 
 of commiseration, because of a supposed 
 too close application to study and an over- 
 tasked brain ; and the cause of their failure 
 in life attributed to anything but the true 
 one. I do not now remember that out of 
 the thousands of cases in which I have 
 been consulted, and where this vice has 
 been the chief, and perhaps the only cause 
 of disease and trouble, but it has turned 
 out in the course of my examination that this 
 habit has been indulged in innocently, and 
 from an entire ignorance of its deadly and 
 fearful consequences. " Had I have known, 
 had I have been forewarned, what a world 
 of misery and wretchedness I should have 
 escaped/ 7 has been the invariable exclama- 
 tion of those from whom I have " wormed 
 
16 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 out/' as it were, the secret history of their 
 past habits and indulgences. My reader, 
 Jet me put the question to you. It is not 
 necessary that I should put you under a 
 rigid examination to extort from you, by 
 an artful system of professional inquiry, 
 whether you are faultless in this respect. 
 It is not necessary that I should inquire of 
 you whether the weakness in the back, 
 the pains in side and breast, the troubled 
 sleep, the lascivious dreams, the fading and 
 disordered vision, and the wavering mind, 
 the disinclination to society, and gradual 
 failure of all manly power of which you 
 complain, are attributable to this vice or 
 not ! You know. Memory and reason 
 have not yet become unseated, and the 
 past is open before you; and you may 
 trace, as in an open book, the records of 
 those early indulgences and youthful indis- 
 cretions which have, step by step, con- 
 ducted you to the precipice upon which 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 17 
 
 you now stand. It is to you these pages 
 are addressed. You have long felt that 
 you were on untenable ground, and that 
 everything before you was dark and dreary 
 as the grave to which you looked forward 
 as a last and almost welcome refuge from 
 the pains and miseries of life. Were the 
 consequences limited only to yourself, the 
 pangs of remorse, as well as the pains 
 arising from your numerous ills, might be 
 patiently, even if hopelessly borne ; but if, 
 as is most likely to be the case, there is 
 another interested in your happiness, or 
 what is equally as unfortunate, whose hap- 
 piness is dependent upon your fulfilment 
 of plighted vows for reciprocal affection, 
 how wretched is your lot. By your own 
 hands you have placed a barrier between 
 yourself and the accomplishment of your 
 brightest earthly hopes. You know your- 
 self to be unequal to the performance of 
 all the duties of manhood in the interest* 
 
18 r MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 ing relation to which you have pledged 
 yourself, and you shrink back appalled at 
 the very idea of exposing your impotency 
 and lack of ability honorably and manfully 
 to complete the engagement you have 
 contracted. Evasion, despair, dishonor, sui- 
 cide and death, are by turns contemplated, 
 until, in the horrible conflict, the body be- 
 comes a weary burden, and reason no 
 longer guides you by its dictates. You 
 struggle on like the blind man in the 
 morass, until your every effort at escape 
 only sinks you deeper and deeper into the 
 slough in which you are engulfed. Young 
 man, this is no fancy sketch. It is the 
 secret history of thousands and tens of 
 thousands, and among whom you are per- 
 haps numbered. If this is so, then it is 
 time, and more than time, that you availed 
 yourself of the helps which medical science 
 holds out to rescue you from the impending 
 destruction of your mental and physical 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 19 
 
 faculties, and restore you to yourself, to 
 your friends, and to society, a renovated, 
 sound, and saved human being. 
 
 I think it not necessary for me to go 
 through all the details of the steps through 
 which you were gradually initiated into 
 the mysteries of unlawful pleasures, nor 
 the symptoms of those diseases which too 
 surely are ever-ready attendants upon 
 their votaries. I would not entirely sup- 
 press the ardors of youth by ascetic rules 
 nor monastic vows. I understand human 
 nature, and take it as I find it, and hence 
 I have a large charity for those who, 
 impelled by irresistible desires and strong 
 temptations are led into danger. But I do 
 most earnestly wish to benefit them never- 
 theless. 
 
 My desire to make myself thoroughly 
 understood, and not commit myself to the 
 charge of indelicacy, by the use of lan- 
 guage which might exclude this treatise 
 
20 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 from unconcealed and open perusal, 
 renders it somewhat difficult for me to 
 express myself upon all those interesting 
 topics embraced within the scope of the 
 investigations upon which we are now 
 engaged. I have called your attention to 
 the great vice of solitary indulgence, and 
 have incidentally referred to it as resulting 
 in creating impediments to marriage, dan- 
 gerous to health, and difficult to be sur- 
 mounted. I must go further, and instruct 
 you that, however great and serious 
 these obstacles are, if they are properly 
 attacked before they culminate in entire 
 impotency and imbecility, there are reme- 
 dies lately discovered by myself which, in 
 connection with proper diet and regimen ; 
 the powers of the body thus prematurely 
 weakened and impaired, may be restored 
 to their former activity and strength; and 
 that, too, without resorting to any of those 
 offensive mechanical means and appliances 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 21 
 
 which formerly were so much relied upon.* 
 Neither am I an advocate of constant drug- 
 ging, and the administration of stimulating 
 cordials, to effect this object. I had tried 
 all the usual and well-known remedies 
 hitherto regarded as infallible and specific 
 in their re-invigoration of prematurely 
 exhausted manhood, and was pained to find 
 that with them, as with almost all tonics 
 and stimulating preparations which have a 
 direct tendency to, and action upon those 
 parts supposed the most to need their 
 immediate application and restoring quali- 
 
 *Note. — An attempt has recently been made to 
 resuscitate the use of certain mechanical contrivances 
 or "new patent apparatus," for the treatment of 
 spermatorrhoea and other forms of seminal weakness, 
 without the use of medicines. I would earnestly 
 caution my readers to avoid a resort to any such 
 dangerous and useless experiments. Their mischiev- 
 ous tendency was long ago made apparent by the 
 highest surgical authority, and none but the most 
 reckless speculator in human health, would, at this 
 advanced day of medical science, seek to revive 
 such an old, exploded fallacy. 
 
22 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 ties, the reaction was too violent, and that 
 their repeated use gradually undermined 
 the very foundation of power, until finally 
 there was nothing left to animate and 
 excite. During many years of my prac- 
 tice I had this difficulty to contend with. 
 The medicinal virtues of every vegetable 
 substance, embracing roots, barks, flowers, 
 and berries, were carefully investigated and 
 ascertained, and whilst they yielded many 
 and most valuable additions to my stock 
 of remedies, and to our national pharmaco- 
 poea, none of them came up to my wishes 
 in imparting, without the subsequent reac- 
 tion, those restoring and strengthening 
 powers so desirable to be secured, and 
 without which no amount of care, careful 
 nursing, diet, with all the adjuncts of 
 well-timed and regulated hours for sleep, 
 exercise, and recreation, seemed to be 
 available. Not content with ransacking 
 the whole botanical kingdom of this coun- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 23 
 
 try, I expended thousands of dollars in 
 pushing my investigations to other and 
 more distant climes, until at length my 
 persistence and perseverance were re- 
 warded in the discovery of what I had so 
 long sought, — a purely vegetable prepara- 
 tion of surpassing curative and tonic prop- 
 erties, as healthful, soothing, and beneficial 
 in its operations upon the mind and nervous 
 system as it is almost magically efficacious 
 in its healing powers when administered 
 as a remedy in the cases to which I have 
 just alluded. Alone, or in its judicious 
 mixture with other well-known remedies, 
 enabling it to produce its effects, just in 
 proportion to the nature and tenacity of the 
 disease, has satisfied me that, in it, the 
 the great desideratum of accomplishing a 
 perfect cure of almost all the infirmities 
 arising from the indulgence of solitary 
 vice, as well as all nervous, sexual, and 
 cutaneous diseases, has been at last dis- 
 
24 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 covered. For many years, at great ex- 
 pense, 1 have laid in my supplies of this 
 invaluable product of nature ; and although 
 I have resorted to its use, in thousands of 
 cases where the genito-urinal organs were 
 affected, or where, through them, other 
 parts of the system, or the general health 
 of the body was suffering, I have rarely 
 failed to find it accomplish all, and even 
 more, than I had hoped for. And here let 
 me remark, that, in a general way I am no 
 advocate for, nor do I countenance the 
 use of strange and unfamiliar remedies. 
 Neither do I deal in or use such. But the 
 fruits of my own researches and discover- 
 ies in the botanical kingdom, which is 
 alike free to all, I must be allowed to 
 enjoy. If I have, prompted by a greater 
 zeal, and animated by a stronger desire 
 for success and professional distinction, 
 and by the expenditure of much valuable 
 time, and large sums of money, secured a 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 25 
 
 valuable adjunct in the cure of disease, I 
 feel no compunctions whatever in retaining 
 in my own hands, during my lifetime, the 
 exclusive use and emoluments arising 
 from my discovery. Certain I am, that no 
 human being, besides myself, possesses my 
 secret. The various forms and propor- 
 tions in which I have administered this 
 invaluable remedy, and the astonishing, as 
 well as gratifying results produced by it, 
 have led me to still farther prosecute my 
 experiments with it in almost every stage 
 and grade of seminal and sexual disease, 
 where the propriety of tonic and invigor- 
 ating remedies are called for,* and having 
 
 * Frederic C Skey, C. B. E. R. S., Consulting 
 Surgeon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, etc., in one 
 of his clinical lectures contends strongly in favor of 
 tonic treatment in gonorrhoea and gleet, and not with- 
 out a good show of reason. He says, " When a case 
 of gonorrhoea runs into gleet, weeks and months may 
 be required for its cure, whereas primary gleet is 
 usually curable in a fortnight or three weeks. The 
 difference between primary and secondary gleet de- 
 
26 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 used it now for many years, in both sexes, 
 of almost every age, am prepared to say 
 that, it is far superior to any other remedy 
 of which I have any knowledge. That 
 most distressing form of seminal debility, 
 which results from an involuntary and fre- 
 quent discharge from the urinary organs, 
 is checked by it as if by the hand of 
 Omnipotence itself, whilst the cheerful and 
 exhilarating effects which it produces in 
 all the functions of life, especially upon 
 the brain, equalizing and moderating all the 
 passions, and allaying all the causes of 
 
 pends on the previous treatment of the gonorrhoea. 
 If, in consonance with a too prevalent pathology, we 
 class a case of gonorrhoea among the inflammatory 
 diseases, and treat it with supposed antiphlegmonous 
 agents, among which may be included purgative and 
 other depletive medicines, reduced diet, vegetable 
 food, and the entire suspension of vinous and fer- 
 mented drinks, which have hitherto formed a part of 
 the daily diet of the affected per sons, — then, as a rule, 
 the active gonorrhoea runs into gleet, and the same 
 remedies being continued, the gleet will be protracted 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 27 
 
 undue excitement, so that those parts and 
 organs, hitherto enfeebled through excess 
 and disease, have time to recuperate, and 
 are enabled to resume their natural func- 
 tions. Although I can well say, with a 
 distinguished writer upon these topics, 
 that I have found no royal plan of accom- 
 plishing a speedy, or certain removal in all 
 cases of the maladies under consideration, 
 without the exercise of great patience and 
 care, and that no man who possesses true 
 medical and surgical skill will confine him- 
 self exclusively tc a few medicinal sub- 
 
 to the extent of weeks, months, and in some constitu- 
 tions, even of years. When I was on duty in the out- 
 patient department at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 
 a man applied for treatment for a gleet of three 
 years duration. He belonged to a large brewery on 
 the mile-end-road, and had been accustomed to drink 
 two quarts daily of strong ale, but had, by medical 
 order totally abstained from his accustomed drink 
 from the commencement of his malady. I ordered 
 him to return immediately to his former beverage. 
 Within a fortnight he had entirely recovered." — 
 London Lancet, Dec. 1870. 
 
28 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 stances that may have acquired notoriety 
 as specifics, yet I can truly say that, in a 
 more extended practice than has been vouch- 
 safed to the generality of the profession, 
 since my discovery of the remedy alluded 
 to, I have met with greater success, and 
 fewer defeats in subduing this form of dis- 
 ease, than I had before. Its great recom- 
 mendation is, that, under no possible cir- 
 cumstances can it do any harm, and, unlike 
 the common and standard medicines, al- 
 most always given and regarded as speci- 
 fics, especially by those charlatans who 
 infest every large city, it does not, and 
 cannot, of itself, create inflammation and 
 apparent disease, to enable an unscrupulous 
 medical attendant to excite the fears, and 
 frighten the patient into a protracted 
 course of treatment, having for its object 
 only the creation of a heavy bill to the 
 pecuniary benefit of the practitioner. 
 Patients, however, must not be led into 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. . 29 
 
 the error that diseases of this kind are to 
 be subdued instanter. In a large majority 
 of cases the physician is not called upon un- 
 til the patient, especially if he be a novice 
 in these matters, has taken some time to. 
 speculate upon the nature of the complaint 
 that is upon him ; and is then restrained 
 by feelings of shame and mortification, 
 from making his condition known, or has 
 tried his own skill, or some favorite remedy 
 suggested by a friendly companion, in ex- 
 pectation that he will be spared the inflic- 
 tion as well as the expense of a professional 
 consultation in regard to it ; or, if he has 
 resolved upon the latter course, precious 
 time is lost in solving his doubts as to 
 whom it will be the most advantageous to 
 apply. The ordinary family physician, 
 whose countenance and ways are as fami- 
 liar to him as one of his " own folks," is 
 not for a moment to be thought of. His 
 first promptings will be to call upon some 
 
30 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 one whose exalted standing and reputation 
 as a physician, and position in society as a 
 high-minded and honorable man, would be 
 all-sufficient, not only to insure proper 
 medical treatment, but in whose keeping, 
 his character and reputation would be safe 
 from exposure ; for, it is a painful truth, 
 that the suspicion of being the victim of 
 secret disease is too often the cause of 
 exclusion from society, and the coolness 
 and neglect of former friends. The whole 
 proceeding is the result, not only of inex- 
 perience, but is imprudent and unwise 
 from beginning to end. In no other affair 
 of importance do we act with so little dis- 
 cretion, and are so little guided by the 
 prudential maxims of every day life. 
 Ordinarily we would not apply to a learned 
 and philosophic professor of speculative 
 science, however wide his fame, to repair 
 our chronometer, or to polish a diamond, 
 simply, because he is not supposed to pos- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 31 
 
 sess the mechanical skill and ingenuity 
 necessary to the performance of such a 
 piece of work. We seek out our ship- 
 wright, or carpenter, tailor and other me- 
 chanics, each according to their several 
 trades, because as such they are known to 
 be skilful and reliable. Such should also 
 be our course in regard to our physician ; 
 and in the medical and surgical treatment 
 of those terrible and life-destroying dis- 
 eases of which we are now speaking, we 
 should only resort to those who have gained 
 their knowledge of all the peculiarities of 
 these dread diseases by long and careful 
 study, and an exclusive attention to them, 
 enabling them from experience, rather than 
 from books, to conquer the destroyer, in 
 all the varied forms it is accustomed to 
 present itself. 
 
 During the thirty years of my practice 
 in this city the records of my business will 
 show a list of nearly one hundred thousand 
 
32 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 patients, comprising those affected with 
 every stage and degree of private and 
 sexual disease ; and certainly not one of 
 the many who are styled advertising doc- 
 tors can boast of such voluminous episto- 
 lary correspondence as I have been obliged 
 to keep up in connection with this exten- 
 sive business. Although, as a general 
 rule, I destroy all communications, where 
 it is evident that the writer is particularly 
 anxious for concealment, yet in many 
 cases of especial interest, where the letters 
 only embrace matters connected with the 
 case and cure, I have preserved them as 
 grateful recollections of the benefits I have 
 conferred upon my fellow-men, and as hon- 
 orable trophies of my success. Were not 
 the fashion a hackneyed one, and open to 
 the charge of fabrication for mere effect, 
 I should reproduce here more of this cor- 
 respondence, to confirm what I have said 
 in regard to the happy and astonishing 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 33 
 
 cures performed by me, chiefly through 
 those remedies known only to myself, and 
 discovered by me through years of sleep- 
 less toil, self-denial, investigation, and un- 
 sparing pecuniary outlay. But I forbear, 
 well knowing how liable such displays are 
 to be misunderstood, and their truthfulness 
 misrepresented by the envious and unsuc- 
 cessful. 
 
34 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THUS far I have limited my appeal 
 chiefly to the young, and have refered 
 only to the milder forms of secret disease, 
 which, although less fatal in their imme- 
 diate effects, if promptly and properly 
 attended to, yet do, if neglected, misman- 
 aged, or tampered with, lead to most dis- 
 tressing and often fatal consequences. I 
 shall now proceed a degree further, and 
 approaching the full-grown man, speak of 
 the more terrific forms of this destroyer, 
 such as it presents itself in all its power 
 of evil and destructive might. If happily 
 the youth has escaped, " as by fire/ 7 and in 
 the consciousness of renewed powers and 
 a purified body, has arrived at manhood, 
 and assumed the cares and responsibilities 
 of a husband and a father, he is still liable 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 35 
 
 to the same temptations ; and what ever may 
 be said of the folly or guilt to be attached to 
 his conduct, may again become the victim 
 of unclean and diseased sexual association. 
 This time, however, it comes upon him, not 
 in the simple form of a suspicious excre- 
 tion of a viscid matter, staining his ap- 
 parel, and tormenting him in the perform- 
 ance of one of nature's offices, but has 
 seized upon him in some one of those for- 
 midable forms which, if unrestrained, even 
 at the moment of attack, is most certain to 
 eat its way to and through every part and 
 organ of the machinery of life, until its 
 hapless victim is laid out a poor deformed 
 and crippled wreck of humanity, a loathing 
 to himself, and a burden, and perhaps scorn 
 to all with whom he is connected. When 
 the individual finds himself in this condi- 
 tion, the instinct of self-preservation at 
 once prompts him to fly to the first sug- 
 gested means of relief; and every country 
 
36 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 practitioner has ready at hand a mercurial 
 preparation of some kind, found in the 
 books ever since the art of printing was 
 invented, and the science of medicine and 
 surgery came out of the hands of barbers 
 and apothecaries, and assumed the charac- 
 ter of a separate and independent profes- 
 sion. It is useless to say that, that in 
 ninety-nine cases out of the hundred, 
 these old stereotyped prescriptions and 
 remedies which, fifty years ago would 
 occasionally effect a cure, are now, owing 
 to the constant change which has been 
 going on in the nature of these diseases, 
 as inert and ineffectual to produce a cure 
 as simple as water itself; and any one may 
 now daily witness in the mutilated figures 
 of many a passer along the thronged 
 thoroughfares of our large cities, the 
 horrid effects of mercurial preparations 
 which have only succeeded in overpower- 
 ing one disease by the substitution of 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 37 
 
 another, none the less fearful, and equally 
 as destructive as the first. As I am not 
 writing a pathological guide for the use of 
 the medical practitioner, it is not my de- 
 sign, as before intimated, to confuse and 
 embarrass the general reader by a method- 
 ical classification of symptoms and diseases. 
 This is too often attempted by those who, 
 by the use of technical and scientific terms, 
 seek only to display their own attainments, 
 and to lead others to think that they are 
 wondrous wise. My effort will be to make 
 myself understood in plain, simple lan- 
 guage, so that the afflicted may readily 
 comprehend the true nature of his situa- 
 tion, the evils by which he is threatened, 
 and the proper course to pursue in the 
 painful emergency in which he is placed. 
 In the progress of this horrible disease to 
 which I am now calling your attention, no 
 part of the human system escapes contami- 
 nation, nor fails to sympathize with the 
 
38 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 local parts more immediately attacked. 
 The virus is almost immediately transfered 
 by the touch, by the irrepressible propen- 
 sity felt to handle and examine the diseased 
 parts, to almost every other portion of the 
 body susceptible of contagion or innocula- 
 tion, until the lips, nose, throat, eyes, and 
 every opening and cavity of the body is 
 contaminated by the deadly virus ; whilst 
 within, it is being circulated by the vital 
 current, the blood, into all parts of the 
 system. At this stage of the disease, no 
 palliating nor half-way measures can stop 
 its ravages. Self-treatment, guided and 
 directed as it may be, by a consultation of 
 the whole list of medical authorities, is 
 utterless powerless. The caprices and 
 changes characteristic of the complaint, 
 are such that, only the experienced practi- 
 tioner can detect its true character, and 
 direct with certainty the artillery neces- 
 sary to its overthrow. There is hardly a 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 39 
 
 day passes that I am not consulted by more 
 or less of those who, neglecting the first ap- 
 proaches of this insidious destroyer, are so 
 far enveloped in its embraces as to them 
 it appears almost impossible to be cured. 
 But when I have exhibited to them the 
 incontestible evidences of the cures per- 
 formed by me, of cases in many instances 
 as severe as their own, they have mani- 
 fested a joy which no pen can describe. 
 Certainly it would have been better for 
 them, as it would be more agreeable to me, 
 had I have been consulted at an earlier 
 period ; but, nevertheless, whatever may 
 have been the cause of neglect or delay, I 
 am positive that the disease cannot long 
 resist the almost immediate, powerful, and 
 searching operation of the remedies which 
 I apply. So far from resorting to those 
 painful and severe caustic applications 
 hitherto so common, and usually regarded 
 as indispensable, I proceed by mild, emo- 
 
40 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Kent, and soothing preparations for exter- 
 nal treatment, which, aided by an internal 
 administration of my great remedy, pre- 
 pared in just the proper proportion, in con- 
 nection with other healing and balsamic 
 productions of the vegetable kingdom, all 
 inflammatory action is at once quietly sub- 
 dued. The tonic properties of the medi- 
 cine is at once imparted to the system, the 
 digestive organs become cleansed and reg- 
 ulated, and perform all their functions like 
 a charm ; and the curative and healing 
 process goes on quite rapidly, and in exact 
 accordance with nature's laws. By a strict 
 adherence to the conditions necessary to 
 be observed in the process of treatment, it 
 is absolutely impossible that any failure or 
 disappointment should occur ; and what is 
 most singular, where once this rare prepar- 
 ation has taken an effectual hold upon the 
 system, not only does it drive off the loath- 
 some disease, but it fortifies and strength- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 41 
 
 ens the parts hitherto affected and en- 
 feebled, so that, in a wonderfully short 
 space of time they are restored to their 
 pristine vigor, and no traces remain of the 
 malady which so recently threatened so 
 much devastation and ruin. Of all ages 
 and classes of men upon whom the ravages 
 of the sexual diseases are to be feared, 
 there are none to whom it is so dangerous 
 as to those in the meridian of life. This is 
 doubly the case when the individual is at 
 the head of a family. Not limited to him- 
 self; his wife, the lawful partner of his 
 bosom and the mother of his children, is 
 in danger of infection. Their natural pro- 
 tector and guardian, he finds himself the 
 bearer in his own body of a virus more to 
 be dreaded than that of the deadly upas. 
 His social and domestic enjoyments are 
 broken in upon by this foul fiend, and if he 
 once yields to the solicitations of love, and 
 in an unguarded moment gives way to its 
 
42 MEDICAL ADVISEK. 
 
 gratification, the envenomed shaft has 
 reached another victim, and beings yet 
 unborn are not only possibly, but probably, 
 made to share, in his infection. There is 
 nothing more certain than that this disease 
 is thus propagated from sire to son, through 
 many generations, and that scrofula, in 
 almost all the hideous forms in which it 
 developes itself, such as tubercular con- 
 sumption, weak, sore and inflamed eyes, 
 the early falling off of the hair, deafness, 
 chronic and inflammatory rheumatism, spi- 
 nal diseases of all kinds, are more or less 
 frequently the direct consequences of the 
 parent's indiscretion and disease, years 
 before his ill-fated offspring ever saw the 
 light of day. When I have indicated such 
 fearful results as springing from a single 
 cause, it cannot be necessary that I should 
 again urge upon my reader the absolute 
 necessity that, if he has unfortunately 
 "been caught/ 7 there should be no de- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 43 
 
 lay in his struggles to escape, and that 
 his strength should not be wasted in mis^ 
 guided and misdirected efforts to attain 
 that end. A single false step may plunge 
 him into irretrievable misery and bodily ruin. 
 No art can restore the mulitated face, the 
 palsied limb, the vivacious countenance, 
 or the sparkling eye, when once this dis- 
 ease has passed over them, and has left 
 the impress of its poisonous seal. There 
 is no rescue or salvation except in the 
 immediate application of curative means ; 
 and all medical history and testimony will 
 tell you that, up to this time, with all ordi- 
 nary practising physicians, there has been 
 no specific remedy found for this disease 
 upon which any reliance could be placed, 
 except in those rare cases in which mer- 
 cury, in some of its many forms or combi- 
 nations with other hardly less deleterious 
 substances, have been found effectual ; and 
 then only, in overpowering the disease by 
 
44 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 substituting in very many instances another 
 and almost equally dangerous one in its 
 stead. Every person of common intelli- 
 gence is aware that, what are generally 
 termed mercurial diseases are of themselves 
 the most distressing, troublesome, and pro- 
 tracted of those the physician is called 
 upon to treat. Painful, and even disgust- 
 ing sores, eruptions, and discolorations of 
 the skin, extreme susceptibility to atmos- 
 pheric changes, sharp and shooting pains 
 in the joints and limbs, frequent recur- 
 rence of torpidity in all the digestive 
 organs, dyspepsia, with its long catalogue 
 of horrors, exfoliations of portions of the 
 bones, particularly in those parts especi- 
 ally exposed to observation ; these, and 
 many more, too numerous to mention, are 
 but a part of the serious evils arising from 
 the indriscriminate use which has been 
 made of this powerful drug in the cure of 
 private diseases. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 45 
 
 With what joy and gratitude then, should 
 mankind hail the discovery of a system of 
 thorough cure, unattended by any such 
 dangers as I have described. A system so 
 mild, so positively certain in its effects, 
 and withal, so harmless as to be utterly in- 
 capable of doing injury in any case what- 
 ever. And then again, there are other 
 consequences, not less serious and regreta- 
 ble, entailing unhappiness and discontent 
 in all subsequent life. Impotency, that 
 bane of married life, is not an infrequent 
 consequence of not only the diseases to 
 which I have alluded, but of the very rem- 
 edies which have been unwisely and un- 
 skilfully administered for their cure. How 
 many there are, who, in every other respect 
 seem admirably mated, and in every way 
 constituted to render each other happy, 
 but whose desolate households indicate, 
 but too surely, the cause of domestic dis- 
 quietude, or an aching void, which can 
 
4G MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 only be filled by healthy and beautiful 
 offspring. 
 
 Whatever may be the worldly circum- 
 stances of those who have entered into 
 marriage relation, the perpetuation of 
 themselves in their children is one of the 
 very first promptings of their hearts ; and 
 failing in this, the domestic hearthstone 
 becomes cheerless, and the gifts of fortune, 
 however numerous, are comparatively val- 
 ueless and lightly esteemed. It is in 
 cases of this kind that my remedies have 
 proved of priceless and inestimable value. 
 It matters not from what cause the inability 
 may arise, whether from previous disease, 
 or the injurious effects of unwholsome and 
 poisonous drugs, or the weakening and 
 disorganizing effects of early habits. I 
 have never yet failed to reconstruct and 
 restore the enfeebled powers to effective 
 vitality, and to enable the husband to be 
 in a condition not only fully to enjoy all 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 47 
 
 the pleasing concomitants of wedded life, 
 but to realize his dearest wishes in the 
 ability to propagate his species, and to 
 raise up children to cheer, bless, and com- 
 fort him in his old age. That this can be 
 done most happily and effectively, without 
 resource to any painful surgical operation, 
 without resorting to those tonics and stim- 
 ulants which, after producing a momentary 
 excitement, leaves the patient more ex- 
 hausted and enfeebled than before, I know ; 
 and there are hundreds now living within 
 but a very narrow circuit of the place I 
 now write, who can bear joyful testimony 
 to the truth of my assertions. 
 
 Let no one despair of help, for I assure 
 him that, unless nature herself has been 
 wanting in her usual gifts, and some such 
 unwonted calamity as emasculation has 
 taken place, I can most certainly restore 
 all his lost or waning powers, and render 
 him happy and hopeful in that home where 
 
48 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 before, lie was cheerless and desponding. 
 That this deficiency or loss of power may 
 become more obdurate, and less easy to 
 overcome, by omiting seasonably to resort 
 to curative means, is also certain; hence 
 the necessity of attending to it as soon as 
 the difficulty is known to exist. Delay 
 only renders its removal a more protracted 
 and aggravating process, whilst it cuts 
 short days and years of bliss which might 
 otherwise be enjoyed. Persons who find 
 themselves incapacitated to a full fecunda- 
 tive exercise of all the virile functions, 
 should never rest satisfied short of a com- 
 plete restoration of all their faculties ; and 
 to effect this through the safest and surest 
 means should be to them a matter of the 
 gravest consideration. Almost every lo- 
 cality, and especially our large cities, are 
 literally crowded and overrun with un- 
 principled adventurers, whose pretentious 
 abilities are to the well read physician, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 49 
 
 equally preposterous and absurd. They 
 are men like those who 
 
 ' ' Steal the livery of heaven to serve the devil in," 
 and seek to enshroud their former insignifi- 
 cance and obscurity in some name, the pos- 
 sessor of which may at one time have had 
 some distinction as a medical practitioner. 
 These imposters and scourges of society way- 
 lay and beset the invalid and the suffering at 
 every turn, and most unfortunate is the 
 credulous and unsophisticated wight who 
 suffers himself thus to be entrapped. Not 
 one in fifty of them can boast of a single 
 degree of medical knowledge or skill be- 
 yond that acquired perhaps as servant to 
 some invalid, or gained from a superficial 
 study of some old book of useful receipts 
 which has alone constituted his whole med- 
 ical library. Of this class of pretenders 
 you cannot be too guarded. Of such it 
 may be truly said : " They allure with a 
 look, a wink, a nod. Hell does not contain 
 
50 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 so foul a fiend, nor earth so fell a foe ; the 
 helpless and unfortunate are their victims, 
 murder is their employment, and death 
 their sport." I would not lay such stress 
 upon this caution against empiricism and 
 quackery, did not every day's experience 
 more fully demonstrate to me the vast 
 amount of mischief perpetrated by these 
 reckless adventurers. Cases in which, had 
 a thoroughly skilled specialist been consul- 
 ted, in the first instance, would, with but 
 little loss of time, and but moderate ex- 
 pense, been rapidly made to give way to 
 the proper medical treatment, have, through 
 sheer ignorance, been made to assume 
 forms so disgusting, repulsive, and danger- 
 ous, that I have long hesitated to assume 
 the responsibility of prescribing for them. 
 Intimately connected with those diseases 
 having their origin in impure sexual inter- 
 course, are others, which, though not 
 traceable to the same cause, are none the 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 51 
 
 less troublesome and very often the means 
 not only of aggravating the sexual dis- 
 eases,, but tending to complicate them and 
 perplex the medical attendant, as well as 
 to create greater distress and pain to the 
 sufferer himself. Watery collections in and 
 between those parts constituting the geni- 
 tal organs in man, are frequent ; and some- 
 times the causes are so involved in obscur- 
 ity that the most skilful surgeons are often 
 at a loss how to account for them. This 
 difficulty, known to medical men under the 
 name of hydrocele, has ever been regarded 
 by the profession as incurable by medical 
 treatment, and only yielding to a surgical 
 operation. Palliatives are resorted to, and 
 the inconveniences arising from it obviated 
 in part by drawing off the contents of the 
 sac by a trocar, and by such other mechan- 
 ical appliances as the ingenuity of the 
 practitioner may suggest. The many ag- 
 gravated cases of this kind which I have 
 
52 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 met with in my practice, the almost insu- 
 perable bar presented by it to a successful 
 treatment of a, contagious disease affecting 
 the parts at the same time, the reluctance 
 with which the patient would listen to any 
 suggestions as to the employ of " instru- 
 ments " or mechanical appliances for his 
 relief, spurred me on to every effort in my 
 power to relieve this very painful and dan- 
 gerous disease. Nor have my researches 
 been in vain. I have discovered remedies, 
 by the proper administration of which, this 
 complaint is made to disappear almost as 
 rapidly as mist before the morning sun. 
 
 The clumsy and expensive apparatus 
 hitherto applied ; the dreaded trocar, the 
 stimulating injections of former days, are 
 entirely dispensed with, and by a medicine 
 prepared only by myself, a process of 
 absorption is engendered by which the 
 disease is radically cured, almost uncon- 
 sciously to the sufferer. And although I 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 53 
 
 am constantly prescribing for, and treating 
 it with the most signal success, and to the 
 entire relief and satisfaction of my patients, 
 and hundreds of my medical brethren are 
 aware of the fact ; yet, if applied to them- 
 selves, and enquired of as to their ability 
 to cure it, reply, that medical treatment 
 would be unavailing.* In view of these 
 
 * Eor no disease am I more frequently called upon 
 to prescribe than this very troublesome and painful 
 complaint, Hydrocele ; a term applied to a chronic 
 swelling produced by a collection of fluid in connec- 
 tion with the testicle or spermatic cord. The forms, 
 varieties and complications of this disease are so nu- 
 merous that to name them to the general reader they 
 would be difficult of comprehension and only per- 
 plexing. It is one- of those disorders that should only 
 be treated by the skilful practitioner, whose studies 
 have been well fortified by an extensive experience. 
 A swelled scrotum, or bag, on being shown to an ordi- 
 nary physician, may be pronounced by him to be a 
 case of hydrocele ; and so it may be. But can he tell 
 you of what variety it is ? There is hydrocele of the 
 testicle ; of the spermatic cord, and of the Hernial 
 sac ; of the former there are different grades, such as 
 the vaginal and encystid : these, distinguished further 
 as, whether simple or congenital : of the Epididymis, 
 
54 " MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 facts I feel impelled, from a sense of duty 
 to suffering humanity, to invite every one 
 afflicted with this complaint, to apply to 
 me for relief. I will not merely refer them 
 to testimonials of undoubted authenticity 
 and credit as to what I have accomplished 
 in this respect, but will convince them, by 
 means easily to be comprehended, that this 
 
 or the Tunica Albuginea; and so on; to name which 
 would only perplex, not benefit the reader. Nor need 
 I go into a particular detail of symptoms of this com- 
 plaint; the sufferer is too readily apprized of them to 
 need a very particular description. Acute pain and 
 dragging down upon the spermatic cord, upon which 
 the testicle is suspended. The testicle itself retreats, 
 as it were, back of the centre of the bag, which begins 
 gradually to enlarge with the accumulating serum, 
 until at length, the annoyance, superadded to the pain, 
 drives the sufferer to seek medical aid ; and there is 
 hardly one in ten doctors to whom he would most 
 likely apply, able to tell him whether his complaint is 
 hydrocele, scrotal hernia, or malignant disease of the 
 testicle. Usually, when a patient applies to a physi- 
 cian or surgeon with hydrocele, he resorts at once 
 to operative treatment; either palliative or radical. 
 The palliative treatment is quite simple, of easy per- 
 formance, and if proper care be taken, free from dan- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 55 
 
 great desideratum in the healing art has at 
 length been discovered. I know to what 
 extent I incur the liability to the charge 
 of egotism in making this assertion, and 
 the slowness of the public to give credit 
 to claims of extraordinary discoveries, 
 especially in the treatment of those com- 
 plaints which have so long baffled the skill 
 
 ger ; but the relief it affords is only temporary. It 
 consists in puncturing the sac, so as to allow the 
 escape of the fluid, and thus reduce the size of the 
 annoyance. By some, injections are resorted to. 
 Within the last ten years they have been extensively 
 tried in Europe, and with a success that has led to 
 their pretty general use in this country, — but I do 
 not advise them. I have found that a process of ab- 
 sorption may be induced which does away with all this 
 mutilation, pain, and danger, always incident to a sur- 
 gical operation. After many years careful and exact 
 trial of every hitherto tried means of reducing this 
 disorder by mechanical remedies, I am satisfied that 
 there are but few of its forms in which proper thereoe- 
 putic remedies only will be needed to effect a cure. 
 Within the last year I have treated some sixty cases, 
 and in none have I been obliged to resort to the knife 
 or trocar. 
 
 In confirmation of what I have said above in regard 
 
56 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 of the most renowned physicians; but 
 they must remember that such has been 
 the case in every age of the world ; and 
 that Darwin and Harvey, and Jenner, are 
 not alone in having been the butts of ridi- 
 cule and persecution, because of their dis- 
 coveries and efforts to benefit mankind by 
 the introduction of new modes of warding 
 off and curing disease. No dread of ridi- 
 cule, nor the opposition of those who con- 
 
 to the treatment of hydrocele, I only need refer my 
 readers to what the most of them have frequently 
 heard of, at least as to the results of " tapping" in 
 cases of dropsy. How often do we read in the news- 
 papers that such and such a person who has died of 
 dropsy, has had gallon after gallons of water taken 
 from him hy " tapping," until the quantity has become 
 almost too enormous for belief. The truth is that 
 such operations are only palliatives, and induce a 
 greater secretion ; thus puncturing in hydrocele simply 
 operates as a duct and stimulent for the serum to 
 settle in the scrotum, and a tendency to do it. Eadi- 
 cal treatment changes this tendency, and by a process 
 of absorption diffuses the fluids, so that they may be 
 excreted through the natural outlets, such as the skin, 
 urinary passages, sputum, etc. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 57 
 
 sider themselves as exclusively authorized 
 to prescribe for disease, shall ever deter 
 me from thus boldly making known my 
 ability to benefit my fellow-men. 
 
 In the foregoing, so far as I have ad- 
 dressed my self to those of middle life, whose 
 physical organs have become matured, and 
 in whom few or no organic changes are 
 likely to occur for many years at least, I 
 have called attention chiefly to such com- 
 plaints and infirmities as immediately ac- 
 company, or closely follow, those self-en- 
 gendered and contagious diseases, the re- 
 sults of careless and promiscuous connec- 
 tion with those of the other sex. I have 
 alluded also to the impediments which it 
 creates to the formation of happy and per- 
 manent domestic relations, and to the sat- 
 isfactory performance of all that is meant 
 and intended in the marriage rite ; and if 
 1 have not catalogued all the miseries 
 and evils flowing from the causes set forth, 
 
5$ MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 it is not that I regard them as of minor 
 importance, but it is that I have indulged the 
 hope that no one in his sober senses, with 
 such dangers impending over him as those 
 which I have described, would, for a single 
 hour, delay application to the proper source 
 for relief. Varied, aggravated and accel- 
 erated as they are in the different forms 
 they assume, by reason of. temperament, 
 diet, constitutional defects, and the usual 
 pursuits of business or amusements, there 
 is no perfect standard for measuring their 
 intensity, save in the long-tried skill of 
 practical experience ; and I do not here pur- 
 pose to load your mind with complicated 
 details and nice distinctions which to you 
 would be entirely unintelligible, or, if un- 
 derstood, you would not be able to derive 
 from them any solution to the difficulties 
 and dangers which encompass you. This 
 can only be afforded you by competent 
 medical aid ; and I now, in the full confi- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 59 
 
 dence in my ability to relieve you of every 
 trouble with which you are assailed, either 
 now or in the prospective, invite } r ou to 
 try those truly healing remedies of which 
 I am the discoverer and only possessor. 
 One of the greatest mistakes is that in 
 which the victim imagines that if he dis- 
 continues such violations of the laws of 
 his being, and becomes more temperate, 
 regular, and abstemious in the indulgence 
 of his passions and appetites, that disease 
 will disappear, and the recuperative powers 
 of nature will remedy every evil. But it 
 must be borne in mind that disease is not 
 self-curing. The causes which have done 
 the mischief and inflicted the injury must 
 be removed before anything in the whole 
 range of medical science can cure you. 
 So long as there remains lurking in the 
 system any relics of those fatal effects of 
 the poison, engendered either by disease 
 itself, or the improper remedies hitherto 
 
60 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 taken for your relief, you are in danger. 
 Not only protracted and exquisitely painful 
 complaints, such as chronic rheumatism, 
 spinal affections, and the development of 
 tubercular diseases, attack and threaten 
 you with all their untold horrors and dan- 
 gers, but death itself may warn you with 
 its quick, sharp, paralytic stroke, that it is 
 nigh at hand, and that the time for all 
 earthly aid, with you, has passed forever.. 
 I must not omit to name another result of 
 excessive sexual indulgence, the diseases 
 incident to it, and the maltreatment to 
 which they are so often subjected ; prema- 
 ture exhaustion and decay ; and this leads 
 me to the third part of this little treatise, 
 in which I design to address a few words 
 to those who, having passed through the 
 age of ripe manhood, have entered upon 
 that period of life when, in the course of 
 nature, the natural powers begin to wane, 
 and the passions and appetites become less 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 61 
 
 clamorous in their demands for gratifica- 
 tion, or if not, in whom the physical capac- 
 ity necessary to that purpose is diminished 
 through former excessive indulgence, or 
 as a consequence of the emasculating 
 effects of the vile compounds to which they 
 have been subjected through the ignorance 
 and stupidity of those whom they have 
 consulted wben requiring medical treat- 
 ment ; and I may as well remark here as 
 anywhere, that the early loss of sexual 
 power may very often be justly attributed 
 to an excessive indulgence in other than in 
 the unrestrained gratification of the desire 
 for sexual intercourse. The early and in- 
 discriminate use of stimulating and alco- 
 holic drinks, an excessive use of tobacco, 
 by which its nicotine qualities are absorbed 
 and taken into the system, especially \yith 
 those who lead sedentary and inactive 
 lives, are among the many causes of prem- 
 ature decay ; and when this period arrives, 
 
62 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and full consciousness is felt that such is 
 really the case, what can be more depress- 
 sing to the mind, or more calculated to 
 inspire an aversion to life, and to regard 
 all its hitherto anticipated pleasures and 
 promised blessings as a base delusion and 
 a cheat? 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 63 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 AFTER the attainment of the ages of 
 fifty-five or sixty years, in man, the 
 generative powers gradually dimmish, and, 
 declining with increasing years, at the age 
 of seventy and thence onward, cease to be 
 able to accomplish the objects either of 
 gratifying the passions, or the perpetua- 
 tion of his species. The deprivation, how- 
 ever, of these pleasures are not the only 
 loss which he feels, and over which he is 
 called to mourn. With the symptoms of 
 approaching decay, and the waning forces 
 of manly power, he is sensible also of a 
 decline in those mental and executive fac- 
 ulties by the force of which he has hitherto 
 been enabled to overcome obstacles to suc- 
 cess, and to acquire wealth and position in 
 the world. It is true, that occasionally we 
 
64 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 meet with men of even three score years 
 and ten and upwards, who display in all 
 their movements and calculations but few 
 or no evidences of senility, and who, up to 
 a very advanced period in life, seem to 
 enjoy almost unbroken powers both of 
 mind and body. I do not refer to that 
 class of old men, the fag end of whose 
 lives are devoted to the gratification of the 
 baser passions of avarice and gain, which 
 outlive every other sentiment, but to those 
 whose bodily powers, carefully husbanded 
 and preserved, have suffered no untoward 
 deterioration by the habits and practices 
 of youthful indiscretions, nor the excesses 
 of middle age. These, having performed 
 all the requirements of life's duties well, 
 justly, in the evening of its journey pass 
 calmly onward to its close, uninterrupted 
 and unassailed by any of those evils which 
 embitter the declining years of the great 
 majority of our fellow beings. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 65 
 
 These last, unhappily, in almost every 
 stage of their progress, are constantly re- 
 quiring the fostering care of benevolent 
 hearts and willing hands to direct and lead 
 them over the, perhaps, too dreary and 
 barren wastes spread out before them, and 
 to some extent the aids of science to assist 
 in reinvigorating their dormant faculties. 
 I have devoted much time to this interest- 
 ing study, how best to restore to its former 
 possessors the lost powers of virility, so as 
 to enable them at a comparatively advan- 
 ced period of life to enjoy again, to a 
 rational extent, all the pleasures of ripe 
 manhood with those of the opposite sex. 
 Pursuing my investigations upon strict 
 scientific principles, and aided by the ample 
 means for experiment which my extensive 
 practice has afforded, I have arrived at re- 
 sults as gratifying as they were new and 
 astonishing. Without laying any claim to 
 any such discovery as that wonderful 
 
66 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 fountain of youth which tempted the too 
 credulous Ponce de Leon to brave the dan- 
 gers of an unknown sea, I may, neverthe- 
 less, claim a discovery, which for centuries 
 has baffled the skill and research of the 
 most eminent philosophers and sages 
 which the world ever produced. I have 
 succeeded in doing this without in any 
 degree whatever drawing upon the reserv- 
 ed forces of life, so as to induce exhaus- 
 tion and prostration after each recurring 
 effort; but its effects are so gently and 
 gradually tonic and stimulating as to give 
 permanent vigor and tone to every part of 
 the system. Old age is thus shorn of half 
 its terrors, and life, indeed, remains a per- 
 fect blessing to its very close. Not only 
 are all the procreative faculties restored 
 and invigorated by these 'wonderful reme- 
 dies, but every part of the body is made 
 to share in their healthful and life-giving 
 properties. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH 67 
 
 I would not thus speak so confidently 
 and assuringly had I not witnessed 
 in numberless instances the complete 
 realization of all which I have here 
 described. It is not yet three months 
 since I was called upon by a gentleman of 
 over sixty years of age, whose circumstan- 
 ces, in relation to property and family 
 affairs rendered it highly expedient that 
 he should take to himself a wife, after 
 twice having become a widower.*Although 
 he felt, as he told me, in regard to that 
 matter, the danger as well as what he con- 
 sidered the impropriety of uniting himself 
 to one so many years younger than him- 
 self, as was the lady for whom he felt a 
 decided preference, he could not well 
 resist the inclination he felt to be governed 
 in the matter by*the motives of choice ex- 
 clusively, provided he could feel assured 
 that subsequent events, anticipated from 
 conscious debility and impotence by reason 
 
68 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 of his own advanced age, could be so con- 
 trolled by medical skill as would obviate 
 all danger of disagreement and infelicity 
 between them after the marriage ceremony. 
 I gave him the reasons for my strong con- 
 viction that this could be satisfactorily 
 accomplished for him, and he immediately 
 subjected himself to the regimen and treat- 
 ment which I imposed. I found in him a 
 most submissive and docile patient, who 
 unhesitatingly and faithfully followed the 
 directions I gave him ; and I had the grat- 
 ification, as well as the pleasure of seeing 
 him, in less than three months from the 
 time of his first application to me, rejoicing 
 in the possession of the woman of his 
 choice. He subsequently informed me, 
 with a countenance beaming with grati- 
 tude and thanks, that, there was not a hap- 
 pier or a more contented couple on the 
 face of the earth; and he attributed to me, 
 and the truly happy effects of the medi- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 69 
 
 cines I had prepared for him, the happiness 
 which he then enjoyed. Indeed, I might 
 cite other cases equally as interesting, but 
 I do not feel at liberty to particularize, 
 lest I might wound the sensitiveness of 
 those who have confided to me, in my pro- 
 fessional capacity, those matters which I 
 cannot conscientiously nor honorably refer 
 to, even to encourage and benefit others in 
 a similar way. Let every one, however, 
 be assured that age no longer forms any 
 impediment to an enjoyment of all the 
 physical functions of our being, and that 
 wedlock, so far from being shunned as a 
 severe and unhappy test of the virile 
 forces, resulting only in failure and morti- 
 fication, may now be consummated with all 
 the assurance, hopefulness, and ardor of 
 youth. 
 
 Thus far it will have been noted by the 
 intelligent reader, that I have addressed 
 myself almost exclusively to gentlemen, 
 
70 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and my observations respecting the evils 
 arising from masturbation, or self-abuse, 
 excessive and promiscuous indulgence, and 
 the various evils resulting therefrom, have 
 been directed chiefly to those of the male 
 sex, for whose benefit this treatise was 
 originally designed. I am quite well 
 aware however, of the fact, that its circula- 
 tion and perusal has not been entirely 
 restricted to them, and that it has found its 
 way, in no very limited degree, into the 
 hands of both married and single ladies. 
 In order therefore, that they may find in it 
 matter for their especial consideration and 
 benefit, I have thought it advisable to dis- 
 cuss somewhat more at large, and in ac- 
 cordance with their physiological struc- 
 ture, the same topics, at least so far as to 
 render this work useful, as well as inter- 
 esting to them. What I have said in 
 regard to early habits, the undue exercise 
 of the passions, and the mischief arising 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 71 
 
 from excess and indiscretion, is as appli- 
 cable to them as to those of the male sex. 
 It does not require that the female should 
 be learned in all the anatomical and phy- 
 siological knowledge which science can 
 impart, concerning those things, that she 
 should be able to comprehend and appre- 
 ciate the difference which exists between 
 herself and her brother in this respect. 
 Instinct is far better than books, and she 
 knows better than books can teach her, 
 that, only in model and form she differs 
 from her mate ; that she is moved by the 
 same passions, subject to the same infirmi- 
 ties, and victim to the same diseases as he 
 is ; that like causes, so far as disease is 
 concerned, produce in her the same effects 
 as in him, varied only by the difference in 
 structure, and hence submissive to the 
 same remedial treatment. But there are 
 other and different classes of disease to 
 which she is subject, and of which the 
 
72 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 male cannot participate. More delicate 
 in their organization, and less robust, 
 owing chiefly to their seclusion, the female 
 cannot resist the changes of atmosphere, 
 climate and circumstances, so firmly as can 
 the hardier male, and, owing to various 
 causes, well understood, she often becomes, 
 from her earliest years, the subject of pain 
 and suffering, of a nature to which he is an 
 entire stranger. If, however, she unfortu- 
 nately becomes afflicted with any of those 
 troublesome and offensive diseases affect- 
 ing the urino-genital organs which require 
 medical treatment (and there are very few 
 which do not), the same remedies, differing 
 only in form of exhibition, are in most cases 
 applicable to both. In those sexual dis- 
 eases arising from promiscuous intercourse, 
 such as gonorrhoea, chancroids, chancres 
 and syphilis, in all its various stages, 
 the same pharmaceutical agencies are 
 resorted to, and no intelligent person need 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 13 
 
 be misled or confused in their application 
 or use, by reason of the difference of sex. 
 
 Except in those cases where a resort to 
 instrumental agencies, such as the use of 
 bougies, the catheter, and sometimes even, 
 syringes are called for, the administration 
 of remedies for the ordinary diseases of 
 the procreative organs, is as simple a mat- 
 ter as the taking a cathartic pill, or a bowl 
 of herb tea. In cases where urethral in- 
 jections are necessary, although it is 
 more advisable that they be administered 
 under the immediate supervision of the 
 medical attendant, yet with a little instruc- 
 tion from him, carefully heeded and under- 
 stood by the patient, injections may be 
 safely self-administered. It now only re- 
 mains for me to particularize the various 
 sexual complaints most generally prevalent, 
 and which you may be permitted to treat 
 for yourselves, until proper medical assis- 
 tance can be procured. Of these, 
 
74 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 GONORRHCEA OR CLAP 
 
 Is the most common, and unfortunately 
 the most easily and readily taken, espe- 
 cially by the male. This is an affection 
 confined exclusively to the urethra, and 
 makes its appearance in from two to three, 
 and sometimes four days after exposure. 
 It is produced solely by the introduction 
 of the virus into the meatus or opening 
 in the male organ, where, communicating 
 with the mucuous membrane, it infects the 
 whole passage, gradually progressing from 
 the opening downwards, until the whole 
 is infected and subjected to the inflamma- 
 tory action of the poison, producing in its 
 course, the purulent discharge, the chordee 
 and painful erections, gleet, etc., with all 
 the distressing and annoying accompani- 
 ments which invariably attend it if left 
 unchecked, or improperly treated. 
 
 The approach of the disease is unmis- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 75 
 
 takeably indicated by the slight inflamma- 
 tion at the meatus, or opening, the general 
 "uneasiness and pain in the region of the 
 hips and loins, the burning and scalding 
 sensation in passing the urine, when the 
 purulent discharge, staining the linen to a 
 dull yellow, tells the whole story, and 
 assures you that you have got the clap. 
 At this stage of the disease your course of 
 action is clear. You should not hesitate a 
 moment ; do not wait to make certainty 
 more sure, by pretending to doubt whether 
 you are or not diseased. But do not get 
 frightened, nor become excited ; that would 
 only add to your trouble and augment the 
 difficulties of an early suppression of the 
 disease. If you are not convenient to a 
 reliable physician, get a small glass, or 
 gutta percha syringe, and also from the 
 apothecary the following: Sulphate of 
 zinc and tannic acid two grains each, dis- 
 solved in two fluid ounces of pure soft 
 
76 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 water, putting the solution into a wide 
 open-mouthed vial, so as to draw it up with 
 the syringe directly from the vial, rather 
 than being under the necessity of first 
 pouring it out into a cup, and from thence 
 filling your syringe. The ordinary glass 
 syringe, half filled, will be sufficient to- 
 begin with. Having emptied the bladder, 
 by passing your urine, with the syringe 
 in the right hand, working the piston with 
 the fore-finger, insert the pipe into the 
 opening, and grasping the organ, some two 
 or three inches down, pressing the passage 
 together, so as to prevent the injection 
 from passing beyond, inject the solution 
 carefully and neatly, so as to fill the pas- 
 sage from the orifice downward, to where 
 you have closed it by the pressure of your 
 left thumb and fore-finger ; after withdraw- 
 ing the syringe, close the opening by your 
 right thumb and fore-finger, and with your 
 left, gently work up and down for a nu> 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 77 
 
 ment along the passage, so that the inject- 
 ed solution shall fairly wash it on all sides ; 
 this may be repeated once, so as to make 
 sure that the injection has been thorough. 
 This operation may be gone through at 
 least three times a day, far three or four 
 days, when, if the disease does not subside, 
 it is evident that this, as it is termed, the 
 abortive treatment, will not avail. If it 
 has not, you will in the meantime be re- 
 minded of it by an increase in the discharge 
 and violence of the inflammation, with, it 
 may be, a chordee, which is a consequence 
 of a turgid state of the lower division of 
 the penis, which prevents its expansion 
 during erection, leaving it bent downwards, 
 and occasioning almost inconceivable pain 
 and distress. This may be alleviated by 
 the application of ice, cold water, or, what 
 is just as well, throwing one's self down 
 upon the cold floor and exposing the parts 
 to the air. But when the disease has 
 
78 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 attained this stage of its progress, the 
 syringe becomes not only useless, but posi- 
 tively dangerous in the hands of one who 
 is not an expert, and other remedies must 
 be resorted to. These are, first the doctor, 
 and always the doctor, but if the doctor 
 cannot be reached, then I should advise 
 palliative remedies, until he can be consult- 
 ed. Of these, some one of the various 
 preparations of copaiba and cubebs may 
 be taken. The following recipe can be 
 put up by almost any apothecary, and will 
 be found efficacious : — 
 
 Two ounces copaiba, one ounce powder- 
 ed cubebs, one-half drachm aluminis, and 
 magnesia sufficient to compound a mass, 
 divide into pills of five grains each ; take 
 four to six three times a day ; or, if the 
 patient is of weak habit and delicate 
 stomach, take copaiba two ounces, magnesia 
 one ounce, oil of peppermint twenty drops, 
 powdered cubebs and subnitrate of bis- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 79 
 
 muth each two ounces ; divide into pills of 
 five grains each, and take three, three 
 times a day. 
 
 In case of a very severe chordee, cam- 
 phor is a very common remedy, and when 
 taken in a liquid form, seldom fails to give 
 relief. One drachm of the tincture in a 
 glass of sweetened water, taken on going 
 to bed, and every time you wake up with 
 chordee, will give great relief, whilst per- 
 severance in the use of this remedy will 
 often cause all tendency to this distressing 
 symptom to disappear in two or three 
 nights. It cannot, however be always 
 relied upon, nor is it all times safe to be 
 administered, or taken unadvisedly. Some 
 persons it affects injuriously by its power- 
 ful stimulating qualities, and consequent 
 action upon the brain and optic nerves, 
 often producing discoloration and tempo- 
 rary derangement of vision. In the ab- 
 sence of especial remedies for such emer- 
 
80 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 gencies, a cloth wetted with cold water 
 and applied to the parts will alleviate the 
 severity of the paroxysms until you can 
 consult with your physician, and more 
 active remedies may be obtained. I would 
 never recommend the use of any powerful 
 opiates or narcotics in such cases, not only 
 by reason of their generally dangerous 
 qualities, but of their secondary injurious 
 effects upon the digestive organs, and ten- 
 dency to produce constipation of the bow- 
 4 els, which should be carefully avoided. 
 
 I have not alluded to the use of nitrate 
 of silver, as an abortive remedy in the 
 early stage of gonorrhoea, although of all 
 substances, it is undoubtedly the most 
 efficacious and reliable, but in inexperienced 
 hands, is exceedingly dangerous, and I 
 would not advise its use, except under the 
 immediate direction of a physician. It is 
 a well-known fact, that the disease will 
 often exhaust itself in time, but in running 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 81 
 
 through its various stages, it sometimes 
 takes months ; in the meantime the victim 
 suffers untold torments, which the expen- 
 diture of a few dollars, and the timely aid 
 of a good physician would have saved 
 him. 
 
 GLEET. 
 
 Not the least of the disagreeable and 
 uncomfortable consequences of a pro- 
 tracted and badly managed gonorrhoea, is a 
 discharge from the urethra of a serous, 
 mucous, or muco-purulent character, unat- 
 tended most generally, with pain or scald- 
 ing in making water. In some instances, 
 the lips of the meatus or opening will be 
 found glued together, and a drop of yellow- 
 ish fluid may be pressed out. This 
 appearance is sometimes seen only in the 
 morning ; occasionally there is a constant 
 running from the urethra. The patient's 
 linen may be without stains for days, as 
 
82 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 long as he leads a regular life ; but let him 
 indulge in any excess of drink, or take 
 exercise, and at once the symptoms and 
 annoyance return, and may continue for 
 months, or even for years. A person who 
 may have contracted gonorrhoea, and allows 
 it to progress, or leads an irregular life 
 during treatment, the discharge continues 
 often in spite of the usual remedies 
 hitherto resorted to by the faculty, until 
 the strength, as well as the means of the 
 sufferer, become completely exhausted. 
 Thus, as before stated, months, or years, 
 may pass, and the patient remain in 
 statu quo. Treatment with the usual 
 category of cubebs, copaiba, iron, etc., 
 may relieve it for the moment, but 
 it returns again and again under slight 
 causes, to the great annoyance and 
 disgust of the patient. At an early period 
 of my practice, my attention was particu- 
 larly called to the difficulty of treating 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 83 
 
 these cases, so as to effectually cure the 
 gleet, without a danger of its recur- 
 rence under any of the exciting cases to 
 which I have alluded. But under the old 
 system of practice, I found nothing satis- 
 factory ; therefore, I felt the necessity of 
 a deeper investigation into the nature and 
 causes of this complaint than had hitherto 
 been done. By the aid of microscopic 
 examinations of the discharge itself, as 
 also the condition of the urethral canal, I be- 
 came satisfied that the system of treatment 
 which had hitherto prevailed, was radically 
 wrong, and that, under ordinary circum- 
 stances, the introduction of caustics, 
 counter irritants, etc., in the form of injec- 
 tions or armed bougies, were, for the most 
 part, except where strictures existed, as 
 useless as it was a dangerously painful 
 infliction. The mistake on the part of 
 practitioners seems to have been that, 
 they have regarded gleet as a simple 
 
84 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 sequella of, or " after clap " to gonorrhoea, 
 whereas I regard it as the disease itself in 
 its chronic form, equally as contagious, 
 and, if not as painful to be borne, equally 
 as dangerous to the general health, and far 
 more likely to perpetuate its evils upon 
 the wife and offspring than acute gonorr- 
 hoea, in its earlier stages. Certainly, 
 to a physician, conscientiously anxious, 
 as I was, to really benefit my patients 
 in my treatment of them, here was 
 great room for inquiry; whether some- 
 thing new and outside the beaten track 
 might not be discovered successfully 
 to combat this formidable malady; and 1 
 gave to it my best attention, and I am 
 happy to say that my exertions have not 
 been in vain. For many years I have 
 been in possession of remedies by the use 
 of which gleet, or as I consider it, chronic 
 gonorrhoea, is entirely shorn of its terrors, 
 and rendered entirely inoxious, and as 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 85 
 
 submissive to medical treatment as any 
 disease whatever. In whatever stage it 
 maybe, I claim the remedy to be infallible, 
 and am ready to warrant a cure in all 
 cases. By its use I have frequently cured 
 a long-standing and obstinate running, in a 
 single day, and sometimes by a single appli- 
 cation ; but these are exceptional cases. In 
 effecting a cure, age, occupation, habits and 
 temperament of the patient, are, of course, 
 to be taken into consideration, as, what 
 would cure Jones in a day or two, might not 
 accomplish it for Smith in a month, and 
 yet, I am so certain that it will cure, that I 
 am willing to stake my reputation upon its 
 success. From what I have said, the 
 reader need not be further instructed as 
 to the necessary precautions to be taken 
 when this affliction is upon him. The 
 avoidance of all excess and fatigue, with 
 abstenance from sexual intercourse, espe- 
 cially with a wife or such others as he 
 
86 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 would not wish to infect, is of the first 
 importance. Without any design or de- 
 sire to herald my discoveries in this 
 particular to the advancement of my own 
 interests, professionally or otherwise, I 
 am led to make the fact generally known, 
 so that sufferers may be relieved from 
 anxiety and suspense, and be assured that, 
 gleet or chronic gonorrhoea need not 
 "hang on if forever, if they will but make 
 a trial of the remedies which I can furnish 
 them. 
 
 STRICTURE. 
 
 Another of the consequences, as well as 
 accompanyments, of gonorrhoea, is stric- 
 ture. This is the most complicated, pain- 
 ful and troublesome of all the mischiefs 
 arising from badly treated and protracted 
 cases. In its treatment, nothing that I 
 could say would be of material advantage 
 to the sufferer, as it is certain that he cannot 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 87 
 
 beneficially treat himself. I can only point 
 out the him those signs and symptoms 
 which will unerringly intimate to him the 
 existence of stricture, and the absolute 
 necessity of surgical assistance, if he 
 would obtain relief. The existence of 
 stricture may be inferred whenever a 
 natural flow of the urinary discharge is 
 interupted. Medical writers have taken 
 great pains to arrange and classify this 
 disease, and the books designed solely for 
 the profession, describe the various kinds 
 under the heads of 'permanent? * spas- 
 modic / and l inflammatory? Any of them 
 are bad enough, and I do not think it worth 
 while to inflict upon the general reader a 
 special treatise upon their peculiar charac- 
 teristics, as it would be of no earthly 
 benefit to him. The greatest benefit I can 
 do him, is to point out with sufficient 
 clearness, how he can decide for himself; 
 that it is stricture that prevents him from 
 
88 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 urinating, or, that only allows him to pass 
 his water in a forked, spattering stream, or 
 in scanty drops, or that he is obliged to 
 strain, or that there is that general uneasi- 
 ness and painful bearing down and convul- 
 sive action accompanying the effort to 
 unload the bladder. That eminent surgeon, 
 Sir Benjamin Brodie, in his invaluable 
 work, gives a very good idea of this 
 trouble, " A man/' he says, u who is 
 otherwise healthy, voids his urine one day 
 in a full stream, on the following day, 
 perhaps, he is exposed to cold and damp ; 
 or he dines out and forgets, amidst the 
 company of his friends, the quantity of 
 champagne, or punch, or other liquor con- 
 taining a combination of alcohol, with a 
 vegetable acid, which he drinks. On the 
 next morning he finds himself unable to 
 void his urine. He has stricture. From 
 the moment this fact is ascertained, no 
 time should be lost, as every day increases 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 89 
 
 the evil, and from a simple adhesion of the 
 walls of the urethra, curable by proper 
 applications in a few days ; it will, if 
 neglected, by turns assume all the formid- 
 able shapes of this terrible disease, to the 
 torment of the life of the victim, until the 
 most painful and dangerous surgical opera- 
 tions will only be availing in its eradication 
 and cure." 
 
 The reader will have observed that in 
 all the foregoing pages 1 have carefully 
 avoided entering into details, or giving 
 way to that style of composition which 
 seems almost inseparable from the medical 
 profession. I have not, by a prolix and 
 confused use of medical and pharmaceuti- 
 cal terms, perplexed his mind, nor sought 
 to inspire an opinion of my skill, by an ex- 
 hibition of professional and technical terms, 
 only understood by the regular student 
 and philologist. I have rather sought to 
 intimate, in plain and readily understood 
 
90 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 language, matters and subjects upon which 
 a great deal of ignorance unfortunately 
 prevails. I have sought to point out the 
 dangers and perils arising from certain 
 causes, which are to-day working a vast 
 amount of evil and distress throughout the 
 whole country. 
 
 I have also called your attention to the 
 ready and certain means of cure which I 
 possess, and of which all may avail them- 
 selves at a moderate expense, without in- 
 curring the least danger of relapse or ex- 
 posure. And finally, I invite you to test 
 an experience of over thirty years' unin- 
 terrupted practice, in which I have more 
 successfully treated every disease to 
 which humanity is liable, than any other 
 physician in New England. 
 
 My arrangements and provisions for 
 this purpose are most extensive, and 
 peculiarly adapted to suit and please 
 the taste of the most delicate and fastid- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 91 
 
 ious. My reception rooms are ample, and 
 even luxuriously furnished; and patients, 
 whilst waiting for, and during consultation, 
 are free from all inquisitive observation. 
 My medicines, which are all prepared ' 
 under my own immediate supervision, are 
 procured for me by herbalists of rare skill, 
 and imported for my exclusive use; and 
 whilst I devote every faculty I possess to 
 the relief and cure of those who place 
 themselves under my care, I am particular 
 also to so regulate and apportion the price 
 of my services, that none, however unfor- 
 tunate, need be kept away by the fear of 
 excessive, or exhorbitant charges. 
 
92 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I PRESUME that there are many who, 
 on opening this book, expected to find 
 a larger number of prescriptions for the 
 cure of diseases ; also directions for taking 
 the prescribed remedies, and rules for 
 diet, etc., etc., while taking them. Here 
 let me say, that whoever looks for that, in 
 any properly prepared treatise of this 
 kind, will always be disappointed. I would 
 most cheerfully send prescriptions to suf- 
 ferers, but it would be utterly impractica- 
 ble, for the reason that the principal reme- 
 dies, which I use in curing diseases, are 
 imported by myself, from foreign countries, 
 for my own practice ; and very many of 
 them, the most efficacious, cannot be ob- 
 tained from any druggist in this country. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 93 
 
 The reader will readily see that any pre- 
 scription, under such circumstances, would 
 be worthless to him. I not only import 
 my herbs, barks, roots, and medicinal 
 plants, but I myself prepare them for use. 
 I do this that I may be sure, beyond all 
 doubt, that my patients get the pure arti- 
 cle, without any adulteration, or any possi- 
 bility of mistake ; and to this fact I attri- 
 bute, in a great measure, my success in 
 treating and curing disease. The concen- 
 trated form in which I prepare them, ena- 
 bles me to send them to any part of the 
 country by mail, or by express, at trifling 
 expense ; so that there would be really no 
 reason for furnishing prescriptions to my 
 patients, even it they could get them com- 
 pounded by the druggist. 
 
 I have thought that I could not do a 
 better service to my readers than to give 
 a selection from the large correspondence 
 I am daily receiving from persons seeking 
 
94 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 my advice, or such as have been under my 
 care, as somewhat illustrative of the pecu- 
 liar cases 1 am most frequently called upon 
 to treat. These letters are not only calcu- 
 lated to show the embarrassments under 
 which invalids frequently labor in regard 
 to the choice of a physician, when seeking 
 to regain lost health, but narrating, as they 
 do, actual cases attempted to be described 
 by the sufferers themselves, they may ena- 
 ble the reader to compare his own with 
 them, and to judge whether he may not, 
 with every hope of relief, resort to the 
 same means of cure. 
 
 Whilst, as a general rule, I usually de- 
 stroy correspondence of a private naturei 
 especially all such as I consider that the 
 writers would prefer not to be in danger 
 of a perusal by any other than myself, there 
 are cases which I consider of too interest- 
 ing a character, and which required a 
 degree of care, skill, and attention, to 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 95 
 
 perfect a cure, that I have, in the interest 
 of humanity, preserved such an outline of 
 them as would enable me to refer to, and 
 recall whatever of importance might be 
 connected with them, for my future 
 guidance in similar cases. In such cir- 
 cumstances, I preserve only transcripts of 
 all the correspondence, destroying the 
 original, whilst I erase all names and other 
 means of exposure, of matters which 
 might wound the sensibilities of the 
 writers. 
 
 The subjoined letters I have selected, 
 because they represent, better than I 
 could otherwise do, different grades and 
 classes of physical disability produced by 
 causes particularly treated upon in this 
 book, and which, more than any other 
 class of diseases, I have been called upon 
 to treat. From thousands of similar en- 
 dorsements of the happy results of my 
 system of medical treatment, I am em- 
 
9 6 MEDICAL . ADVISER. 
 
 boldened in claiming for it a superiority 
 over all others. The living witnesses, whom 
 I daily meet and recognize as of those who 
 have, in their persons, experienced the heal- 
 ing, life-preserving efficacy of my remedies, 
 and who, from being debilitated, broken 
 down, despairing invalids, looking forward 
 to death as the only termination of their 
 sufferings, are to-day in the enjoyment of 
 all the blessings which health can confer, 
 and amongst our most useful, active, and 
 and enterprising citizens. With such ex- 
 amples before them, no one should hesitate 
 or delay a single hour in securing to 
 himself the means of recovery and restora- 
 tion which I am fully prepared to offer 
 him. 
 
 Prom the fact that I have, in this little 
 volume, called the reader's attention chiefly 
 to those disorders arising from an indis- 
 creet and overtasked indulgence of the 
 sexual and procreative faculties, some of 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 97 
 
 my readers may be led to infer that I limit 
 my practice exclusively to them. This 
 would be a mistake. Being a regularly- 
 educated physician, my range of practice 
 is not restricted to any particular branch 
 of my profession, although I have devoted 
 a large share of my attention to the 
 investigation and study of the utero- 
 genital organs, under the belief that to 
 them might be traced, much oftener than 
 is generally supposed, a large share of 
 those diseases which annually disables, and 
 eventually carries off, so many thousands 
 of our most promising and interesting 
 young men. Consumption, diseases of the 
 heart and liver, rheumatism, imperfections 
 of sight and hearing, baldness, and many 
 other complaints intimately connected 
 with, and in a large degree owing their 
 early developement to causes directly 
 resulting from a too-frequent violation of 
 nature's laws in this very thing, are sub- 
 
98 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 jects in which I feel myself fully justified 
 in recommending my remedies, and in 
 which I have been equally successful in 
 my treatment. To either sex, male or 
 female, requiring medical or surgical 
 treatment, I am prepared to offer every 
 facility and convenience whilst prescribing 
 for every case of disease or accident to 
 which the human frame is liable. Medi- 
 cines carefully prepared by myself, neatly 
 and securely packed for transportation to 
 any part of the world, with every needed 
 direction for their use, as the case may 
 require, will be promptly forwarded to 
 such as may wish to avail themselves of 
 my professional services. 
 
 (Letter from a gentleman.) 
 
 G , Me., Sept. — 
 
 Dr. Frederic Morrill : 
 
 Dear Sir: It is under feelings of the 
 deepest despondency and mortification that 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 99 
 
 I address you this letter. I have long 
 contemplated doing it, but my resolution 
 has failed me whenever I have sat down 
 to accomplish it. I am, however, reduced 
 to that degree of hopelessness, and, I may 
 add, helplessness, that unless I do some- 
 thing, and that most speedily, I shall be so 
 completely shorn of all energy and man- 
 hood as to be utterly incapable of making 
 myself understood by you or any one else. 
 You already, I imagine, comprehend the 
 difficulty under which I labor. I am now 
 about eighteen years of age, and have 
 been, almost since I arrived at the age of 
 puberty, addicted to that most horrible of 
 all soul and body destroying vice, — self- 
 abuse. First indulging in the practice at 
 rare intervals, it has grown upon me as I 
 have advanced in life, inflicting new tor- 
 tures, and throwing open before me vistas 
 of future torments, which combine to 
 render the present, past, and future, in 
 
100 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 the endurance and anticipation, too ter- 
 rible to bear or describe. I was led into 
 this vile habit, as all boys are, by bad 
 example and association with those who, 
 being older than myself, ought to have 
 known better. I did not then, as I do now, 
 attribute the many painful and depressing 
 ills to which I was subject, to the physical 
 derangements occasioned by this vice. I 
 had, I think, a scrofulous taint, inherited 
 from my parents. This became quite 
 early developed, and for years I was 
 afflicted with a weakness and inflammation 
 of the eyes, which at times was almost 
 insupportable. Costiveness, and constipa- 
 tion also, always rendered it necessary 
 that I should be taking laxative and 
 cathartic medicine. When I resorted to 
 medical advice, not one of the many 
 physicians whom I consulted ever made 
 the inquiry as to my habits, or suggested 
 the possibility that I was paying the 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 101 
 
 penalty of solitary vice. Had my occupa- 
 tion or pursuits been such as to afford me 
 constant and daily labor and exercise in 
 the open air, I have no doubt it would 
 have been far better for me ; but since my 
 fourteenth year I have been a student, 
 either at home or abroad, and although I 
 have enjoyed every advantage and oppor- 
 tunity, to-day feel myself utterly incompe- 
 tent and incapable of profiting by them. 
 A loss of memory and a lack of energy, 
 inability to any continuous exercise of the 
 reasoning powers, a want of tenacity of 
 purpose, a confusion of ideas, timidity, 
 bashfulness, and a constant apprehension 
 of coming evil, so besets me, that I some- 
 times wish that I might die to escape it. 
 Indeed, I have often thought of suicide, 
 and am sometimes seriously tempted to 
 resort to it as a relief from my troubles. 
 I have read books and treatises upon the 
 subject, and have, times without number, 
 
102 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 resolved, nay, sworn, to abandon the prac- 
 tice. But I find to my sorrow that I have 
 not got the strength of will and purpose to 
 do this. To such a state of debility am I 
 reduced that, I find I am powerless to carry 
 into effect any resolution whatever ; and I 
 am at length satisfied that a man left alone, 
 unaided, in this condition, is entirely 
 unable, of himself, to emerge from the 
 depths into which he has fallen. I have 
 hitherto kept this to myself, fearing, or 
 rather ashamed, to make a confident of any 
 one. But I can do so no longer. The 
 continued drain upon my S3 r stem, and the 
 very foundations of manhood, have been 
 so long continued, that I have become the 
 unvoluntary victim of all those ruinous 
 consequences which flow from such a 
 cause ; cold night sweats, a troublesome 
 cough, a burning and feverish skin, dis- 
 turbed sleep, and dreams too horrid and 
 too * * * * to narrate, admonish me, that 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 103 
 
 if I do not soon obtain relief, the attempt 
 to do so will be too late. I have therefore 
 resolved to break through the reserve and 
 moody silence behind which I have hitherto 
 shrouded myself, and, cost what it may 
 throw myself into the hands of some one 
 in whom I can place confidence, and sub- 
 mit entirely to his guidance and direction, 
 until I am either restored to my former self, 
 or laid at rest in the grave. I have heard 
 much of you, of your willingness to under, 
 take such cases as mine, and the great 
 success which attends your course of 
 practice, and the remedies you give. If 
 you think you can cure me, consider me 
 as your patient from this moment. Not 
 wishing to occupy your time for nothing 
 
 I enclose dollars for which please 
 
 give me credit, and write to me at once 
 what I am to do. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, &c, 
 
 S W .■ 
 
 See Note on page 104. 
 
104 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Since the publication of the last previous 
 edition of The Medical Adviser, I have 
 received thousands of letters from almost 
 every class of sufferers; and were I to 
 publish even but one in a hundred of them, 
 (which, of course, I should only do by 
 suppressing names, etc., for very obvious 
 reasons,) I should swell this volume far 
 beyond the size to which I have limited it ; 
 and whilst they would present an array of 
 
 Note. — The reader will clearly perceive from the 
 foregoing letter, that this was not only a most distres- 
 sing case, but that, notwithstanding the writer had 
 intended to give me such a detailed statement as would 
 enable me to prescribe for him directly, yet, on a more 
 careful examination, he will see that there was not that 
 circumstantial detail of particulars necessary for my 
 guidance in a case of so much importance. Apprised of 
 the unhappy young gentleman's inability at that time 
 to visit me at my office, I wrote to him some two or 
 three times, suggesting topics upon which I desired to 
 be more fully informed. In the course of a fortnight 
 I had succeeded in perfecting quite a satisfactory 
 diagnosis of his case, and immediately put in active 
 operation the course of treatment I had marked out. 
 It was not to be expected that habits so confirmed, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 105 
 
 facts startling to the general reader, would 
 not at all be surprising to such of the medi- 
 cal profession as are in the way to know the 
 fearful extent of the evils arising from 
 solitary vice. Among the letters recently 
 received by me, is the following, which I 
 have the writer's permission to make 
 public. I have copied it verbatim. The 
 reader will find it quite interesting, and a 
 much better specimen than the great 
 
 and maladies so aggravated, could be at once broken 
 up. Experience had too often shown me that this 
 class of patients, however determined and resolved 
 they might express themselves to be in the beginning, 
 were not always to be relied upon in carrying out 
 your views in regard to them, and that not unfre- 
 quently they defeated your best efforts in their behalf, 1 
 by but a half compliance with your directions. A 
 temporary relief, and a slight change for the better, 
 would give rise to a presumptuous desire to break 
 through the rules you had prescribed for their guid- 
 ance, and before you suspect it, they would complain 
 of the want of efficacy of your treatment, and fall 
 back into the old line of complaint and despair. 
 
 But I am not in the practice of letting patients foil 
 me in my labors to effect a cure in that way ; and it is 
 
106 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 majority of such letters usually offer. In 
 its simplicity, and fidelity of narrative, 
 many readers will recognize a very accu- 
 rate description of symptoms and troubles 
 to which they are no strangers themselves. 
 Its perusal should also stimulate them to 
 imitate the writer in his earnest efforts to 
 obtain relief, when once aroused to the 
 dangers by which he is menaced. 
 
 I will add that, that the individual is, at 
 
 at the very moment of their greatest discouragement, 
 that I feel that I am beginning to get them well in 
 hand, and that when they find they are past all hope, 
 except through outside help, I am most certain that I 
 have them on the sure road to recovery and better 
 days. And so it was with this young man. By 
 encouragement and persuasions I soon won his entire 
 confidence, and had the satisfaction of witnessing his 
 gradual progress from almost total prostration to 
 renewed vigor and health. I did not even resort to 
 the expedient of a change of residence, nor to his 
 giving up his books. My medical treatment was 
 directed towards subduing and soothing the nervous 
 irritation which his habits had engendered, and to 
 strengthen and give tone to every faculty which had 
 felt the debilitating effects of his former indulgencies. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH 107 
 
 this time, (February, 1871,) under my 
 treatment, and, as he assures me, " improv- 
 ing rapidly ; every day feeling more and 
 more the beneficial effects of the remedies 
 I prescribe for him." 
 
 H******* Vt., Jan. 10, 1871. 
 Mr. F. Morrill, M. D., 
 
 Dear Sir : It is with feelings of reluc- 
 tance that I seat myself to write you 
 
 I did not allow the slightest symptom to escape me ; 
 and although I had never seen him, I felt assured of 
 the beneficial changes which were taking place, as 
 though I had him daily in my presence. Gradually 
 the style of his correspondence, as well as the steadi- 
 ness of his hand and eye, indicated by his penmanship, 
 plainly showed the great improvement going on, until 
 at length I was surprised by a call from him to thank 
 me in person for what I had done for him. 
 
 Let the reader imagine for himself, a hale, portly 
 young man, bearing about him every mark of a 
 healthy and almost perfect manhood; a frank, open 
 and ingenious countenance, that shrinks from no 
 scrutiny, and a bright sparkling eye that almost fasci- 
 nates you by its beaming lustre and intelligence, and 
 you have before you the patient whose case I have 
 
108 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 this letter. But 1 feel somewhat com- 
 pelled to do so, on account of my own 
 present condition ; prompted by a desire 
 to obtain that, which through a foolish and 
 wicked habit, I have lost. I refer to 
 health ; which, through a long number of 
 years, by self-abuse, I feel that I have 
 undermined. I am sorry thus to be com- 
 pelled to resort to this course, and should 
 do it from no other motive than the sincere 
 hope of relief. 
 
 I have become acquainted with you 
 through a little book, written by yourself, 
 
 just been describing. He was thoroughly cured. 
 Every faculty of both soul and body appeared to be 
 fully adequate to all the exigencies of an honorable 
 and successful future, to which his means, and his 
 family and social relations, would justify him to 
 aspire. I am happy to say that his subsequent career 
 has realized the highest expectations I had formed of 
 him. Equally distinguished at the bar of his adopted 
 State, as at the national councils, he is, at this time, 
 one of the most promising and rising men in the 
 country. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 109 
 
 entitled The Gentleman's Medical Ad. 
 Viser, and will try to state as concisely 
 as possible, my condition. 
 
 I am now twenty-four years of age, and 
 have indulged in the baneful practice of 
 masturbation for more than twelve years. 
 I never realized that it had any very 
 perceptible effect upon me, until about a 
 year ago, when I was attacked with a fit, 
 epileptic, I suppose. Since then I have 
 had a number. I have had only three, 
 however, since sometime last May. I have 
 attributed these fits, in a large degree, to 
 this practice, and, perhaps, wholly. Since 
 I became aware that this was the case, I 
 partially reformed my bad habits. I went 
 three or four months without resorting to 
 it at all, and then, thinking that, perhaps, 
 an occasional indulgence (it being almost a 
 second nature,) would do no harm. I think I 
 have indulged myself in it since the first 
 part of October, up to within about three 
 
110 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 weeks, but three times. But those times 
 were, I fear ; the load that broke my back ; 
 as since then, I have had four or five invol- 
 untary nocturnal emissions, which have 
 caused me much suffering and well nigh dis- 
 couraged me. I would do most anything 
 for relief. Do you think you could help 
 me ? I do not feel any serious derangement 
 of the system. I enjoy a good appetite, 
 good digestion, and bowels very regular. 
 My general health is apparently good. But 
 I know too well what will be the conse- 
 quences if relief is not afforded, and these 
 involuntary emissions stopped. I have 
 been taking, for nearly a year, a solution 
 of " Bromide of Potassia " for my fits, 
 but it seemed to me that I need some- 
 thing to act back of that. If you feel as 
 though you could give me relief, will you 
 please be so kind as to undertake it. If 
 you can do it by sending me directions and 
 medicine without necessitating a visit, you 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. Ill 
 
 will confer a favor, as it would be quite diffi- 
 cult for me to leave rny business, as I am 
 now situated. If you wish for any further 
 information, I shall be glad to give it. 
 You can send medicine by express or 
 otherwise to me. Send bill for collection, 
 if you wish. Now, that you would under- 
 take to do me good by attending to my 
 case immediately is my earnest desire. I 
 feel as though it needs immediate attention 
 before it shall be too late. It has beeq, 
 only three weeks since I have had any 
 involuntary emissions. I feel more hope- 
 ful on account of attending to it before it 
 has exhausted the entire system. With 
 the sincere hope that you may be able to 
 confer on me the precious boon of health, 
 for which I should ever be extremely 
 grateful and thankful to you. 
 
 I remain yours truly, 
 
 I- G . 
 
 The following letter is from a middle- 
 
112 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 aged gentlemen, whose early life had been 
 marked by misfortunes of no ordinary 
 severity, which had preyed upon his 
 health to that extent as to occasionally 
 unfit him for all business occupations, as 
 also to render him incapable of any mental 
 enjoyments whatever. Strange as it may 
 appear, this gentleman's appearance indi- 
 cated in no very marked degree, the 
 infirmities of which he complained. He 
 was rather plethoric and full in form, and his 
 his countenance was more like that ofa,"bon 
 vivant " than otherwise. To one unaccus- 
 to read the " human face divine," he would 
 have been taken for almost anybody else 
 than one who was suffering under a most 
 complicated form of disease, having its 
 origin in a criminal indulgence so vile and 
 sensual as to excite our horror and aver- 
 sion towards one, who, in the form of a 
 man, could surrender himself up to such 
 gross and unnatural appetites and desires. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 113 
 
 B -, 186—. 
 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 In the short interview which I had with 
 you, yesterday, I perceived that I stag- 
 gered your faith in my truthfulness, when 
 I stated to you the troubles which oppress 
 me, and which, notwithstanding the fair and 
 rosy blush of health I wear, renders life 
 almost an unsupportable burden. You 
 were correct in your opinion that, my case, 
 was an abnormal one, which required a 
 frank avowal on my part before you could 
 venture to prescribe for me. Although not 
 particularly troubled with any excess of 
 squeamishness in matters of this kind, I 
 must confess that I felt reluctant to expose 
 to you, verbally, the true character of my 
 mental and physical deformities. Did I 
 tell you that I was a brute, I should come 
 far short of conveying to you any just idea 
 of myself. I am a brute, embodying every 
 animal instinct, with all the reasoning, 
 
114 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 cunning, planning, and executing faculties 
 of the human being in their highest degree 
 and perfection. A native of the south of 
 Europe, and inheriting all the hot and fiery 
 instincts of my race, I have ever sought 
 the gratification of every unholy and 
 unlicensed passion to which the creature, 
 man, may be enslaved. 
 
 At a very early age, even in my boyhood, 
 I broke through every bound of religion, 
 morality, and blood itself, to gratify the 
 intense desires which overwhelmed me. 
 This ever-consuming fire seemed to derive 
 new force and energy upon what it fed on, 
 when satiety and disgust led me to search 
 out new sources of gratification, until the 
 most unnatural tastes and propensities took 
 possession of me. Consorting with men 
 and even animals, became far more prefer- 
 able than with the fairest and most enticing 
 of the opposite sex; and I became so 
 addicted to it, that I felt myself, as, indeed, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 115 
 
 that n pestilence which walketh at noon- 
 day/' as ; vampy re-like, I fattened upon the 
 the victims I had destroyed. These hor- 
 rible and unnatural gratifications seems to 
 have had the effect of blending and incor- 
 porating their mischievous and deadening 
 influence throughout every faculty of my 
 being; shame, morality, and virtue lost 
 their distinctive qualities in my mind, and 
 gluttony, intemperance, and excess of 
 every kind, have usurped complete mastery 
 over me. One who knows me well has 
 frequently intimated that I must look to 
 moral, rather than medical influences to 
 change me from what I am. But I know 
 better. Moral effort can hold no successful 
 conflict with the overwhelming physical 
 clamorings of an organization like mine. 
 "A. sound mind in a sound body," is a 
 maxim of wisdom, but the sound body must 
 come first. Insanity is, I presume, the 
 consequence of a diseased brain ; and 
 
116 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 although a diseased brain requires the aid 
 of moral forces to its proper readjustment, 
 yet a nice and just adaptation of sanitary 
 appliances must precede as well as accom- 
 pany them, to render them available. 
 
 Impotency, sterility and exhaustion, 
 admit of a ready cure at the hands of the 
 skilful physician ; who, like yourself, has 
 made this branch of physiological science 
 his particular study. If excitants, tonics, 
 and stimulants promote action in the one 
 class of cases, why should not antiphlogis- 
 tics, anodynes, and kindred remedies 
 quench those fires which turn man into a 
 demon, and renders life one constant re- 
 bellion against everything pure and good. 
 I have great faith in you, doctor, hence 
 this disclosure. Are you willing to try 
 your skill in this strange case ? I will sub- 
 mit to anything, do anything, that I may 
 again enjoy the tranquility and self-posses- 
 sion of perfectly vigorous manhood. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 117 
 
 My means are ample, and they are at your 
 disposal ; all I ask in return is, that I may 
 be enabled to go forth amongst my fellow- 
 men without that crushing sense of moral 
 degradation which is now more oppressive 
 than any " fearful looking for of fiery in- 
 dignation/ 7 in the future, can possibly be. 
 Any encouragement you can give me will 
 materially influence my movements for the 
 future, and T will most gladly avail myself 
 of your earliest intimation that a call from 
 me would be agreeable. 
 
 With great esteem, I am yours, etc. 
 L F . 
 
 Note. This gentleman had by no means overstated 
 his case. At my suggestion he took apartments in 
 my vicinity where I could daily observe his conduct. 
 It was clearly evident that his misfortunes were chiefly 
 owing to a morbid state of the whole system, similar 
 to that which in some person manifests itself in a rav- 
 enous appetite, which can only be appeased by devour- 
 ing enormous quantities of the most indigestible and 
 revolting substances for food. I felt satisfied that the 
 case was a fair one for medical treatment, and govern- 
 
118 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 (Letter Third.) 
 
 D , 186—. 
 
 Doctor Morrill, 
 
 Boston, Mass. 
 Dear Sir : I enclose a gentleman's card, 
 with his endorsement upon the back of it, 
 well known to you, as my introduction. 
 For some months past I have been in search 
 of a skilful medical man, whom I might 
 safely consult in a matter involving not 
 only my own happiness, but the peace, 
 
 ed myself accordingly. It would be useless for me to 
 attempt to describe to the non-professional reader the 
 course I adopted, and readily submitted to by my pa- 
 tient, to exorcise this " unclean spirit " which posses- 
 sed him. Suffice it to say, 'that, after an unusual 
 degree of application on my part, I had the satisfac- 
 tion at length of reducing the " fair proportions of 
 his ruling passion," until he sobered down into a ra- 
 tional human being. Bereft of no quality, nor in any- 
 wise shorn of his proper manhood, he has become a 
 model of regularity, moderation, and of all the gentler 
 virtues. His striking manly beauty still marks him as 
 a general favorite, whilst those coarser features which 
 formerly marred him, have disappeared forever. My 
 last letter from him, dated several years ago, informed 
 me, that at length he had settled down, rejoicing in 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 119 
 
 health, and, possibly, the life itself of my 
 wife. For several years she has been an 
 invalid. She is now thirty-three years of 
 age, and we have been married upwards 
 of twelve years. Shortly after the birth 
 of our child, a son of nearly eleven years 
 of age, her health began to decline, since 
 which time, notwithstanding the many 
 physicians to whom she has applied, and 
 the various means resorted to for relief, 
 she has continued, in a state of debility so 
 
 the society of an amiable companion, and with an un- 
 disturbed temperament and tranquility of soul which 
 promised to compensate him, in part, for the tumul- 
 tuous and stormy past. 
 
 I have hesitated long before I could persuade my- 
 self to give place to the foregoing in these pages. But 
 on reflection I felt that, as it was a true record, and 
 represented a class by no means rare or uncommon, I 
 would not withhold it from the apprehensions of the 
 criticisms of the incredulous or narrow-minded. Hu- 
 man nature is the same everywhere, beset by the same 
 temptations, and destroyed by the same vices ; and the 
 medical man, better than all others, knows to what 
 extent the justification exists for calling attention to 
 this gentleman's case. 
 
120 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 nearly bordering on downright sickness as 
 to be seldom capable of attending to any 
 of the duties, or enjoying any of the com- 
 forts, much less the pleasures, of society, 
 or even of life itself. So repeated has 
 been her failures to obtain beneficial medi- 
 cal aid, that, long since she gave up all 
 hope of obtaining it at the hands of any of 
 those physicians whom we have been in 
 the habit of regarding as our oracles in all 
 matters of this kind. She declares herself 
 disgusted, and wearied out by this con- 
 stant succession of potions, pills, and pow- 
 ders, tonics, stimulants, and alteratives, as 
 they are termed, and has about made up 
 her mind to resign herself to her fate, 
 whatever that may be. This is not so 
 much to be wondered at when I inform you 
 that there is hardly a physician of any note 
 in the city with whom she has not consult- 
 ed, many of them repeatedly, but all of 
 them to little purpose. My friend, who so 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 121 
 
 highly recommends you, has endeavored to 
 prevail upon her to consult you ; but with 
 a perversity, if not peculiar to her sex, at 
 least strongly characteristic of her infirmi- 
 ties, slie persists in her resolution hence- 
 forth to let the doctors alone. This all 
 might do very well, if she alone was the 
 sufferer. But I, being a party quite as 
 much interested as she is, have resolved 
 that no efforts shall remain untried to ena- 
 ble her to regain her health, and that I may 
 have restored to me the society and com- 
 panionship of a wife to whom I am most 
 fondly attached. I cannot see her thus, 
 day by day, sinking into a premature 
 grave, whilst there remains the least earth- 
 ly possibility of rescuing her from her 
 present perilous condition. I have, there- 
 fore, determined to give to you, myself, 
 such facts concerning her case as I am con- 
 versant with ; and as I have been for many 
 years past, to a great extent, her principal 
 
122 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 nurse, I am not certain but that I can give 
 you all the description necessary to enable 
 yo\j to form a pretty just opinion of whom 
 you are to treat, and the troubles you are 
 expected to eradicate. Soon after the 
 birth of our child my wife's health com- 
 menced gradually to give way, and she 
 filled, with difficulty, the offices of a mother, 
 against my remonstrances ; she declined to 
 resign her child to other hands during its 
 infancy, and, although no immediate conse- 
 quences were apparent, yet it was evident 
 that her physical powers were not equal 
 to the burden she assumed. 
 
 Whatever may have been the causes, 
 thenceforward there seemed to be a gene- 
 ral breaking up and falling to pieces of her 
 entire system. Disorders of the womb, 
 breasts, and a general weakness of all the 
 genital organs indicated but too surely an 
 enfeebled and relaxed condition of the sys- 
 tem, calling for the immediate application 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 123 
 
 of remedial measures of some sort. The 
 physician whom I called did not seem to 
 understand the case, or, if he did, he mis- 
 erably failed in his selection of remedies ; 
 for, instead of getting better, her maladies 
 assumed a more dangerous and complicated 
 form. She ceased to become a mother, and 
 seemed to be beset by all those disorders 
 which call so loudly for our sympathy and 
 aid. Labor and exercise of any kind be- 
 come too irksome to be borne, whilst head- 
 aches, indigestion, pains in the abdomen, 
 great susceptibility to atmospheric chan- 
 ges, extreme irregularity in all the natural 
 functions, bleedings and other discharges, 
 combined to depress her spirits and under- 
 mine her strength, until she is now but a 
 wreck of her former self. With this wear- 
 ing away of the physical forces, there is 
 also a decay of the mental faculties still 
 more distressing to witness. She has fever 
 to a considerable degree, yet the absence 
 
124 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 of the hectic flush of the cheek, or cough, 
 or other usual signs of consumption, leads 
 me to indulge the belief that her disease 
 is not consumption in any of its forms. 
 
 Physicians have repeatedly intimated 
 consumption, spinal disease, or some ova- 
 rian complaint, and have, in turn, treated 
 her for all these ; and yet, the same emaci- 
 ation, loss of appetite, discharges of blood 
 and serum, disinclination to effort of any 
 kind, and repugnance to all society, con- 
 tinues as at first. Were I not afraid to en- 
 tertain the thought, or pronounce the word, 
 I should say that imbecility was the proper 
 term to employ as descriptive of the condi- 
 tion to which she appears to be now fast 
 tending. She makes less complaint than 
 formerly, and manifests less solicitude for 
 her restoration to health ; and I feai; there 
 are grounds for this in the almost passive 
 state to which she is reduced. I wish it- 
 were so that I could induce her to undergo 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 125 
 
 the journey necessary to see you, but that 
 is entirely out of the question, From what 
 I have written, can you form any just idea 
 of her disease, and would you venture to 
 take her case in hand ? Could you do this, 
 doctor, I should consider myself fortunate 
 in having secured your services in her be- 
 half. Enclosed please find a fee, which I 
 trust will be satisfactory. 
 
 Your early reply will be awaited for 
 with deep anxiety, and gratefully appre- 
 ciated by 
 
 Most respectfully, your ob ? t serv't, 
 
 If the reader has perused this book with 
 any degree of attention, and failed to re- 
 cognize in the above description, by her 
 husband, of Mrs. M.'s case, a clear and de- 
 cided case of self-abuse, then I cannot give 
 him credit for ordinary penetration and 
 acuteness. 
 
126 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 I introduce this letter, and the case it 
 describes, in order to show to the reader a 
 peculiar characteristic of this propensity, 
 not alone confined to females, but shared 
 alike by both sexes. Here was a lady who 
 had lived under the same roof, shared the 
 same bed, and otherwise cohabited with 
 an affectionate, confiding, and devoted 
 husband for thirteen years ; and yet, all 
 this time, had been able to elude his watch- 
 fulness to that extent as to completely dis- 
 arm suspicion itself; whilst he, hapless 
 husband that he was, in the supposition 
 that his wife was the victim of some deep- 
 seated and occult disorder, far beyond the 
 reach of ordinary skill, and, as it has been 
 shown, not even thought of by the many 
 doctors who had attended her, was about 
 to surrender her to the grave, as past the 
 possibility of cure, never dreamed that his 
 wife was simply a masturbationist, and as 
 such, as fit a subject for medical treatment 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 127 
 
 as though she was simply affected by ca- 
 tarrh, or any other analagous disease. ? Tis 
 true that she had inflicted serious and 
 almost fatal injury upon herself ; but she 
 was not yet past hope of restoration. The 
 striking feature of the case is the cunning, 
 secresy, and deception resorted to by the 
 subjects of this vice. Strange as it may 
 appear, the habit seems to sharpen all the 
 faculties of concealment and duplicity, 
 whilst it deadens and paralyzes every 
 moral sentiment, and leads its votaries to 
 deceive and to shun their best friends and 
 most intimate associates. Even the pros- 
 pects of relief are disregarded, and the 
 kindest purposes of the physician often 
 thwarted by a concealment and evasion 
 rarely resorted to under any other circum- 
 stances. With this patient neither strata- 
 gem nor circumlocution would be available. 
 My only course was to attack her with 
 plainness of speech and directness of in- 
 
128 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 quiry. With her husband's permission I 
 wrote to her, stating, not my suspicions 
 merely, but charging her directly with 
 being addicted to solitary vices, and attri- 
 buting all her maladies and sufferings to 
 them alone. Whether she ever showed 
 that letter to her husband, is more than I 
 can say. But a short time afterwards I 
 received a letter directly from herself, 
 begging me to prescribe for her, as she 
 was " satisfied that I understood her case, 
 and would do for her better than any one 
 else." 
 
 Of course I immediately acceded to her 
 request, and, carefully protecting myself 
 against any surprises or duplicity on her 
 part, I subjected her to a rigid and thorough 
 course of treatment, both medicinal and 
 hygienic, until, both from her own and her 
 husband's statements, she had completely 
 regained her former good health. Subse- 
 quently, on becoming personally acquaint- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 129 
 
 ed with her, she informed me that, up to 
 that moment, her husband had remained in 
 entire ignorance of the true cause and na- 
 ture of her complaints ; and she thanked 
 me over and over again, not only for the 
 decided steps I had taken, but for the dis- 
 creet, cautious, as well as successful man- 
 ner in which I had treated her, and relieved 
 her of all her troubles. 
 
 I might continue, with the materials in 
 my possession, to illustrate by letters and 
 testimonials without number, the great 
 success which has ever attended that sys- 
 tem of treatment which I have adopted in 
 those cases usually denominated " delicate," 
 and which forms so large a share of those 
 which afflict mankind. Notwithstanding 
 the country, and our large cities especially, 
 is literally crowded by those who make 
 large pretensions to extraordinary skill, 
 and style themselves '" doctors," whose 
 only claim to that distinction is that they 
 
130 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 are able to keep up a standing advertise- 
 ment in some of our newspapers, but whose 
 real attainments in medical science can be 
 measured by an 0. I have felt that in the 
 open, liberal, and faithful exercise of a 
 specialty made honorable by such names 
 as Abercrombie, Hunter, Bell, Bicord, 
 Acton, and many others whose learned in- 
 vestigation and writings upon this subject 
 have done so much to benefit mankind, 
 I need not fear, nor shrink from being 
 placed on any degree in the scale of " pro- 
 fessional respectability/ 7 to which my pro- 
 fessional brethren may choose to assign 
 me. My tribunal is the public at large, 
 and by its judgment I am content to abide. 
 It has been truly said that " nothing suc- 
 ceeds so well as success." Judged by 
 this criterion, I do not hesitate to compare 
 myself with any pf my compeers, certain 
 as I am that, in point of numbers cured, I 
 excel them all. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 131 
 
 And here allow me to say that, although 
 I do not, by any means, design this book 
 as an advertising medium, but solely what 
 it claims to be, — A Medical Advertiser, 
 and Guide to Health, — yet I believe my 
 readers will concur with me in the strict 
 propriety of calling attention to the great 
 facilities I possess for the care and treat- 
 ment of the sick at my extensive establish- 
 ment No. 3 Bulfinch Street, Boston, Mass. 
 Secluded from general observation, in one 
 of the pleasantest streets in the city, with 
 easy access to all public conveyances, and 
 in the immediate neighborhood of the chief 
 objects of public interest, the Mall, the 
 Common, the Public Garden, the Horticul- 
 tural Rooms, the Museum, the Reservoir, 
 and the State House, I claim for it advan- 
 tages of location possessed by no other 
 private establishment in the city. Good 
 nursing, careful and faithful attendance, 
 and medical treatment under my own im- 
 
132 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 mediate supervision, with all remedies 
 directly from my own laboratory, will 
 ensure to patients all that science, art, and 
 skill can offer for their comfort and relief. 
 I prefer to consult orally with my patients, 
 if possible. But if that be impossible, or 
 inconvenient, letters, plainly and distinctly 
 written, stating the nature of the disease, 
 the age and occupation of the patient r ad- 
 dressed to me, containing two dollars, 
 consultation fee, will be promptly attended 
 to. In order to avoid any mistakes and 
 delay, please direct letters as follows : — 
 F. MORRILL, M. D., 
 No. 3 Bulfinch Street, Boston, Mass. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 133 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 RECIPES. 
 
 IN addition to directions already given 
 for the treatment of the more common 
 diseases for which the aid of a physician is 
 required and most usually sought after, I 
 have thought it best to subjoin here a few 
 of the most valuable and reliable prescrip- 
 tions, to which the sufferer may safely 
 resort in case of need. These prescrip- 
 tions are the result of a large experience, 
 and may be safely depended upon. With 
 one or two exceptions, they are such as 
 can be put up in any country apothecary's 
 store, and may be used, as directed, with 
 perfect safety. All these diseases have so 
 many modifications, and patients differ so 
 much in susceptibility to contagion and 
 inflammation, as well as in the resistant 
 
134 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 powers of nature, that no two cases can 
 be properly treated alike. What would 
 cure one person in forty-eight hours of a 
 slight attack, might be as inert and power- 
 less with another as so much water. It is 
 the physician alone, who by his powers of 
 discrimination and judgment, derived from 
 a long familiarity with the various shades 
 of these complaints, can with certainty be 
 relied upon. I have selected the following 
 prescriptions from among those I most 
 frequently use in my own practice, and 
 can safely recommend them : — 
 
 On the first appearance of Clap, what 
 is termed the abortive treatment may 
 prove successful in arresting its further pro- 
 gress. For this purpose make a solution 
 of acetate of lead and sulphate of zinc about 
 ten grains to the ounce, to which may 
 be added a little laudanum. This is to be 
 used in the form of an injection three 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 135 
 
 times daily, taking care to keep it at least 
 three minutes each time in the urethra. 
 
 A good wash for a simple Chancre. 
 R. Acid Tanici, 
 
 Zinc Sulph., each 2 grs. 
 Soft Water, 2 drs. 
 
 Saturate a bit of lint larger than the 
 sore, so as to keep it moist, and at the 
 same time cover the sore, to protect the 
 opposite healthy surface. 
 
 Ricord's Anti-Syphilitic Pill is an excel- 
 lent remedy on the first appearance of a 
 Canchre, and often proves a perfect anti- 
 dote to constitutional infection. 
 
 I do not give the recipe for its compo- 
 sition, as ordinarily it would be difficult to 
 get them made up at a country apothe- 
 cary's shop. I keep them, constantly pre- 
 pared by myself, from M. Record's original 
 recipe, which he was kind enough to fur- 
 nish me. The dose is one pill three times 
 
136 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 a day. I supply them in all cases neces- 
 sary, accompanied with every needed di- 
 rection. 
 
 Injections of Nitrate of Silver, in cases 
 of gonorrhoea are objectionable, except 
 administered by, or under the immediate 
 supervision of the physician, as an abortive 
 remedy. It is one of the very best, but is 
 sometimes dangerous, causing violent in- 
 flammation, and constitutional disturbance. 
 Inflammation at the neck of the bladder ; 
 abscess in the prostrate and perineum; 
 swelled testicle, and bubo, have all been 
 known to succeed caustic injections, and 
 bring with them their attendant dangers. 
 Its use is also apt to be attended with 
 vexatious staining of the hands and linen, 
 difficult to be got rid of, and thus likely to 
 create suspicion and produce exposure. 
 
 The Chlorate of Potash may be used 
 with every assurance of success and safety. 
 It is not so prompt in its effects as the 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 137 
 
 Nitrate of Silver, and requires some degree 
 of perseverance in its use to perfect a 
 cure : — 
 
 R. Chlorate of Potash, one drachm, 
 Water, eight ounces. 
 
 Mix. In the early stages use an injection 
 every hour, for twelve hours ; then four, 
 and finally three times a day. All reme- 
 dies for gonorrhoea should be continued, in 
 reduced doses, for a week, at least, after a 
 discharge ceases. 
 
 In obstinate cases of gonorrhoea, and 
 leucorrhoea in females, the following mix- 
 ture of astringent of bark of Bazil is often 
 found highly effective : — 
 
 R. Decoct, cort. adstring. Brasil; 7 fluid 
 ounces, 
 Copaib, cum vitelli ovi qs. subact. 
 Tinct. ferri pomati aa, seven drachms, 
 Syrup balsam, one fluid ounce. 
 Dose. A spoonful every two hours. 
 
138 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 These prescriptions should only be put 
 up by a careful apothecary. 
 
 In the chronic stages of gonorrhoea and 
 gleet, Creosote is often found to be a very 
 useful remedy, taken in doses of two drops, 
 with .loaf-sugar beaten into syrup with 
 water, three or four times a day. Ordi- 
 nary cases of leucorrhoea, in females, may 
 generally be cured in three or four days 
 by weak injections of Creosote, two drops 
 to the ounce of water, repeated twice, or 
 thrice daily. Copaiba should never be 
 used at the same time with Creosote. 
 
 I consider it quite unnecessary to mul- 
 tiply prescriptions for the diseases above 
 alluded to, as they would only serve to 
 embarrass and perplex the sufferer. Those 
 now given are only designed for his use, 
 until he can have recourse to some honest 
 and skilful physician. Let him avoid all 
 patent and advertised remedies, and quack 
 humbugs, and he cannot fail to be better 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 139 
 
 off, and far safer, than in the hands of the 
 charlatan knave who is solely after his 
 money. 
 
 In cases of syphilitic attacks, such as 
 the appearance of a chancre, a simple water 
 dressing with lint, is all that is nece&sary 
 until a physician can be consulted. In any 
 case, a resort to mercurial or potassium, 
 or any of the popular remedies, should be 
 avoided until prescribed by him. Should 
 the canchre have made much progress, 
 sprinkling it with pure dry calomel is often 
 found very beneficial. In a large majority 
 of cases, the alterative effects of mercury 
 can be better attained by using the com- 
 mon blue ointment, (unguentum) rubbing it 
 upon the inside of the thighs. Should the 
 palate, or roof of the mouth be attacked, 
 the common black wash, procured at any 
 druggist's, may be carefully applied with a 
 camePs hair pencil ; or, a small bit of the 
 nitrate of silver^ carefully inserted in a 
 
140 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 quill, may be drawn over and around the 
 edges of the sore. By the aid of a small 
 mirror, the patient may do this for himself, 
 as effectually as the best surgeon in the 
 world. 
 
 The reader will, I trust, constantly bear 
 in mind that these suggestions in regard 
 to his use of medical agencies, are only 
 designed to aid him when he cannot at 
 once have the benefit of the advice and 
 direction of a good doctor. Persons resid- 
 ing in villages and country towns, where 
 there are but one or two physicians at 
 most, are very often quite reluctant to con- 
 sult with them, or to expose to them their 
 condition, and consequently prefer to run 
 the risk of doctoring themselves for awhile, 
 until they can repair to the city. There 
 is prudence in this course for more reasons 
 than simply the dislike to make the family, 
 or neighborhood doctor, a confident in 
 your troubles. The country doctor seldom 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 141 
 
 knows anything about this class of diseases. 
 When a student, he may have read some- 
 thing about them, and a general knowledge 
 of them, as derived from the books, may 
 have been attained as a part of his medical 
 education ; but who is there that does not 
 know very well that the treatment of all 
 these diseases are now entirely different 
 from what it was even ten years ago, and 
 that the writings of even such standard 
 authors as Thomas, the Bells, Copeland, 
 and a host of others whom 1 might name, 
 are altogether out of date, and entirely 
 unreliable upon these subjects. I do not 
 mean to intimate that there are not as good 
 doctors in the country towns as in the 
 city : there are many country doctors who 
 would justly be regarded as ornaments to 
 their profession anywhere. But the coun- 
 try practitioner is not called upon to exer- 
 cise his skill in private diseases, to that 
 extent as to prompt him to become an 
 
142 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 expert in their treatment. A case or 
 two in a year, and perhaps not even 
 that, is generally the extent of his expe- 
 rience, and even these he touches reluc- 
 tantly. If he cures, well. If he fails, it is 
 just as well to him ; he knows that his 
 patient will keep still about it in either 
 case. I knew a case some years ago, 
 where a young gentleman residing in a 
 country town, on his first visit to the city, 
 was so unfortunate as to contract for the 
 first time, a simple gonorrhoea. It did not 
 develope itself fully until his return home, 
 when, suspecting the cause of his trouble, 
 he applied to his friend, the village doctor 
 for relief. That gentleman was considered 
 one of the very best physicians and sur- 
 geons in the whole region around. His 
 large practice, and uniform success, made 
 him prominent as one of the safest and 
 most reliable medical counsellors, in all 
 that section of country. Of course he 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 143 
 
 readily undertook my young friend's case, 
 and for months, and months, he dosed, 
 drugged, and tormented him, with all the 
 various compounds, and combinations of 
 copaiba, cubebs, nitre, various emulsions, 
 &c, &c, until the poor fellow was literally 
 worn down to skin and bone. He has 
 often since shown me the old doctor's 
 account and bill of items for that siege, as 
 he termed it, and there, running through a 
 period of over six months, is put down day 
 and date, and item by item, a list of medi- 
 cines, in all, with services, amounting to 
 over two hundred dollars, for the treat- 
 ment, (not cure mind you) of a simple 
 case that I could have easily cured in a 
 week's time, at a tenth part of the expense. 
 Now-a-days the treatment of urino-genital 
 diseases, and all disorders of the genera- 
 tive organs, and their functions, has settled 
 down into a science as exact as that of any 
 other ; and in conformity with a custom 
 • 
 
144 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 long established in European capitals, the 
 treatment of this class of diseases is con- 
 fined to a few, who are designated as 
 specialists, who have perfected themselves 
 in this particular branch of medical and 
 surgical science, by great aptitude for it, 
 extensive study and investigation, and the 
 practical experience afforded by a varied 
 and extensive practice. With them it is 
 emphatically true that, " practice makes 
 perfect," and as success is about the best 
 criterion of merit, the afflicted have only 
 to inquire who of them it is, that is reputed 
 to have the most extensive practice. That 
 fact ascertained, there need be no further 
 difficulty in making the selection of your 
 medical adviser. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 145 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SPERMATORRHOEA, SEMINAL WEAKNESS AND 
 NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS. 
 
 I CANNOT conclude this branch of my 
 treatise without a more particular allu- 
 sion to a class of diseases affecting the 
 procreative organs, which are alarmingly 
 
 Note. It is a well-known fact to every specialist 
 of established reputation for skill and scientific attain- 
 ments that there are few, if indeed any complaints 
 affecting the urinary and generative organs, which 
 afflict so many as those named at the head of this 
 chapter. There are literally thousands in this city, 
 and a proportionate number in all our cities and 
 towns more or less affected by them, leading lives of 
 wretchedness almost bordering upon despair at their 
 condition. This need not be so. These troubles are 
 as amenable to medical treatment as any others in the 
 whole catalogue of human diseases. It is only when 
 sufferers fall into the hands of ignorant charlatans and 
 quacks, who make large pretensions of special skill 
 in such cases, that they find their promises of relief 
 
146 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 prevalent, and gradually undermining the 
 very foundations of our best manhood and 
 womanhood in their most interesting and 
 important relations to society and domestic 
 life. Whether it is that, owing to a more 
 general dissemination of knowledge in this 
 respect, through an outspoken candor on 
 the part of the medical profession, or that 
 
 and restoration are made only to be unfulfilled through 
 sheer inability to do as they have agreed, if nothing 
 worse. 
 
 Spermatorrhoea, Seminal Weakness, Nocturnal 
 Emissions, and Impotency arising therefrom, or from 
 any other cause whatever, can be cured by proper 
 treatment ; and we are ready to guarantee a thorough 
 and radical cure in all such cases. During our long 
 practice of now nearly the third of a century, we have 
 treated many thousands of cases which had been of 
 long standing, and apparently incurable, rendered so 
 in too many instances by the rash experiments and 
 mal-treatment of self-styled doctors, professors, med- 
 ical lecturers, and others of the like character. We 
 have never yet failed to cure, in every instance, 
 where we assured the patient that a cure was possible, 
 which we believe to be in ninety-nine out of a hun- 
 dred of those afflicted. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 147 
 
 the habits and tendencies of society, as 
 now constituted, leading to that result, it 
 is a most melancholy truth, that at the 
 present time, the disorders and infirmities 
 coming under those named at the head of 
 this chapter are alarmingly prevalent, and 
 applications for their treatment occupy no 
 inconsiderable share of the time and atten- 
 tion of the well-known specialist. In the 
 whole range of his duties as a medical 
 adviser, does he find any physical derange- 
 ments, the successful treatment of which 
 are so difficult, and generally speaking, so 
 unsatisfactory to himself and patient, as 
 these. This is not so much in consequence 
 of any difficulty and doubt attending the 
 proper mode of treatment to be observed, 
 as in the difficulty of securing the patient's 
 strict observance of the rules prescribed 
 for his cure. 
 
 The common and vulgar notion which 
 prevails, especially among the uneducated, 
 
148 MEDICAL ADVISER- 
 
 that wonderful virtues are connected with 
 excessive drugging and dosing, and that 
 there is some magic power contained in a 
 " bottle of medicine/' they cannot relinquish 
 the idea that health and constant pill-eating 
 or potion-swallowing, are inseparable. They 
 imagine and expect that the consequences 
 of a life of indiscretion, excess, and, it may 
 be of bestiality, or something worse, is to 
 be overcome and done away with in a few 
 days or weeks at farthest, by a twenty or 
 thirty dollar bottle of some compound 
 which some cunning M. D. has advertised 
 under the high-sounding title of Panacea, 
 Invigorator, Regenerator, Balsam of Life, 
 or something of the kind, the more far- 
 fetched and nonsensical the better. It is 
 hard to convince such people that the 
 stamina of a constitution, sapped and 
 undermined by years of violence perpe- 
 trated on themselves, is to be restored by 
 the simple administration of a few tonics, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 149 
 
 and that a week or two of self-denial will 
 be all that is necessary to set them all 
 right again. That this idea is flattered 
 and taken advantage of by most of the 
 unprincipled quacks who advocate their 
 11 specific " cures and wonderful remedies 
 is notoriously true, and whilst at the pres- 
 ent day, a few unsophisticated country- 
 men, and simple-minded youth may be 
 taken in by such " chaff/ 7 no reputable phy- 
 sician, whose conscientious regard to what 
 he owes to his profession, and to the welfare 
 of his patient, will for a moment counte- 
 nance such downright imposition upon the 
 credulous and unsuspecting. In the course 
 of my long experience, almost daily dealing 
 with this class of patients, and deriving 
 no inconsiderable portion of my profes- 
 sional income from their treatment, I have 
 ever found candor, truth, and straight- 
 forward dealing, the most successful and 
 abiding in their results. I frankly state 
 
150 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 io my patient the nature of his difficulties, 
 how they have been produced, the disor- 
 ganizing process which has long been 
 going on, and the need of moral and 
 hygienic, as well as medical treatment for 
 his restoration. I convince him, by refer- 
 ence to himself and his own experience, 
 that I understand his case as well as though 
 I had watched his every movement from 
 his boyhood up, and instead of sending 
 him away a hopeless, desponding wretch, 
 in his estimation, fitted only for the mad- 
 house, or a suicide's grave, I open to him 
 new hopes, a new life, and convince him 
 that, there is yet in him the stuff of which 
 men, active, useful, noble men are made. I 
 point out to him a method of relief and cure, 
 so certain, efficacious, and reliable, that his 
 common sense at once seconds all I have to 
 say and offer to him. I at once strip aside 
 the veil which has been placed before his 
 eyes by the cunning and avaricious knaves- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 151 
 
 who may have hitherto preyed "upon his 
 weakness and his fears, and show to him 
 how, with a few simple remedies, and a 
 fair perseverance in a course of treatment, 
 by no means difficult to be followed, (a 
 knowledge of which is of far greater value 
 to him in gold, than all the potions in the 
 world) he can be re-invigorated, rejuve- 
 nated, and restored without fear of relapse, 
 or doing violence to any law of his being. 
 That masturbation is, in ninety-nine 
 cases out of a hundred, the direct cause of 
 Spermatorrhoea is generally admitted ; but 
 all seminal weakness is not Spermatorrhoea ; 
 and although the complaint is, as I have 
 before stated, alarmingly prevalent, and on 
 the increase, yet it is only the skilful 
 diagnostician that can properly discriminate 
 between it and many other complaints 
 producing almost similar effects, such as 
 nocturnal emissions, etc., that it "would be 
 extremely improper, and often very unsafe 
 
152 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 for the patient to attempt, unadvisedly, to 
 treat himself. General rules may, how- 
 ever, with great propriety be given, by 
 the observance of which, very sensible 
 relief may be obtained. In a conversation 
 held by myself many years ago, with the 
 venerable Dr. Samuel Thompson, the father 
 the Botanical school of medicine in this 
 country, speaking of some inflammatory 
 disease then under consideration, the old 
 doctor, in reply to an inquiry as to the 
 best mode of treatment, threw out, in his 
 terse, common sense way, this hint : " take 
 off the wood and the fire will go out," an 
 aphorism which contains a world of wisdom, 
 and in no sense more applicable than to 
 the subject under consideration. No med- 
 ication, however skilfully devised, no moral 
 or hygenic treatment, however persever- 
 ingly followed, can avail anything, so long 
 as the miserable practice which has given 
 rise to the disease is indulged in. To effect 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 153 
 
 its entire and instant abandonment should 
 be the first care of the medical adviser. 
 He should be plain and outspoken in his 
 expression of the evils of the practice, and 
 assuming the privilege which is justly 
 considered as the duty of every upright 
 physician, point out to the transgressor 
 that his sin is one against the laws of God, 
 as well as against his own well-being, and 
 that for strength to aid him in his efforts 
 for recovery, he should look higher than to 
 mere professional skill for assistance and 
 support. " Lead us not into temptation, 
 but deliver us from evil/ 7 should be his 
 constant prayer. In this frame of mind, 
 and taught that masturbation is a " cow- 
 ardly, selfish and debasing habit/ 7 he may 
 with confidence rely upon the efforts of 
 the surgeon to remedy the mischiefs which 
 have been done by previous excess. If he 
 understands his business, these remedies 
 will not be confined to any one set of 
 
154 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 prescriptions, but adapted to the age, con- 
 stitution, habits, peculiarities, and temper- 
 ament of the patient. Whilst in some 
 cases, the simple abstinence from late sup- 
 pers, tea, coffee and tobacco, the use of 
 straw mattrasses to lie upon instead of 
 feather beds, the use of the shower-bath 
 every morning, regular exercise short of 
 fatigue, such as boating' riding, boxing, or 
 walking, will accomplish wonders, and pre- 
 clude the necessity of a resort to more 
 active measures ; the use of tonics, very 
 nutricious food, and sea-air, will be indi- 
 cated as necessary to re-invigorate the 
 system at a later stage of the complaint ; 
 and when the victim has been a sufferer 
 for years, nothing short of a complete sur- 
 render of himself into the hands of his 
 medical adviser, can save him from the 
 consequences of his follies. 
 
 In regard to this subject, an eminent 
 London practitioner says : 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 155 
 
 u Amongst the many modes of relief 
 and as averting the consequences of invol- 
 untary emissions, many well meaning writ- 
 ers and physicians advise marriage to en- 
 feebled, or seemingly impotent patients, 
 under the single injunction to be con- 
 tent with very moderate endeavors to 
 to exert their powers ; and in the hope 
 that the function would respond to 
 a natural call upon it. Instances are 
 called up in which it is asserted that 
 almost infantile organs have undergone 
 developement under this stimulus, and 
 others in which the effects of masturba- 
 tion have been completely recovered from 
 under the same influence. Notwithstand- 
 ing this, we hold that to advise a man of 
 questionable powers to marry, in the hope 
 or even with the probability that he may 
 gain strength in consequence, is at once 
 immoral, unscientific, and unmanly. It is 
 subjecting the health, the happiness, and 
 
156 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 even the virtue of a woman to risks that 
 she ought not to incur. Family prac- 
 titioners well know how large a number of 
 uterine maladies are directly traceable to 
 ill-assorted unions ; and it would hardly be 
 possible to inflict upon a bride a greater 
 physical evil than a marriage which should 
 awaken her own sexual desires and then 
 utterly fail to satisfy them. The men who 
 are the subjects of sexual weakness are, 
 as a rule, inexpressibly nasty ; and are not 
 calculated to strengthen a woman under 
 such adverse circumstances, or to improve 
 the moral tendencies of her character. In 
 many instances nature will secure the wife 
 against uterine disease, by arming her with 
 a loathing for her husband, which renders 
 it impossible for him to excite in her any- 
 thing except disgust ; and then it is not 
 unusual for her to solace herself with 
 other men, or to desert her home for some 
 more capable companion. The restoration 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 157 
 
 of generative efficiency to a patient who 
 has thrown it away is, doubtless, a matter 
 of very great importance to himself, but 
 infinitely more so to the woman whom he 
 contemplates taking to his bed as his wife. 
 Even in the interests of society it would 
 be better to emasculate him at once than to 
 hand over to him the health, happiness 
 and honor of a woman, to be thus used as a 
 remedial agent in his behalf, and to be sac- 
 rificed in case of failure. The surgeon 
 may, very properly, and should teach his 
 patient that marriage might, indeed, be the 
 reward of properly applied restorative re- 
 medies, self-denial, and of abstinence from 
 masturbation ; but it must not be under- 
 taken as an experiment, or prior to the 
 return of a capacity for the due perform- 
 ance of the function that it involves. The 
 utmost benefit that could possibly be gain- 
 ed by marriage under such circumstances, 
 for such objects, would be infinitesimal in 
 
158 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 comparison with the evils of possible 
 failure."— James D. Wakely, M. D., M. It. 
 C. #., Editor London Lancet, in December, 
 No., 1870. 
 
 One of the most eminent surgeons and 
 medical writers of the present day; T. B. 
 Curling, F.R.S., Surgeon to the London 
 Hospital, President of the Hunterian So- 
 ciety, London, etc., in his great work on 
 Diseases of the Testis in treating on Sper- 
 matorrhoea, gives a much better descrip- 
 tion of its peculiar characteristics than any 
 other writer whom I have consulted, and 
 so completely agrees with my own obser- 
 vations, that I cannot do better than to 
 quote what he says upon the subject. He 
 says, " Spermatorrhoea comes on very 
 gradually. It commences by a precipitate 
 emission of semen, either in coition, or 
 during lascivious dreams. There exists 
 a morbid irritability of the organs. The 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 159 
 
 emissions consequently are premature, and 
 without force, and the erections slight and 
 incomplete, and soon subside. As the 
 affection increases, the emissions become 
 more frequent, and more readily* excited, 
 and are induced merely by erotic ideas, or 
 the least contact or tittilation, and takes 
 place without erection, and without pleas- 
 ure. In this weak and susceptible condi- 
 tion of the organs, involuntary pollutions 
 are liable to occur both day and night, 
 constituting a state of passive spermatorr- 
 hoea which often lasts for many months, 
 gradually undermining the health. The 
 patient becomes thin, pale, and feeble ; has 
 impaired vision, and a sickly, languid look ; 
 is hypocondrical and apathetic, and un- 
 fitted for active bodily or mental occupa- 
 tion. He often experiences uneasy sen- 
 sations in the testicles, which are soft, and 
 hang low. The scrotum (bag) is pendu- 
 lous and lax. His symptoms are aggravat- 
 
180 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 ed after each emission, which is usually 
 followed by a painful sense of fatigue and 
 uneasiness which lasts many hours. 77 Speak- 
 ing of the most common cause of the com- 
 plaint, he says, " It is most frequently pro- 
 duced by long-continued and persistent 
 self-abuse, those who give way to this habit 
 being very little aware of the evils it en- 
 genders. The practice frequently acquires 
 a complete mastery over the reason and 
 will. In some cases not the strongest self- 
 control can repress the disposition to abuse ; 
 and persons fully aware of the evil results, 
 and actually dreading the consequences, 
 are unable to restrain their fatal desires. 
 In these cases there is a peculiar morbid 
 condition of the nervous system. Indeed, 
 the debilitating and enervating effects of 
 this affection are far greater than would be 
 occasioned merely by a drain of the amount 
 of fluid emitted, which is to be ascribed to 
 the nervous exhaustion especially attend- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 161 
 
 ing the reproductive function. The con- 
 dition of these persons is melancholy 
 enough. One of the sad results of habitual 
 self-abuse and excessive spermatorrhoea is 
 a morbid condition of the brain, giving 
 rise to epileptic symptoms. In some cases 
 it may be found that the cerebral affection 
 had existed previously — but confirmed and 
 aggravated under the excitement and ner- 
 vous exhaustion consequent on the prac- 
 tice ; generally, however, the epileptic 
 paroxysms appear to be caused solely by 
 excessive masturbation. Such is but a 
 portion of the heavy penalty often paid by 
 man for gross indulgence in sensuality — 
 a degraded nature and a ruined constitu- 
 tion, embittering the best days of his ex- 
 istence, and sometimes even leading to 
 insanity or suicide. 77 
 
 I have quoted this not only for its intrin- 
 sic value, as a most faithful description of 
 the leading features of this dreadful affec- 
 
162 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 tion, but also as a distinct testimonial by 
 one of the greatest surgeons of the age, 
 that it is not ? as is too frequently charged, 
 that physicians are apt, from mercenary 
 considerations, to excite the fears and 
 apprehensions of their patients, by exag- 
 gerating the dangers of self-abuse and 
 spermatorrhoea, in order to protract their 
 treatment, and increase their fees. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 163 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE TESTICLES : 
 
 THEIR STRUCTURE, AXD THE DISEASES TO 
 WHICH THEY ARE LIABLE. 
 
 THE frequency with which I have been 
 consulted, especially during the past 
 year, in regard to certain diseases of the 
 testicles, has led me to believe, that for 
 some reason not yet satisfactorily explain- 
 ed, these complaints are far more common 
 and prevalent than formerly. Swelled tes- 
 ticle, orchites, epiditymitis, and such like 
 affections, are getting to be cases of almost 
 every day's occurrence, and were it possi- 
 ble, one might suppose them epidemical. 
 From a careful study of the subject, I 
 incline to the opinion that this painful 
 
164 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 malady is oftener ; than from any other 
 cause, a consecutive, rather than a primary 
 affection, arising from badly managed dis- 
 eases of some part of the urinary organs, 
 or generative apparatus, which, had it been 
 properly dealt with, would not have been 
 run into a sequella so distressing, and so 
 troublesome to deal with by both physician 
 and patient. Usually when a person finds 
 himself thus attacked, he hesitates to make 
 application for medical assistance, in the 
 hope that his trouble is only a temporary 
 one, and that it will go, as he apprehends 
 it came, of itself. A little rest, some stim- 
 ulating application, or a bath, he appre- 
 hends, to be all that is necessary, and that 
 a day or two, at the farthest, will set him 
 all right again. In no one malady of the 
 generative organs, do individuals "so fre- 
 quently, and I may add, so dangerously de- 
 ceive themselves as in this. When it is 
 remembered that orchitis, or swelled testi- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 165 
 
 cle rarely confines itself to a single testis, 
 but when once fairly set in continues its 
 work until botli are involved, and that it 
 rarely leaves the patient otherwise than in 
 a complete state of sterility, if not of im- 
 potence itself, we can readily understand 
 the serious importance attached to an early 
 and timely application for medical assis- 
 tance for this complaint. A. very slight 
 knowledge of the anatomical structure of 
 the testis, and the important part they 
 play in the generative functions of man, 
 will at once convince the most superficial 
 observer, that these organs cannot be tri- 
 fled with, and the individual go unpunished. 
 In fully four-fifths of the cases where off- 
 spring do not result from certain unions, at 
 least in the same proportion may the " fault/ 7 
 or unfruitfulness be properly attributed 
 to the husband, rather than to the wife. 
 Very few women in good health are sterile. 
 Xone are so where there is not malfor- 
 
166 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 mation, displacement, or some other organic 
 impediment, few are impotent ; but repeated 
 epididymitis, or orchitis, although it may 
 not produce atrophy of the testicle is sure 
 to destrojr the power to secrete sperma- 
 tozia, without which impregnation is im- 
 possible. The semen, or what may resem- 
 ble it, may be abundant, its ejaculation 
 vigorous, but unless it be animated by the 
 living spermatazoon, as for all the purpo- 
 ses of impregnation it is as inert as so much 
 starch. I have scores of complaining 
 husbands annually to consult me, who 
 cannot comprehend how it is that they, 
 being well, and as they assert, hearty and 
 vigorous every way, performing the copu- 
 lative act satisfactorily, the female regular, 
 and yet they are childless. Upon pushing 
 my inquiries, as I usually do in all such 
 cases, I soon discover the fact that, at 
 gome period of their lives they have had 
 swelled testicle. It has troubled them for 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 167 
 
 a time, been very painful, yielded, perhaps 
 to remedies, and left them, apparently well 
 as ever ; that is to say, there has been no 
 apparent enfeeblement of the scrotum, no 
 diminution in the size of the testicles, or 
 loss of power to a perfect gratification in 
 the sexual congress. But when brought 
 to the microscopic test, the living witnesses 
 of fecundity are wanting. By a wise ar- 
 rangement of " the former of our bodies/' 
 the testicles are so placed and arranged 
 that there is little danger to be appre- 
 hended to them from anything without : 
 contained within the scrotum, they are sus- 
 pended at a variable and unequal distance 
 from the abdominal rings, one testis, gen- 
 erally the left, hanging a little lower than 
 the other. This arrangement prevents 
 any collision between them when the 
 thighs are suddenly brought together, one 
 testicle slipping above the other, and elud- 
 ing violence. It is only very seldom, and 
 
168 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 then by mere accident, such as the kick of 
 a horse, or man, or a fall astride of some 
 hard substance, that external causes pro- 
 duce injury to them. The exciting cause 
 of disease, whatever may be its nature, is 
 almost universally from within, and oftener 
 sympathetic and secondary, rather than pri- 
 mary and congenital. As I am writing this 
 for general and popular instruction and not 
 for professional use, I will not, as I need 
 not, undertake a scientific description of the 
 structure of the testis, their appendages, 
 and adjuncts in the interesting offices they 
 perform. To be useful to the reader I 
 shall do something better for him than by 
 tasking his mind by an enumeration and 
 classification of anatomical peculiarities m 
 which he cannot be supposed to take any 
 interest, and which, were I to undertake, 
 would cover more ground than I can afford 
 to devote to this purpose. With the 
 view, however, to impress upon the minds 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 169 
 
 of rny readers some idea of the wonderful 
 nature of the structure of the testis, I 
 cannot help alluding to a few facts, going 
 to show that, excepting the brain, no part 
 of the human structure presents such a 
 demonstration of the scriptural assertion 
 that we are ' wonderfully J as well as fear- 
 fully made. Thus, what is technically 
 called the Tubuli Seminiferi, or seminal 
 tubes, which form by far the bulk of the 
 glandular structure of the testis, nnmber 
 at least three hundred ; and some anatomists 
 place them as high as eight hundred and 
 forty ! whilst their length united is not less 
 than seventeen hundred and fifty feet ! One 
 of the earliest indications of imperfections, 
 either in the structure, or imperfect work- 
 ing of some portion of the functions of the 
 testis, is their retention of one or both of 
 them above the abdominal ring ; that is to 
 say, they do not descend, as they ought for 
 proper developement and growth into the 
 
170 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 scrotum. It was the opinion of the cele- 
 brated Dr. Hunter, that when one or both 
 testicles remain in the belly, they are ex- 
 ceedingly imperfect and incapable of per- 
 forming their natural functions ; and al- 
 though this opinion has been strongly 
 combatted by many eminent surgeons 
 since his day, still it is clearly established 
 that this condition predisposes to scrotal 
 rupture, eventually resulting in serious 
 injury of the reproductive faculties. That 
 it does prevent its growth is certain ; and 
 cases are on record, where individuals of 
 all ages, from six months to sixty years, 
 has had the testicle, if not completely 
 atrophied, at least stunted, so that at no 
 period has it exceeded an ordinary bean in 
 size, although the penis may be largely 
 developed, the venerial appetite active, 
 and the erectile powers good. There can 
 be no doubt then, that in all cases where 
 there is retension of the testis, in either 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 171 
 
 young or old persons, the surgeon should 
 at once be consulted. The remedy is gen- 
 erally the application of a proper truss, of 
 the form, size and adjustment of which, he 
 only is the proper judge, and I cannot too 
 strongly advise parents and others inter- 
 ested in, or having charge of 3 x oungsters 
 in whom this peculiarity exists, at once to 
 attend to it. There is very high authority 
 to recommend this course. Dr. Marshall, 
 in his hints to young medical officers in the 
 army, page 83, states that, in the examina- 
 tion of recruits he found many in whom 
 the right, and in others the left testicle 
 was not apparent, and in two out of every 
 five of these cases there was inguinal her- 
 nia on the side where the testicle had not 
 descended. An eminent writer on this 
 subject says, " The detention of the testi- 
 cle in the groin or abdomen must indeed 
 be regarded, under any circumstances, as 
 an unfortunate infirmity, but particularly 
 
172 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 when the gland is attacked with disease. 
 One great disadvantage of such an imper- 
 fection, which especially attaches to the 
 detention of the testicle in the abdomen, 
 arises from the relation preserved with the 
 peretoneal cavity, by which morbid actions 
 originating in the testicle, are liable to ex- 
 tend to the parts in the abdomen ; and we 
 cannot but view the passage of this gland 
 into the scrotum, and the isolation of its 
 serous investment, as a wise provision, 
 obviating the serious risks to which man 
 would otherwise be liable. " Besides other 
 good reasons why it is important that the 
 testis should be made to descend and 
 occupy their normal place in the scrotum, 
 there is one which is of so much weight 
 that I cannot pass over it. A testicle retain- 
 ed in the groin, when inflamed, is liable to 
 be mistaken for a bubo, the prominent oval 
 swelling communicating a deceptive feel- 
 ing of fluctuation, and being unattended 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 173 
 
 with pain, the skin over it occasionally 
 exhibiting a reddish hue, and the tumor 
 beins; seated in a region where bubo con- 
 stantly occurs and suppurates. It is re- 
 lated that the celebrated Ricord, of Paris, 
 whom no one will accuse of unskilfulness 
 in these matters, was once very nearly de- 
 ceived in a case of this kind, and even 
 called for a knife to open the supposed 
 abscess ; but a re-examination of the tumor 
 having led to the discovery of the absence 
 of the testicle on that side of the scrotum, 
 he made further investigation, and detected 
 the true nature of the case ; of course the 
 knife was not used. I deem it quite unne- 
 cessary that I should multiply authorities 
 ]fi support of the views I have taken in 
 regard to the great importance of early 
 attending to this matter. In this, as in 
 other diseases of the generative organs, 
 especially in the male sex, a careful and 
 exact diagnosis is of the first importance, 
 
174 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and that can only be made by a surgeon, 
 whose practical knowledge enables him at 
 once to measure the extent of the evil, and 
 whose mechanical tact qualifies him read- 
 ily to adjust such apparatus as is best 
 adapted to remedy it. As a consequence 
 of the retention of the test is in the body, 
 thus retarding its proper developement 
 and growth, there frequently results 
 
 ATROPHY, OR WASTING OF THE TESTICLE. 
 
 According to some authors the weight of 
 the testicle is only four drachms ; Sir 
 Astley Cooper however gives it as about 
 an ounce, whilst the former estimate is evi- 
 dently too low, the latter is probably too 
 high. From frequent tests I have found 
 that the average weight of a sound, heal- 
 thy testicle of an ordinary sized man is 
 about six drachms, and I should regard 
 one weighing less than three drachms as 
 in a state of atrophy. All those causes 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 175 
 
 which produce decay in other parts of the 
 body, likewise occasion the same result in 
 the testicle. Thus, impeded circulation, 
 pressure, want of exercise and loss of ner- 
 vous influence, contribute to this condition. 
 In variocele, the dilation of the spermatic 
 veins consequent upon the impeded circu- 
 lation impairs the nutrition of the testicle, 
 and causes its imperfect developement. 
 In such cases the left testicle is generally 
 smaller than the right, whereas in a heal- 
 thy state of the parts, the left is usually 
 the larger of the two. By many persons 
 it is supposed that a washing of the testi- 
 cle results from abstinence from sexual in- 
 tercourse, and that these glands remain 
 somewhat small when not called upon to 
 exercise their functions ; but I am not 
 aware that there is any sufficient evidence 
 or authority for this supposition. It is 
 well known that in persons who marry 
 after many years of celibacy, the testicles 
 
176 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 undergo a certain degree of enlargement, 
 the same as any other bodily organ ac- 
 quires power and vigor by use ? as the 
 hand, arm, etc. On the other hand it is a 
 great mistake to suppose that sexual con- 
 nection in early life is essential to their 
 healthy condition or preservation. Chastity 
 and abstinence from all sexual indulgence, 
 simulated or real, is of the first importance 
 to the growing youth, and every expendi- 
 ture of the seminal fluid at a too early age, 
 is productive of nothing but evil. 
 
 Wasting, or atrophy of the testicles, is 
 liable to occur from many causes, such as 
 excessive venerial indulgence, or onan- 
 ism, strains from lifting heavy weights, 
 over-excitement arising from dalliance 
 with girls, with whom it is impossible to 
 have more intimate relations ; and not un- 
 frequently the use of improper drugs. 
 Iodine is said to superinduce a shrinking, 
 or wasting of the testicle. M. Cullerier, a 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 177 
 
 very distinguished French surgeon, has 
 described in the " Memoires de la Societe 
 de Chirurgie de Paris," the case of a young 
 man who took from twenty-five to thirty 
 drops of the tincture of Iodine for a period 
 of three months, for the cure of an obsti- 
 nate gonnorrhoea. This was followed by a 
 state of impotency and partial wasting of 
 the testicles, which lasted a year, and the 
 organs never regained their former size 
 and power. He also gives an account of 
 another case, where the administration 
 of the iodide of iron produced similar 
 effects. 
 
 Wasting of the testicle is also liable to 
 result from injuries to the head, and Baron 
 Larrey, the celebrated military surgeon in 
 the times of the first Napoleon, records the 
 case of a man who was wounded in the 
 back of the neck by a musket-ball, Avhich 
 grazed the lower protuberance on the back 
 of the head, and although he recovered 
 
178 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 from the injury, the testicles were reduced 
 to a state of atrophy, and the penis shrunk 
 and remained inactive. Lallmand, the 
 still more distinguished specialist and sur- 
 geon, relates an instance where a soldier in 
 the expedition to Algiers, received a sabre 
 wound in the nape of the neck. His testi- 
 cles were wasted, and venereal desires, as 
 well as erections entirely ceased. I men- 
 tion these cases to show the great impor- 
 tance of not too lightly regarding the least 
 indication of disease, or the slightest in- 
 jury in those organs, constituting as they 
 do, the chief magazine of man's virility and 
 strength. Since the days of the Bells, 
 Acton and Larrey, eminent as they were 
 in their profession, great strides have been 
 made in this branch of surgical science ; 
 and a swelled testicle, although a cause of 
 great pain, anxiety and trouble, need by no 
 means be regarded with despair. As before 
 stated, within the past two years, this class 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 179 
 
 of complaints have become far more nume- 
 rous, and of a more aggravated character 
 than formerly, which fact has led to a closer 
 investigation and examination into their 
 causes, and the best mode of their treat- 
 ment. Having convinced myself from re- 
 peated failures in my attempts to arrest 
 and cure by following the old system of 
 leeching, escharotics and fomentations, I 
 determined upon a different course entirely. 
 The result has been, that in over seventy 
 cases of severe orchitis, epididymitis, in- 
 cipient atrophy, or wasting, whiqh I have 
 had under my charge during the past two 
 years, not a single instance has occurred 
 in which the disease has not been almost 
 immediately arrested, and the recovery 
 rapid and permanent. 
 
 I have dwelt thus largely upon the acci- 
 dents and diseases to which the testicles 
 are liable, because I am satisfied that their 
 serious importance are not duly estimated 
 
180 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 by the profession generally. From my 
 long experience in these matters, I do not 
 hesitate to say that, in no part of the sex- 
 ual organs is disease so much to be dread- 
 ed as in these, and none so difficult to 
 trace to their primary cause, or causing so 
 much trial to the patience of the practi- 
 tioner. Happening, as a swelled testicle 
 not unfrequently does, a long time after 
 the occurrence of the causes which have 
 laid the foundations for it, both the patient 
 and his physician are far from suspecting 
 the true -nature of the evil, and led to adopt 
 a palliative, when radical treatment alone 
 should be resorted to. There is a medical 
 term familiar to physicians, known as Me- 
 tastasis, derived from a Greek word, sig- 
 nifying to " transpose," and used by them 
 when speaking of the translation, or shift- 
 ing of a disease from one part of the body 
 to another, or to some internal organ, and 
 in no branch of medical science is it so 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 181 
 
 often to be considered and kept in mind 
 as in the one now under consideration. 
 No part of our structure, or organism, is 
 so intimately blended with, and for its 
 healthy action so dependant upon, or ready 
 to sympathize with all the others as the 
 testicles ; a blow upon the head, or spine, 
 a sprain, or shock arising from a fall, undue 
 excitement from any cause, a suppression 
 of a customary discharge, irritation of the 
 bladder or kidneys, inflammation of the 
 urethra, either from gonorrhoea or gleet, 
 or stricture, and a thousand other causes 
 only to be ascertained by the skilful, prac- 
 tical physician, who knows how, by a tho- 
 rough sifting of his patient's past expe- 
 rience, to find out when, and how the 
 seeds were planted for the outgrowth he 
 is called upon to remove. When it is re- 
 membered that, to the testicular troubles 
 to which I have already particularly allud- 
 ed, there are many others of far greater 
 
182 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 gravity, concerning which I have made no 
 mention, simply because they are of a 
 character which the unprofessional reader 
 would not be able to comprehend, or profit 
 by, it will be readily understood why, in all 
 such cases, 1 strongly advise that the best 
 and most reliable medical advice should be 
 at once applied for. I cannot forbear, as 
 confirmatory of what I have stated, a ref- 
 erence to some historical facts, familiar to 
 every medical student. Hildanus, a Latin 
 author and distinguished surgeon of for- 
 mer times, relates the case of a man accus- 
 ed of impotency by his wife, who sued 
 for a divorce. Nothing external was defec- 
 tive ; but the man stated that eight years 
 previously he had received a blow on the 
 head with a stick. From that period, 
 " confitebator penem eregi non posse," 
 says the narrator, (an erection of the penis 
 was not possible). Many years ago, on 
 the first introduction of railroads into this 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 183 
 
 country, a gentleman (Mr. B) aged forty- 
 five, being a passenger on the railway 
 between Boston and Providence (in 1839) 
 apprehending some accident, thrust his 
 head out of the window at the moment that 
 the train came in collision with another 
 running in an opposite direction with great 
 violence, most of the passengers were 
 thrown out and greatly injured. Mr. B's 
 head and neck struck against the edge of 
 the window-frame with great force, and he 
 himself was thrown to the ground, where 
 he remained, for a long time, in a state of 
 insensibility. As soon as he regained 
 his senses, he was conveyed to his home 
 in a carriage. The doctor, on visiting him, 
 found him suffering with great pain in the 
 back part of the head and upper part of 
 the neck; but there was no appearances 
 of injury of the skull or spine. On the 
 second day afterwards he complained of 
 a numbness in his right arm, and experi- 
 
184 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 enced difficulty in passing his urine. In 
 the course of a couple of weeks he was 
 able to leave his bed and walk in the 
 street, but his eyesight was defective. 
 Between the fourth and fifth weekjafter 
 his injury, he made the discovery that he 
 had lost the desire and physical power for 
 sexual intercourse, and that no amorous 
 sentiment, or the approach of a female, 
 could excite it. Under proper treatment the 
 bladder gradually recovered its power, and 
 his eyesight was restored, but his generative 
 functions ever afterwards remained im- 
 paired. — American Journal of Medical 
 Science, February, 1839. 
 
 In another case narrated by Dr. Smith, in 
 the Lancet for August 28th, 1841, we are 
 told of a gentleman who, being engaged in 
 a quarrel, received a blow on the face 
 which stunned him, and falling backwards 
 he struck the ground on the back of his 
 head, and sustained, in consequence, a 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 185 
 
 concussion of the brain, producing insen- 
 sibility and unconsciousness for eight or 
 ten hours. In the course of a week gen- 
 eral emaciation and failure of the sexual 
 function were manifested, which required 
 the most careful and skilful treatment to 
 overcome. 
 
 I do not believe, however, that in any 
 case a person need despair of recovery, 
 if proper measures of restoration are re- 
 sorted to. Modern science has opened 
 new resources, of which the old school 
 physicians had no conception, and diseases, 
 especially of the reproductive organs, 
 which, no longer ago than in the days of 
 Sir Ashley Cgoper, were supposed incura- 
 ble, are now treated with entire confidence 
 and success ; so that it is somewhat amus- 
 ing, as we turn back to the pages of the 
 old writers on these subjects, and find such 
 language as the following, in relation to 
 the condition of those supposed to be for- 
 
186 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 ever incapacitated for the enjoyment of 
 sexual pleasures, in consequence of those 
 diseases which we have been considering. 
 One writer says, " To such persons a 
 Venus might display her charms, and on 
 such her son (Cupid) might exhaust his 
 quiver in vain. No genial spring is here, 
 no blooming summer, or fruitful autumn ; 
 but all is winter — a dreary, desolate and 
 barren winter — in which the springs of 
 life are frozen up, and the animal propen- 
 sities destroyed. 77 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 187 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE range of topics to which, in the 
 onset, I had limited myself in the first 
 part of this treatise, has now been gone 
 through with. The reader will perceive 
 that it has been chiefly devoted to the dis- 
 cussion and investigation of those diseases 
 and complaints usually denominated as 
 sexual and private, and although I have 
 incidentally alluded to others, yet I have 
 only done so when either necessary to 
 illustrate a point, or as a result of pre- 
 existing genital disease. The very nature 
 of the subjects treated in so small a com- 
 pass, preclude the idea of a perfect work, 
 yet I have seized upon such subjects as in 
 my long experience I have found ever to 
 be the object of most earnest inquiry 
 
188 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 amongst my patients, and have endeav- 
 ored to explain to them, many things, 
 concerning which I know that, the 
 multitude are surprizingly ignorant. In 
 everything I have chiefly aimed to be use- 
 ful. That I have not gone more exten- 
 sively into detail, is not that I had anything 
 to conceal, but because, as must be apparent 
 to every reader, it would be literally impos- 
 sible to crowd into a few hundred pages 
 any just idea of an important branch of 
 medical science which thousands of vol- 
 umes are not sufficient fully to illustrate. 
 As has been frequently stated in the fore- 
 going pages, my book is neither planned 
 or written for professional instruction or 
 criticism, yet I apprehend that, by none 
 will it be more eagerly sought after, or 
 more carefully and beneficially read than 
 by physicians themselves. As in every 
 attempt made by an independent practi- 
 tioner to break away from the close corpo- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 189 
 
 tion system of a class, and to do all the 
 good he can, without reckoning either 
 upon the profits, or the professional pro- 
 priety of so doing, I expect to be sharply 
 criticised by them, and am not unlikely to 
 be denounced as a renegade to professional 
 fealty. Yet it matters very little to me. 
 My life has ever been one of competition, 
 and I enjoy it. To its invigorating and 
 sharpening qualities I owe no little of the 
 success I have met with in my practice, 
 and the perseverance which has thus far 
 crowned my efforts to distinguish myself, 
 as a safe and reliable medical counsellor 
 and practitioner. 
 
 In the preceding pages the reader will 
 see with what propriety I claim prece- 
 dence as an adept in all that pertains to a 
 practical, as well as theoretical knowledge 
 of my profession, and however unscien- 
 tifically, or wide from established rules, I 
 may have presented the results of my 
 
190 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 experience, 1 have, nevertheless, most 
 generally u gone straight to the mark," 
 and thus, better succeeded, I trust, in sat- 
 isfying the inquirer. 
 
 It may not be agreeable to many who 
 will read this book that I have not entered 
 more particularly into subjects deemed 
 enticing, or "bewitching" to young and 
 ardent minds, who think to find in books of 
 this class something to stimulate their pas- 
 sions, and supply food for the gratification of 
 those baser appetites, which I am sorry to 
 say, too many possess. But such unprin- 
 cipled devices are only resorted to by the 
 debased and ignorant, and 1 leave them to 
 those who do not hesitate to call them to 
 their aid. Men there are who do not stick 
 at claiming acquaintance and fellowship 
 with distinguished savans whom they 
 never saw ; or as possessing titles never 
 bestowed upon them ; or of occupying 
 positions never open to them, may hire 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 191 
 
 writers for such purposes ; arid, incapable 
 of appreciating anything beyond just what 
 will "pay" for the moment, risk incurring 
 a life-time of contempt that they may luxu- 
 riate in present gain. But so do not I. 
 Whatever hope I may entertain that my 
 labors will be properly appreciated, or that 
 in this endeavor to enlarge the bounds of 
 science, and to benefit mankind, I may 
 not go altogether unrewarded, even in a 
 pecuniary point of view, 1 shall ever have 
 this satisfaction, that in no part of my work 
 have I sought to elevate myself at the 
 expense of truth ; nor to defame others, 
 that 1 might appear in brighter colors. 
 
 Before I conclude this division of The 
 Medical Adviser, the reader will suffer 
 me again to call his attention to himself, in 
 his possible relation to his professional 
 friend, whom he may have occasion to con- 
 sult, or of whose practical skill he may 
 wish to avail himself. 
 
192 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 He will have seen, if he possesses a 
 particle of common sense, how inadequate 
 any prescriptions would be, laid indiscrimi- 
 nately before him, to assist him in combat- 
 ting the " foul fiend ?? with which he has to 
 deal. Aside from his troubles, solitary and 
 venerial excesses may have been engen- 
 dered and stimulated by other causes, 
 which the practiced eye and matured ex- 
 perience of the specialist, in this depart- 
 ment of medical science, can only detect. 
 Organic lesions, a morbid sensitiveness of 
 the parts, arising from urethral diseases, 
 such as strictures, granular or fungoid 
 vegetations, or even animalcula, which can 
 only be detected by microscopic examina- 
 tion, may indicate both surgical, as well as 
 medical applications to effect a cure. Such 
 being the case, applicants for relief 
 should well remember the importance of 
 personal consultation, in order to obtain 
 the full benefit of the surgeon's skill, and 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 193 
 
 how much it is they ask of him, when in a 
 careless composed letter, omitting almost 
 every detail, they ask of him " how much 
 he will charge them to cure," and "how 
 long it will take." And here I am led to 
 observe, how difficult it is to contend 
 against the prevalent vulgar idea, that the 
 greater the quantity of medicine adminis- 
 tered, the more likely of quick relief. 
 The inordinate passion for drugging is 
 characteristic of anything but a correct 
 idea of the proper uses of medicine, and 
 made to subserve the purposes of the mpst 
 venal and unprincipled of those whose only 
 aim is money, in the exercise of a profes- 
 sion which they disgrace. How many 
 bottles of colored water, or powders of 
 magnesia are directed to be taken " ut 
 fecisse aliquid videamur," that something 
 may be done which shall be seen, in order 
 to satisfy this appetite for drugs, which 
 seems to possess so many. People hardly 
 
194 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 reflect that in the critical and careful in- 
 vestigation of a disease, and forming a 
 proper estimate of its causes, and the 
 proper means of arresting its further prog- 
 ress ;. the rallying powers of nature are 
 weighed with almost countless circumstan- 
 ces, go to make up the physician's pre- 
 scription, and that he who succeeds with 
 the least resort to exterior aid, is incom- 
 parably more skilful than him, who, hap- 
 hazard, begins to stuff his patient with the 
 nauseating and vile compounds which, for 
 the most part, compose our materia medica. 
 Influenced by these views, I have latterly 
 directed my researches towards a reduc- 
 tion to the least available quantity of such 
 drugs, etc., as I find it necessary to admin- 
 ister, and those put up in that form in 
 which their active qualities are concen- 
 trated to the smallest possible space, and I 
 have hopes, that ere long I shall be ena- 
 bled to send through the mails, in the 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 195 
 
 smallest sized pill-box, medicines more effi- 
 cacious, and less repulsive than in the form 
 hitherto administered ; which shall be cer- 
 tain and reliable in all those cases in which 
 my prescriptions are sought for. 
 
 I have but a word or two more to add. 
 My education, researches and investiga- 
 tions into these subjects have cost me 
 much valuable time and money. In order 
 to satisfy the large demands of thought 
 and reflection called for by my extensive 
 correspondence, I must necessarily confide 
 to assistants some portion of the manual 
 labor incident to my business. All this 
 costs money. Therefore correspondents 
 and others should remember that, as my 
 time is valuable, it is but just that those 
 who ask me to appropriate it to their ben- 
 efit, should render me a fair remuneration 
 for doing so. Letters therefore should al- 
 ways contain a liberal consultation fee, in 
 order to insure prompt and full answers 
 
196 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 N. B. I deem it proper to warn the 
 reader, and such as may desire to call upon 
 me, at my office and place of business, that 
 The Morrill Medical Institute is at No. 
 3 Bulfinch Street, a few doors out of 
 Bowdoin Square, and directly opposite the 
 east front of the Revere House. I am thus 
 particular in describing the location, as 
 patients from the country desiring to call 
 at the Institute, having come to the city 
 for that very purpose, have frequently 
 been inveighled into other establishments 
 in the vicinity, of doubtful reputation either 
 for skill or honesty, and have been treated 
 there under the impression and assurance 
 that they were receiving the attention of 
 Doctor Morrill ! ! 
 
 BE CAREFUL THEN TO REMEMBER 
 
 that Dr. Morrill's place is at No. 3 Bulfinch 
 Street, and don't be deceived by any rep- 
 resentations whatever, but, as the late 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 197 
 
 Davy Crockett would say, " Be sure you 
 are right and then go ahead. 77 
 
 It may be indicative of almost a nervous cautious- 
 ness that I lay such stress upon the great importance 
 of patients making sure that they are not the subjects 
 of gross imposition. There are many doctors, or those 
 who hold themselves out as such, who daily resort to 
 the most desperate and villainous modes of " roping 
 in " and securing the cases of such unfortunates as 
 may come to the city for medical treatment. Men are 
 stationed at the various railway depots, and hack- 
 drivers are bribed to conduct to the offices of these 
 imposters, those who may inquire where such a 
 doctor is to be found ; when they are at once inform- 
 ed that they will be taken directly to the place. The 
 driver, already bribed, has his cue, and deposits them 
 at the door of the quack, who, on being enquired of, 
 if he is Dr. M., or Dr. D., etc., is at once told that 
 such is his name, and that he is the man they wish to 
 see. Scores of cases of this kind has happened within 
 my own knowledge, where patients from the country, 
 who visited the city expressly to see me, have been 
 driven to other places, and there been assured that 
 they were in my office — that they were in business con- 
 nection with me; that it was all the same, etc. In 
 many cases they have been told that I had left the 
 city, — had given up practice, etc. In fact no means 
 are left untried to swindle and impose upon the too 
 confiding and unwary. 
 
198 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL. 
 
 IN taking charge of The Morrill Medi- 
 ical Institute, Doctor Morrill would 
 avail himself of the opportunity afforded 
 by the publication of this new and enlarged 
 edition of The Medical Adviser to express 
 his sincere gratitude and thanks to a large 
 circle of personal friends and patrons, as 
 also to a liberal and discerning public, for 
 the encouragement, confidence, and exten- 
 sive patronage hitherto bestowed upon 
 him, and reaching now nearly a period of 
 thirty-three years, during which time he 
 has resided and practised his profession in 
 this city. Coming here almost the third 
 of a century ago, an entire stranger, young 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 199 
 
 in years, with but the slight experience of 
 a few months of country practice, and pro- 
 foundly ignorant of the wiles, competitions 
 and struggles of a city life, he has, through 
 the encouragement which an earnest en- 
 deavor to attain success has inspired, been 
 fortunate in securing the patronage of 
 thousands of intelligent men and women, 
 whose confidence and good opinion could 
 only be attained by some degree of merit ; 
 and has been enabled to acquire a perma- 
 nence, position and professional standing 
 of which he may well be proud, and which 
 should satisfy any reasonable ambition. 
 In the course of this long period of time he 
 has witnessed the debut, progress, and 
 alas, also the decline and obscuration of 
 an almost countless multitude of Doctors, 
 Specialists, and " Professors " of the heaL 
 ins: art, who have swarmed around him, 
 and sought to tide themselves over the 
 rough channels of a metropolitan struggle 
 
200 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 for prominence and success, and watching 
 them from the prologue to the epilogue of 
 their brief play, he has often been led to 
 thank God that He had endowed him with 
 a persistency, fortitude and ability which 
 has enabled him to surmount difficulties 
 and opposition which had crippled and dis- 
 heartened so many. To day, as in the 
 past, there are those who would captivate 
 the public by grand pretensions of great 
 attainments, lofty titles, and conferred dig- 
 nities ; w r ho claim to have exercised their 
 skill in hospitals, and upon the tented 
 field, and as authors excited wonderment 
 and admiration at home and abroad ; thus 
 throwing out their baits to catch the cred- 
 ulous and allure the unwary. But I have 
 learned to estimate such persons at pretty 
 near their true value ; and that the non- 
 combative system, if strictly adhered to, 
 would in a short time, rid me of all such 
 opposition. If not outspoken, my course 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 201 
 
 has resolved itself into that inspired by- 
 Uncle Toby's treatment of the fly which 
 buzzed about his ears, " G-o poor insect, 
 I will not kill thee ; the world has room 
 enough for thee and me. 77 In this frame 
 of mind I have resisted the many tempta- 
 tions to a retirement from the arduous 
 duties of a somewhat exacting profession, 
 to the quiet enjoyment of the fruits of my 
 long and eminently successful career as a 
 medical practitioner. The constantly grow- 
 ing necessity in this city for some institu- 
 tion which would operate as a barrier to 
 the daily frauds, deceptions, impositions, 
 and extortions practised upon hundreds of 
 unsophisticated and artless victims of city 
 temptations having led to the establish- 
 ment of The Morrill Medical Institute, 
 I have been induced to embark in the en- 
 terprise, and give to it my hearty sympa- 
 thy and co-operation. Placed at the head 
 of it by the very flattering partiality of 
 
202 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 its projectors and founders, I find myself 
 almost unexpectedly in a position where 
 my large experience, and habits of careful 
 study and investigation, will find ample 
 scope for exercise as well as display. 
 
 In the prime of life, and in the enjoy- 
 ment of unimpaired vigor of both body 
 and mind, I enter upon the work assigned 
 me, with all the eagerness and ardor of 
 confident ability to discharge every duty 
 incumbent upon me with success and 
 credit to myself, and to the entire satisfac- 
 tion of my friends and patrons, amongst 
 whom I am happy to say that, those of the 
 female sex have constituted a very large 
 and interesting proportion. Very early in 
 my practice, the circumstance of being 
 located in a section of country w T here I had 
 but few professional rivals, and constantly 
 called upon to attend to all the various 
 cases always arising in a country neigh- 
 borhood, I felt an ambition to excel, par- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 203 
 
 ticuiarly in cases where the ladies were to 
 become the objects of my solicitude and 
 care. 
 
 In all female complaints, arising from any 
 obstruction to the free operations of nature's 
 laws, my remedies are infallible ; whilst in 
 cases where nature must be restrained, for 
 reasons of health, propriety, or expediency 
 even, if consulted in season, my remedies 
 are equally efficacious and certain. In a 
 book designed as this is for general circu- 
 lation, topics of this character can only be 
 alluded to superficially, and in suppressed 
 tones, lest the delicate sensibilities of some, 
 whose good opinion I would conciliate, 
 might be too rudely jarred. Hence I can 
 only say to them, as to all others, that you 
 will at all times find me a patient listener 
 to your complaints and troubles, and may 
 safely rely upon my care, discretion and 
 skill in ministering to your necessities, 
 even if arising through a faulty training, 
 
201 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 misplaced confidence or unguarded inter- 
 course, or any other cause which may re- 
 quire the aid of medical advice and assis- 
 tance. 
 
 In the preceding pages I have, as the 
 reader will have seen, very thoroughly 
 considered every subject relating to sexual, 
 syphilitic, and private diseases pertaining 
 to man, so far as to enable him safely to 
 hold them in abeyance, at least until he can 
 have an opportunity to obtain reliable 
 medical assistance. Beyond this it is not 
 my intention, nor is it necessary that I 
 should go. It would swell this volume to 
 a greater size than convenient for the uses 
 for which it was designed, were I tempted 
 to discuss, even to a limited degree, all 
 the topics suggested by its title, and aris- 
 ing out of so vast and complicated a branch 
 of medical science as the one which we 
 have been considering. I therefore hasten 
 to a conclusion of this branch of my treatise. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 205 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 SYMPTOMATOLOGY. 
 
 IN order to enable those who may be so 
 unfortunate as to be afflicted with any 
 of the diseases alluded to in this book, or 
 any kindred complaints, arising from he- 
 reditary taint, an impure state of the blood, 
 imperfectly treated scrofulous or syphilitic 
 diseases, I have thought I could do no 
 better service to my readers than to fur- 
 nish them with a brief index of such dis- 
 eases, with a clear and comprehensive 
 enumeration of symptoms usually attend- 
 ing them, so that they may be enabled, of 
 themselves, to judge somewhat of the 
 nature and gravity of the trouble which 
 assails them. The diseases herein enumer- 
 ated, are all such as I have made a special 
 study, and I flatter myself that the numer- 
 
206 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 ous cases with which I have had to deal, 
 and the eminent success I have met with 
 in their treatment and cure, will give con- 
 fidence that my claims of superiority in 
 their proper management, are not without 
 some show of substantial merit and ability. 
 
 Acne. A chronic tubercular affection 
 of the skin, characterized by small, iso- 
 lated pustules, with deep red bases. These' 
 pustules, after suppurating and bursting, 
 leave behind them very small hard red 
 tumors, very painful, and apt to mark the 
 skin. In young people Acne appears about 
 the age of puberty upon the forehead or 
 sides of the cheek, and are very protracted 
 and annoying with elderly people ; it fre- 
 quently attacks the nose, giving it a red 
 appearance. 
 
 Amnesia. Forgetfulness, or loss of 
 memory, a prominent symptom in certain 
 cerebral diseases resulting from mastur- 
 bation, etc. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 207 
 
 Angina Pectoris. This term, signifying 
 to strangle, is applied to a disease in which 
 severe pain is felt about the chest, with a 
 sense of strangulation ; and great anxiety ; 
 occurs most frequently in advanced life, 
 but may come on at any time ; if the 
 patient be walking he is obliged to stop 
 immediately. During attack, pulse slow 
 and feeble ; breathing short and hurried ; 
 countenance pale and anxious ; surface of 
 body cold, perhaps covered with clammy 
 sweat, etc. This is a very dangerous 
 disease. 
 
 Balanitis. Inflammation of the glans 
 penis, or external clap. This disease is 
 indicated by soreness, with redness and 
 excoriation of the glans and internal sur- 
 face of the prepuce, with heat and itching 
 of the parts. On exposing the glans, by 
 drawing back the skin, patches of redness 
 and excoriation are seen, with perhaps 
 flakes of curdlike matter, from which may 
 
208 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 be inferred danger of chancre, abscess, 
 sympathetic bubo, or threatened mortifica- 
 tion. Pimosis, or parapimosis is extremely 
 imminent. No time should be lost in 
 applying for medical treatment. 
 
 Bronchitis. Inflammation of mucous 
 membrane of bronchial tubes. It may be 
 acute or chronic ; affects one or both lungs. 
 The symptoms are, fever, a sense of tight- 
 ness about the chest, hurried breathing, 
 with wheezing cough, spitting of viscid, 
 glairy mucous, and afterwards of purulent 
 secretion, frequent and weak pulse, foul 
 tongue, headache and lassitude, great anx- 
 iety, etc. There are several varieties of 
 this disease, all of which are very much 
 aggravated by syphilitic taint, if the patient 
 has ever been exposed. 
 
 Bubo. A tumor of the glands of the 
 groin, and may arise from balanitis, gon- 
 orrhoea, excessive venery, etc., or may be 
 the direct result of the absorption of virus 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 209 
 
 from venerial sores, chancre, etc. It is as 
 often a precurser of syphilitic attack, as 
 otherwise. Prompt treatment should be 
 resorted to. 
 
 Carbuncle. Name derived from a Latin 
 word, signifying " a live coal, " consists 
 of severe inflammation of a certain 
 portion of the skin, and surround- 
 ing parts impregnated with unhealthy 
 matter. It first appears as a flattened cir- 
 cular swelling, with throbbing, or dull, 
 aching pain, suppuration, bloody, purulent 
 discharge, sloughing of the areolar tissue, 
 vitiated state of the blood, constitutional 
 disturbance, prostration, etc., etc. The 
 same remedies indicated as in syphilis. 
 
 Catarrh. From a Greek word, meaning 
 to flow down little by little. It is an in- 
 flammation of the mucous membrane of 
 some portion of air passages of the nose 
 and throat, and is one of the commonest 
 diseases in our climate. Its symptoms are 
 
210 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 lassitude, pains in limbs, aching of back, 
 sense of tightness across forehead, exces- 
 sive discharge from nostrils, profuse invol- 
 untary tears, hoarseness, sore throat, fur- 
 red tongue, more or less feverishness, 
 thirst, loss of appetite, quick pulse, etc., 
 sometimes a severe eruption of pimples 
 upon the lips, most frequently about the 
 corners of the mouth, or middle of lower 
 lip. A very troublesome, painful, and 
 sometimes dangerous complaint, superin- 
 ducing pneumonia, and other chest dis- 
 eases. The very first symptoms should be 
 promptly attended to. Neglected, they 
 assume a gravity and difficulty of treat- 
 ment, rendering cure protracted, if not 
 uncertain. 
 
 Concussion of Brain. Name derived 
 from the Latin Conditio, to shake. An 
 affection very often resulting from the 
 severe nervous shocks occasioned by fre- 
 quent and persistent self-abuse. Signa- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 211 
 
 lized by fainting, sickness, stupor, insensi- 
 bility, and loss of all muscular power. The 
 patient may rally quickly, or not, for many 
 hours, or he may die suddenly. The symp- 
 toms vary according to degree of concus- 
 sion. When the shock is slight, the state 
 of unconsciousness soon recovered from, 
 complaint only made of confusion of ideas, 
 faintness, sickness, chilliness, drowsiness, 
 ringing noises in the ears. In more severe 
 forms, insensibility continues longer. Pa- 
 tient lies as if in deep sleep; pupils insen- 
 sible to stimulus of light; surface pale and 
 cold ; muscles flaccid ; pulse fluttering, or 
 feeble ; breathing often scarcely percepti- 
 ble. Instant resort to friction up and down 
 the spine should be resorted to by the 
 attendants, and physician immediately 
 summoned. 
 
 Concussion of Spinal Cord, is also a 
 result of the constant agitation and weak- 
 ening of the system by excessive mastur- 
 
212 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 bation. The first symptoms usually are a 
 peculiar tingling, as though from the prick- 
 ing of pins and needles, in the extremities ; 
 extreme weakness; difficulty in passing 
 urine ; coldness and numbness of the legs ; 
 difficulty in walking, etc. The cases be- 
 come very serious from neglect. 
 
 Conjunctivitis. A term synonymous 
 with Opthalmia, a disease of the eyes, 
 very frequently a sequella of gonorrhoea, 
 hence one form of the disease is termed 
 Gonorrhoeal Opthalmia. The symptoms 
 are, inflammation very severe, attended 
 with violent pain, and leads to formation 
 of large quantities of thick and yellow 
 purulent matter. Eyelids swell very much 
 and separation of them difficult, the dis- 
 charge adhering to the eyelashes in thick 
 drops. Severe pain in the eye and fore- 
 head, much constitutional disturbance, 
 with fever and prostration. Where this 
 disease does not readily yield to cooling 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 213 
 
 applications and astringent lotions, inflam- 
 mation is apt to continue ; increasing it at- 
 tacks the cornea and internal textures of the 
 eye; extensive sloughing takes place ; and 
 when sufferings terminate, it is found that 
 sight is completely lost. It is contagious, 
 and both eyes often affected. Anti-syphi- 
 lic treatment should at once be resorted to. 
 Medical advice the only reliable course to 
 be adopted. 
 
 Convulsions, are often due to renal dis- 
 ease and albuminaria. The symptoms and 
 appearances are too well known to require 
 particular description. During a general 
 paroxysm there is distortion of features, 
 pallor, or lividity of face, staring eyeballs, 
 grinding and gnashing of teeth, protusion 
 of tongue, etc. Involuntary evacuations, 
 laborious breathing. There will be only 
 one attack, or several, followed by a ten- 
 dency to sleep. 
 
 Corneitis, Name derived from the Latia 
 
214 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Comic, a horn. A peculiar affection of 
 the eye. There are several varieties, 
 amongst them is Syphilitic Keratitis ; the 
 result of inherited constitutional syphilis, 
 and often affects young children. Its indi- 
 cations are, a diffused haziness, beginning 
 at centre of one cornea ; tissue gets to 
 resemble ground glass. No tendency to 
 ulceration ; after a few weeks both cornea 
 become affected. Subjects of this disease 
 acquire a coarse and flabby skin, pits and 
 scars on face and forehead, scars of old 
 cracks at the corners of the mouth, and 
 the bridge of the nose gradually sinks 
 down. It is altogether a very disagreea- 
 ble disease, greatly to be feared from the 
 marks it leaves upon its victims, will not 
 admit of being tampered with, nor be 
 cured by quack remedies. Not one doctor 
 in a hundred can do anything for it. The 
 skilful specialist only knows how to treat 
 it. I have a perfect remedy. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 215 
 
 Diabetes Mellitus. From Greek words, 
 signifying to move through honey. A 
 species of saccharine diabetes, character- 
 ized by secretion of a large quantity of 
 urine, containing glucose, or grape sugar. 
 It comes on very insiduously, with a sense 
 of uneasiness and feverishness. Large 
 quantities of urine are passed, having an 
 apple-like odor. Constipation ; hard, dry 
 excretions ; constant thirst ; failure of gen- 
 eral health; muscular weakness, and loss 
 of sexual power. Mental depression and 
 irritability ; constant sense of sinking at 
 the stomach, with occasional voracious 
 appetite ; tendency to boils. This disease 
 often becomes associated with consump- 
 tion after a time, and death, unless relief 
 is obtained, almost sure to ensue. In its 
 first stages, it is entirely manageable, but 
 treatment deferred, renders cure difficult 
 and protracted. 
 
 Diuresis. Signifying to pass urine. A 
 
216 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 condition in which an excessive quantity 
 of pale, limpid urine is secreted, from 
 sugar, or other foreign ingredient. The 
 symptoms are excessive thirst, with excre- 
 tion of large quantities of urine. The 
 general health suffers, and frequent desire 
 to pass water, cause bad and restless nights. 
 Dropsy frequently sets in. 
 
 Enuresis. To urine in bed needs no 
 further explanation, and is easily cured, 
 but the habit becomes inveterate, and a 
 source of much mortification and trouble 
 if neglected by parents, and those having 
 the care of children. 
 
 Hcematuria. Bloody urine. Hemorr- 
 hage from the mucous membrane of the 
 urinary passages, the kidneys, bladder, or 
 urethra. The symptoms are, the urine of 
 a smoky, or black hue, or of a port-wine 
 tint, albumen present. When the kidneys 
 are affected; the blood is equally diffused 
 through the urine. When the disease is 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 217 
 
 of the bladder, or urethra, the blood comes 
 away after passing clear urine. Indicative 
 of blood-casts of renal tubes, cancer-cells, 
 or renal calculi. A very dangerous dis- 
 ease. 
 
 Hemorrhoids, or Piles. There are two 
 kinds, External and Internal. In the first, 
 they consist of a knot of varicose veins, or 
 of one or more cutaneous excrescences. 
 The veins may contain fluid blood ; more 
 frequently their contents have coagulated, 
 forming one or several hard and purple 
 swellings. When indolent they are chiefly 
 troublesome from their bulk. If they be- 
 come congested, or inflamed, great pain 
 arises, with heat and throbbing ; a sense of 
 bearing down, backache, irritability of the 
 bladder, and perhaps retention of the urine. 
 Very troublesome and annoying. In case 
 of Internal Piles, they protrude during 
 stools at first, in consequence of the fre- 
 quent attacks of bleeding and other causes 
 
218 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 they are constantly down, save when the 
 patient is in a recumbent posture ; uneasi- 
 ness about the rectum ; loss of flesh ; sal- 
 lowness of complexion ; deficiency of blood ; 
 general derangement of functions of the 
 liver, stomach, bowels, etc. By long neg- 
 lect and inattention, piles very often be- 
 come so seated, and difficult of cure, that 
 the most intricate surgical operations are 
 sometimes rendered absolutely necessary. 
 I have given great attention to the treat- 
 ment of this troublesome complaint, and 
 have discovered remedies which I consider 
 almost infallible. I have rarely met with 
 a case that I could not cure in a short 
 time. 
 
 Hydrocele and Hcematocele. The 
 first is an accumulation of serum, either 
 in the sack covering the testicles, called 
 the Tunica Vaginalis, or in the cord. 
 Hcematocele is an extravasation of blood 
 into the tunica vaginalis. Hydrocele may 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 219 
 
 result from injuries, testitis, and many 
 other causes. The symptoms are, a grad- 
 ual swelling and distension of the scrotum, 
 until it is of a smooth and pear-shaped form. 
 The testicle may be felt near the lower 
 and back part ; the spermatic cord can 
 easily be felt at the neck of the tumor, 
 The fluid consists of pale, yellowish serum 
 average quantity ten or twelve ounces, 
 In Hydrocele of the cord, the serum accu- 
 mulates in the areola tissue of the cord 
 In some cases the fluid is formed in a dis- 
 tinct cyst or sack. The treatment of these 
 painful diseases of the scrotum has hitherto 
 consisted chiefly in drawing off the fluid 
 by a trocar, puncturing, or the application 
 of counter irritants, etc. These remedies, 
 such as they are, are merely palliative, 
 giving only temporary relief. My method 
 of treatment is altogether different, and 
 more rational. I neither tap, nor inflict 
 unnecessary pain, by blistering or irritat- 
 
220 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 ing applications, but by a process of ab- 
 sorption, the means of which were discov- 
 ered by myself, lam enabled to scatter the 
 secretion of serum, and to reduce the 
 swelling in a very short time. In cases of 
 Hoematocele, or blood tumor, there is some 
 danger that the distension may be to that 
 extent as to compress the testicle so as to 
 induce atrophy. Besides the inconvenience 
 and suffering, this disease has a very de- 
 pressing influence upon the mind, leading 
 to despondency, low spirits, apprehensions 
 of evil, etc. Its proper treatment should, 
 on no account, be neglected for a single 
 day. 
 
 Hydronephrosis. Dropsy of the kid- 
 ney. May arise from obstruction of the 
 ureter, or membranous tube through which 
 the urine is conveyed from the kidneys to 
 the bladder. These obstructions may re- 
 sult from calculi, tubercular, or malignant 
 deposits, pressure of tumors, etc. Kidneys 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 221 
 
 become ultimately converted into large 
 pouches. The symptoms are generally 
 very obscure. Tumors in the loins, reach- 
 ing forward in the abdomen, tender to the 
 touch, with a rolling, undulating feeling, 
 are one of the indications of this disease. 
 The urine, though often natural in quan- 
 tity, often contains pus. There are some- 
 times frequent attacks of colic, especially 
 where there is calculus. Complete rest 
 should be enjoined upon the patient, with 
 warm diluent drinks to prevent concentra- 
 tion of urine, and medical assistance at 
 once called in. 1 have very frequently 
 been called upon to attend upon cases of 
 this kind, and have generally succeeded in 
 affording relief in a very short time. None 
 but a practical experienced diagnostician 
 who understands these cases more from 
 frequent dealing with them, than from 
 merely reading about them, should be 
 trusted to prescribe for them. In the 
 
222 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 treatment of such cases, it is literally true 
 that " jDractice makes perfect/ 7 
 
 Impotence and Sterility. The term 
 " Impotence " simply means that condition 
 of the male which may prevent the semi- 
 nal fluid coming in contact with, or impos- 
 sible to impregnate the female ovule. On 
 the other hand " Sterility " is that condi- 
 tion in which no spermatozoa is secreted 
 in the male, nor ovules in the female, or 
 which in either case their vitality is imme- 
 diately destroyed. 
 
 These subjects have been freely discuss- 
 ed in the main body of this work, and I 
 only allude to them here in order to recall 
 the attention of the reader to them, and to 
 assure them that, in most cases where they 
 occur, they are generally curable ; more 
 so, in fact, than many other obstructions 
 and derangements of the generative organs, 
 apparently of less importance. My reme- 
 dies and mode of treatment in all such 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 223 
 
 cases, are at once simple, reliable, safe, and 
 prompt in their action. For numerous tes- 
 timonials of the efficacy and success I have 
 met with in the treatment of barrenness, 
 impotency, exhausted vitality, etc., I invite 
 the interested to call and see me. The 
 most sceptical will not fail to be convinced 
 that it is worth while, at least, to give a 
 fair trial to the remedies I can offer them. 
 Insanity. Mental alienation ; deranged 
 intellect ; madness ; synonymous terms 
 used to express the mental condition op- 
 posed to sanity; sanity being that state of 
 the mind which enables a man to discharge 
 his duties to God, his neighbor and him- 
 self. Indications of impending cerebral 
 mischief are often to be detected by phy- 
 sycians long before they attract the notice 
 of the patient or his friends, are not devel- 
 oped suddenly ; often rendered incurable 
 by neglect of treatment in early stages. 
 Symptoms which should excite alarm are. 
 
224 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 frequent and severe headache ; attacks of 
 giddiness and mental confusion ; irrita- 
 bility ; loss of temper without sufficient 
 cause ; inaptitude for usual occupations ; 
 weariness of life ; sleeplessness, or leth- 
 argy ; loss of memory ; defective articula- 
 tion ; dimness of sight ; sufferer feels not 
 quite right, but does not like to consult a 
 physician. He shuns old friends ; is tortur- 
 ed with blasphemous, or obscene thoughts, 
 has frightful dreams ; and frequently suf- 
 fers from dyspepsia. Of all forms of insan- 
 ity those complicated with general paraly- 
 sis, or with epilepsy, are the most terrible. 
 This disease is more frequently the result 
 of long continued and persistent self-abuse, 
 masturbation, etc., than from any other 
 cause. It may confidently be asserted 
 that fully two-thirds of the cases of mona- 
 mania, dementia and idiocy are caused by 
 this vice. The various forms in which 
 these conditions of mental disease are man- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 225 
 
 ifested, forms one of the most interesting 
 studies of the philanthropic physician. 
 In the various phases of monomania, for 
 instance, we find melancholy, fear, morose- 
 ness, despondency, etc., autophamania, or 
 a desire to commit suicide ; androphoma- 
 nia, where there is an uncontrollable ten- 
 dency to commit murder ; pyromania ; 
 where there is an irresistible propensity 
 to set fire to buildings ; kleptomania ; or 
 a desire to steal. In erotomonia, a strong 
 proclivity towards women, etc. All of 
 these conditions of the mind are produced 
 to a greater or less degree by uterine dis- 
 turbances in women, syphilitic taint, vene- 
 rial excesses, masturbation and self-abuse 
 in men ; and may be „cured, or essentially 
 relieved by early medical and hygienic 
 treatment. Moral influences are much to 
 be depended upon ; but careful medical 
 treatment, calculated to remove obstruc- 
 tions, promote sleep, and give tone to the 
 
226 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 system, are of greater importance. There 
 is no one method adapted to general appli- 
 cation, nor are there any specifics for the 
 cure of these diseases. No one but a 
 thoroughly skilful physiologist, profoundly 
 ■ impressed with the great importance of the 
 task he undertakes, and from long expe- 
 rience familiar with the workings of the 
 human intellect in health as in disease, 
 should be entrusted with such cases. I 
 am the more concerned in impressing this 
 truth on the minds of my readers, from the 
 fact, that latterly, the most unscrupulous 
 efforts have been made to create the im- 
 pression that there are certain remedies 
 and methods for the treatment of insanity, 
 known to but a few, and which can be ped- 
 dled out, as a box of pills, or a bottle of 
 stuff, to be well shaken and taken, " ad 
 nauseum." In a book recently published, 
 claiming to be written by a certain adver- 
 tising specialist in this city, better known 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 227 
 
 for his tortuous trading and financial oper- 
 ations, than for his skill or learning as a 
 physician, I find, amidst a chaos of in co- 
 herencies and contradictions, a case stated 
 something like this : speaking of a lady 
 laboring under mental depression, melan- 
 choly, etc., induced by the death of rela- 
 tives, he says, " The professional assist- 
 ance of Dr. Brown Sequard was sought in 
 Paris, but his best endeavors were of no 
 avail. On her return to America, our pro- 
 fessional aid was required. The means 
 were used diligently, under our direction, 
 and in eleven weeks, being perfectly re- 
 covered, the means were discontinued. 77 
 The attempt is here made and repeated in 
 other parts of the book, to create a belief 
 that some new discovery in thereaputical 
 science has been discovered by the author, 
 or rather publisher, for the successful 
 treatment of nervous and mental disorders, 
 superseding all that has hitherto been done 
 
228 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 by such men as Rush, or Ray, and curing 
 mental derangements, as one would the 
 itch ; by some salve or ointment, the prep- 
 aration of which he alone is the fortunate 
 discoverer and proprietor, and which, for 
 " a consideration " he stands ready to dole 
 out in potions, as he would emetics, to his 
 dupes. Thus, he says, in regard to a cer- 
 tain Episcopal minister whom he met 
 with (?) on his way to California, " He 
 availed himself of my advice, and the ben- 
 efits of our discovery " ! ! Then again he 
 says, " one peculiar and most extraordi- 
 nary advantageous adjunct of this discov- 
 ery is, its power can be raised in propor- 
 tion to the strength of the disease" etc. 
 One would judge so from the fact (if it be 
 a fact) stated further on, that to accom- 
 plish a certain cure, the means, that is the 
 stuff, or new discovery, which in ordinary 
 cases are to be used in small quantities, 
 three times a day, were used for many 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 229 
 
 weeks every two hours, and in eight-fold 
 larger quantities tlianusual" This learned 
 Ex IT. S. A. surgeon also has a great deal 
 to say about the " organ " of the brain. 
 We should be glad to know what that is ; 
 which organ, etc. We always supposed 
 that the brain was an organ itself, or rather, 
 a net-work of organs of the mind, and that 
 it was through the brain, as its organ, it 
 communicated with the world and external 
 things ; by the hands, arms, feet, tongue, 
 eyes, etc., as the " organs " of action and 
 sensation. To all this mess of arrant non- 
 sense and charlatinism we have added, the 
 comforting assurance that " the average 
 cost price of i the means ? is the only 
 charge to the rich till the cure is complet- 
 ed, whilst servants, mechanics, little trades- 
 men (who are they?) and poor clergymen 
 pay only half the cost price, and nothing 
 is expected from them when cured." 
 Verily the operators of gift enterprises. 
 
230 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and bogus lotteries, and even the Peter 
 Funks of Chatham Street may take a new 
 lesson in skinning the greenhorns, and 
 transferring the dollars from their purses 
 to themselves. I feel that some apology 
 is needed for calling attention to this bare- 
 faced foray into the realms of decency and 
 common sense, by the getters up of this 
 scheme, but knowing, as I do, i;he great 
 liability of people to be seduced by such 
 stuff, and the great necessity there exists 
 for this exposure, I cannot refrain from 
 alluding to it as I have. 
 
 Iritis. A term derived from a Greek 
 word signifying a rainbow, and applied to 
 a peculiar affection of the eye, accompa- 
 nied by acute inflammation. The usual 
 symptoms are, in the first stage the iris 
 presents a confused appearance, owing to 
 its fibrous texture becoming indistinct; 
 loses its contractile power, and undergoes 
 a change in color. If the inflammation 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 231 
 
 proceed, the pupil may get closed, or its 
 margin become adherent to the capsule of 
 the lens ; or the cornea may be rendered 
 opaque. If the inflammation be not check- 
 ed, it creeps on, involves the whole coat- 
 ing of the retina, and spoiling the delicate 
 texture of the latter, completely destroys 
 the sight forever. When one eye has 
 been permanently injured from any cause, 
 sympathetic subacute inflammation is not 
 infrequently set up in the sound organ at 
 the end of some months, or even in the 
 course of a few days, which may go on to 
 produce complete destruction. To prevent 
 this, it is often necessary to remove the 
 eye which was first damaged. Among the 
 chief causes of this dangerous malady, is sy- 
 philis when, as a secondary effect, it causes 
 syphilitic eritis,andisalso themost common. 
 It may occur at all ages. It is usually at- 
 tended with other effects of constitutional 
 syphilis, such as copper-colored eruptions, 
 
232 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 nodes, pains in the bones, especially severe 
 at night, and ulceration of throat. The 
 treatment of this disease was formerly by 
 bleeding and belladona ; but that method 
 has given way to the more enlightened 
 one of sustaining the general health by 
 generous diet, and relieving pain with 
 narcotics. The patient should be kept 
 quiet, and every effort made to arrest effu- 
 sion of fibrine, and to procure absorption 
 of that poured out. Professed occulists 
 merely are incompetent to treat this disease. 
 It having its origin in syphilis, none but 
 those who understand that disease, can so 
 successfully undertake its cure. 
 
 Lepra. Signifying a scaly state of the 
 skin. Is the most obstinate and trouble- 
 some of all curable cutaneous diseases 
 resulting from syphilis, in which case it is 
 known as syphilitic lepra. It consists of 
 red and scaly circular patches, of various 
 dimensions, scattered over different parts 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 233 
 
 of the body. Most frequently found in the 
 neighborhood of the joints, especially near 
 the knee and elbow. By degrees, patches 
 increase in size and number, and extend 
 along the extremities to trunk. In these 
 cases the patient should suspect the nature 
 of his trouble, if at any former period of his 
 life he has been the subject of a syphilitic 
 attack. 
 
 The usual anti-scrofulous remedies, such 
 as would be prescribed by ordinary physi- 
 cians, would be useless here, as such cases 
 call for treatment almost identical with 
 that of secondary syphilis. 
 
 Nephritis. Inflammation of the kidney. 
 The symptoms are, severe pains in loins, 
 increased by pressure or exercise ; pain 
 often extending along the ureter to neck 
 of bladder, groin, scrotum, or testicle. 
 Numbness of thigh ; retraction of testicle. 
 Frequent and urgent desire to empty blad- 
 der ; urine high-colored, often contains 
 
234 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 renal casts with blood and pus corpuscles. 
 Sometimes, suppression of urine ; with 
 uroemia, or bloody mixture, convulsions, 
 etc. When recovery follows, a foundation 
 for future renal diseases often laid. Re- 
 nal abscesses may form, leading perhaps 
 to ulceration and establishment of a puru- 
 lent discharge, obstructive diseases of 
 urinary passages, etc. This disease, re- 
 sulting as it does from syphilis, is not gen- 
 erally understood by the profession ; but 
 the specialist detects it at once, and knows 
 how to grapple with it successfully. No 
 time should be lost in attending to the yevy 
 earliest symptoms of this disease, as, if 
 neglected, fatal results are almost sure to 
 follow. 
 
 Paraphimosis is that condition in which 
 a tight prepuce, or foreskin having been 
 drawn back over the glans penis, the latter 
 becomes constricted and swollen, so that 
 the prepuce cannot be replaced. The 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 235 
 
 symptoms are, great swelling behind the 
 constriction ; mucous membrane of with- 
 drawn prepuce forms a thick and hard 
 girdle around and just back of the head of 
 the penis ; congestion of glans ; great pain, 
 anxiety, etc. The first efforts should be 
 to attempt a reduction by well oiling the 
 parts, and compressing the glans so that 
 they may be gently pushed backward with 
 the right hand, whilst the prepuce is to be 
 steadily drawn forward with the left. To 
 reduce inflammation, applications of ice, 
 cold water, etc., are sometimes useful ; a per- 
 manent cure can only be effected by cir- 
 cumcision. 
 
 Penis Cancer generally commences as a 
 warty, or cauliflower looking growth on 
 the inner surface of the prepuce ; followed 
 by unhealthy and very destructive ulcera- 
 tion. Lymphatics on back of penis, and 
 the glans in the groin gradually get invol- 
 ved. Bloody discharges, retention of 
 
236 MEDICAL ADYISER. 
 
 urine, a cancerous tendency generally man- 
 ifested. If disease is not arrested by early 
 and complete amputation, a painful death 
 is sure to follow. 
 
 Periostitis is a disease often the result 
 of syphilitic taint affecting the thin, deli- 
 cate membrane forming the immediate 
 covering of the bones, called the perios- 
 teum. It may also arise from injury, 
 rheumatism, abuse of mercury, and from 
 atmospheric exposure, acting upon enfee- 
 bled and broken down constitutions. The 
 symptoms are, pain and tenderness, thick- 
 ening of the inflamed part from deposits 
 of plastic matter forming a tense elongated 
 swelling — a node ; much constitutional dis- 
 turbance ; varying from slight impairment 
 of health, to acute inflammatory fever ; 
 restless nights ; great mental depression, 
 e cC» 
 
 Peritonitis. From a Greek word signi- 
 fying to stretch all over. Is an inflamma- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 237 
 
 tion of the peritoneum or membrane, in- 
 vesting the entire viscera of the abdomen. 
 When acute it is a very serious disease, 
 accompanied with pain and swelling of the 
 abdomen, and severe symptomatic fever. 
 Symptoms are sometimes chilliness and 
 rigors, high fever, great tenderness of 
 abdomen ; increased by slightest pressure, 
 and by any movement calling abdominal 
 muscles into action. Patient lies on the 
 back, with knees bent and drawn up, ab- 
 domen tense, hot, and often hollow sound- 
 ing, constipation; nausea and vomiting; 
 dry burning skin ; rapid feeble pulse ; 
 hurried respiration ; hiccough ; tongue 
 thickly furred, countenance expressive of 
 anxiety and suffering. If not relieved, 
 death usually takes place from exhaustion, 
 within eight or ten days from the com- 
 mencement of disease. None but a tho- 
 roughly experienced physician should be 
 called to attend upon cases of this kind. 
 
238 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Pamryngitis is a syphilitic affection of 
 the throat, producing ulceration of the 
 velum and fauces, attended with difficulty 
 in swallowing, rapidly producing exhaust- 
 ion and suffocation. A dangerous disease, 
 not to be trifled with. The experienced 
 specialist, familiar with every indication of 
 syphilitic taint, would be best able to 
 judge whether anti-syphilitics are indicat- 
 ed and proper. 
 
 Priapism. Constant and distressing 
 erection of the penis. May arise from 
 injury or disease of the spine ; disease of 
 the brain ; the rupture of some vessel, with 
 extravasation of blood into corpora caver- 
 nosa ; sub-acute inflammation, with effusion 
 of blood into the same ; or vesicular and 
 nervous excitement consequent upon ex- 
 cessive venery, etc. It may be relieved 
 by anodyne and narcotic remedies, but 
 they should not be resorted to without 
 medical advice. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 239 
 
 Prostrate Enlargement. Excessive 
 growth, thickening, or enlargement may 
 result from chronic prostatis, or inflamma- 
 tion of the prostrate gland, or in advanced 
 life independent of any inflammatory ac- 
 tion. Produces displacement, or compres- 
 sion of the urethra, so that micturation is 
 rendered slow and difficult. Such cases 
 should only be treated by a physician. 
 The unskilled patient should not meddle 
 with it. Care should however be taken 
 that the bladder be completely emptied, or 
 chronic cystitis (inflammation of the blad- 
 der) will be set up. 
 
 Prostatitis. Inflammation of the pros- 
 trate gland may occur in course of gonorr- 
 hoea, from violence, use of strong injec- 
 tions in urethra, exposure to wet, exces- 
 sive venery, diseases of rectum, and irrita- 
 tion produced by cantharides (Spanish 
 flies). The symptoms are, pain and tender- 
 ness between the anus and scrotum (peri- 
 
240 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 neum) with sense of heat. Frequent 
 painful micturation, pain at stools, feeling 
 of weight about perineum and rectum, 
 great suffering if a catheter be passed, 
 rigors, fever, difficulty of mictaration, etc., 
 danger of abscess. Until medical advice 
 be had, the patient should rest quietly in 
 bed ; and hot hip baths, fomentations and 
 poultices may be resorted to, taking only 
 very simple nourishment, without any 
 stimulants. In case of abscess he should 
 have nourishing food, raw eggs, cream, 
 essence of beef, and wine if there is much 
 depression. 
 
 Rectal Cancer are of several varieties, 
 and sometimes attacks the anus, and may 
 extend some distance up the rectum. The 
 symptoms are often obscure and not very 
 well marked at first, as there is but little 
 suffering until difficulty at stool arises. 
 
 When it is found that the disease has 
 made considerable progress, and the bowels 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 241 
 
 extensively infiltrated with cancer, pro- 
 ducing considerable contraction with se- 
 vere lancinating pains. Frequent attacks 
 of bleeding, offensive muco-purulent dis- 
 charges. Debility, ending in complete 
 prostration. Loss of flesh, ulceration ex- 
 tends to the bladder and urethra, if relief 
 is not had, death results from exhaustion. 
 Of course before any of the foregoing 
 occur, the patient will have had the attend- 
 ance of a physician. This is a difficult 
 and dangerous malady to deal with, and 
 none but a skilful and reliable physician 
 should be consulted. I have had large ex- 
 perience in such cases, and although in 
 most cases have been obliged to resort to 
 excision, yet have always been enabled to 
 alleviate the condition of the patient, so as to 
 render this troublesome complaint less dis- 
 tressing than it would otherwise have been. 
 I trust I need not caution my readers that 
 in all such cases no reliance whatever is t6 
 
242 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 be placed in the various empyrical reme- 
 dies of so called cancer doctors, etc. 
 
 Rectal Stricture. Stricture of the 
 rectum may be confined to a ring of con- 
 densed tissue of the annular form; or it 
 may be confined to one side of the bowel, 
 as when it follows healing up of ulcers ; 
 almost the whole gut may be narrowed and 
 hardened. To be distinguished from con- 
 striction due to cancer, or to pressure of 
 tumors, etc. The symptoms are constipa- 
 tion ; small stools ; great difficulty in pass- 
 ing solid stools ; straining and bearing 
 down efforts ; flatulence ; pains in the 
 loins ; mucous discharges, sometimes stain- 
 ed with blood ; depression of general 
 health; low spirits. If ulceration follow, 
 burning pains ; tenderness about the sa- 
 crum and fundament ; discharges of blood 
 and pus, etc., dilitation by bougies, the use 
 of sponge tents, and other surgical opera- 
 tions of a delicate nature, are often abso- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 243 
 
 lutely necessary in reducing the disease. 
 The patient can only rely upon his physi- 
 cian. In the meantime he should take 
 nourishing diet, avoiding all stimulants. 
 
 Eectal Ulcers, or fissure of the anus. 
 Is an apparently slight affection, but one 
 which causes great suffering. No infor- 
 mation about them can be given to the 
 patient, by which he can be properly 
 guided in self-treatment. 
 
 Renal Cancer is the rarest form of 
 kidney disease ; most common in child- 
 hood and old age. When the disease is 
 primary, only one gland is usually attacked ; 
 if secondary, the reverse. In primary 
 cancer the tumor frequently attains enor- 
 mous size. The chief symptoms are en- 
 largement of affected gland, escape of 
 blood, pain in the loins, sickness, emacia- 
 tion, dropsy, fatal exhaustion. Medical 
 skill can do much to relieve the prominent 
 symptoms. Great difficulty is often expe- 
 
244 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 rienced in passing urine which may be 
 obstructed by blood clots. Self-treatment 
 dangerous. 
 
 Renal Degenerations. Here it may be 
 remarked that the term Renal is applied 
 only to diseases of the kidney and its ap- 
 pendages, and is derived from the Latin 
 word Bertj a kidney. There are three dif- 
 ferent varieties of kidney disease under 
 this head, namely, Fatty, Amyloid, (waxy 
 or starchy) and Cystic; affecting the blad- 
 der or gall. The fatty degeneration may 
 be the result of a scrofulous habit, bad 
 living, intemperance, exposure to wet, 
 cold, etc. It is indicated by frequent de- 
 sire to pass the urine, dyspepsia, with at- 
 tacks of obstinate vomiting, scanty secre- 
 tion of urine, highly albuminous. In the 
 early stages the urine, generally free from 
 sediment, but after awhile there appears a 
 cloudy sediment. When the urine is of 
 natural color, highly albuminous, and 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 245 
 
 shows a large number of oily bubbles, the 
 symptoms are most unfavorable and dan- 
 gerous. Medical advice should be at once 
 resorted to ; delay dangerous and often 
 fatal. There should be complete absti- 
 nence from intoxicating drinks, starchy 
 food, sugar, etc. 
 
 In the second form of this disease, amy- 
 loid, or waxy degeneration, better known 
 as Bright's disease, we often fi'nd some 
 connection with scrofula, syphilis, or dis- 
 ease of the bones. The symptoms are, 
 excessive secretion of urine ; patient has 
 to rise several times during the night to 
 micturate. Loss of strength coming on 
 gradually ; swelling of feet and ancles ; 
 urine pale in color. Progress of this dis- 
 ease is slow, and almost always has a fatal 
 termination. If however taken in the 
 onset, the symptoms may be very much 
 mitigated, and life prolonged indefinitely. 
 
 Rheumatism. This is a very formidable 
 
246 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 disease, owing to the suffering it causes, 
 the intensity of the fever, and the general 
 derangement it inflicts upon the whole 
 system. There is no mistaking the gene- 
 ral symptoms of this disease. Restlessness, 
 stiffness and aching pain in the limbs, fol- 
 lowing exposure to cold and damp, swell- 
 ing and tenderness of one or more of the 
 large joints. Unrelieved, the patient is 
 soon rendered a pitiable spectacle of help- 
 less suffering. He dare not move ; pain 
 in the joints so agonizing that even the 
 weight of bed clothes cannot be borne ; 
 among other symptoms the urine becomes 
 high colored, acid, scanty, and loaded with 
 urates. This disease, though commonly 
 attributed to cold and exposure, is as often 
 the result of suppressed, or badly treated 
 gonorrhoea, as to any other cause. In fact 
 two-thirds of the cases of rheumatism, 
 whether acute or chronic, I am called upon 
 to prescribe for, I find upon pushing my 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 247 
 
 inquiries, that the individual has had gon- 
 orrhea, and that I had a case of gonorrhceal 
 rheumatism on my hands. As the treatment 
 of this form of the disease should be en- 
 tirely different from that proper to the 
 others, it is important that the medical 
 attendant be able to distinguish between 
 them. As this is rarely thought of by 
 ordinary practitioners, in cases where the 
 usual remedies do not promptly afford re- 
 lief, a specialist had better be applied to. 
 The remedies which I apply in these cases 
 act with great energy, and I rarely fail to 
 have my patient on foot in a very short 
 time. 
 
 Testicular Neuralgia. Irritable tes- 
 tis, a pain of the testicles, oftentimes very 
 distressing, and assuming the character of 
 true neuralgia. There is no swelling, or 
 increase of heat, but only intolerence of 
 the least pressure, and retraction of gland 
 close to the groin during the paroxysms. 
 
248 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 This complaint frequently arises from mas- 
 turbation, or excessive sexual intercourse ; 
 disease at prostrate part of urethra ; or as 
 a sequel to testitis ; from gout ; dyspepsia, 
 with very acid urine ; calculus in the kid- 
 ney or ureter, variocele, etc., sometimes is 
 so severe as to induce patients either to 
 castrate themselves, or seek it at the hands 
 of others, a compliance with which would 
 be perfectly unjustifiable, save in very ex- 
 ceptionable cases. Skilful medical treat- 
 ment, with rest and quiet, will soon re- 
 move the difficulty. 
 
 Testitis. This term, derived from the 
 Latin word testis, meaning a witness, be- 
 cause the testicle is a proof of virility, or 
 manhood, is applied to inflammation of the 
 testicle, and in its various forms distin- 
 guished as either acute, or chronic, or spe- 
 cific, as syphilitic or tubercular. 
 
 Acute Testitis f otherwise known as orchi- 
 tis, or swelled testicle, is generally due to 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 249 
 
 extension of gonorrhceal inflammation from 
 urethra ; such inflammation having been 
 often superinduced or aggravated by strong 
 injections, use of alcoholic drinks, strains, 
 sudden jar, or fall, etc. The central por- 
 tion, or body of the gland may be affected ; 
 the epididymitis and tunica vaginalis may 
 be attacked, or all these parts may suffer. 
 Symptoms usually are, pain and feeling of 
 weight in cord and testicle ; uneasiness 
 about the loin, groin, and upper part of the 
 thigh. Frequent passing of urine ; swell- 
 ing of the testicle ; the scrotum firm and 
 tense ; swelling of cord ; pressure aggra- 
 vates the pain. Febrile disturbance ; 
 nausea and vomiting ; constipation, etc. 
 
 Chronic Testitis either follows an acute 
 attack, or the inflammation may be suba- 
 cute or chronic from commencement. It 
 may also be due to stricture of urethra ; 
 to gleet ; or to a syphilitic taint. Morbid 
 action usually begins in the epididymis, 
 
250 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and extends to body of the testicle. There 
 is swelling, hardness and tenderness on 
 pressure ; a sense of weight. When due 
 to constitutional syphilis there are other 
 manifestations, such as pustular, or scaly 
 skin eruptions, rheumatic pains, ulcers 
 about tongue or throat, derangement of 
 genera] health, etc. 
 
 Scrofulous Testicle, is indicated by slow 
 and subacute inflammation, with deposit 
 of tubercular matter between the seminal 
 tubes, or into the epididirnis ; there grad- 
 ually forms nodular swellings, without 
 much pain ; they seldom attain much size, 
 softening and suppuration takes place, and 
 the tumors burst, pus and tubercular 
 matter coming away. I need not say that 
 all the foregoing conditions of inflamed 
 testicle are generally of the most serious 
 character, and very frequently baffle the 
 efforts of the most skilful physicians. The 
 usual palliatives in cases of inflammatory 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 251 
 
 swellings seem to be useless here. Fomen- 
 tations, leeching, counter-irritants have 
 alike, at times, failed to give relief, simply 
 because the primary cause of the mischief 
 is not ascertained. I have as often found 
 testitis to result from an old stricture, of 
 which nothing is said by the patient, as 
 from any other cause ; and in fact from 
 many occult causes, which only the prac- 
 ticed specialist would be likely to suspect 
 or ascertain. T.ubercular disease of the 
 lungs not unfrequently manifests itself in 
 connection with scrofulous testicle. Where 
 constitutional disturbance is very great, a 
 removal of the source of irritation by cas- 
 tration may be rendered necessary. 
 
 Urcemia. A poisonous condition of the 
 blood, from the accumulation of urea, 
 owing to its non-elimination by the kidneys. 
 Symptoms are, disturbed condition of either 
 or both the great nervous centres, convul- 
 sions, albumenaria, suppression of urine. 
 
252 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Urethritis. Inflammation of the ure- 
 thra, either acute or chronic, and may 
 arise independently of gonorrhoea, or sy- 
 philis. Is often produced by copulation 
 with females having leuchorrhea, or other 
 viscous discharges. It is accompanied by 
 a sense of heat along the urethra, with 
 more or less pain on urinating ; sometimes 
 a muco-purulent discharge ; irritability of 
 the bladder; the urine may contain an 
 excess of uric acid; sometimes blood, pus, 
 or ropy mucous. The lips of the urethral 
 orifice very much swollen ; retention of 
 urine may be caused by spasmodic stric- 
 ture. In cases of this kind, the patient 
 should be careful to remember when, and 
 under what circumstances his latest expo- 
 sure occurred. In nine out of ten the 
 chances are, that his physician would put 
 him under treatment for gonorrhoea, hence 
 the absolute necessity of consulting only 
 those who have experience in these mat- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 253 
 
 ters ; rest, demulcent drinks, a little opium 
 or astringent injection is all that is needed 
 in the one case, where persistent and ex- 
 pensive treatment is often required in the 
 other. 
 
 Urinary Calculi. Gravel. These con- 
 cretions are found in the kidneys, bladder, 
 or follicles of the prostrate gland ; very 
 rarely one or more urinary salts become 
 deposited in the ureters, or in the urethra ; 
 usually calculi found in these situations 
 have travelled there from the kidneys, or 
 bladder. Calculi consists of only one sub- 
 stance, or of alternate layers of two or 
 more salts, or of uric acid and oxolate of 
 lime, etc. These concretions vary much 
 in size ; occasionally they resemble grains 
 of sand, so small as to pass with the urine, 
 at other times calculi are as large as a 
 hazel nut, or a small orange. When a 
 stone has formed in the pelvis of the kid- 
 ney, it may, while of moderate size, enter 
 
254 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 the ureter, and gradually be forced on- 
 ward towards the bladder. The suffering 
 which takes place during the transit is 
 very great, generally known as a " fit of 
 the gravel. 77 The symptoms of stone re- 
 tained in the kidney are, almost constant 
 back ache, bloody urine, especially after 
 exertion, nervous irritability, greatly im- 
 paired health, loss of flesh and strength. 
 The symptoms of stone in the bladder are, 
 repeated attacks of pain in the bladder and 
 perineum, always brought on or aggravated 
 by exercise. Frequent micturation, some- 
 times incontinence of urine, with a feeling 
 that the bladder is not thoroughly emptied 
 by the act of urinating. Urine often 
 thick, with ropy mucous ; sometimes con- 
 tains pus or blood. Act of passing urine 
 often suddenly stopped by the stone being 
 forced against the neck of the bladder ; 
 on making any movement, the flow of urine 
 returns. Bearing down pains, prolapsus 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 255 
 
 of the rectum. Stone may be discovered 
 by the use of the sound.. I need not ad- 
 vise the patient that gravel, or stone in 
 the kidneys or bladder, is a very formida- 
 ble and troublesome complaint, calling for 
 great care in the life, exercise, diet, and 
 pursuits of the sufferer. Each peculiar 
 characteristic of the disease calls for par- 
 ticular treatment and palliatives, and reme- 
 dies are so numerous as almost to bewilder 
 and confound the patient. The mode of 
 treatment in its various stages, must be 
 adapted to the constitutional stamina and 
 tendencies, care being taken to fortify the 
 system without stimulating it. With the 
 old school physicians, lithotomy, or an 
 operation for taking away the stone, was 
 the only reliance for permanent relief, 
 whilst with the later and better informed 
 physicians, litholysis, or efforts at a solu- 
 tion of the calculus by injections of solvent 
 preparations, are deemed the most appro- 
 
256 MEDICAL ADVISER. , 
 
 priate and likely to succeed. This latter 
 mode of treatment, aided by proper inter- 
 nal remedies, 1 am satisfied is the true 
 one, as well as the safest. My experience 
 has been very large in these cases, and in 
 many instances,* where it has been decided 
 that " an operation " could only afford re- 
 lief, I have, with the aid of disintegrating 
 means and solvents, produced results which 
 have more than realized my greatest ex- 
 pectations. So repeatedly have I succeed- 
 ed in this, that I have no hesitation in 
 assuring all those afflicted with gravel or 
 stone, that I can, if not entirely cure them, 
 at least so far modify and alleviate their 
 disorder, as to deprive it of nearly all its 
 inconveniences and terrors ; so much so, 
 that lithotomy is rendered entirely unne- 
 cessary. 
 
 Vesical Inflammation, or inflammation 
 of the bladder is a very severe disease, 
 and without proper treatment may lead to 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 257 
 
 fatal results. It may be either acute, or 
 chronic, and may arise idiopathically, or 
 supervene on chronic inflammation, irrita- 
 tion of a calculus, from external injury, or 
 disease of the pelvis, viscera, etc. The 
 mucous lining of the neck of the bladder 
 more often attacked than other parts of it. 
 The symptoms are, shivering pain over the, 
 bladder ; heat of the urethra ; a constant 
 desire to pass urine, which comes away in 
 small quantities ; high fever ; nausea ; 
 constitutional disturbance ; mental depres- 
 sion. The bladder can perhaps be felt as 
 a small, round, tender tumor. Severe pain 
 is felt, extending to the perineum, and 
 down the thighs, increased by abdominal 
 pressure. Unless relief is had, almost un- 
 bearable pain, constant calls to urinate, 
 the urine is expelled in drops, or there is 
 complete retention of it. The urine be- 
 comes fetid and alkaline ; contains shreds 
 of fibrous matter, clotted with pus and 
 
258 MEDICAL ADVISER, 
 
 blood. Great prostration ensues, cold, 
 clammy sweats, delirium and fatal ex- 
 haustion. 
 
 A patient attacked with this disease 
 should at once be treated by hip-baths, 
 warm fomentations, linseed or hemlock 
 poultices, with doses of castor oil to keep 
 ,the bowels open. When indications of 
 exhaustion are apparent, he should be 
 given essence of beef, wine, brandy, cream, 
 raw eggs, etc. The doctor should at once 
 be called, and his attendance insisted upon, 
 until a favorable turn occurs. Chronic 
 Cystitis is a much more common, less dan- 
 gerous and fatal disease than the. former. 
 It sometimes follows acute cystitis, but is 
 more frequently due to gout, retention of 
 decomposing urine, irritation of urine 
 charged with saline diuretics, foreign sub- 
 stances in the bladder, etc. The symptoms 
 are usually quite slight ; commences with 
 vague feeling of indisposition; increased 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 259 
 
 sensibility of the walls of the bladder; fre- 
 quent micturation ; scanty urine, with per- 
 haps a small quantity of mucous, or pus ; 
 sometimes loaded with viscid, ropy mu- 
 cous. The treatment will be altogether 
 indicated as in other vesical diseases, by 
 the habits, temperament, and constitu- 
 tional tendencies of the patient. The 
 bladder should be kept emptied, even if 
 the catheter be resorted to. It should also 
 be frequently washed out thoroughly with 
 warm water, or some astringent ; a free 
 use of demulcent drinks ; barley-water, in- 
 fusion of linseed, etc. The system should 
 be well sustained by the use of animal 
 food ; milk, or cream, raw eggs, and occa- 
 sionally alcoholic stimulants. 
 
 Vesical Paralysis. Is another form of 
 disease of the bladder, in which its mus- 
 cular coat may become paralyzed from 
 causes frequently very obscure. The 
 symptoms are, insensibility of feeling, and 
 
260 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 retention of its contents when in this con- 
 dition. When the distension becomes 
 great, the urine dribbles away by the ure- 
 thra, and becomes loaded with mucous ; is 
 alkaline, and of an^ offensive ammoniacal 
 odor. Sometimes severe pain at the neck 
 of the bladder, producing great constitu- 
 tional disturbance. Death frequently en- 
 sues from sheer exhaustion. When dis- 
 ease of nervous centres exists, symptoms 
 can only be relieved as they arise. 
 
 Vesical Spasm, or sudden attacks of 
 severe pain in the bladder ; may arise 
 from gravel or tumor, or some disease of 
 the rectum, abscess of the kidney, ulcera- 
 tion, or other organic disease of the bladder, 
 prostrate gland, etc.; highly aciduous 
 urine ; excessive indulgence with women, 
 or from the use of irritating diuretics. 
 The symptoms are, severe pain in the 
 lower part of the abdomen, extending to 
 the urethra ; involuntary micturation ; and 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 261 
 
 sometimes retention of the urine, with 
 great desire to void it. When this trouble 
 is of long continuance, death has resulted, 
 with symptoms of the suppression of the 
 urine. The patient should be careful to 
 dress warm, be very regular in his diet, 
 avoid all violent exercise and sexual inter- 
 course ; early application to medical advice 
 is all important. 
 
 Vesical Irritability. Irritability of 
 the bladder may be said to exist when 
 there is an unnaturally frequent desire to 
 pass urine. It may arise from organic 
 disease of the kidneys, bladder, prostrate 
 gland, or urethra ; the irritation of hoemorr- 
 hoids, or intestinal worms ; presence of a 
 tumor or calculus in the bladder ; or simply 
 from some functional derangement of the 
 kidneys, bladder, stomach, or nervous sys- 
 tem. The symptoms are, a great desire 
 to pass urine ; comes on suddenly and fre- 
 quently ; it may have to be passed every 
 
262 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 fifteen or thirty minutes. This disease is 
 very difficult to resist or overcome. If 
 attempted, produces great uneasiness and 
 pain. The urine seldom increases in quan- 
 tity ; the bladder diminishes in size, and 
 the general health suffers very much from 
 the annoying irritation. In these cases 
 nothing short of thoroughly skilful and 
 scientific treatment is of any avail. The 
 urine must be examined and tested to see 
 if it be preternaturally acid or alkaline ; 
 or if loaded with urates, phosphates, or 
 oxalates ; or, whether it contains pus, 
 albumen, sugar, or any other morbid mate- 
 rial ; to see to what cause the disease is to 
 be attributed, and to trace it to its origin. 
 Until proper medical advice is secured, 
 the patient should avoid all severe exertion 
 and active exercise, keep quiet, make ap- 
 plications of warm, or tepid salt-water 
 baths, avoid stimulants, tea and coffee, sub- 
 stituting cocoa with his meals, etc. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 263 
 
 With this enumeration and symptomatol- 
 ogy of the most common and prevalent 
 diseases of the male urinary organs, with 
 their appendages and parts generally dis- 
 posed to be affected by them sympatheti- 
 cally, I submit this part, of my Medical 
 Adviser to the candid examination and 
 criticism of the reader. If he has paid 
 but a moderate degree of attention, he 
 cannot have failed to learn that a knowl- 
 edge of this branch of medical science is 
 only to be obtained by great labor, and 
 study of every department of knowledge, 
 embracing not merely those usually deemed 
 necessary to the accomplished physician 
 and surgeon, but he must possess great 
 powers of observation, analysis and com- 
 parison, a clear head, a sharp eye, and a 
 steady hand. Not one physician in a thou- 
 sand is capable of becoming a good and 
 reliable specialist, whilst the really edu- 
 cated and accomplished specialist mast 
 
264 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 necessarily be a good physician. His 
 knowledge of the pathology of disease, 
 anatomy, materia medica and surgery, in 
 all their branches, must be thorough and 
 complete, or he becomes a failure in the 
 professional walk which he has selected. 
 The reader will also be able to judge of 
 the degree of confidence and reliability to 
 be attached to those who, for the most 
 part, assume this business, and hold them- 
 selves forth as professors and doctors, 
 soliciting the patronage of the public 
 through flaming advertisements and hand- 
 bills, setting forth their extraordinary 
 abilities, and wonderful cures. These 
 men are, as well known, usually very 
 illiterate, and have set themselves up in 
 this business as a refuge from manual 
 labor, as best affording them opportunities; 
 ■under the guise of professional services, 
 of preying upon mankind. Fully four- 
 fifths of them have repeatedly run them- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 265 
 
 selves out in other pursuits, and not one of 
 ten of them can distinguish one sexual dis- 
 ease from another, whilst their whole stock 
 of remedies consists of but one or two com- 
 mon and well known drugs, which, in solu- 
 tion, or as compounds, are disguised by 
 different colored liquids, which they ad- 
 minister indiscriminately, whatever may 
 be the disease, charging enormous prices 
 for them, whilst the patient, if cured at all, 
 is done so in spite of the dosing, and not 
 in consequence of it. 
 
 In the course of my long practice, I 
 have had thousands of patients who, long 
 time the victims of these imposters, have 
 had disease in its most deadly form, locked 
 up in their systems for months and years, 
 after being guaranteed a cure, only to be 
 astounded at its breaking out afresh when 
 they least expected it, on exposure to 
 some trifling exposure or excess in diet, 
 or drink. I make these statements reluo- 
 
266 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 tantly, but my experience assures rne of 
 their truth, and I yield to the propriety of 
 their exposure, if I would not be deemed 
 accessory to their committal, or as counte- 
 nancing, by my silence, such flagrant vio- 
 lations of professional obligation and duty. 
 The great business of the physician is to 
 cure and heal, speedily and successfully if 
 he can, thus, securing reputation and cli- 
 entage, which, by its extent and numbers 
 will add to his worldly success, a hundred 
 fold greater profits than though, with but 
 an occasional patient, he seeks to draw 
 from the few by exorbitant fees, and a 
 system of overreaching, the income ne- 
 cessary for his support. As for myself, I 
 prefer to give satisfaction to my patrons, 
 and to enhance a reputation for skill and 
 efficiency in my profession. I have ever 
 felt an honest pride in sending forth my 
 patients cured of their diseases at the 
 earliest possible period of time, satisfied 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 267 
 
 that, every such case becomes a living- 
 advertisement in my favor. Having said 
 thus much in regard to myself personally, 
 I now respectfully invite the readers 
 attention to the following second grand 
 division of my Medical Adviser. 
 
 END OF PART FIRST. 
 
PART SECOND. 
 Addressed to Females exclusively. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 Ladies : — The several editions of a 
 work written and published by me, some 
 years ago, in the early years of my profes- 
 sional career, upon the diseases of females, 
 having long since been exhausted, and 
 now entirely out of print, I am, in view of 
 the great good which it accomplished, and 
 the numerous calls for it from every part 
 of the country, induced to issue a new 
 and revised edition, or rather, I may say, 
 a new and more perfect work upon the 
 same subject, very much enlarged, and 
 more particular as to detail ; and although 
 I have done this amidst the pressure of a 
 most extensive practice, and a correspon- 
 dence reaching to almost every State and 
 
 (271) 
 
272 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 territory in the Union, through which I 
 am daily prescribing for the medical treat- 
 ment of hundreds of cases arising from the 
 causes which are alluded to in the follow- 
 ing pages, I flatter myself that this treatise, 
 short as it is, will be found of deep and 
 impressive interest to every reader, and 
 to meet a want long felt by those to whom 
 it is more especially addressed. A long 
 and successful practice, extending to over 
 thirty years, during which I have been 
 called upon to treat almost every shade 
 and variety of female disease, enables me 
 to discuss the subject from a practical 
 stand-point and knowledge which but very 
 few have had the like opportunity to 
 acquire. Long satisfied, from my daily in- 
 tercourse with my patients, and the letters 
 I am constantly receiving, that there is a 
 most lamentable lack of common-sense infor- 
 mation in regard to these matters, I have 
 endeavored to make myself understood, and 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 273 
 
 the whole subject intelligible to the reader, 
 without obscuring it by the use of techni- 
 cal or professional terms, too often made 
 use of by many, and particularly by a cer- 
 tain class of medical adventurers who put 
 forth a book rather as an attractive medium 
 of advertising themselves and their spe- 
 cialty, than to enlighten, instruct, and 
 guide their readers in relation to the pres- 
 ervation of their health, without which all 
 other possessions are valueless. 
 
 The day has, I trust, long gone by when 
 it was thought wise and expedient on the 
 part of the professional man, as well as by. 
 the refined and accomplished of the female 
 sex, to shut up as a " sealed book " all 
 knowledge of physiology, the mysteries of 
 procreation, maternity, and the laws of life, 
 from our young women, as though they, 
 of all others in the world, were not the 
 most deeply interested. That state of so- 
 ciety and moral sentiment which prevailed 
 
274 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 in this country less than fifty years ago, 
 and not yet entirely eradicated, which 
 would only permit these wonderfully in- 
 teresting and really important subjects to 
 be alluded to in suppressed whispers, and 
 symbolical nods, has, thanks to a more lib- 
 eral and enlarged view of woman's duties 
 and true position, forever passed away; 
 and the female of the present day is not 
 only permitted, but invited to study and 
 comprehend all the functions and uses of 
 her own wondrous and beautiful organiza- 
 tion, at least, to a sufficient extent to ena- 
 ble her to guard against the numerous and 
 dangerous mishaps to which she is, through 
 a variety of causes, difficult to be express- 
 ed, but readily understood, daily and hourly 
 exposed. 
 
 How many patient and exemplary wives 
 and mothers have gone down to premature 
 graves, simply because of their ignorance 
 of the simplest and most palpable laws of 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 275 
 
 their being ? What an untold amount of 
 protracted physical suffering and wretched- 
 ness might have been avoided, had they 
 felt free, and unshackled by a false deli- 
 cacy or mawkish sensitiveness, to disclose 
 the nature of their sufferings to a friendly 
 and confidential medical adviser. How 
 many have dragged out lives of miserable 
 invalidism, who, had they have known that 
 it was not to a weak constitution, but to a 
 faulty training, and a lack of important 
 knowledge that they were indebted for the 
 long train of miseries over which they 
 daily and nightly groaned ? 
 
 From the earliest days of adolescence 
 and puberty, up to fall-grown womanhood, 
 how many there are who have been con- 
 stantly riveting upon themselves some 
 fatal disease, such as consumption, or ren- 
 dering themselves the victims of hypo- 
 chondria and other nameless forms of dis- 
 ease, by an indulgence in habits contracted 
 
276 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 innocently, it may be, at the boarding- 
 school, through simple ignorance, or by the 
 example of domestics and others equally 
 ignorant, and as simple as themselves. 
 
 The dangers of maternity, such as they 
 present themselves at the present day, 
 are only the incidents of civilization and 
 fashionable life ; but they afford us an 
 array of facts and statistics which, to the 
 lover of his species, are truly alarming. 
 
 The proper education of the passions 
 has been too long neglected. It was deem- 
 ed a subject too delicate for female ears to 
 listen to, and the insane asylums, the 
 charity hospitals, and the grave-yard, tell 
 us but too plainly the result. Nay, worse 
 than this, a race of puny, almost imbecile 
 offspring, the heritors of the sins of 
 their fathers and mothers, are coming on, 
 in their turn, to assist in the deterioration 
 of the human family ; so true it is " That 
 the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH 277 
 
 the children's teeth are set on edge." 
 A false modesty, a false and mischievous 
 standard of a miscalled propriety, may hold 
 up its hands in holy horror, as if shocked 
 at the plainness of utterance with which 
 the physician may find it necessary to 
 speak of these things ; nevertheless, a self- 
 conviction that the u half has not been 
 told," will eventually exonerate him, and 
 his counsels will be sought for and heeded 
 .by the wise and the thoughtful. 
 
 The limits of this little book will not 
 permit me to enter very extensively into 
 details. Indeed, it is not necessary that I 
 should do so, but simply to offer a " guide " 
 by which the hitherto misdirected and 
 almost lost, may find a way of res- 
 cue and safety; to point out to them 
 that there is indeed a " balm in 
 Gilead and a physician there." Carefully 
 abstaining from expressions calculated to 
 wound or offend the most delicately 
 
278 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 sensitive of those I am addressing, I shall 
 endeavor, in the following pages, to give 
 you such an outline of those dangers which 
 threaten you, as well as of those evils 
 which you now suffer, as will enable you 
 to avail yourselves understand ingly of 
 those helps, both moral and physical, 
 which I am prepared to offer to all those 
 who may feel inclined to place themselves 
 under my direction. 
 
 Nearly half a century devoted to medical 
 science, and chiefly in those departments 
 of it in which the laws and mysteries of 
 life are mostly concerned, with the exper- 
 ience of a daily practice more varied and 
 extensive than is rarely attained but by a 
 very few, and exceeded by none, I may 
 flatter myself that I am able successfully to 
 treat each and every case in which I am 
 consulted, to the entire satisfaction and 
 relief of my patients. 
 
 I cannot close this part of my work 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 279 
 
 without giving a word or two of caution to 
 such as are contemplating medical treat- 
 ment, or who may feel themselves under 
 the necessity of taking the advice of a 
 physician. 
 
 From the universality of the complaints 
 and diseases herein alluded to and enumer- 
 ated, the study of which I have so long 
 made a specialty, not a few, styling them- 
 selves doctors, have attempted to com- 
 pound so called " specifics, 77 and the news- 
 papers teem with advertisements of 
 nostrums of one kind or another, such as 
 " French Periodical Pills/ 7 " Valpeau 7 s 
 Pills, 77 the various preparations of iodine 
 and sarsparilla, as tonics and alteratives ; 
 whilst others, pretended graduates of this 
 or that medical institute, but in fact 
 charlatans, in science and medicine, 
 ask you to credit their monstrous 
 assumptions of superiority in the heal- 
 ing art, illustrating the old saying, 
 
280 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 " fools rush in where angels fear to tread." 
 When it is considered that there are rarely 
 any two cases alike, and that it requires a 
 careful and skilful diagnosis of each case, 
 based upon well ascertained facts and 
 symptoms, to enable the physician to 
 accomplish that for which he is consulted, 
 patients cannot be too careful in selecting 
 as their medical adviser one whose well- 
 established reputation affords a sure 
 guarantee that neither imposition nor dis- 
 appointment will arise from the confidence 
 and trust they place in him. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 281 
 
 ACKO WLED GEMENT. 
 
 ALTHOUGH in the composition of 
 this division of my book, I have 
 chiefly relied upon my own experience, 
 and in the matters discussed have sought 
 to confirm my own views, or, if wrong, to 
 correct them by a pretty general perusal 
 of all the standard works bearing upon the 
 subject I could procure ; yet the de- 
 mands of a large, and constantly increas- 
 ing practice, have, for many years past, 
 precluded the possibility of my keeping 
 up, as well as I could wish, with the 
 constantly accumulating literature upon 
 these and kindred topics. I have, how- 
 ever, taken time to re-peruse many old 
 works with which I made myself familiar 
 in my student days, and have read up 
 
282 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 much that has recently been published by 
 eminent writers both in this country and 
 in Europe. I do not, of course, refer to 
 the transient and worthless trash so fre- 
 quently advertised under such specious 
 titles as " Sexual Physiology/' or " The 
 Science of Life/' which, to say the best of 
 them, are mere compilations, without order 
 or arrangement, evidently strung together 
 by the writers knowing little or nothing 
 about the subject upon which they pre- 
 tend to treat. I have consulted in their 
 original, such works as Duparcque. 
 Traite theoirque et pratique des maladies or- 
 ganiques et simples de Puterus. Paris, 1832. 
 Martin, Memoires de medicine et de 
 chirurgie pratique sur plusuires maladies 
 et accidents graves qui peuvent compliquer 
 la grossesse, la parturition, et les couches. 
 Lyon, 1835. J. Imbert, Traite theorique et 
 pratique des maladies des femmes. Paris, 
 1838, Ch. Waller, Lectures on the func- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 283 
 
 tions and diseases of the unimpregnated 
 womb. London, 1849. Fabre, Bibliotheque 
 du Medicine practicien. Paris, 1843, tomes 
 I et II, des maladies des femmes. Merr- 
 yille, Historie med et philos. de la femme, 
 etc. Paris, 1845. Mathieu, Etudes 
 cliniques sur les maladies des femmes, etc. 
 Paris, 1848. Ashwell, Lesfranc and 
 many others, to whose works I am indebted 
 for many valuable suggestions. To no work 
 have I turned more frequently, nor with 
 greater satisfaction, than to the writings of 
 the great father of medicine himself, Hip- 
 pocrates, De la nature des la femme ; des 
 maladies des femmes; des maladies des 
 femmes steriles; des maladies des jeunes 
 filles, (Euvres completes trad, par Littree, 
 tomes VII et VIII. I have also re-read the 
 old work of Albertus Magnus, De secretis 
 mulierum ; published in the original Latin, 
 at Amsterdam, in 1643, a correct transla- 
 tion of which I have never yet been able 
 
284 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 to find. Among the various periodical 
 publications, I should mention Sacombe, 
 Lucine frangaise ou recueil d'observations 
 relatives aux accouchinents, etc., Paris. 
 Andrieux et Lubanski, Annales d'obstetri- 
 que, des maladies des femmes et des 
 enfantes, Paris, 1842, and I must not omit 
 the very valuable publication by Doctor 
 M. H. Henry, Surgeon to the New York 
 Dispensary, Department of Venerial and 
 Skin Diseases, etc., etc. Indeed, it would 
 be impossible for me to enumerate the 
 vast amount of medical lore which I have 
 pored over in refreshing my memory and 
 reviving facts which have long slumbered, 
 but have never been forgotten, in my 
 mind. Whilst in any case I have carefully 
 avoided being a servile copyist, I have not 
 hesitated to profit by the knowledge 
 I have derived from these sources. In 
 thus doing, I have endeavored, and, I 
 trust, succeeded, in giving to my book 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 285 
 
 the stamp of authority, which can alone 
 render it a safe and reliable Medical 
 Adyiser and Guide to Health. 
 
 F. M. 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 MORRILL'S MEDICAL ADVISER 
 
 GUIDE TO HEALTH. 
 
 ADDRESSED TO FESLALES EXCLUSIVELY. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 289 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TO SINGLE LADIES. 
 
 NATURE, if not interfered with, nor her 
 laws violated, always produces a per- 
 fect work. But unhappily for the human 
 race, modern civilization, with all its meli- 
 orations, has brought with it also a host of 
 evils, which beset the youthful and inex- 
 perienced almost immediately upon their 
 entrance into the world. The infant of 
 these latter days, too often discarded to 
 the keeping of hireling nurses, is made to 
 suck in, almost with its first breath, the 
 elements of disease, perverted appetites, 
 and passions ; and if it has escaped heredi- 
 tary taint, is not nurtured, but tortured up, 
 
290 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 into a fragile and passionate being, far 
 from being " a helpmate for man/' but, too 
 often, a fair subject for his commiseration, 
 his care, and his deepest sympathy. The 
 victims of this false training, alas, too soon 
 find themselves adrift upon the wide ocean 
 of life, and without the power of self-con- 
 trol, soon become shattered, if not stranded, 
 upon the reefs and quicksands that lie in 
 their course. With no friendly hand to 
 guide them, with no friendly counsels to 
 aid them, they struggle on, year after year, 
 miserable, helpless, and aimless. It is to 
 such, deprived of the kind and fostering 
 care of an intelligent mother, or other 
 female guardian, that I chiefly address 
 myself. 
 
 The age of puberty varies according to 
 country and climate. Whilst in eastern 
 and Asiatic countries the girl attains it at 
 a comparatively early period, in the United 
 States, particularly in the northern, east- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH 291 
 
 era, and middle sections of it, from four- 
 teen to sixteen years may be regarded as 
 the period when the female can safely to 
 herself or offspring assume the cares and 
 duties of maternity. It is at this time of 
 life, too, that a large portion of diseases, 
 either incidental to the development of the 
 complete woman, or which may have been 
 inherited from weak and sickly progeni- 
 tors, are in most danger of manifesting 
 themselves. All the disagreeable ailments, 
 which, if improperly treated, may lead to. 
 fatal results, or settle down into permanent 
 infirmities, — attendant upon the change in 
 life, require the best skill of the physician 
 to regulate, suppress and cure. Irregu- 
 larity, or a temporary suppression of that 
 natural discharge which nature has provid- 
 ed, is as fatal to health and well-being as 
 would be the cessation to eat your daily 
 food. Should this happen, you would, as 
 is too often the case with young females, 
 
292 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 hesitate, and through bashfulness and tim- 
 idity fail to make a confidante of the phy- 
 sician, and ask an explanation why this is 
 so ; or if you dp, it may be of some one of 
 no knowledge about the matter, or you 
 listen to the always ready advice of some 
 underling, who will tell you wonders about 
 the efficacy of " iron powders " and " ton- 
 ics," of blood-root and bitter herbs ; and 
 you make decoctions of rusty nails and 
 other stuffs which have been recommended 
 to you* only to meet with cruel disappoint- 
 ment, until you sink in utter despondency. 
 Life itself becomes a weary burden, and 
 the elastic step, the rosy cheek, and the 
 sparkling eye are yours no longer. 
 
 Here now is the time when longer delay 
 would be most pernicious, and often fatal. 
 You must consult a skilful physician, who 
 is able at once to guide and direct you, 
 and, without injury, or disturbing the won- 
 derful organism of your body, restore you 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 293 
 
 to a sound and vigorous health. Under 
 his direction the colorless lip, the pallid 
 cheek, and the leaden eye will vanish as 
 the mists of the morning. Youth and na- 
 ture will again assert their supremacy, and 
 you will go forth in the spring-tide of life 
 to fulfil a true woman's mission. 
 
 But if, as you have advanced in life, you 
 have, as thousands have done before you, 
 found yourself assailed by a complication 
 of troubles, from whatever cause they may 
 arise, undermining your health and destroy- 
 ing your happiness, you must summon the 
 courage to grapple with them at once.- 
 Do not be deceived, nor, in the hope of 
 relief, grasp at the promises held out by 
 advertised specifics and nostrums which 
 are to cure you privately, and without 
 hindrance to your usual employments or 
 pleasures. 
 
 You know and feel that there is some- 
 thing wrong, and you detect all those 
 
294 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 symptoms indicative of failing health. A 
 weakness of the back, pains in the loins, a 
 burning sensation and constriction is ex- 
 perienced where no difficulty had occurred 
 before, and you are in doubt what to do. 
 You resort to the first offered relief, in 
 counter-irritants or mineral poisons, thus 
 endangering, if not your very life itself, at 
 least your health and well-being, and en- 
 tailing upon you a long catalogue of dis- 
 eases, which, had you at first called upon 
 and confided to a medical man, would have 
 been nipped in the very bud. 
 
 There are other evils than those to 
 which I have alluded, and to which you 
 are liable, through a faulty education, or 
 want of timely warning ; habits which, 
 although but triflingly and thoughtlessly 
 indulged in at first, may have wound 
 around you their adamantine chains, until 
 you find yourself powerless in their em- 
 brace. Solitude, the absence of virtuous 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 295 
 
 male society, vitiated tastes engendered 
 by reading romances and tales of luxurious 
 and amorous life ; the seductions of the 
 theatre and the dance, with their attendant 
 allurements and excitements, may have led 
 ) r ou to a momentary forgetfulness of the 
 dignity of your own person, and you have 
 sinned against nature itself in its most sen- 
 sitive part ; and as a consequence, you are 
 now suffering the penalty which invariably 
 follows a violation of its laws. Lassitude, 
 indigestion, a loss of memory, unrefreshing 
 sleep, restlessness, and an unwonted and 
 undefinable anxiety have fallen upon you. 
 Unnatural desires have been engendered, 
 and you feel a longing for unseemly and 
 indigestible food. You crave and freely 
 eat substances which, in a healthy state, 
 would be repulsive and disgusting to you. 
 Clay, chalk and slate pencils you are fami- 
 liar with, and, as the habit grows upon 
 you, you descend lower and lower, until 
 
296 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 you find relief only in opium and other 
 narcotics, when life soon becomes a burden, 
 and you are brought face to face with the 
 alternatives of suicide or despair. Is this 
 not so ? If it is, it is time that you resort 
 to the aid of medical treatment. There 
 must be no tampering with drugs unad- 
 vised. It will not do to rely upon adver- 
 tised specifics, nor old women's charms. 
 The living doctor is your only resource, 
 and him you must consult frankly and 
 honestly. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 297 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TO SINGLE LADIES. 
 
 (Continued.) 
 
 EARLY LESSONS, HABITS, TEMPTATIONS, AND 
 DANGERS. 
 
 THERE are ailments to which young 
 ladies of even the most guarded and 
 correct habits are liable, and by which they 
 are not unfrequently sorely afflicted, with- 
 out either themselves or others being able 
 to refer them to any direct or probable 
 cause, other than " it has so happened." 
 They have been chaste in both thought 
 and act, but notwithstanding this, they are 
 subjected to infirmities and pains, the con- 
 sequences of which are constant distress, 
 
29& MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 restlessness, unhappiness and discontent. 
 As the girl approaches the age of puberty 
 and womanhood, her natural instincts impel 
 her to a desire for beauty of form and feature 
 if she does not already possess them, and 
 whatever ma) 7 have been her culture, or 
 her advantages of education and society, 
 or whatever may be her disposition, she 
 intuitively seeks to render herself pleasing 
 to the opposite sex, and to compete for 
 their smiles and admiration. She knows 
 that beauty attracts, whilst plainness, or 
 deformity repels. She early and rapidly 
 learns to avail herself of all the resources 
 of art within her reach to enhance the at- 
 tractiveness of her personal charms, or to 
 conceal the defects occasioned by the lack 
 of them. She dreads the ashen lip and 
 the pallid cheek, because she knows that 
 they are indicative of ill health, and not 
 compatible with beauty. Her very anxiety 
 about these matters is of itself an evil and 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 299 
 
 an error on her part, as it leads to the very 
 mischief she so much fears. There is 
 nothing so conducive to health and beauty 
 as contentment. But this cannot always 
 be attained. The cares, anxieties and 
 labors of life are shared by the young, as 
 Avell as the old, and upon all alike leave their 
 mark, but upon none so vividly as upon 
 the young girl. The tumults of passion, 
 the depressing influences of grief, anxiety 
 and care, divert the invigorating currents 
 of life, health and beauty, and before she 
 is aware of it, some one of these fountains 
 are disturbed, and she is made the victim 
 of disease ; and in no form is it so apt to 
 manifest itself as in the cessation of that 
 " monthly turn " which nature has taught 
 her is so essential to her well-being. This 
 stoppage may arise from other causes. It 
 is almost always coincident with the inci- 
 pient development of consumption, and 
 very frequently the first alarm is occasion- 
 
300 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 ed, not so much from the latent phthisis as 
 from this almost invariable sign of it, and 
 remedies are sought for, and applied for an 
 effect, when the cause is scarcely suspect- 
 ed. I need not say, that in such cases the 
 remedies resorted to are almost always 
 entirely unavailing. When tubercular dis- 
 ease has so far advanced as to interfere 
 with the regular catamenial discharge, 
 there is no system of treatment, that I am 
 aware of, that will regulate or restore it ; 
 and therefore, when after repeated trials, 
 the practitioner finds that his usual pre- 
 scriptions are unavailable, he is safe to 
 conclude that the derangement is owing to 
 other causes than merely functional, or 
 temporary. Let him then turn to his steth- 
 oscope, rather than to his medicine-chest. 
 But, if in connection with this stoppage, 
 auscultation and percussion give no indi- 
 cation of unsoundness of the lungs, and 
 there is neither cough, nor hectic fever, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 301 
 
 then the ashy lips, and deathly pallor of 
 the face is a sure indication of suppression 
 from causes which indicate at once a tonic 
 and stimulating treatment which cannot 
 too soon be resorted to. The patient her- 
 self must heartily cooperate in all the 
 efforts made to restore her wonted health. 
 Tire time for action on her part has arrived, 
 and her. own will and energy will accom- 
 plish for herself what drugs and medicines 
 may assist, but not fully perform. Regular 
 hours, early rising, exercise and cold bath- 
 ing, especially around the hips, and upon 
 the lower region of the abdomen, is of the 
 first importance ; warm clothing especially 
 flannels worn next the skin ; friction, par- 
 ticularly of the thighs and lower extremi- 
 ties ; the cultivation of cheerful thoughts, 
 and the company of pleasant and agreeable 
 society ; and when medicines are required, 
 gentle cathartics, alternated by tonics, 
 will frequently bring round a desirable 
 
302 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 state of things. It is neither prudent, or 
 desirable, that very active agencies should 
 be employed between the periods ; but 
 they should be most actively resorted to 
 and employed just before the next coming 
 time, so as to cooperate with, and be as 
 conformable to nature as possible. Prepa- 
 rations of iron are at this juncture very 
 beneficial. In the absence of any safe and 
 medical adviser, the following will be found 
 eminently servicable : — 
 
 R. Tartrate of Iron and Potassia, 2 scruples. 
 
 Powdered Columbo, half a drachm. 
 Mix and divide into four powders. One 
 every three or four hours in syrup. 
 
 or, 
 
 R. Sub-carbonate of Iron, one-and-a-half 
 ounces. 
 Powdered Gentian. 
 
 " Orange Peel, each half-an- 
 
 ounce. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 303 
 
 Red Wine, one quart. 
 Mix, and after digesting a couple of days, 
 
 take half a- wine-glass-full every day. 
 Either of the foregoing prescriptions 
 will, in all ordinary cases, be found to pro- 
 duce all the beneficial results which can 
 be expected from any medical preparation. 
 Should they not prove immediately effica- 
 cious, there should be no uneasiness, nor 
 undue anxiety. Nature, unless the ob- 
 struction be very obstinate and severe, is 
 after all, the most to be relied upon. Nu- 
 tricious diet, cleanliness, clothing appro- 
 priate to the season, seasonable hours, and 
 a cheerful, useful life, will rarely fail to 
 bring about a healthy regularity. Every 
 young lady knows that, in cases where 
 pregnancy may be suspected, that, that 
 condition furnishes a good reason for the 
 cessation of the monthly discharge. I 
 need not enlarge upon this branch of the 
 subject. In dangerous and protracted 
 
304 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 cases, and those which do not yield readily 
 to the simple means and remedies which I 
 have named, a timely application to your 
 physician is your surest resource. And 
 here let me caution you ; all physicians are 
 not equally skilled in those diseases and 
 difficulties to which females are most sub- 
 ject. The readiness and clearness of per- 
 ception which enables some doctors to 
 treat such cases successfully) are acquired 
 only by long practice, and a peculiar apti- 
 tude for a particular class of cases. They 
 have made them their study, and from 
 close observation, have acquired a nicety 
 of distinction and perception which ena- 
 bles them at once to see what is the mat- 
 ter ; the extent of the evil, and what is 
 the best to do. You should not be deterred 
 from consulting a doctor merely because 
 he advertises, as, amongst that class are 
 often to be found some of the ablest mem- 
 bers of the profession. The very fact that 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 305 
 
 he does advertise, shows him to be a man 
 of independence and self-reliance, and not 
 inclined to be tied down by the arbitrary 
 rules and impositions of a professional 
 clique, who only dare to go forward with 
 the current. And besides, it is very evi- 
 dent that men who devote their whole 
 attention to the investigation and treat- 
 ment of a particular class of diseases, 
 must, from daily observation, be more ex- 
 pert than those who only have a case occa- 
 sionally. There is another consideration, 
 not without its force, and which to many 
 is a most important one, and it is this. 
 To whatever cause the illness of a young 
 lady may be attributed, her natural deli- 
 cacy and sensitiveness leads her to desire 
 secresy and discretion on the part of her 
 medical adviser, especially if her ailment 
 be at all connected with the genital, ute- 
 rine, or procreative organs ; nor does she 
 ever wish voluntarily to consult with 
 
306 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 young and inexperienced physicians upon 
 such topics. She prefers to confide her 
 troubles to those of mature age, ripe expe- 
 rience, who are themselves heads of fami- 
 lies, and such is undoubtedly the most pru- 
 dent, and the wisest course she can pursue. 
 She feels that, with such, the sanctity of 
 female character, and female reserve is 
 more esteemed, and never wantonly, or 
 rudely shocked or assailed by coarse in- 
 sinuations, or trifled with by wanton and 
 needless examinations and inquiries. That 
 physician who has a home of his own, 
 blessed w T ith the presence of a confiding 
 wife and affectionate children, has no temp- 
 tation to dally or trifle with a patient, 
 whose necessities may require her to make 
 disclosures which may indicate weak points 
 in her character, of which the single and 
 unmarried man might possibly be incited 
 to take advantage. I make these sugges- 
 tions in good faith, and for good reasons, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 307 
 
 because I know that such cautions are 
 necessary, and that it is not always safe, 
 nor proper for a virtuous minded, yet en- 
 feebled girl to trust herself alone with 
 some of those who, as we all know, unwor- 
 thily crowd themselves into, a profession, 
 than which, none other on earth, calls for 
 such reserve, prudence, and self-abnega- 
 tion as that of ours. I have dwelt upon 
 this subject, because my opportunities 
 for observation have been such that / 
 Jcnoio the necessity for the cautions I have 
 given; and were I to remain silent upon it, 
 I should feel that I was but poorly dis- 
 charging my duty to those whom I now 
 address. 
 
308 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TO SINGLE LADIES. 
 
 (Continued.) 
 
 ARRIVED at the age of puberty, and in 
 the full possession of health, and the 
 enjoyment of every bodily faculty, with 
 neither debility, disease, nor excessive 
 care to distract your attention, each day 
 leads you on to a riper sense of your des- 
 tiny and position in the world. The great 
 drama of life and love now begins to 
 spread itself before you, and passions, de- 
 sires, and longings hitherto but little 
 heeded, and scarcely known, begin to make 
 themselves felt, and which, if not control- 
 ed by virtuous principle, early instilled by 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 309 
 
 parental care and forethought, become 
 sources of severe trial, temptation, and 
 distress. Vicious examples, a thoughtless 
 suggestion from a companion, or the self- 
 promptings of libidinous thoughts and 
 desires, lead to means of temporary grati- 
 fication so revolting, ruinous and deadly, 
 that I must throw aside every reserve, and 
 address you in relation to them with entire 
 freedom, controlled only by such a careful 
 selection of terms and language as may not 
 necessarily be repugnant nor indelicate. 
 It is a lamentable truth that, at the present 
 day, there is hardly a female outside of the 
 marriage relation, who has arrived at that 
 age when the passions and desires are at 
 their strongest point, that is not more or 
 less addicted to secret habits, which are 
 undermining her health, sapping the very 
 issues of life and reason, and, more than 
 any thing else she can be guilty of, bring- 
 ing upon herself, her future husband and 
 
310 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 offspring, if she should have any, evils, the 
 magnitude of which no pen can describe, 
 and the consequences of which, could they 
 be made to understand and properly esti- 
 mate them, would fill their very souls with 
 horror. The vile, filthy, and destructive 
 vice of self-abuse, or masturbation, is by 
 no means confined to convicts, sailors, and 
 those whose circumstances and situation in 
 life are supposed to seclude them from 
 all participation in female society. This 
 vice, prevalent as we know it to be among 
 the erring, misguided and infatuated of 
 the coarser sex, is, we are compelled to 
 say, none the less so, among females of a 
 certain age. It hardly requires the prac- 
 ticed eye of the medical man to detect the 
 evidences of this vice all around him ; on 
 the street, in the cars, at the hotels, in pri- 
 vate houses, in the church and lecture 
 room, anywhere and everywhere, where 
 the sex are to be seen. There also, upon 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 311 
 
 the face, in the form and gait of almost 
 every one of them may be seen the brand 
 of shame and self-dishonor, and it is well 
 that these infallible signs of this degrading- 
 vice should, for the most part, be hidden 
 to all, except to the most skilful observer, 
 who has for years made it his study to in- 
 vestigate the laws and indications by which 
 every violation of human health are made 
 apparent to the critical professional obser- 
 ver. The victim of self-abuse may, by 
 whatever effort she may be mistress of, 
 clothe herself in all the appearances of 
 vigorous health, physical elasticity and 
 subdued passions, which her ingenuity can 
 suggest, and yet, at a glance, a thorough 
 master of his profession, will pierce through 
 all her disguises, and after a moment's in- 
 spection any where, at any time, in any 
 company, unerringly point out the victims 
 of this baneful habit. I say a thorough 
 master of his profession will do this. But 
 
312 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 there is not one in every ten thousand phy- 
 sicians in this country can do it. There 
 are learned professors and lecturers on 
 the diseases peculiar to females who imag- 
 ine themselves thoroughly learned, who 
 cannot do it. The secret was imparted to 
 me, not only as an especial favor, but in 
 return for no mean pecuniary considera- 
 tion, by one of the most remarkable and 
 distinguished physicians in this or any 
 country, now over eighty years of age, 
 whose wonderful attainments had been 
 gathered by an extensive intercourse with 
 almost every race of people on the face of 
 the globe. 
 
 Many young woman have indulged in 
 this miserable habit, until they have felt 
 some, or all of the symptoms of almost 
 every disease which can be named ; a 
 want of activity, shortness of breath, coun- 
 tenance pale, or earthly looking, a bluish 
 appearance around the eyes, cold perspira- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 313 
 
 tion, a desire for much food, and often a 
 a craving for unseemly and disgusting 
 objects, or no appetite, headache, dizzi- 
 ness, diarrhoea, etc. Storms and changes 
 of weather produce unpleasant feelings, 
 sharp pains in different parts of the body, 
 and horrid thoughts of insanity or suicide 
 obtrude themselves upon the mind. At 
 school she cannot fix her attention upon 
 her studies, nor learn her lessons as 
 formerly ; loss of memory, and a confusion 
 of ideas, and if spoken to, is at a loss for 
 words for proper answer ; fits of abstrac- 
 tion are frequent, small specks or objects 
 appear to float before her eyes, she has 
 disagreeable dreams, her extremities are 
 cold and bloodless, and a numbness is felt 
 in different parts of the body. All of the 
 above symptoms do not occur in any one 
 case, nor at the same time, but each indi- 
 vidual will readily see what number of 
 them will apply to her own. Under some 
 
314 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 of the above symptoms and circumstan- 
 ces, the family physician is perhaps con- 
 sulted about you, and gives you some 
 powders or drops, and something to 
 strengthen you, and tells you to take 
 care of yourself, but all to no effect. 
 You have not disclosed to him your se- 
 cret, nor does he suspect it. The physi- 
 cian has done for you all that his limited 
 knowledge has enabled him to do, and 
 yet you are no better. What can be 
 done ? Simply this : You must apply to 
 those whose experience enables them at 
 once to detect the cause, and have the 
 moral and professional boldness to charge 
 home upon you your weakness and folly. 
 As I have never failed in my diagnosis 
 in such cases, I have also never failed 
 to obtain from my patient a full and 
 frank confession that my opinion was 
 well founded. And then came the earnest, 
 beseeching prayer for rescue and relief. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 315 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 REASONS FOR AN ENLARGEMENT OF THIS 
 WORK. PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS. SPE- 
 CIALISM. 
 
 THE foregoing, chiefly embodied in my 
 first edition of the Ladies' Guide to 
 Health, and addressed to the general read- 
 er,has been before the public somewhat over 
 a year, during which time nearly two hun- 
 dred thousand copies have been sold and 
 distributed throughout the United States, 
 the Canadas, and to fill many special orders, 
 several hundreds have been sent across 
 the Atlantic to European countries. So gen- 
 eral was the demand for it, that it has pass- 
 ed through three large editions, and still 
 the call for it is undimished. I have receiv- 
 
316 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 ed from some of the oldest, ablest, and best 
 known physicians in the country frequent 
 testimonials of their approval, and compli- 
 mentary of the style and manner in which 
 I presented a subject so environed with 
 difficulties, with so few grounds for cavil 
 or complaint. All have concurred in ex- 
 pressions of astonishment that I should, in 
 such brief compass, have been able to con- 
 vey so much really needed and valuable 
 information upon topics, concerning which 
 there has prevailed such a deplorable lack 
 of knowledge, and I have been repeatedly 
 urged to extend and amplify my work 
 by a more particular treatise, bearing es- 
 pecially upon those topics in which the 
 training, culture, health and physical well- 
 being of females should be more particularly 
 discussed than the limited space devoted 
 to them in the foregoing pages enabled 
 me to do. Although The Adviser, in its 
 earlier editions, appears to have performed 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 317 
 
 its mission most beneficially, yet I cannot 
 well resist the solicitations of my friends, 
 nor decline to gratify them in what, after 
 all, seems to be no unreasonable demand. 
 The first appearance of the book, small as 
 it was, evidently arrested the attention of 
 thousands upon subjects of the most vital 
 importance, when more voluminous and 
 elaborate works would have received no 
 notice by them whatever. The plain, sim- 
 ple, and unaffected style adopted to impress 
 upon the minds of my readers the great 
 importance of the truths I sought to teach, 
 has convinced them that I was presenting 
 them with no second hand, or borrowed 
 matter, gotten up in order to foist myself 
 into public notoriety, but was merely, as I 
 stated in the onset, an honest endeavor to 
 discharge, in part, a duty which I consid- 
 ered every doctor of extensive practice, 
 owed to his profession, namely, to extend 
 to others whatever of knowledge he may 
 
318 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 have acquired as useful in mitigating the 
 evils, or alleviating the pains of his fellow- 
 creatures. 
 
 Far beyond the great mass of my pro- 
 fessional brethren, I have enjoyed rare 
 opportunities, by personal inspection of 
 acquiring a practical knowledge of the 
 subjects about which I write. Starting out 
 with no one-sided nor cherished theory, to 
 the neglect of facts, or the disregard 
 of self-evident deductions from occular 
 proofs, I state simply that which I know 
 to be true. As in my practice, I not un- 
 frequently find myself in direct conflict 
 with theorists of no little pretensions, so, 
 in this treatise, I may differ from them in 
 my views upon some of the many interest- 
 ing topics which will come under consider- 
 ation. My opinions are, however, my 
 own, and based upon no trivial circum- 
 stances of either fact, testimony or exper- 
 ience, and if, guided by them, I have 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 319 
 
 produced more favorable results, and 
 attained to a greater degree of success, 
 than those who have preferred to follow, 
 rather than to lead, in their profession, I 
 am not sure but that I am entitled to as 
 much credit, or gratitude even, as though 
 I had contented myself with being the 
 blind and submissive manipulator of other 
 men's prescriptions. Every specialist 
 knows that the female sex constitute no 
 inconsiderable portion of those who apply 
 to him for relief, and that, in a large 
 majority of these cases, very much of the 
 suffering, physical and mental, real as well 
 as imaginary, might have been avoided, 
 had common prudence been exercised, or 
 intelligent counsel sought, ere their 
 troubles had fallen upon them. Every 
 day of my life adds to my astonishment, 
 that girls, and women grown, both single 
 and married, who seem to possess a rare 
 degree of intelligence upon almost all 
 
320 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 other subjects, are as ignorant and un- 
 skilled in all those matters concerning 
 their physical structure, growth, functions, 
 and well-being, which it really behooves 
 them to know, as the child unborn. 
 
 But the evil does not stop here. If it 
 were true that " where ignorance is bliss 
 'twere folly to be wise/ 7 then we might 
 say that, the instincts of nature may 
 safely be trusted, and, aside from accidents, 
 no harm likely to arise from it; but un- 
 happily this is not the case. At the 
 present day, when the office of physician 
 is usurped by a throng of reckless adven- 
 turers, illiterate, untaught, unread, inex- 
 perienced and reckless, as the most of 
 them are, who push and crowd themselves 
 into every available opening in our large 
 cities, and by their flaming advertisements 
 and pretentious claims to skill, and grand 
 announcements of wonderful cures, (trump- 
 ed up for the occasion,) inveigling into 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 321 
 
 their toils some inexperienced and unso- 
 phisticated victim, who imagines herself 
 suffering under some form of debility or 
 disease, the consequence of her own indis- 
 cretion, or the natural results of hereditary 
 or organic defects, which deprives her of 
 that enjoyment which she has been taught to 
 consider as the acme of all human delights. 
 This is not the place to point oiit to my 
 readers the manifold evils which flow 
 from this great source of mischief; but 
 I shall, before I close this work, devote 
 a chapter especially to the unfolding of 
 this great conspiracy against human life 
 and happiness, and endeavor to show to 
 to them the character and qualifications 
 of those who daily, through the press 
 and otherwise, under the assumed titles 
 of doctors, clairvoyants, mesmerizers, etc., 
 are doing more to corrupt, ruin, and des- 
 troy the health and lives of our wives and 
 daughters, than all the errors and mis- 
 
322 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 takes of the regular faculty put together. 
 In carrying out this self-imposed task, I 
 am sensible that I incur no small degree of 
 risk from the combined hostility of the 
 horde whom I assail, and the difficulty of 
 convincing the public that behind this 
 seeming zeal in behalf of abused and suf- 
 fering humanity, there is not concealed 
 some questionable motives, having their 
 origin either in pique, revenge, or hope of 
 gain to myself. Of this my readers must 
 judge. I do not expect to escape the 
 criticisms of my competitors and opponents, 
 nor am I unused to their misrepresenta- 
 tions. I have often witnessed, but not 
 very severely suffered from, the workings 
 of their malevolence and envy. 
 
 In carrying out my plan I shall depart 
 very essentially from the ordinary and 
 stereotyped method adopted by profession- 
 al book makers, especially those whose 
 productions are evidently, for the most 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 323 
 
 part, u made to order/' mapped out accord- 
 ing to routine, and filled up like a scrap 
 book, from the pilfering of old magazines, 
 addresses, and encyclopedias. As in my 
 practice and treatment of disease, so shall 
 I endeavor to be guided by nature's grand 
 rationale and common sense ; striving, by 
 the use of the simplest terms, and the 
 plainest language I can command, to make 
 myself understood, and whether I have the 
 credit of it or not, strive to be of some 
 benefit to those to whom I address myself. 
 Instead of a labored attempt at appear- 
 ing learned, or a' vain display of scientific 
 terms and phrases, which, to most young 
 ladies are as so much Greek and nonsense, 
 I shall write, or I would talk to them, in a 
 friendly, social conversazione, at which we 
 were gathered for mutual instruction and 
 improvement in physiological science, lead- 
 ing them by easy and gradual steps fully 
 to comprehend the important lessons which 
 
324 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 I wish to impress upon their minds, secur- 
 ing their attention by alternate narratives 
 of facts; scientific analysis, philosophical 
 deductions, with the necessarily resulting 
 comments of explanation, warning and 
 counsel, incident to my subject. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 325 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE YOUNG MAIDEN. CATEMENIAL DISCHARGE. 
 THE AGE OF PUBERTY. HEALTHFUL AND 
 UNHEALTHFUL FLOW. CAUTIONS. AMEN- 
 ORRHEA. 
 
 FOR the present I shall, in the order 
 which I propose to adopt for our inves- 
 tigations, take up as our subject the young 
 maiden, just ripening into womanhood, and 
 show to what extent she is liable, at this 
 critical period of her life, to several most 
 distressing, and often very dangerous de- 
 rangements of the sexual and utero-genital 
 organs, embittering her existence, under- 
 mining her health, destroying her comeli- 
 ness, souring her temper, and perhaps 
 
326 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 confining her to a bed of sickness, or, it 
 may be, death. 
 
 As previously stated, all females, on arri- 
 val at the age of puberty, which varies 
 from the age of fourteen to sixteen in our 
 climate, and dependent also upon occupa- 
 tion and constitution, should have a 
 "monthly turn," as it is called, or- vaginal 
 discharge, known as the catemenial dis- 
 charge, or menstruation, although general- 
 ly spoken of as " the menses," or " monthly 
 turn," or " courses." Its return is not by 
 calendar, but by lunar months of four 
 weeks, or twenty-eight days each. This 
 physical characteristic of the well formed, 
 fully developed and healthy female, consti- 
 tute one of the very best indexes we have 
 of her capability to become and endure all 
 the duties and responsibilities of her ex- 
 pected and hoped for future condition of 
 wife and mother. If nothing untoward has 
 happened ; if properly brought up and 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 327 
 
 educated by a wise, sensible and prudent 
 mother, the young lady on the first appear- 
 ance of this sanguineous discharge expe- 
 riences no alarm nor surprise. She has 
 expected, this to her, novel advent, and 
 even with proud and pleasurable emotions, 
 regards it as the evidences of her approach- 
 ing fitness for the destiny which awaits 
 her. To such an one, little, or no counsel 
 of mine is necessary, provided there is a 
 sufficient substratum of virtue to resist the 
 natural impulses arising from exuberant 
 spirits, and the allurements of vice, in 
 whatever shape it may ' present itself. 
 Nature has fashioned and perfected her ; 
 let her do nothing to violate its laws, or 
 impede its functions. But unhappily these 
 specimens of womanhood are, to use a 
 common saying, " like angel's visits, few 
 and far between." The nurture, culture, 
 and education, tastes, habits, employments 
 and amusements of the " girl of the period " 
 
328 MEDICAL ADVISEK. 
 
 has produced altogether another state of 
 things. Instead of the bouncing, merry- 
 hearted, cherry-cheeked, artless, and really 
 happy girl of former days, and such as is 
 now occasionally to be met with in the 
 country, we behold, alas ! especially in our 
 large cities, swarms of lean, pale, sickly,, 
 misshapen, and enfeebled creatures, who, 
 for whatever of form or feature they pos- 
 sess, are indebted to the paddings of the 
 dressmaker, and the artistic skill which 
 they possess in the application of cosmet- 
 ics and jute. What has produced this 
 change it needs no pen of mine to enume- 
 rate. We had better draw a veil over the 
 process of transformation, and leave to 
 conjecture, rather than attempt a descrip- 
 tion, at which our better nature revolts, 
 and humanity shudders. My duty is as a 
 physician, and not as a moralist and preach- 
 er, and I must take the world as I find it. 
 Physicians are rarely consulted to avert 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 329 
 
 moral evils, but to cure those pertaining 
 to the body, and most generally not then, 
 until the disease has attained a develope- 
 ment too formidable even for his mastery. 
 Independent of congenital disease, (I mean 
 such as are born with a person) all females 
 are subject to various disorders connected 
 with menstruation which calls for the im- 
 mediate resort to medical aid for their 
 relief, and the prevention of greater evils 
 which do endanger health and usefulness, 
 and may threaten life itself. 
 
 We now reluctantly, but necessarily turn 
 to the counterpart of the fresh, rosy, happy 
 miss whom we have contemplated, and find 
 her at the very threshold of womanhood, a 
 victim of pain, anxiety and debility. Instead 
 of the well rounded form, the bewitching 
 limb, the elastic step, the glowing face and 
 sparkling eye, she painfully drags her 
 weary steps to her daily tasks, whilst the 
 tottering limbs, the palpitating heart, the 
 
330 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 obstructed breath, the ashy lips, the pallid 
 cheek, and the leaden eye too surely point 
 her out as the wretched victim of uterine 
 or vaginal disorder of some kind. Let us 
 now inquire what the trouble may be. 
 There are three forms of menstrual diffi- 
 culties, each of which is entirely distinct, 
 marked by distinct characteristics and 
 symptoms, each requiring distinct and pe- 
 culiar treatment, and each, if neglected, or 
 disregarded, or wrongly treated, inevitably 
 producing the most painful, dangerous and 
 fatal consequences. We will consider them 
 in their order : — 
 
 Amenorrhea. And here is the proper 
 place for me observe to my lady and un- 
 professional readers, that I shall in this 
 book, in the classification and nomenclature 
 of diseases, use the proper and profession- 
 ally recognized terms applicable to them as 
 best calculated to convey my meaning, 
 taking care, however, in the outset, to ex- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 331 
 
 plain why and wherefore these terms are 
 used in preference to others, which, to the 
 uneducated, may not onl3 r appear strange, 
 but are frequently made the subject of 
 complaint. It is not, as some imagine, that 
 Latin and other classical and ancient lan- 
 guages are used by medical writers and 
 physicians in the composition of their books 
 and in their prescriptions, in order to con- 
 ceal from the general reader their purport 
 and meaning, but it is because the Latin 
 and Greek languages are universal, and 
 understood by the learned of all nations ; 
 are more expressive, and in their various 
 combinations may be made in a single 
 word, or term, to express far more to the 
 reader than the paucity of our own or any 
 modern language will admit of. Thus, this 
 very word, Amenorrhoea, derived from the 
 Greek, is composed of the privitive A, the 
 Greek letters Mu, Eta. Nu, or m. e. n., 
 meaning a month, and Rho, Epsiion, Omega, 
 
332 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 or Eeo ; to flow, from which is formed the 
 word we adopt, which means, absence of 
 the menstrual flow, and is applied by 
 medical men and writers to all cases in 
 which the " monthly turn " does not prop- 
 erly and regularly make its appearance. 
 There are two varieties of this difficulty. 
 1. Ketention of Menses, — where the 
 catamenia are secreted, but do not escape 
 externally. This may arise from what is 
 termed occlusion, a closing, or shutting up 
 of the vagina (passage to the womb) or 
 from an imperforate (unopened) os uteri, 
 (the external orifice communicating with 
 the vagina). In the latter case an outlet 
 must be made for the menstrual accumu- 
 lation by very cautiously cutting or punc- 
 turing the obstructing membrane. Now 
 here is a very, common case, and yet in 
 nineteen times out of twenty, where it 
 occurs, the poor girl is made to suffer 
 untold torments, anxieties and experi- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 333 
 
 merits, at the hands of some ignoramus, 
 styling himself a doctor, or some old woman 
 famous for making herb tea, and giving 
 sweats. I have a letter now before me, 
 received within the past twenty-four hours, 
 from a young lady, in which she says, " I 
 have taken pennyroyal tea, and soaked my 
 feet in hot water, until I am tired." Yes, 
 and she might have continued to take her 
 infusion of pennyroyal and her foot-bath 
 to this hour, and no benefit would have 
 resulted from it. Nothing short of the 
 experienced touch of the surgeon can tell 
 what is the difficulty in such a case ; and 
 his skilful hand alone can remedy the 
 defect. It is sometimes very difficult for 
 the most expert operator to detect the 
 least spot or dimple marking the site wliere 
 the os uteri should exist, in which case it 
 becomes necessary to puncture the uterus 
 through the rectum ; an operation not en- 
 tirely free from danger, and which not one 
 
334 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 in a hundred " doctors, 77 certainly none of 
 the very learned, distinguished " profes- 
 sors/ 7 " lecturers/ 7 or " presidents of 
 medical societies " (in the moon) know 
 how or dare to perform, reckless and irre- 
 sponsible as they are. Happily for them, 
 and the life of the patient, they very sel- 
 dom know or suspect the real difficulty. 
 If applied to, they will of course at once 
 assert their ability to give relief, and " a 
 bottle of medicine " is forthwith directed 
 to be used, " a teaspoonful three times a 
 day.' 7 It may be as inert as water, or it 
 may be as poisonous as lead ; in either case 
 it does no good, and the poor victim of de- 
 ception, after expending, perhaps, her last 
 dollar, is given over to get past her trouble 
 as best she can. The efforts of nature, 
 with increasing years, may bring her relief, 
 but ere that time arrives, life will have be- 
 come a burden, or consumption, decline, or 
 albuminaria will have done their fatal work. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 335 
 
 Parents, guardians, teachers, young ladies 
 yourselves, heed lny solemn admonitions, 
 — your life is in danger; trust to no doubt- 
 ful remedy, no palliative nostrum, no inex- 
 perienced hand to divert you from a reso- 
 lute application to tried, trusted and ack- 
 nowledged skill, where alone you can obtain 
 relief. It has been my good fortune to be 
 repeatedly called upon in these cases, and 
 I have never yet failed readily to detect 
 the obstruction, and to perform a satisfac- 
 tory and permanent cure. A little nursing 
 and rest, with soothing, anodyne medicines, 
 soon brings up the patient, perfect, happy 
 and well, to go on her way rejoicing. 
 
336 MEDICAL ADVISER, 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WHAT CONSTITUTES HEALTHY MENSTRUATION, 
 SUPPRESSION AND IRREGULARITY, — CAUSES, 
 PECULIARITIES, — - PALLOR, — WAXY AP- 
 PEARANCE OF THE SKIN, REMEDIES AND 
 
 PRESCRIPTIONS,— GOOD ADVICE. 
 
 SUPPRESSION OF THE MENSES.— 
 This may occur at any time, from their 
 first exhibition, until what is termed the 
 " change in life/ 7 when it ceases altogether. 
 1 need not remind the reader that when 
 this change takes place, the ability of the 
 female to conceive exists no longer. 
 
 In order to make this part of my subject 
 clear, and to relieve any possible anxieties 
 in regard to what constitutes a normal and 
 healthy menstruation, I deem it proper to 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 337 
 
 state that it should be a painless, uncoagu- 
 lated flow, returning at intervals of about 
 four weeks, lasting three, four, five or six 
 days, and requiring the use of not more 
 than three, or at the farthest, four napkins 
 in the twenty-four hours. It may be scanty 
 or profuse, and painful, or not, without re- 
 gard to quantity. If the flow falls short of 
 three days duration, it may be called scanty. 
 If it continues longer than six or seven 
 days, it may be profuse, but not always so. 
 It may be very abundant, and last but two 
 or three clays ; and again, it may continue 
 twelve or fifteen days, and be very scanty, 
 requiring not more than one napkin in the 
 twenty-four hours. The explanation of 
 either of these conditions will generally be 
 found in some organic deviation from a 
 normal, or natural state. According to 
 modern views, and the opinions of those 
 supposed to be the most learned upon the 
 subject, the menstrual fluid is not a secre- 
 
338 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 tion merely, but an exudation of blood 
 from the lining membrane of the cavity of 
 the uterus, or womb, and acquires its pe- 
 culiar qualities by admixture with the 
 secretions of the cervix (neck) and vagina 
 (passage way) of the womb, as it passes 
 outwards. 
 
 We often see menstruation so scanty, 
 that it lasts but a day, or a day and a half, 
 one napkin having perhaps sufficed for the 
 whole time; under such circumstances, 
 there may be, and probably is, defective 
 ovulation, that is, a defective formation of 
 the ova, or egg, which constitutes the germ 
 of procreation, or the object to be impregnat- 
 ed by the male semen, in the act of coition, 
 in order to produce conception. That men- 
 struation is a sign of ovulation or capacity 
 to conceive is quite certain, the one taking 
 place when the other begins, and ceasing 
 when it stops. With ovulation the uterus 
 becomes suddenly developed in size, and 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 339 
 
 the fit receptacle of a new being. With 
 the change of life, we find it gradually re- 
 turning to the diminutive proportions that 
 it had before puberty. Thus. much I deem 
 it proper to explain to my readers, so that 
 they may understanding^ enter with me 
 upon that branch of our subject now under 
 consideration. 
 
 Suppression of the menses is the most 
 common form of amenorrhoea, and occurs 
 when the flow having been once properly 
 established, and having appeared regularly 
 for a longer or. shorter time, becomes pre- 
 maturely arrested. This may occur sud- 
 denly, while the discharge is on, in conse- 
 quence of some mental shock, or excite- 
 ment, excessive fatigue, the setting-in of 
 some acute disease, the development of 
 phtisis (consumption) or simply from ex- 
 posure to damp and cold. Again, it may 
 take place gradually ; the flow not returning 
 at a proper time, or becoming less and less 
 
340 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 for several periods, and then entirely stop- 
 ping. Whilst there is more constitutional 
 disturbance in the abrupt than in the grad- 
 ual suppression, the latter is most to be 
 feared, as it is often indicative of more 
 serious causes, which require immediate 
 looking after. Of these, anoemia; poverty, 
 or deficiency of blood, is the most frequent. 
 This condition is shown by the pale, waxy, 
 blanched appearance of the skin, lips, and 
 mucous membranes generally. The pulse 
 becomes feeble and rapid, loss of appetite, 
 a puffing bellows sound from the chest, a 
 crackling sound in the jugular veins, 
 attacks of fainting, palpitation of the heart, 
 gradual loss of flesh, and wasting away, 
 dropsical effusions into the pleura, etc., 
 etc. Here the suppression is, as you 
 perceive, a symptom merely, and we 
 are to direct our attention, not so much 
 to the stoppage, as to find out the cause 
 of it. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 341 
 
 I need not say that no condition of ill- 
 health, or functional derangement, more 
 imperatively demands the careful examina- 
 tion of a good physician, than the first 
 admonitions of amenorrhoea, and there is 
 hardly any disease of the young woman 
 less properly attended to. Inexperienced 
 in these difficulties, she does not, at first, 
 realize the danger of her condition. 
 Timidity, bashfulness, and a fear of ex- 
 posure or something awful, restrains her 
 from making her trouble known, and she 
 imprudently rushes to the first suggested 
 means of relief, in the shape of tonics and 
 stimulants, some of which are of a charac- 
 ter as absurd and ridiculous as the sources 
 from which she obtains her knowledge of 
 them, are ignorant, unreliable, and often- 
 times superstitious. Decoctions of rusty 
 nails, and roots and herbs, gathered at 
 certain phases of the moon, with now and 
 then some solemn incantation or charm 
 
342 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 added, constitute the elixir vitge which is 
 to restore her to health. Were these foolish 
 practices confined only to the simple and 
 uneducated, I might less pointedly allude 
 to them; but strange as it may appear, 
 hundreds and thousands of young women, 
 whose early advantages and education 
 would lead us to expect better things of 
 them, are as ready to dabble in these 
 senseless experiments, as are the ignorant 
 and less cared for. There are many very 
 simple, safe and effectual remedies which 
 may be resorted to in the absence of 
 medical advice, but only until the trusted 
 physician can be consulted. If the patient 
 be of full habit, inclined to fleshiness and 
 plethora, preparations of Nitric acid, 
 Sennse, and Taraxacum will be found very 
 useful, in the following proportions : — 
 
 R. Acidi Nitrici Diluti, half a fluid 
 drachm. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 343 
 
 Spiritus iEtheris Nitrosi, two fluid 
 
 drachms. 
 Succi Taraxaci, half a fluid ounce 
 Tinct. Sennae, four fluid ounces. 
 Inftisi G-entianaa, compositi ad, eight 
 fluid ounces. 
 Mix, and take one-sixth part twice or 
 thrice daily ; or, in case a laxative is 
 required : — 
 
 R. Vini Aloes, two fluid drachms. 
 
 Infusi Sennas, fourteen fluid drachms, 
 Magnesia Sulphatis, half an ounce. 
 Mix. Half of this mixture to be taken 
 about seven o'clock in the morning, and 
 the remainder two hours after breakfast, 
 if required ; or, if a drastic purgative is 
 needed : — 
 
 R. Pilulse G-ambogia Compositaa, five 
 grains. 
 PilulseHydrargyri, three grains. 
 Make two pills, to be taken night and 
 
344 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 morning, or where the amenorrhoea is 
 dependent upon simple atony, or sluggish- 
 ness of the uterine organs, a stimulant 
 emenagogue may be taken, composed of: — 
 
 R, Extracti Ergotse, three fluid drachms. 
 
 Tinctura Serpentaria, six fluid dra 7 ms. 
 
 Decocti Aloes Composti ad., eight 
 fluid ounces. 
 Mix. Take one-sixth part early every 
 morning ; or, where the menstrual flow is 
 scanty and the liver sluggish : — 
 
 R. Podophyli Resinse, three grains. 
 
 Extracti Hyoscyami, twenty-four grs. 
 
 Pillules Aloes and Myrrhas, thirty 
 grains. 
 Mix, and divide into twelve pills. One to 
 be taken at bedtime, for three or four 
 nights in succession; or, where there is 
 only slight delay in the appearance of the 
 menses, without any uncomfortable sensa- 
 tion or pain, they may often be expedited by 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 345 
 
 R. Boracis, sixty grains* 
 
 Tincture Ergotae, four fluid drachms. 
 
 Aquas Cinnamoni, eight fluid ounces. 
 Mix, and take one-sixth part three times a 
 day. All the above prescriptions are 
 perfectly safe, and are such as would be 
 recommended by the best physicians. 
 They should be carefully copied, and when 
 occasion requires, put up by competent 
 apothecaries. In no case can they do 
 harm, if properly used, and may prove the 
 means of preventing much pain and suf- 
 fering. If relief is not obtained by the 
 one selected, as an adjunct, hot hip baths, 
 soaking the feet in hot water, warm 
 poultices to the breasts, may be added. 
 Should the patient be of rather a relaxed 
 habit, thin in flesh, weak and feeble, then 
 a more tonic and stimulating treatment 
 may be resorted to. Preparation of steel 
 and aloes, steel and ammonia, quinine and 
 steel, steel and pepsine, spirit of Juniper 
 
346 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and acid tartrate of potassse, oil of Juniper, 
 iodide of iron, oil of rue, and ergot of rye, 
 valerianate of steel, savin and assafoetida, 
 aided in their operation by foot baths, 
 very nourishing food, brandy, gin, and 
 wines. Some of the following recipes may 
 be selected, and almost any intelligent 
 girl will be able to choose that best 
 adapted to her case. Here I must be 
 allowed to repeat, that, in giving you 
 these prescriptions, it is not in order to 
 enable you to get rid of consulting your 
 physician, or to escape the expense of a 
 shilling, by doctoring yourself. You must 
 have learned, if you have attentively read 
 the preceding pages, that, although I have 
 endeavored to make my instructions so 
 plain and simple, that a child need not 
 mistake them ; yet, the complications and 
 difficulties attendant upon, and to be 
 feared from, all these unusual and abnor- 
 mal conditions of the female generative 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 347 
 
 and excretive organs are not to be 
 lightly tampered with, nor experimented 
 upon, by the unskilled and inexperienced. 
 Many an old woman's famous panacea, 
 upon the virtues of which she has built no 
 small reputation for wonderful skill, and for 
 being such a " good hand in sickness," has 
 done irreparable injury, and made invalids 
 valetudinarians for life, where a careful 
 examination, and a few simples, prescribed 
 by a scientific doctor, would have averted 
 years of suffering, or, perhaps, an early 
 grave. 
 
 Prescriptions for Amenorrhea, etc. 
 Steel and Aloes. 
 
 R. Ferri Sulphatis Granulate, 2 grains. 
 
 Pilulse, Aloes and Myrrh, 3 grains. 
 Make a pill, to- be taken after each meal. 
 Observe, that the above quantities com- 
 prise only sufficient for one pill of five 
 grains : calculate how many pills you are 
 
348 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 likely to want ; thus, if you think you need 
 to take the medicine for two, three, or five 
 days, reckon the number of pills for one 
 day (three) by the number of days you think 
 you may require them ; thus, for one day's 
 use, three pills would take six grains of the 
 granulated Sulphate of Iron, and nine 
 grains of the powdered aloes and myrrh ; 
 for two days, six pills ; three days, nine 
 pills, and so on. 
 
 Where there is much debility, constipa- 
 tion, or hypochondriasis, what is called 
 " Griffith's Mixture/' with aloes, is found 
 very beneficial. The recipe is as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 R. Misturse Ferri Composite, Decocti 
 Aloes Compositi, aa. four fluid oz. 
 Zinci Sulphas, twelve grains. 
 Mix. Take one-sixth part twice a day. 
 
 Steel and Ammonia. 
 R. Ferri Tartarati, 60 grains. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 349 
 
 Spiritus Amrnonise, Aromatici, three 
 
 fluid drachms. 
 Infusi Quassias, eight fluid ounces. 
 Mix. Take one-sixth part three times a day. 
 
 Quinine and Steel. 
 R. Quinine Sulphatis and Ferri Sulphatis, 
 of each twelve grains. 
 Liquoris Strychnise, thirty drops. 
 Acidi Sulphurici Aromatici, one-and-a- 
 half fluid drachms. 
 Infusi Qassise, eight fluid ounces. 
 Mix. Take one-sixth part three times a 
 day. 
 Note. The black stools which are pass- 
 ed, while any preparation of steel is being 
 taken, should occasion no alarm. This 
 color is owing to the combination of the 
 metal, with part of the sulphur of the food, 
 forming sulphuret of iron. 
 
 Where there is considerable debility, 
 with irritability of the nervous system, 
 take : — 
 
350 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 R. Quiniae Sulphatis and Perri Sulphatis 
 Exsiccatas, each twenty grs. 
 Extracti Hyosciamus, thirty grains. 
 Make a mass and divide into twelve pills. 
 Let one be taken twice a day. 
 Where there is much exhaustion, with a 
 weak and irritable stomach, an excellent 
 tonic is made by 
 
 R. Ferri et Quiniae Citratis, thirty grs. 
 Tincturse Chiratse, one-and-a-half fluid 
 drachms, added to eight fluid ounces 
 of water. 
 Dose, one-sixth part three times a day. 
 
 If the above preparation is too bitter to 
 be agreeable, Tincture of Columbo may be 
 substituted for the Chiretta. 
 
 Steel and Pepsine. 
 R. Ferri Redacti, thirty-six grains. 
 Pepsinse Porci, thirty-six grains. 
 Zinci Phosphatis, eighteen grains. 
 Glycerine sufficient to make a mass, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 351 
 
 divide into twenty-four pills, take two every 
 day at dinner. 
 
 Juniper, and Acid Tartrate of Potash. 
 R. Spiritus Juniperi, two fluid drachms. 
 
 Potassse Tartratis Acidas, one ounce. 
 
 Decocti Scoparii, twelve fluid ounces. 
 Mix, and take one-sixth part three times 
 daily. This is a most excellent diuretic 
 and laxative. 
 
 A very common, and with some, a favorite 
 remedy in cases of obstruction, suppression, 
 or retention of the menses, arising from 
 slight, or temporary causes, where there is 
 no very sensible disturbance of the general 
 health, is what is known by druggists as 
 " Dewees 7 Tincture of Guaiacurn." It may 
 be taken morning, noon and night, in doses 
 of a teaspoonful, in a little sweetened milk, 
 and sometimes in a little Madeira, Sherry, 
 or Tenneriffe wine. It is sometimes ne- 
 cessary to continue the medicine for some 
 
352 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 weeks, on which occasion the dose should 
 be judiciously increased. 
 
 Where there is general debility, The 
 Volatile Tincture of Guaiacum and Copaiba 
 may be used with great benefit. 
 
 R. Tincturse Guaiaci Ammoniata3, one fluid 
 ounce. 
 Copaibse, half a fluid ounce. 
 Mix. Dose, a teaspoonful two or three 
 times a day. 
 
 The well-known Tincture of Heira Picra 
 is a most popular and most efficient remedy 
 in suppressed menstruation. It may al- 
 ways be found at the druggists. The dose 
 is a teaspoonful three times a day, in sugar 
 and water. 
 
 The foregoing formulae comprise all the 
 active remedies I consider necessary to 
 recommend under this particular head. 
 Amenorrhoea, or suppression of the monthly 
 flow, is so often dependent upon so many, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 353 
 
 slight and transient causes, that, unless 
 there arise very serious symptoms, no 
 undue alarm should be felt ; apprehension 
 and anxiety will only aggravate the evil, 
 and postpone favorable symptoms, likely 
 to result from the natural struggles for 
 relief. As a cause of suppression, or rather 
 cessation of menstruation for the time 
 being, I need not say that, a state of preg- 
 nancy affords a complete explanation ; and 
 it is well for every lady carefully to re- 
 member, if suffering, whether or not she 
 has been exposed to being put in that con- 
 dition. If she has, then the unguarded 
 use of any of the medicines I have named, 
 or indeed of any others, would be highly 
 injudicious. To such as have the means in 
 money and time, travel, with an occasional 
 tarry at some of the medicinal springs, 
 where the waters are alkaline, saline and 
 tonic, and where agreeable society, and 
 rational amusements may serve to unbend, 
 
354 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 as well as cheer the mind, and divert it 
 from dwelling too seriously upon the infir- 
 mities of the flesh ; will be found a pow- 
 erful auxiliary in restoring to a healthy 
 tone and regularity the monthly period, so 
 absolutely essential to the health, beauty 
 and happiness of the sex. 
 
 I do not think it necessary to protract 
 my observations upon this subject. For 
 all ordinary cases, the directions I have 
 given, with the remedies suggested, will 
 be found ample and reliable, until such 
 time as proper medical advice and assis- 
 tance can be obtained. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 355 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MENORRHAGIA, OR PROFUSE AND UNNATURAL 
 MENSTRUATION, CAUSES SOMETIMES OB- 
 SCURE AND DIFFICULT TO BE ASCERTAINED, 
 — SYMPTOMS, — DANGER OF MISTAKES IN 
 DIAGNOSIS, — CAUTIONS, NATURAL IN- 
 STINCTS NOT RELIABLE, — WHY, SCIENCE 
 
 THE ONLY TRUE GUIDE, TREATMENT OF 
 
 MENORRHAGIA, RECIPES, DIET, MEN- 
 TAL AGITATIONS, ETC., — USEFUL SUGGES- 
 TIONS. 
 
 HAVING disposed of the subject of 
 Amenorrhcea, as the first in order, 
 and the most common of those menstrual 
 difficulties to which the sex are liable, I 
 proceed in the next place to consider the 
 
356 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 opposite condition, known by the technical 
 name of 
 
 Menorrhagia, 
 
 signifying profuse, abnormal, or unnatural 
 increase of the catamenial discharge. Each 
 individual may safely be supposed, from a 
 knowledge of her usual condition at her 
 monthly periods, to be able to judge 
 whether she is undergoing, to the detri- 
 ment of her health, such a profuse discharge 
 as to create alarm, or call for the interpo- 
 sition of medical or surgical remedies ; for 
 this difficulty is as likely to require both 
 as one of these aids. 
 
 The causes of menorrhagia are very 
 numerous, and some of them so obscure 
 and difficult to ascertain, that it may 
 require the utmost skill of the surgeon to 
 detect them. Tuberculosis, which may 
 set in at any period of life, is most fre- 
 quently an exciting cause. The liability 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 357 
 
 to it is greatest between the ages of 
 eight and fifteen, and between eighteen 
 and forty. Its symptoms are dyspepsia, 
 with difficulty of assimilating sugar and 
 fat; acid eructations, heart-burn, flatulence, 
 paleness, and a sense of coldness of the 
 body, swelling of the abdomen, puffiness 
 of the face, with swelling of the lips and 
 nostrils, purulent discharges from the ear, 
 pimply eruptions about the head, enlarge- 
 ment of the tonsils and glands of the 
 neck, disagreeable exhalations from the 
 skin, and especially from the feet and 
 armpits ; feebleness, with rapidity of pulse, 
 general debility, gradual loss of weight, 
 etc. Bright's disease of the kidneys, 
 affections of the spleen ; in case of mater- 
 nity, excessive suck by the child, trouble 
 or excitement from any cause, at or about 
 the monthly period, too frequent and ex- 
 cessive sexual intercourse. It may also 
 arise from metritis, or inflammation of the 
 
358 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 substance of tho unimpregnated womb, a 
 disease which may set in suddenly, but 
 commonly comes on gradually. The s} T mp- 
 toms of which are, first, a sense of fulness, 
 weight and heat about the j:>elvis, (the 
 lower portion of the chest which bounds 
 and supports the abdomen,) throbbing, 
 with tenderness of the pubes, (surrounding 
 the private parts usually covered by hair,) 
 irritability of the bladder, nausea and 
 vomiting, diarrhoea, with a constant desire 
 to go to stool, followed by great straining 
 but no discharge. These symptoms are 
 supplemented, after the first day or two, 
 by acute paroxysms of uterine pain, a 
 mucous, and sometimes bloody, discharge, 
 not catamenial, occurs. In such cases, 
 abscesses are apt to form in the uterine 
 tissues, or dangerous inflammation may set 
 in, involving the pelvic areolar tissue, or 
 fatal grangrene may supervene. Any of 
 these indications may be sufficient to 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 359 
 
 account for the excessive menstruation to 
 which they may give rise. And who of 
 you, my gentle readers, will be able to 
 point out the immediate cause of the 
 trouble ? You may well be appalled at 
 the intricacies and dangers of the field 
 you attempt to explore, when in secret 
 you take counsel only of yourselves ; per- 
 haps, resort to some old woman's remedy 
 for relief, or, are resolved to seek, in some 
 blind alley, the medical assistance of an 
 obscure charlatan, who, when once you 
 cross his threshold, regards you as his 
 prey, and you are toted on, and on, so long 
 as you can furnish a single dollar to feed 
 his remorseless cupidity. 
 
 In case fatal gangrene does not cut 
 short the trouble with the life of the 
 sufferer, the chances are that, what is 
 termed hypertrophy or excessive growth, 
 thickening or enlargement of the uterus, or 
 hardening of the labia, or abrasions of the 
 
360 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 parts ; accompanied by leucorrhoea, (the 
 whites) may take place, to the permanent- 
 discomfort or injury of the individual. 
 
 Now, here I have been describing thus 
 particularly a disease far back of the 
 immediate menstrual trouble, of which it 
 may be the exciting cause, but so hidden 
 behind the apparent difficulty, that neither 
 the patient nor her friends can detect it. 
 Symptoms are doctored and prescribed 
 for, whilst the real cause remains un- 
 reached and untouched, to continue its 
 destructive work. How important it is 
 then, that, in all these cases, no blind or 
 hap-hazard treatment be adopted, and none 
 other than the most skilful and experienced 
 be allowed, first to investigate, and then 
 prescribe what should be done. Hun- 
 dreds of young women annually present 
 themselves to me for advice and treat 
 ment, whose constitutions are weakened 
 for life, simply because of maltreatment at 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 361 
 
 some former period, under the direction 
 of some quack, or a thoughtless resort to 
 some favorite nostrum, recommended by 
 some friend who " has been just so/ 7 and 
 who has experienced great benefit from 
 the use of it. 
 
 Nature has so ordained it that every 
 creature should possess some instinctive 
 faculty, enabling it to discover, when it is 
 suffering, even if it be painless, from any 
 derangement, or abnormal condition of any 
 of the functions of their various organs, 
 whether of the senses or other faculties ; 
 yet nature has not made any provision by 
 which the brute creation are enabled to 
 find out the seat of their disease and 
 supply themselves with the means of self- 
 cure in all cases. Hence, the animal, 
 when overtaken by endemial or epidemical 
 diseases, most generally succomb to them. 
 In the treatment of the diseases of those 
 animals, domesticated and trained for the 
 
362 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 use of man, it has been found that human 
 science alone can be depended upon to 
 successfully combat the various forms of 
 disease to which they are at all times 
 liable; and farriery and veterinary surgery 
 has become an art, requiring skill, study, 
 and scientific attainments of no mean 
 degree, in order to enable their professors 
 to attain to success and competence in the 
 business. If, then, horses, cattle, dogs, even 
 singing birds, are found dependant upon 
 science for their relief from the attacks of 
 disease, how much more does woman, — the 
 creature of civilization, habit, fashion, and 
 a thousand other unnatural circumstances 
 and conditions, in every untoward event, 
 implicating her health, need the most 
 prompt assistance of every available re- 
 source which science has been able to 
 discover. 
 
 In the treatment of menorrhagia, of 
 course, the first thing to be ascertained is 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 363 
 
 to what cause it is to be attributed. If 
 upon careful examination, no congenital or 
 organic difficulty is found, nor symptoms 
 indicative of disease having its seat in the 
 surrounding viscera, then we fairly attri- 
 bute it to local and transitory causes, to be 
 treated by direct applications. For this, 
 preparations of astringents will be found 
 the most effectual. Gallic acid, cinnamon, 
 sulphuric acid, — either remedy alone, or 
 in combination, will be found very useful. 
 E. Gallic Acid, fifteen to twenty-five grs. 
 
 Aromatic Sulphuric Acid, twenty-five 
 to thirty drops. 
 
 Tincture of Cinnamon, two fluid 
 drachms. 
 
 Pure Water, two fluid ounces. 
 Mix, and make a draught to be taken every 
 four hours, until the flow ceases ; or, a 
 more simple mixture : — 
 R. Tincture of Cinnamon, six fluid 
 drachms. 
 
364 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Diluted Nitric Acid, two fluid dra'ms. 
 Mix. Dose, thirty drops in a wine-glassful 
 of water every two hours ; or the following, 
 more simple still: — 
 
 R. Tincture of Cinnamon two fluid oz. 
 
 Cinnamon Water, one fluid ounce. 
 Make a draught, to be taken thrice daily. 
 This may be mixed as needed ; the above 
 constitutes one dose. 
 
 A still more active astringent is found 
 in: — 
 
 R. Ammonia Sulphate of Iroiv thirty to 
 sixty grains. 
 Distilled, or pure Rain Water, eight 
 fluid ounces. 
 Mix, and take one-sixth part every six or 
 eight hours. 
 
 In the above recipe, I have given from 
 the smallest to the largest quantity of the 
 Ammonia Sulphate of Iron, as to the pre- 
 cise quantity, being governed by age, etc. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 365 
 
 Preparations of turpentine, Indian hemp, 
 acetate lead, oxide of silver, arsenic, etc., 
 are often found necessary, but should not 
 be resorted to except under the immediate 
 direction of the attending physician ; 
 therefore I do not give any formula for 
 them, because I do not wish to trust them 
 in unskilful and inexperienced hands. 
 There are, however, various local remedies 
 almost always accessible, which may be 
 used with much advantage, such as an 
 application of ice over the pubes, intro- 
 duction of ice into the vagina3, vaginal 
 injections of tannic acid, plugging the 
 os uteri with sponge, carefully shaped, 
 by cutting it into a tap like form 
 about the size and shape of the 
 two lower joints of the little finger. Cot- 
 ton wool may be substituted in case of 
 emergency. Cold water injections up the 
 rectum, is often found a powerful acces- 
 sory towards stopping the effusion. And 
 
366 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 with all, quiet, and a recumbent position 
 should be maintained, so far as circum- 
 stances will admit. The diet should be 
 simple, except in cases where there is 
 much debility, when, of course a more 
 tonic and stimulating one should be used, 
 such as a bit of roast or broiled beef, beef 
 tea, stale bread with black tea, and other 
 diluent drinks. But observe, that I am 
 now directing the course of treatment in 
 case of simple menorrhagia ; not flooding, 
 caused by metritis, nor uterine hemorrhage, 
 which is caused by cancerous affection of 
 the uterus, fibroid tumors, or polypi, in- 
 flammatory diseases of the neck of the 
 womb ; any and all of which are liable, and 
 may be, by some imprudent act of violent 
 exertion, lacerated and set to bleeding 
 more easily at this time than any other. 
 
 Whilst upon this subject, I may as well 
 observe that, a free discharge of blood, 
 unmixed with mucous or other matter, at 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 367 
 
 any time during the menstrual period, 
 where there is menorrhagia, should always 
 be regarded with interest and care, and 
 the attending physician at once notified 
 of the occurrence. It is not a matter that 
 need create serious alarm, as it is often 
 indicative of nature's successful efforts to 
 overcome obstructions hitherto painful and 
 dangerous ; but it needs careful watching, 
 so that it be not diverted to injurious 
 results. The danger chiefly to be appre- 
 hended in this and similar manifestations, 
 is from the too officious counsels and 
 interference of associates and confidants, 
 who always stand ready with some favorite 
 styptic, or other remedy, the virtues of 
 which they alone thoroughly understand. 
 Agitation and anxiety, sometimes amount- 
 ing to absolute fear and dread of imminent 
 danger, is not uncommon with those per- 
 sons of an exceeding sensitive and nervous 
 temperament ; to such, I cannot too fully 
 
368 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 impress upon them the absolute import- 
 ance of quiet, cleanliness, and entire 
 confidence in the positive ability of medi- 
 cal and surgical skill, to carry them safely 
 through the crisis. 
 
 In the absence of a medical attendant, 
 with this treatise before them, no intelligent 
 female can fail to find, in the carefully 
 selected prescriptions I have given, some 
 one adapted to her case, and which may 
 safely be adopted for the time, until a 
 satisfactory exploration by the speculum 
 may be had, to make " assurance doubly 
 sure/ 7 as to her precise condition. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 369 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO A DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 FEMALE SEXUAL ORGANS, — OF WHAT 
 THEY CONSIST, — HOW NAMED, — THEIR LO- 
 CATION AND USES, THEIR TECHNICAL AND 
 
 FAMILIAR NAMES, — INFORMATION AND SUG- 
 GESTIONS NECESSARY TO A CORRECT UN- 
 DERSTANDING OF THE SUBJECT, — COUNSELS. 
 
 I THINK I have said enough upon the 
 usual and ordinary cases arising under 
 the foregoing division of our subject, to 
 ]eave it to the sound discretion and judg- 
 ment of my readers, and to proceed now 
 to a consideration of those forms of it, 
 complicated, and rendered really serious 
 by malformations of the parts requiring 
 
370 MEDICAL ADVISEE. 
 
 not only consummate skill and experience 
 for their detection, but the nicest surgical 
 dexterity for their proper management in 
 securing for the patient even a bearable 
 degree of moderation and relief from the 
 tortures she may be called upon to suffer. 
 I am aware that in performing this part of 
 my task, I may place in the hands of some 
 a means of self-infliction, but I do not so 
 design it. My aim is to benefit, and if my 
 reader is conscious that she has not the 
 courage to be fully informed about herself, 
 she had better close the book, as well as 
 her eyes, to a further contemplation of 
 these interesting and important subjects. 
 As I do not fancy, nor approve of the intro- 
 duction of plates into a book of this kind, 
 with a view to an illustration of the text, I 
 purpose to make the subject of the form, 
 structure, uses, functions, normal and ab- 
 normal conditions of the sexual and gene- 
 rative organs, as plain and simple as un- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 371 
 
 technical language will efiable me to do ; 
 and for that purpose I now ask your atten- 
 tion to a brief anatomical description, 
 which will very much facilitate your un- 
 derstanding of what I deem it necessary to 
 say when endeavoring to explain to you 
 those congenital, vaginal, and uterine mal- 
 furmations and difficulties to which I have 
 alluded, and which are the causes of nine- 
 teen-twentieths of all the trouble, inconve- 
 nience, pain, suffering and danger to which 
 the sex are liable, and subjected to in per- 
 forming their part in the great drama of 
 life, and its offices, duties and responsibili- 
 ties which nature has assigned to them. 
 One of the very first awakening instincts 
 of girlhood is that of her interesting rela- 
 tion to the opposite sex in the propagation 
 of the human species. Long before she 
 can sustain her own weight, or her 
 thoughts find utterance in speech, her 
 fondness for her rag-baby and doll is but 
 
372 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 the promptings of nature, which, uncon- 
 sciously to herself, distinctly indicates the 
 great design of Infinite Wisdom in her 
 creation ; and just so surely and unerringly 
 as the newly born babe finds its way to its 
 mother's breast, and untaught, at once 
 knows how to draw its sustenance from 
 that maternal fount, so, with progressing 
 and increasing strength and years, it grad- 
 ually acquires an insight into the uses and 
 purposes of its wonderful organization. 
 
 Under the generic term of sexual or- 
 gans, I shall include all, that participate in 
 the functions of micturation, menstruation, 
 coition, ovulation, conception, pregnancy, 
 and parturition, endeavoring to give to 
 the reader such a plain, yet accurate idea 
 of each of all those parts which go to make 
 up the distinctive sexual characteristic, as 
 that, in reading what is yet to follow, there 
 may be neither confusion or mistake. 
 We will consider the female organs of gen- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 373 
 
 eration after the age of puberty, in their sev- 
 eral parts, as divided into the external and 
 internal. The internal is contained within 
 the pelvis, or that part of the body 
 forming the lowest part of the trunk. 
 Its lining and boundaries are the same in 
 both sexes. In the female, its contents 
 are the bladder, vagina, uterus with its 
 appendages, and the rectum. In scientific 
 anatomy these several parts are, for the pur- 
 poses of professional study, usually consid- 
 ered from the interior outward, but for more 
 familiar explanation to you, I shall, as the 
 most simple, commence with the exterior, 
 as the more visible and tangible ; thence 
 following the natural openings, until you 
 are made passably familiar with the struc- 
 ture, connections, and uses of the seve- 
 ral parts, so far as is necessary for you 
 to understand them, to aid in their pro- 
 tection, and preservation in a perfect state 
 of health. Proceeding in this order, wo 
 
374 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 first come to the " Mons veneris" This 
 is the crown, or eminence of integument, 
 situated just above the opening upon the 
 front of the ossa pubis; bones, which consti- 
 tute its framework and support. Its sub- 
 stance is composed of fatty tissue, and its 
 surface covered with hairs. Below this, 
 and running perpendicularly in a line to- 
 wards the anus, are the Labia majora, or 
 larger lips. They enclose an elliptical 
 figure, constituting the common urinary 
 opening, called The vulva. The vulva re- 
 ceives in its inferior, or lower opening 
 the urethra, or urinary duct, and the vagina, 
 or conduit to the uterus, or womb ; and is 
 bounded anterially by what is termed the 
 Commissural superior fi and posterially by 
 the Commissura, infer ior\. Stretching 
 across this upper connection is a small, 
 transverse§ fold, the Frcenum labiorem, or 
 
 * Joining together, f Upper. J Lower. § Crosswise. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 375 
 
 fourchette,* which is ruptured during 
 childbirth ; and just within this fold is a 
 small cavity, called the Fossa navicularis, 
 from its boat-shaped form. As the term 
 perineum may occur in. the course of this 
 description, or elsewhere, when treating 
 upon these matters, I may as well say 
 now, that it consists of that part situated 
 between the lower, or posterior commis- 
 sure joining and the anus, and is usually 
 not more than an inch across. The outer 
 surface of the labia is covered with hairs ; 
 the inner surface is smooth, and lined by 
 mucous membrane. The use of the labia 
 majora is to assist the extension of the 
 vulva during childbirth ; for, in the passage 
 of the head of the child, the labia becomes 
 entirely unfolded, and for the time, effaced. 
 The Labia minor a, \ or nymphse, are two 
 smaller folds situated within the labia majo- 
 
 * Fork, or lower joining of the labia majora. f Smal- 
 ler lips. 
 
376 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 ra. Above, they are divided into two pro- 
 cesses which surround the glans clitoridis, 
 the upper fold forming the preputium* cli- 
 torides, and the lower one its frcenulerrij or 
 bridle. 
 
 The Nymplice, consist of mucous mem- 
 brane, covered by a thin skinny formation, 
 and are provided with a number of glands 
 which secrete and exude an oily, or slimy 
 matter, adapted to the healthy lubrication 
 of the adjoining parts. They also contain, 
 in their interior, a layer of erectile tissue, 
 contributing, during the act of coition, by 
 its corrugated surface, very much to stim- 
 ulate and intensify the intromitant male 
 organ. 
 
 The Clitoris , is a small elongated protube- 
 rance, situated in front of the ossa pubis,f 
 
 * The foreskin, f The term os, ossa, or ossae, is 
 derived from the Latin word, signifying a bone ; hence 
 words having os, ossis, osseous, ossify, etc., in their 
 compound, have relation, to bone. Os, also means 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 377 
 
 and supported by a suspensory ligament. 
 It is formed by a small body, having its 
 counterpart in what is termed the corpus 
 cavernosum of the male penis, and like it 
 arises from the branch of the os pubis 
 and the posterior and inferior bone 
 of the pelvis, known in anatomy as the 
 ischium, to which the French give the 
 comprehensive name of os de Vassiette, or 
 plate bone. The extremity of the Clitoris 
 is called its glans. It is composed of erec- 
 tile tissue, enclosed in a dense layer of 
 fibrous membrane, and is susceptible of 
 very turgid erection. Like the male penis, 
 also, it is provided with two small muscles, 
 called the erectores clitorides. 
 
 At about an inch beneath the clitoris, 
 is the entrance of the vagina, an elliptical 
 opening, marked by a projecting margin. 
 
 mouth; this however has for its genitive oris, and 
 plural ora, and by its connection cannot be mistaken 
 tor the former. 
 
378 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 This entrance is closed in the virgin by a 
 membrane of semilunar* form, which is 
 stretched across the opening ; this is the 
 hymen. Sometimes the membrane forms 
 a complete septum, f and gives rise, as will 
 hereafter be explained, to great inconve- 
 nience by preventing the escape of the 
 menstrual effusion. It is then called an 
 inperforate hymen. The apparent condi- 
 tion of the hymen is not always a true cri- 
 terion by which to judge of the virginity 
 of the female, as is commonly supposed; 
 for its very existence is, in some cases, ex- 
 tremely uncertain. When present, it as- 
 sumes a variety of appearances ; it may be 
 a membraneous fringe, with a round open- 
 ing in the centre, or a semilunar fold, leaving 
 an opening in front, or a transverse % septum, 
 leaving an opening in front and behind, or a 
 vertical § band, with an opening either side, 
 
 * Like a half-moon, f Division. % Crosswise division. 
 § Up and down. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 379 
 
 The rupture of the hymen, in its early 
 and youthful existence, gives rise to a 
 fringe-like appearance around the opening 
 of the vagina ; hence called carunculoe, 
 myrtiformes, i.e., like the myrtle leaf. 
 
 At the upper angle of the vagina, is an 
 elevation formed by the projection of the 
 upper wall of the canal, and immediately 
 in front of this and surrounded by it 7 is 
 the opening of the urethra, through which 
 the urine is thrown off from the bladder. 
 
 For the present we will rest here in 
 our description, for the purpose of observ- 
 ing that, the parts I have now attempted 
 to describe, are those most liable to be, 
 and are the most frequently infected by 
 the lesser grades of venerial disease, such 
 as are communicated by direct contact, 
 gonorrhcea t urethetis, gleets and many 
 other forms of purulent, irruptive and 
 distressing complaints which, enveloped 
 and concealed in this wonderful receptacle 
 
380 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 of many divisions ; must needs, as you see, 
 require the most critical skill, and the 
 closest scrutiny on the part of the medical 
 practitioner, to enable them to detect, 
 classify and properly prescribe for them. 
 I may here properly add that, these organs 
 are liable also, at times, to be more or less 
 affected by various disorders, engendered 
 by a diseased condition of the deeper and 
 more remote organs through sympathy, or 
 the corrosive quality of their discharges. 
 In all cases of this kind, where some 
 simple astringent lotion does not prove 
 effectual to allay or remove the irritation 
 or eruption, or whatever it may be, in a 
 few days, medical advice should at once be 
 resorted to. Disease of the kidneys, 
 uterus, and the vagina, are all indicated 
 by an aciduious condition of the urine, 
 producing inflammation of the kind alluded 
 to, and unless the individual can at once 
 account for the unusual appearance and 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 381 
 
 sensation, and feel satisfied that there is 
 no cause for serious alarm, she should, 
 without delay, seek for better and wiser 
 counsels than her own are likely to be. 
 From what I have said, it will be seen 
 how utterly impossible it is for an inexpe- 
 rienced person, unaided by professional 
 direction, with any degree of safety, to 
 rely upon any superficial appearance or 
 examination, when consequences of such 
 vital importance depend upon an exact and 
 certain diagnosis, only to be had through 
 the instrumentality of the competent sur- 
 gical examiner, and } r et, ! yet, with all 
 this knowledge before you, such of you as 
 may need medical assistance will often 
 allow the most ignorant, base, and unprin- 
 cipled men to direct and impose upon you 
 in such indescribably important matters ! 
 
382 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 REFLECTIONS, DYSMENORRHEA, — ITS SIGNIFI- 
 CATION, ORGANIC DYSMENORRHCEA, — NER- 
 VOUS DYSMENORRHEA, — ■ SYMPTOMS, ITS 
 
 GENERAL PREVALENCE, PALLIATIVES, — 
 
 THE REALITY OF THE DISEASE, INTEREST- 
 ING LETTER FROM A LADY, IMPORTANCE 
 
 OF A CORRECT DIAGNOSIS, ETC., ETC. 
 
 HITHERTO, in discussing the subject 
 of Amenorrhoea we have been guided 
 in our remarks on the assumption that 
 there is a perfect and normal formation of 
 all the parts and organs which we have 
 attempted to describe. When this is the 
 case, ordinarily, nature uninterfered with, 
 performs all her functions easily, and to 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 383 
 
 the promotion of the highest health and 
 physical well-being of the individual. Un- 
 disturbed by painful derangements, or ob- 
 structions, she has few incentives for 
 prying into the mysteries, or even purpo- 
 ses of her organic structure ; content, as 
 she may well be, in the language of the 
 old adage to " let well enough alone/ 7 Un- 
 happily, however, all females cannot claim 
 this fortunate exemption from a liability to 
 danger and trouble. Not only are they 
 frequently made to suffer from the vices 
 and follies of those from whom they derived 
 their being, but are made the victims of 
 distress through a faulty development, 
 brought about by inadequate nutrition, 
 improper care, inappropriate pursuits and 
 occupations, the casualties of life, the de- 
 pressing influences of climate, and a thou- 
 sand other causes which, more or less im- 
 pede and obstruct, or wholly divert and 
 destroy the healthy operations of nature. 
 
384 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Next in order of these troubles of the 
 female generative organs is 
 
 Dysmenorrhea. 
 
 This term, derived from the Greek 
 Words signifying " difficult, " " monthly," 
 " flow," and in our language, more directly 
 from the French word Dysmenorrhoe, 
 (des-ma-no-ra), simply means difficult men- 
 struation. This anomoly in the uterine 
 economy may be classified under the 
 varieties of organic, nervous, and conges- 
 tive. That form which has its origin in 
 anatomical and palpable alterations of the 
 uterus, is usually designated by the name 
 of organic dysmenorrhoea, in distinction to 
 that, in which the most careful examina- 
 tion cannot perceive any trace of a struc- 
 tural defect. It is with this latter we shall 
 deal, for the very good reason that, with 
 the former no unskilled, or unprofessional 
 person can safely interfere. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH 385 
 
 Nervous Dysmenorrhea. 
 
 Women affected with this difficulty usu- 
 ally present more or less numerous signs 
 of great irritation of the entire nervous 
 system, or of some portion of it. They 
 are generally hysterical; and on close 
 observation, it is not difficult to observe in 
 them some one ; or all the symptoms of this 
 disease. We must not, however limit this 
 class of sufferers to delicate, thin, and 
 weakly subjects only. ' Every physician 
 has had opportunity to observe this ner- 
 vous dysmenorrhoea in very stout, robust 
 and apparent healthy women of good con- 
 stitution. 
 
 The symptoms. usually are as follows : — 
 some days previous to the appearance of 
 the menses, the lady is apt to evince a sur- 
 prisingly bad humor; she becomes down- 
 cast and capricious, avoiding company, she 
 seeks solitude, and complains of a general 
 disturbance, which she cannot clearly de- 
 
386 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 fine. Afterwards, and in connection with 
 various digestive difficulties, such as eruc- 
 tations, heart-burn, flatulence, constipation, 
 etc., she will complain of headache, often 
 confined to one or other side of the head, 
 to which is frequently added difficulties of 
 eyesight, such as a dread of light, with a 
 very large secretion of tears. Gradually, 
 intervening painful sensations in the lower 
 regions of the abdomen are felt, such as 
 draggings, shooting pains, which are lim- 
 ited to the uterine region, or spreading 
 toward the thighs, the seat, and the loins. 
 Very often they also extend to the breasts, 
 although with less intensity. The urine 
 becomes scanty, straw . colored, alkaline, 
 and contains, at a certain period, opaque, 
 cloudy and fibrous matter floating in it. 
 These symptoms gradually increase, until 
 about the appearance of the menstrual 
 flow, when they rapidly moderate, and 
 cease as soon as the courses are well 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH, 387 
 
 established. In some cases we find patients 
 who just before were suffering most se- 
 verely, become perfectly well some hours 
 after the commencement of the menses, 
 and are able to apply themselves to their 
 domestic affairs, though for some days pre- 
 viously this had been completely impossi- 
 ble. This distressing form of menstrual 
 difficulty is of very common occurrence, 
 and prevails, to a much greater extent, 
 than is generally supposed, even by medi- 
 cal practitioners; and hence in their treat- 
 ment of such cases are exceedingly apt to 
 exasperate or disgust the patient by ridi- 
 culing, or pooh-poohing at their complaints. 
 With my long experience and intimate 
 knowledge of female peculiarities, I feel 
 that I should be guilty of a great impro- 
 priety, should I ever do this. Very few 
 women complain at such a time, without, 
 (to them at least) a good cause for doing 
 so, and the well read, even if inexperienced 
 
388 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 physician should know that all these feel- 
 ings and impressions narrated by his 
 patient are indicative of uterine distur- 
 bances, calling for the exercise of his very 
 best care and skill. Organic affections, in 
 their incipient stage, may be going on, 
 which have escaped the most minute ex- 
 ploration ; or, it may be that, this nervous 
 form of dysmenorrhoea is passing, by de- 
 grees, into the more dangerous congestive 
 form, or is indicative of acute, or chronic 
 metritis, undue secretions of the uterine 
 and vaginal mucous membrane, inflamma- 
 tions of the ovaries, etc. I know that with 
 the " general run " of doctors the impres- 
 sion prevails that medical treatment for this 
 class of diseases is entirely useless, and 
 that the patient must wait until " the 
 change of life " will free her from her 
 sufferings. My experience has taught me 
 better, and I know that the proper use of 
 those medicines, usually called anti-hysteri- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 389 
 
 cal, combined with a suitable action upon 
 the blood by a well ordered regimen, 
 will have the most happy results. My 
 remedies, in all such cases, have always 
 been attended with great success, and I 
 am rewarded, in very many cases, by an 
 inconceivable amount of human suffering 
 and apprehension, relieved by their use. 
 Until adequate medical advice can be had, 
 I would advise topical applications of 
 opiated lavements, frictions of the ointment 
 of chloroform, or of any other narcotic, 
 upon the lower parts of the abdomen, just 
 above the pubes ; and pellets of cotton 
 wool, saturated with a composition of wax, 
 lard, and the extract of morphine, or bella- 
 donna, may be introduced into the vagina. 
 This treatment may be seconded by the 
 use of warm baths, either entire or partial, 
 and of warm intra-vaginal injections. In 
 some cases of a very obstinate nature, I 
 have found very sensible relief, obtained 
 
390 MEDICAL, ADVISER. 
 
 by a persistent cold water treatment. All 
 these applications, however, can only be 
 regarded as merely palliative, to be resort- 
 ed to as the means of temporary relief only. 
 For permanent security against a recur- 
 rence of the trouble, perhaps in a more dis- 
 tressing and aggravating form, you must 
 at once apply to your confidential medical 
 adviser. 
 
 Among the many patients I have had 
 whose condition excited my liveliest sym- 
 pathies, was a lady from a neighboring 
 state, who had long been periodically tor- 
 tured by the menstrual difficulties now 
 under consideration. She had confided 
 her case to the customary family physician, 
 and had been prescribed for by him to no 
 beneficial results. Being a woman of 
 inquiring mind, she had sought information 
 in books, and of whomsoever amongst her 
 female acquaintances she thought likely to 
 instruct her. Confused at the multiplicity 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 391 
 
 as well as at the contradictory nature of 
 the various suggestions she received, she 
 finally concluded to address herself to me. 
 Her condition, at this time, will be better 
 understood from her own description, in a 
 letter addressed to me, substantially as 
 follows : — # 
 
 L****** N. H., July 11th, 186* 
 Doctor Morrill, 
 
 Sir : In great distress I am at length 
 compelled to apply to some one for advice 
 and relief. I have been to the doctors in 
 this town and neighborhood, and have de- 
 rived so little benefit from them that, I 
 must try some one who can do something 
 for me. You are highly recommended to 
 me as fully understanding these delicate 
 troubles of females, and I will try to ex- 
 plain, or describe my case to you, so that 
 3'ou can tell what is best for me to do. I 
 am about twenty-five years old, and until 
 
392 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 within the past six years always lived at 
 home, and with some exception, enjoyed 
 pretty good health. Soon after I came 
 here, and began work in the mill, my health 
 began to decline. My principal difficulty 
 was at my monthly periods. Although 
 never exactly regular, yet I had suffered 
 no especial inconvenience from them. 
 Shortly after I began work in the mill, 
 whether from change in the nature of my 
 occupation, confinement to in-door life, the 
 steadiness of my labor, or lack of proper 
 exercise and air, or other causes, as my 
 usual periods came round, I found the 
 pain, and depression attending them in- 
 crease, until at length I regarded with 
 dread and horror the " turns " as they 
 approached, each succeeding one becoming 
 more dreadful and painful than the last. 
 I am frequently attacked with a dizziness 
 in the head, and my eyesight almost fails 
 me. I continually feel as though I wished 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 393 
 
 to go to stool, and there is a constant bear- 
 ing down, with pains, as though I were 
 about to pass something extraordinary. 
 My appetite is very changeable, and what 
 I often longed for becomes offensive when 
 obtained. I feel as though everybody 
 knew my condition and talked of it, and 
 am jealous of all around me, and when I 
 add that, to all these feelings I suffer the 
 most distressing pains during the time, 
 you can, in some degree, imagine my con- 
 dition. As I have already stated, this 
 state of things has been going on for about 
 six years. I get no better, but worse. 
 Some months I have to lie by, sometimes 
 six or eight days, until I entirely get over 
 my trouble. They can do nothing for me 
 here, and, as I told you, I am now worse 
 off than ever. Will you, doctor, tell me 
 what to do, and how I can obtain a perma- 
 nent relief from this trouble. If you can, 
 I will abundantly reward yon for your 
 
394 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 services. Please answer this without 
 delay. 
 
 Very respectfully, yours, &c. 
 
 There will be no difficulty, even with 
 the least experienced reader, to detect in 
 this partial and - imperfect description, a 
 clear case of nervous dysmenorrhoea. As 
 usual in cases of this kind, I felt it ray 
 duty to urge upon my correspondent the 
 necessity of a personal call upon me that, 
 -I might, from an inspection of her personal 
 appearance, and apparent characteristics, 
 be better able to judge of her condition 
 and tendencies, and thus more readily and 
 beneficially direct her as to the proper 
 means to be taken for her relief. She 
 shortly afterwards called upon me at my 
 office. Upon examination I found her 
 rather slender in form, narrow across the 
 upper region of the pelvis, or, more plainly 
 speaking, through the hips ; extremely 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 395 
 
 nervous and sensitive to any manipulation 
 of the parts; repelling every effort to such 
 a vaginal examination as would facilitate 
 my endeavors to obtain a satisfactory diag- 
 nosis of her case. Limited and superficial 
 as my examination was under such obsta- 
 cles, I nevertheless satisfied myself that, 
 the difficulty was caused by various alter- 
 ations in the structure of the uterus, which 
 had been going on for some time ; the in- 
 cipient stages of which had been developed 
 at an early period of her menstrual life, 
 and hitherto escaped observation, either 
 by herself or medical advisers. In medi- 
 cal parlance, her dysmenorrhoea was not 
 idiopathic, but sympathetic, the hidden 
 cause of which could only be ascertained 
 by an exploration of the vagina, uterus, 
 and a thorough examination of all the 
 organs and viscera leading to, or having 
 any connection with the menstrual outlet. 
 I allude to this cas'B as a type of many I 
 
396 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 have frequently met with in my practice ; 
 and as a proper one to illustrate the great 
 necessity for extreme caution in coming to 
 a decision. That, instead of attacking the 
 enemy in his citadel and stronghold, and 
 thence routing him, " horse, foot and drag- 
 oon/ 7 we should be led into the fatal error 
 of doctoring s} r mptoms merely, and thereby 
 protracting, or at best, only palliating a 
 disease which, by proper skill, might be 
 permanently arrested. In regard to this 
 particular case, I have alluded to it chiefly 
 because it combined in itself almost every 
 modification of menstrual difficulties, and 
 presented obstacles to successful treat- 
 ment very seldom met with. Organic, 
 nervous, and sympathetic derangements 
 and impediments seemed to bristle up on 
 all sides as if to defy every effort of medi- 
 cal and surgical skill or strategy. Yet I 
 did not despair. By a judicious resort to 
 moral, as well as therapeutical agencies, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 397 
 
 having reference to both the mind and will 
 of my patient, as also to her physical diffi- 
 culties, I soon had the satisfaction of 
 having her well tinder the control of the 
 medical course I found it necessary to 
 adopt, after I had succeeded in inducing 
 her to submit to the somewhat painful, but 
 nice surgical operation required, without 
 which, no amount of medication by drugs, 
 however persistently administered, could 
 have been of the least benefit whatever. 
 She is now a well and hearty woman ; 
 sound and regular in every respect, and 
 bids fair to live as long, and enjoy life as 
 well as any of her sex. I have dwelt more 
 at length upon this branch of my subject 
 than I might otherwise have done, were I 
 not sensible that my views in regard to it 
 differ very materially from those entertained 
 by very many physicians and writers of no 
 mean distinction, one of whom, a French 
 author, remarks, in his work on The Dis- 
 
398 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 eases of the Sexual Organs of Women, 
 that the cure of this disorder, L e. Nervous 
 dymenorrhoea, is always very doubtful, and 
 if there are cases where the art of the phy- 
 sician may in a little time be triumphant, 
 it is still more frequent to see all his efforts 
 remain powerless. In view of the fact 
 (which can be well attested by hundreds 
 of living witnesses) that my method of 
 treatment of this distressing form of female 
 disease, has been almost invariably success- 
 ful, resulting in a perfect and permanent 
 cure, as in the case I have named, I 
 unhesitatingly re-assert my assurance to 
 every sufferer that, she need not despair 
 when she finds herself a victim to this com- 
 plains/or it is curable. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 399 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 VAGIXAL AND UTERINE EXAMINATIONS, — 
 
 TIMELY HINTS, WHEN NECESSARY AND 
 
 HOW TO BE MADE, RESPONSIBILITIES AND 
 
 LIABILITIES OF THE OPERATOR, LADIES 
 
 GOOD ADVERTISERS, EXPOSURE OP THE 
 
 PERSON NOT NECESSARY, — POINTS TO BE 
 
 NOTED, EXAMINATION WHEN LIMITED TO 
 
 THE TOUCH ONLY, THE SPECULUM, 
 
 WHEN REQUIRED, POSITION, ASSISTANTS, 
 
 OPINION OF A DISTINGUISHED PHYSICIAN, 
 
 — REMARKS. 
 
 IT is highly proper that in this place 
 something should be said in regard to 
 vaginal and uterine examinations often made 
 in the investigation of female complaints, and 
 
400 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 rendered absolutely necessary in order to 
 ascertain the nature of the disease, as also 
 to determine upon the proper remedies to 
 apply. Of the necessity for making such 
 examinations, the physician is, of course, 
 regarded as the proper judge, and his 
 wishes to that effect, are held decisive. 
 The frequency, as well as the facility, with 
 which this direction is made and complied 
 with, the abuses attending it, the tempta- 
 tions and opportunities which it affords to 
 cunning and designing men in professional 
 garb to accomplish the vilest of purposes, 
 leads me to speak of this subject more at large 
 than might otherwise appear necessary. 
 These vaginal and uterine examinations, real 
 or attempted, are, I regret to say, very often 
 quite uncalled for, needlessly and wan- 
 tonly made by unprincipled and lecherous 
 scoundrels, whose proper place would be 
 in a penitentiary, rather than in a medical 
 office. The frequency and coarse famil- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 401 
 
 iarity with which women, and especially 
 young girls are sometimes addressed and 
 handled by these satyrs, has done much 
 to deter many a sensitive female from 
 seeking medical assistance at times when 
 absolutely necessary, and induced them to 
 bear and suffer, rather than be subjected to 
 the coarse manipulations and brutality 
 often inflicted by these monsters. It is by 
 no means a rare thing to learn from some 
 of my female visitors that, on consulting 
 such and such a doctor (?) he has taken 
 them upon- his knees, and made indecent 
 overtures and approaches which should 
 consign him to eternal infamy, as well as 
 to the State Prison. That this has fre- 
 quently been done to artless and innocent 
 girls, under the plea of its necessity and 
 propriety in a surgical point of view, in 
 making a correct diagnosis of their case, 
 I am assured, in numerous instances, from 
 the testimony of the victims themselves, 
 
402 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 corroborated by circumstantial evidence , 
 too conclusive to be disregarded. And in 
 many cases, the parties are well known, 
 where, from a patient, the poor girl has 
 passed to the condition of mistress, then 
 onward to be the mother of the illegitimate 
 child of her medical attendant. The 
 facility with which all this is accomplished 
 by the immense power which the crafty 
 and unprincipled practitioner knows so 
 well how to establish over his visitor, may 
 be easily understood by any one who will, 
 for a moment, consider the relative posi- 
 tion of the parties, and the circumstances 
 which brings her into his presence at all. 
 I purpose to give in this chapter such a 
 perfect description of how all examinations 
 of a delicate character should be con- 
 ducted, that, henceforth no one need be 
 deceived or imposed upon, or, if such a 
 thing be attempted, the patient may be 
 able at once to detect and expose the 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 403 
 
 threatened assault upon her, and to possess 
 herself of a weapon with which she may 
 inflict upon her assailant a just and merited 
 punishment for his villainy. First, let every 
 female remember that, whatever may be 
 her condition or calling, or however 
 doubtful her reputation, she is always 
 under protection of the law, and that, how- 
 ever deeply she may have sinned, the 
 presumption is always on virtue's side. I 
 make these remarks (necessary as I know 
 them to be) in order to reassure the unfor- 
 tunate that, under no possible condition of 
 circumstances need she be afraid to assert 
 her rights to the most respectful and tender 
 treatment at the hands of her medical 
 attendant, whatever may have been her 
 antecedents, and however well he may 
 have been advised as to her previous his- 
 tory. The adulteress, taken in the very 
 act, when inquired of " Where are those 
 thine accusers? hath no man condemned 
 
404 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 thee ? " On replying, " No man, Lord," 
 was met with the benign response, 
 ki Neither do I condemn thee : go and 
 sin no more." 
 
 It should be remembered, and always 
 acted upon in professional intercourse with 
 the sex that, if in reality not strictly chaste, 
 they desire to be regarded so in the 
 presence of those of whom they seek coun- 
 sel ; and charity, if nothing else, should 
 lead us to treat them as though they had 
 never erred. There is yet another con- 
 sideration which may well be remembered 
 by the medical practitioner, and one, too, 
 which should have no slight influence in 
 determining his prospective standing with 
 ladies, to whose good opinion he must ever 
 be indebted for much of whatever success 
 and popularity he may attain in his pro* 
 fession. Ladies are good advertisers of a 
 physician's merits, as well as of his demer- 
 its, and, when combined, can make or mar 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 405 
 
 the fortunes of a young practitioner with 
 wonderful celerity and effect. Bearing 
 this in mind, let us proceed to detail the 
 only proper method of vaginal and uterine 
 examinations, so that there may be no 
 danger or risk of censure or offence, given 
 or received by either physician or patient, 
 and that the trials and discomforts attend- 
 ing them may be. rendered as endurable 
 and painless as the circumstances of the 
 case will admit of. 
 
 Every thorough uterine investigation is 
 naturally divided into two stages; the first 
 requiring the touch, the second the sight ; 
 for the first, the patient should lie upon her 
 back, and for the other, upon her left side. 
 For the touch alone, the patient may lie 
 upon a sofa or a bed ; but the former is too 
 low, and the latter too soft and yielding 
 for an examination by the speculum*. A 
 
 * Surgical instrument for dilating cavities and facili 
 tating their examination. 
 
406 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 common table, two or three feet wide, and 
 four or five feet long, covered with a 
 wadded quilt, or blankets folded, is by far 
 the best couch that can be provided for 
 the purpose, readily improvised, and if not 
 as ostentatiously ornamental, is far more 
 convenient than the costly and clumsy 
 " invalid chair " with which physicians 
 often, more for show than utility, encumber 
 their consultation room. 
 
 The table being properly prepared, the 
 patient should be requested to loosen all 
 the fastenings of her dress and corsets, so 
 that there may be nothing to constrict the 
 waist, or compress the abdomen. While 
 this is being done, the physician should 
 bathe his hands in warm water, and wash 
 them well. This should be done not only 
 because it softens and warms the hands, 
 and insures their cleanliness, but it also 
 insures the patient against any dread of 
 contamination by the touch, a thing by no 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 407 
 
 means to be despised. Everything being 
 thus prepared and ready, the patient 
 should be now requested to sit on 
 the edge of the table, and then to lie 
 down on the back, with the head, but 
 not the shoulders, supported by a pillow, 
 while the feet rest momentarily upon a 
 a chair. 
 
 Some practitioners allow the feet to 
 hang down, each on a chair, but this is 
 not the best plan for either physician 
 or patient, nor is it the most delicate. As 
 soon as the patient is laid comfortably 
 back on the table, the surgeon will raise 
 her feet from the chair upon which he is 
 now to sit down, and place them on the 
 edge of the table, with the heels separated 
 some ten or twelve inches, while the 
 knees are a little wider apart. This flex- 
 ure of the thighs and legs insures the 
 relaxation of the abdominal walls, and may 
 prevent any abnormal feeling to the touch 
 
4:08 MEDICAL ADTISEK. 
 
 in making the examination. The natural 
 timidity and nervousness of the patient 
 will very frequently, in spite of our 
 utmost entreaties or efforts to the contrary, 
 impel her to place the soles of her feet 
 together, and let her knees fall widely 
 apart, while some, again, will unconsciously 
 hold the knees closely together, and brace 
 the feet firmly outwards, each position 
 being equalty opposed to an easy explora- 
 tion of the vagina. 
 
 The patient once on the back, with the 
 extremities properly placed and fixed, 
 must be assured that there is to be neither 
 pain nor exposure of person ; neither being 
 necessary, and the latter especially to be 
 avoided, as uncalled for and unprofessional 
 in the highest degree. Everything being 
 ready, let the left forefinger be well lubri- 
 cated, not with sweet oil, as is too often 
 done, nor with any oleaginous substance, 
 but with warm water and Castile soap. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 409 
 
 Pass the finger into the vagina, (the parts 
 being entirely covered by the down-falling 
 nether garment) pass it- gently, or we may 
 jar the nervous system, and produce spas- 
 modic action of the abdominal muscles, 
 and thus render the examination uncertain 
 and fruitless. Should the patient become 
 restless or alarmed, it may be proper to 
 delay a moment or so, or perhaps adjourn 
 a very minute examination to some future 
 period, when the trepidation and apprehen- 
 sions of the patient shall have subsided 
 under the influence of rest and reflection. 
 But, proceeding with the examination, as 
 the finger passes, it should be ascertained 
 if there is anything wrong or abnormal 
 about the mouth of the vagina. Is it con- 
 tracted, rigid? Is the hymen present or 
 absent ? Is it irritable or tender ? Then, 
 as to the vagina ; does it dip downward, 
 or does it run more in the direction of the 
 axis of the pelvis ? Is it of normal tern- 
 
410 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 perature? Is it short? Is it deep? Is 
 it narrow? Is it capacious? Does it 
 contain any foreign body? If so, is it 
 something inorganic previously intro- 
 duced ? or ? is it something organic, grow- 
 ing on the walls of the vagina, on the 
 orifice of the womb? Is the orifice 
 (technically called the os tincse) open or 
 closed, large or small? Is the neck of the 
 womb (the cervix) too long, too pointed, 
 too small, too large? Is it indurated 
 (hardened) or ulcerated ? Is the body 
 of the organ in its proper condition ? Is 
 it ante-verted, (inclined forwards) retro- 
 verted, (thrown backwards) or in any 
 direction ? Is it larger or smaller than 
 natural? Is it of the proper form ? Is it 
 fixed or moveable ? Is there any compli- 
 cation ovarian or fibroid ? 
 
 All these conditions are readily ascer- 
 tained by the touch alone. We need no 
 speculum or ocular view to assure us, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH 411 
 
 after a moment's palpation (feeling) of the 
 parts, as to their actual condition, whether 
 healthful or diseased. We need no specu- 
 lum or other instrument, to tell us of the 
 size, positions and relations of the uterus 
 and its appendages. 
 
 It may sometimes be necessary, in more 
 thorough explorations, to go beyond the 
 mere touch of the vagina, and to make 
 pressure with the right hand upon the 
 abdomen in the hypogastric region, at the 
 same time that the left forefinger is 
 carried into the vagina. The two hands 
 will then act conjointly in ascertaining 
 the conditions and relations of the 
 uterus. 
 
 Is it in its proper position ? If so, the 
 os uteri will rest on the end of the left 
 forefinger, while the fundus will be dis- 
 tinctly felt by the other hand, in a line 
 drawn from the os, in the direction of the 
 umbilicus (navel). 
 
412 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 But let it be remembered that the touch 
 by the vagina is not always enough to 
 determine this point positively ; and it is 
 prudent always to make pressure at the 
 same time with the other hand ; just above 
 the pubes. It will then be perfectly easy 
 to measure the shape and the size of the 
 body of the womb, for it will be held 
 firmly between the fingers of the two 
 hands, and its outline and irregularities 
 will be ascertained with as much nicety. as 
 if it were outside the body. Thus isolated, 
 we may determine its condition as easily 
 as we would that of a pear wrapped up in 
 a common napkin or towel. 
 
 If the patient be much emaciated, where 
 there is nothing abnormal, the external 
 fingers and the internal one can be 
 brought very near together behind the 
 cervix, without pain to her or inconven- 
 ience to the operator, and if there is any- 
 thing out of the way this manipulation is 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 413 
 
 sure to detect it. By this method, versions, 
 flexions, fibroid offshoots, and other irregu- 
 larities are readily detected, and if at any 
 time there is a doubt about the direction 
 or depth of the uterine cavity, the sound* 
 will at once clear that up. 
 
 In all vaginal examinations, it matters 
 not for what purpose, a speculum should 
 never be used until, by the touch first, it 
 has been fully ascertained the precise con- 
 dition of the uterus and its appendages. 
 
 This injunction should never be disre- 
 garded, as, if attempted, the patient may 
 justly suspect that she has about her an 
 incompetent operator. 
 
 In connection with this subject, I deem 
 it proper to add, that in all examinations 
 of this kind ? the presence of an assistant, 
 Dr third person, is of the utmost impor- 
 tance. It often shields the operator from 
 any liability to unjust aspersions, and pro- 
 
 * An instrument used for such examinations. 
 
414 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 tects him from accusations, often made by 
 those whose very object is to bring him 
 into difficulty, if not to disgrace him. One 
 of the most talented and distinguished 
 surgeons in this country, whose reputa- 
 . tion is world-wide as a most skilful diag- 
 nostician and operator in uterine cases, 
 remarks, " I insist that a third person 
 should always be present on such occa- 
 sions. Delicacy and propriety require it, 
 and public opinion ought to demand it. I 
 do not mean lay, but professional public 
 opinion. I never made a vaginal examina- 
 tion, or used a speculum a dozen times in 
 my life, without the presence of a third 
 person. I have never had a patient to 
 object, who was educated or sensible ; but 
 the silliest person would see the necessity 
 of it, when told that propriety demanded it, 
 even if an assistant were not necessary. 
 The few that have objected to the pres- 
 ence of another person in the room at the 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH- 415 
 
 time of the speculum examination, have 
 done so from the fear of personal exposure. 
 We are apt to disregard this innate feeling 
 of delicacy when we have been much used 
 to hospital practice ; but we can never 
 make a mistake, if we always cultivate the 
 same gentleness and kindness towards the 
 poorest patient that we would use towards 
 the highest princess. I repeat, then, that 
 we should never on our examinations allow 
 any exposure of person, not even in hospi- 
 tal practice. When the touch is made, 
 there can of course be no necessity for it, 
 the patient being upon her back, and 
 covered with a sheet. When the speculum 
 is used, we should see only the neck of the 
 womb ; and the canal of the vagina." (T. 
 JIarion Sims, A. B., 31. D., etc.) 
 
 The foregoing will give to the reader a 
 pretty correct idea of what an ordinary 
 vaginal and uterine examination consists, 
 and in what manner it should be made : 
 
416 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 nor will the process very essentially 
 differ from what I have here des- 
 cribed, if made under the direction 
 of any respectable physician. For all 
 ordinary occasions, the recumbent posi- 
 tion is the one usually adopted, but 
 tl^ere are cases and circumstances, when 
 for more critical examinations with the 
 speculum, a side recumbent position be- 
 comes necessary. As also another, requir- 
 ing the patient to rest her weight upon 
 the forehead, arms and knees, throwing 
 the nates upwards. These positions are 
 never ordered, except in the most difficult 
 cases, and of course should never be sub- 
 mitted to, except under the direction of 
 the most respectable, as well as reliable 
 medical counsel. But whatever may be 
 required of her, the patient should remem- 
 ber that it is of the highest importance 
 that she should never, for a single moment, 
 lose her presence of mind, nor forget her 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 417 
 
 own dignity of person, and the respect and 
 tenderness of treatment to which she is 
 entitled. She should banish every feeling 
 of timidity and fear, and by a perfect 
 exhibition of womanliness on her part, 
 give assurance to her physician and atten- 
 dants, whilst they perform a duty, and a 
 service so delicate and necessary, it may 
 be, to her whole future of health, happi- 
 ness, or life itself. 
 
418 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 CONTINUATION OF ADVICE TO YOUNG LADIES, 
 — INTERESTING DIGRESSION IN RELATION 
 TO MALE ASSOCIATES, — PLACES OF AMUSE- 
 MENTS, THE THEATRE, DANCE HOUSES, 
 
 SOCIABLES, AND PUBLIC DANCING HALLS, 
 
 • IT IS THE FIRST 
 ■WHERE WIVES ARE 
 NOT SOUGHT AFTER, AND WHERE THEY ARE, 
 WHY, CONCLUSION TO YOUNG LADIES. 
 
 IT will be seen that in the preceding 
 description of the female generative 
 organs, I have confined myself exclusively 
 to those easily accessible to the touch and 
 sight. Those more remote, and not at all 
 likely to be directly affected by those 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 419 
 
 sexual disorders of which it is more imme- 
 diately the object of this book to treat 
 upon, I have purposely left out of view, 
 my object being, not the compilation of a 
 work on midwifery and sexual physiology 
 generally, but, as I have repeatedly stated, 
 to convey such information as may be made 
 available in circumstances when immediate 
 medical aid cannot be conveniently ob- 
 tained. With this, interspersed as the 
 subject seemed to demand, I have thrown 
 in such suggestions, counsels and reflec- 
 tions as the subjects naturally inspired. 
 This I have done, not in any spirit of ego- 
 tism, or of dictation, but solely in the 
 benevolent design of protecting, guarding 
 and saving, possibly, from ultimate ruin, 
 or incurable disease, a large class, unhap- 
 pily at an early age thrown upon their own 
 resources, and who, amidst the temptations 
 and seductions of city life, too often fall a 
 .prey to the tempter, who, under the protean 
 
420 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 forms of the theatre, the dancing hall, the 
 sociable, the assembly, and the ball room, 
 but too successfully assails them. There is 
 no being on earth so confident in her own 
 strength and power of resistance, as the 
 young girl just emerging into womanhood. 
 In her own opinion she possesses a riper 
 judgment, and a keener insight " into 
 matters and things in general/' than " all 
 the world beside/' and, strong in her own 
 sense of what is just and proper, harmless 
 and innocent as well, she allows herself to 
 be escorted hither and thither to places 
 and scenes of doubtful repute, and still 
 less doubtful propriety, feeling secure if 
 under the escort of some '" nice young 
 man/' who unhesitatingly assures her that 
 u the place is perfectly respectable," and 
 that lie will see to it that " everything 
 shall be all right/' and no harm befall her. 
 Fond and unreflecting mothers, who by 
 their circumstances and position in life are 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 421 
 
 shut out from what is termed " genteel 
 society/ 7 compass heaven and earth for 
 some opening through which her daugh- 
 ters may become participators in those 
 gatherings of the young of both sexes ; 
 where an opportunity may be had to show 
 off her darlings, and perhaps to sell them, 
 literally sell them, to the best advantage ; 
 little thinking that the moustachoed, kid- 
 gloved, highly perfumed young fellow, 
 who so gaily whirls her loved one round 
 in the giddy mazes of the waltz x or 
 " Boston Dip/ 7 is at best only some jour- 
 neyman barber, porter, or tape measurer, 
 whose only claim to being present in " res- 
 pectable society ;? is the fact that, he was 
 the fortunate possessor of the seventy-five 
 cents or the dollar requisite to purchase 
 his admission card to the " select assem- 
 bly ». at Hall. 
 
 It seems to have been forgotten that 
 really meritorious young men, who are 
 
422 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 proper associates for virtuous young wo- 
 men, not only never attend such places, or 
 if perchance they ever do, they never 
 dream of forming honorable or permanent 
 alliances with the young ladies whom they 
 meet there. The very fact that they find 
 them there, is conclusive against any sup- 
 position of the kind ; and however safely 
 the young girl may pass through the ordeal, 
 she comes out of it, even if unsoiled, saved 
 as by fire ; but nevertheless, with the smell 
 of flame upon her garments ever after- 
 wards. My deep solicitude in behalf of 
 those to whom these lines are particularly 
 addressed must constitute my apology, if 
 any is needed, for the earnestness and 
 directness with which I have set before 
 them the evils almost sure to follow in the 
 train, it may be, of but a single false step. 
 The records of many physicians' expe- 
 rience, like my own, could reveal many a 
 sad tale of confidence betrayed, hopes 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 423 
 
 blighted, health destroyed, and life's bright- 
 est prospects forever darkened by a too 
 thoughtless disregard of the substantial 
 truth that the true modesty and worth 
 which most surely captivates, is generally 
 found, like virgin gold and precious gems, 
 hidden from the common view, and will be 
 sought after and drawn forth from their 
 concealment to gladden, enrich, and orna- 
 ment mankind ; whilst the baser metals, 
 exposed to view, or " lying round loose " 
 upon the surface, are passed by unheeded, 
 or trodden under foot. With these re- 
 marks, and bidding you adieu, in the words 
 and language of Ovid, 
 
 " Ut ameris, araibilis esto," 
 
 (Be lovely, that you may be loved,) 
 
 I pass to the consideration of womanhood, 
 
 in her more interesting relation of a wife, 
 
 the goal of every true woman's hopes and 
 
 aspirations, a position than which a more 
 
 dignified, noble, and exalted one cannot 
 
 possibly exist. 
 
424 MEDICAL ADVISEK. 
 
 CHAPTEB XII. 
 
 ESPECIALLY ADAPTED TO MARRIED LADIES 
 BARRENNESS, ITS SORROWS MAY BE RE- 
 MOVED MISMATED CHILDREN PRE- 
 VENTATIVES TO CONCEPTION THE USE OF, 
 
 JUSTIFIABLE UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTAN- 
 CES MY SYSTEM OF MEDICAL TREAT- 
 MENT — ADVICE TO APPLICANTS FOR PRO- 
 FESSIONAL SERVICES. 
 
 THE preceding pages, although com- 
 posed chiefly with a view to their 
 adaptation to the circumstances and wants 
 of young and unmarried females, will be 
 found none the less applicable to the ne- 
 cessities of ladies of riper years suffering 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 425 
 
 under any of the complaints therein enu- 
 merated. The physiological condition of 
 the female is by no means changed by the 
 circumstance of marriage, but there is a 
 change socially and relatively of vast 
 importance, which may, in the course of 
 events, very essentially affect her health 
 and happiness to that degree as to render 
 life either an inestimable blessing, or a 
 bitter curse. No one knows this better 
 than the physician, who, called upon, as he 
 frequently is, to administer to the suffer- 
 ings of the body, finds that he can only 
 reach them beneficially by first clearing 
 away the mental cobwebs which hang 
 around the understanding of his patient. 
 
 In the life of every married lady there 
 arises, of necessity, many a question in 
 regard to herself personally, the solution of 
 which, involving no serious point in morals 
 or duty, can better be decided by the 
 physician than by the confessor, and I feel 
 
1 
 
 426 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 that in devoting a few pages, addressed 
 especially to married ladies, I shall per- 
 form for them a by no means unacceptable 
 service. The married lady will, no less 
 than the single woman, often find herself 
 the victim of all those peculiar, delicate 
 sexual complaints of which we have al- 
 ready treated, such as suppressions, ob- 
 structions and catamenial difficulties, and 
 she may, perchance, also find herself 
 caught within the toils of those more 
 virulent diseases which it is the more 
 especial object of this treatise to explain, 
 and for which to point out the proper 
 remedies. The counsels and suggestions 
 already given are sufficient for such cases, 
 either with the single or married, and 
 therefore I need not enlarge upon them, 
 and what I have to say in drawing my 
 work to a conclusion, will be addressed to 
 married ladies, having reference to topics 
 concerning which they sometimes feel no 
 
glide to health 427 
 
 small degree of embarrassment and doubt. 
 Hitherto your own individual self, the 
 preservation of health and beauty, has 
 been your chief aim. Now, other and 
 higher cares and duties devolve upon you. 
 With a husband of your own choice, " you 
 twain are made one flesh/ 7 and your incli- 
 nations and efforts should lead you to fill 
 all the duties of your position with dignity 
 and prudence, having a proper regard not 
 only to your own, but to another's, and pos- 
 sibly to many others' welfare, whose health 
 and happiness are dependent upon the 
 course you shall pursue. " Mens sana in 
 corpore sano," — a sound mind in a sound 
 body, — should ever be your motto ; and tak- 
 ing it for granted that you have arrived at 
 your present condition possessed of a fair 
 endowment of physical stamina, I proceed to 
 indicate the maladies and infirmities to 
 which you are liable, and in what manner 
 they may be best avoided. 
 
428 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Whatever may be your situation, or 
 worldly circumstances, one of the first 
 hopes of married life is that of offspring. 
 Barrenness is always a source of mortifi- 
 cation and disappointment ; and if the 
 husband be of vigorous health, and in the 
 enjoyment of even but a moderate income, 
 the lack of this great blessing will inevi- 
 tably bring discontent, too often ending in 
 bitterness and positive dislike. There may 
 be exceptions to this, but they are very 
 rare. Beauty, accomplishments, and amia- 
 bility will go very far to reconcile for 
 awhile the husband to the sterility of the 
 marriage bed ; but ever and anon his discon- 
 tent will break forth, and you are rendered 
 miserable and unhappy in the prospect 
 before you. But you should not despair. 
 The obstacles to a full realization of your 
 wishes are undoubtedly only temporary, 
 and you only need the friendly sugges- 
 tions of a competent and skilful medical 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 429 
 
 adviser to enable you to emerge from this 
 dark cloud which overhangs jour domestic 
 happiness. It is a physiological truth 
 that, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, 
 sterility, which is not dependent upon 
 defective organization, is but a temporary 
 impediment to conception, and yields as 
 readily to medical treatment, in skilful 
 hands, as the most simple obstruction to 
 the operations of nature ; whilst, on the 
 other hand, this difficulty tampered with, 
 maltreated, or submitted to unnecessarily, 
 produces untold evils, and is a constant 
 source of disquietude, languor, debility, 
 painful disease, and eventual prostration 
 of health, leading to the early development 
 of latent disease, and too often to a prema- 
 ture grave. I assure you that all these 
 evils may be avoided by a timely applica- 
 tion of the remedies which I can prescribe. 
 They are such as are indicated by nature 
 itself, and which I have never known to 
 
430 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 fail. My treatment in all such cases is so 
 mild and efficacious that, in a wonderfully 
 short space of time, all those obstacles 
 which have hitherto operated as a bar to 
 your happiness, are made to disappear, 
 and you are made to rejoice in the full 
 realization of your fondest wishes. 
 
 But suppose that all has gone well, and 
 you are, or have every reason to hope that 
 you soon will be, as "are all women who 
 love their lords/ 7 do you not need the 
 guiding counsels of a friendly adviser ? 
 You are far away from the timely sugges- 
 tions of a mother's solicitude and love, 
 and you have, or ought to have, too much 
 good sense to listen to the " thousand and 
 one ?7 knowing counsels of those of your 
 own sex, who are always ready to " throw 
 in a word 77 in such cases. The fact is, 
 there are too many advisers, and too much 
 of it, and in the novelty and strangeness 
 of your condition you know not what to 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH 431 
 
 do. Unnatural longings and appetites, 
 dizziness and faintings, with painful alter- 
 nations of exhilaration and despondency 
 beset you, endangering not only your own 
 health, but extremely prejudicial, if not 
 fatal, in their influence and effects, upon 
 the precious burden you bear. Here, 
 then, arises the occasion for consultation 
 with a skilful medical adviser. My long 
 and extensive practice in these matters 
 emboldens me to invite your confidence. 
 It will not be misplaced, I assure you, and 
 in all cases where nature requires the mit- 
 igating and alleviating aid of the physi- 
 cian's skill, I am sure that I have it in my 
 power to give you relief. 
 
 There is another topic to which I must 
 allude, or I should fail in supplying you 
 with even the shadow of a Guide to Health 
 and Long Life. 
 
 It is a sad truth, and the world knows 
 it but too certainly, that a large share of 
 
432 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 the wretchedness and misery found among 
 married people is attributable to a want of 
 harmony and congeniality between the 
 husband and wife. Hasty and ill-assorted 
 marriages of convenience and interest ; 
 marriages, the result of scheming parents 
 and match-making friends ; marriages, 
 where the affections have had little or 
 nothing to do in bringing them about ; 
 frosty age and blooming youth, spring and 
 winter clasping hands, only to realize the 
 bitter pangs of a broken heart, and buried 
 hopes. And are there no remedies for all 
 this ? Has, indeed, the Universal Father 
 left his wayward children helpless and 
 hopeless here ? I believe not. The philo- 
 sophic and discriminating physician ought 
 to have, and does have, the means of ward- 
 ing off, and to a great degree, of entirely 
 removing, the evils resulting from the 
 mistakes such as I have mentioned, so that 
 they shall not be regarded as the errors 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 433 
 
 of a life-time, but only temporary. I make 
 no pretensions to superhuman skill, and 
 yet I know that I can, by a method exclu- 
 sively my own, guide all those who are 
 thus unhappily situated, so that obstacles 
 and apparent difficulties to marital enjoy- 
 ment, and all reasonable conjugal happi- 
 ness, may be overcome ; so that domestic 
 felicity may be attained by those hitherto 
 desolate and unhappy. 
 
 There is still another subject about 
 which it may not be deemed inappropriate 
 that something be said here ; and I do it 
 because it is a subject upon which I am 
 almost daily consulted, and upon the suc- 
 cessful management of which very much 
 of human happiness or misery is involved. 
 Whilst children are a great blessing, and 
 serve more than anything else to bind 
 together those who have them, yet there 
 are cases in the marriage relation where 
 not only health and happiness, but life 
 
434 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 itself, renders it not only very proper, but 
 absolutely essential to the preservation of 
 both, that nature should be restrained in 
 this, her most interesting operation. Hun- 
 dreds and thousands submit unwillingly to 
 the supposed inevitable decree, " In sor- 
 row shalt thou conceive, " under the suppo- 
 sition that it is a part of their destiny, 
 which it would be a sin or crime for them 
 to seek to evade. I do not consider it so. 
 If, in bearing children, a lady finds her 
 health sink, or her life endangered, there 
 is, there can be, no violation of either 
 human or divine law in guarding against 
 the threatened danger. There is no in- 
 junction against Prevention to Concep- 
 tion. To say so, would be as idle and 
 absurd as to say that celibacy is criminal. 
 There is not a week in the year in which 
 I do not receive letters from both husbands 
 and wives, — men and women of the highest 
 respectability and standing, in both church 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 435 
 
 and society, — who, Knowing from former 
 experience the clangers and trials of par- 
 turition and maternity in their own fami- 
 lies, are anxious to avoid them in future. 
 In such cases I do not hesitate to supply 
 them with my remedy, because I fully 
 realize how important it is to them. I 
 thus save lives ; the life of the unhappy 
 wife, and that, also, of what might be a 
 wretched offspring, the heritor perhaps of 
 constitutional disease, but whose exist- 
 ence is prevented by a timely and inno- 
 cent application, which, whilst it accom- 
 plishes all that is desirable, strengthens 
 and prepares the system for a future 
 period, when the like dangers may not be 
 apprehended, and when nature may be 
 safely left to pursue her work undisturbed. 
 I need not in this brief treatise enumerate, 
 more particularly, the various ailments 
 incident to married life. They are such 
 as every wife and mother has to encoun- 
 
436 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 ter, but are all very easily and safely 
 managed and subdued, if attended to in 
 season, by proper remedies, administered 
 by skilful hands. A husband and father 
 myself, I need not be told a husband's 
 anxiety concerning these matters, nor how 
 deeply involved is a husband's peace and 
 prosperity in the health, serenity, and 
 happiness of his wife. From nearly thirty- 
 four years' experience as a physician, and 
 having made the subject of female diseases 
 of all kinds an especial study, I am pre- 
 pared to treat all cases, from whatever 
 cause they may arise, with an almost 
 unerring certainty of affording immediate 
 and permanent relief. 
 
 I have not refrained from alluding to a 
 class of diseases, the immediate results of 
 indiscretion, and the promiscuous inter- 
 course of the sexes. So long as human 
 nature remains what it is, and ever has been, 
 we must expect, and shall ever have, in 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 437 
 
 their various forms, all those diseases 
 which it seems that an all-wise Providence 
 has, for purposes which to the medical man 
 are plain enough, attached as the penalties 
 of illicit indulgence. It is quite useless, 
 as it is foreign to my purpose, to discuss 
 the why and the wherefore that this is so. 
 It is enough to know that the unlicensed 
 and unrestrained indulgence of the ama- 
 tory and generative faculties, even under 
 the most guarded circumstances, with 
 every supposed precaution taken, and 
 where both parties believe themselves to 
 be free of any contagious distemper, often 
 leads to disease, — not only mortifying and 
 painful in itself, but which, if neglected 
 or tampered with, is productive only of 
 present inconvenience and distress, — and 
 if not properly cared for and cured in its 
 inception, will, if suffered to run through 
 all its various stages, almost certainly lead 
 to general debility and decline ; rapidly 
 
438 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and permanently developing the latent 
 germs of many of those fearful forms of 
 pulmonary disease, which annually consign 
 to an untimely grave so many of the 
 fairest daughters of our land. As I 
 have before stated, a false modesty, 
 a sense of self-abasement and of mor- 
 tification, a great reluctance to expose, 
 even to a medical adviser, the circum- 
 stances in which you find yourself, and 
 the troubles which oppress you, lead 
 you to attempt concealment and a resort 
 to advertised nostrums, under the delusive 
 hope that in them you can find relief, and 
 escape from the unhappy dilemma in 
 which you are placed. Now, when I 
 assure you that however common and 
 prevalent these diseases are, there are 
 few which so promptly demand the physi- 
 cian's skill. Every hour they remain 
 unchecked, their intensity and virulence 
 increase in exact proportion with the 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 439 
 
 habits and temperament of the individ- 
 ual affected. With the cold, languid, and 
 lymphatic, their progress will be none the 
 less sure and fatal ; whilst with the san- 
 guine and impulsive, they are a consuming 
 fire; penetrating every nerve, sinew, 
 and artery, — sapping the very foundations 
 of life, which only lingers on in an aimless, 
 hopeless burden to its possessor. Of all 
 diseases, those denominated " sexual " are 
 the most capricious and troublesome to 
 deal with. No one understands this better 
 than the experienced practitioner, who, 
 through years of close observation, has 
 been enabled to study, in different sub- 
 jects, the ever varying forms in which 
 they present themselves. Whilst at one 
 time, in one individual, they will try the 
 patience and the best skill of the most 
 profound student of medical knowledge, 
 with others they will yield to the most 
 simple application, which will astonish you 
 
440 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 with the rapidity with which it effects, 
 a cure. But such cases are very excep- 
 tional. The very nature of these diseases 
 is such, and their obstinacy so well known, 
 that no sensible or prudent person will 
 attempt to prescribe for themselves, or 
 neglect an experienced physician, who 
 only can with safety be relied upon 
 for relief. The severest and most com- 
 plicated cases, among the many thousands 
 which I have been called upon to treat, 
 have been those in which persons sought 
 to cure themselves by a blind and hazard- 
 ous application of advertised specifics, or 
 of remedies gathered from formulas given 
 in medical books, — of the nature and oper- 
 ation of which they were profoundly 
 ignorant, — producing, in numberless in- 
 stances, effects as disastrous as they were 
 fearful and unexpected. 
 
 There is another very important and 
 interesting fact connected with the so- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 441 
 
 called catalogue of " secret diseases/ 7 but 
 scarcely known to ordinary practitioners, 
 or if known, seldom regarded in their 
 treatment of them. It is this : that, 
 although from the earliest records of 
 medical science down to the present day, 
 these diseases have been known, — and 
 challenged the best skill and attention of 
 medical men, — yet they have become so 
 modified and changed by the advance of 
 civilization, carrying with it new customs 
 and modes of living, each succeeding 
 generation striving to excel the past, not 
 only in the ordinary luxuries of life but 
 in the refinements and the exquisite inten- 
 sity of their pleasures, that the diseases 
 of which I am now speaking, although 
 known by the same names by which they 
 were designated, — even less than twenty 
 years ago, — are comparatively unassailable 
 by remedies which were then considered 
 specific. And the person who now relies 
 
442 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 upon prescriptions and formulas found in 
 authors of high repute then, does so only 
 to find himself disappointed and defeated 
 in the efforts to perfect a cure. In fact 
 there is, there can be no guide so sure and 
 safe as experience ; and the medical man 
 who has been quick to observe and careful 
 to note and compare all the various symp- 
 toms of these diseases, through an ex- 
 tensive practice of many years 7 duration, 
 is alone, of all others, the proper person 
 to be admitted to your confidence, and to 
 prescribe for your cure. 
 
 And why should you hesitate to make a 
 prompt application to him? Your case is 
 not an exceptional one. He knows better 
 than you can tell him the painful embar- 
 rassments and mortifications under which 
 you labor ; and it is a part of his profes- 
 sion, training, and duty, to put you at ease, 
 and facilitate your communications to him 
 by timely suggestions, which at once re- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 443 
 
 lieves you of every impediment to a frank 
 and full disclosure of all that is requisite 
 for him to know. My remedies for all this 
 class of diseases are those indicated by 
 nature, and the particular stage of the 
 disease itself; and although prompt and 
 efficacious in their operation, they do not 
 leave behind them those baneful effects 
 ever to be apprehended when the mineral 
 preparations commonly prescribed are re- 
 lied upon, and especially when self-admin- 
 istered, or what is equally dangerous, 
 when taken from unskilful and inexpe- 
 rienced hands. I will not longer dwell 
 upon this branch of my treatise ; I have 
 somewhat reluctantly, but necessarily, in- 
 troduced it into these pages, as, without 
 doing so I should have failed to give you 
 anything like a complete Guide to Health. 
 The subject is one which unfortunately 
 challenges our attention, and its victims, 
 found in every grade of society, excite 
 
444 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 our deepest sympathy ; and I should fail 
 in doing justice to my own feelings, and I 
 believe in the expectations of those who 
 may read this treatise, had I written less 
 plainly than I have. 
 
 A word or two about remedies and med- 
 icines. My medicines are all prepared, 
 chiefly from carefully-selected roots, barks, 
 herbs, etc., many of them procured at great 
 expense, and from distant countries. In 
 no case can they do injury. They leave 
 no corrosive poison to rankle in the system, 
 nor paralyze and distort any part of your 
 organization ; on the contrary, when having 
 accomplished their work, they purify, 
 strengthen, and invigorate ; thus promot- 
 ing, in strict harmony with nature's laws, 
 the operation of every function of your 
 body, rendering your life a blessing, not 
 only to yourself, but to all others with 
 whom you may be associated. 
 
 My desire is always that I may be con- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH- 445 
 
 suited personally, if possible. The means 
 of ready conveyance by the railroads are 
 now so numerous, and the cost of travel so 
 cheap, that a distance of one, two, or three 
 hundred miles, is but a pleasure trip in 
 comparison to the slow coaches and wagons 
 of former days. A visit to Boston from 
 almost any point within five hundred miles 
 can now be accomplished in a day or two 
 at a very trifling expense ; and an hour 
 spent with the Doctor at his rooms will 
 accomplish more for your good than a score 
 of letters, however carefully and elaborately 
 written. The eye, the cheek, the lips, and 
 tongue, afford better and more reliable 
 indications of the real state of the patient 
 than any written statement can possibly 
 do. Visit me, then, if possible, so that I 
 may, from personal examination, better 
 determine upon the exact nature of your 
 case, and the remedies the best adapted to 
 your cure. But if there are any insuperable 
 
446 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 difficulties and objections to your personal 
 application, write, giving me as clear and 
 concise a statement as possible, and your 
 communication shall receive a prompt and 
 satisfactory reply. 
 
 Desirous of rendering this work as com- 
 plete as possible, consistent with the limits 
 of the volume itself, I have compiled from 
 the best authorities within my reach, and 
 fortified by my own experience, an alpha- 
 betical list of diseases intimately connected 
 with or resulting from those sexual, vagi- 
 nal, and uterine affections properly regard- 
 ed as within the legitimate province of the 
 specialist to deal with. 
 
 The symptoms of almost every disease 
 of this class to which the female sex are 
 liable, are here briefly described, and I 
 confidently trust that my readers will find 
 both the matter and manner of the classifi- 
 cation adopted in the following chapter 
 interesting and beneficial. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 447 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SYMPTOMATOLOGY, ETC. 
 
 OF PRIVATE, SEXUAL, VAGINAL, UTERINE, AND 
 OTHER DISEASES PECULIAR TO FEMALES, 
 ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. WITH USEFUL 
 HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS AS TO THEIR PROPER 
 TREATMENT, ETC. 
 
 AGALACTIA, a diminution, or complete 
 absence of milk in nursing women. 
 May be caused by general weakness of 
 constitution ; long continued mental anxi- 
 ety ; exhausting disease ; general plethora; 
 acute, or chronic disease of the breast, or 
 nipples ; torpor of the mammas (teats) ; 
 return of menstruation while giving suck ; 
 approach of change of life. 
 
448 MEDICAL ADYISER. 
 
 In case of nursing, unless cured, the 
 infant must be weaned to prevent its 
 suffering from insufficient nourishment. 
 
 This trouble is not common amongst 
 healthy mothers, but with the weak and 
 delicate it is very frequent. When it 
 arises from ansemia, which is frequently 
 the case, the health ought to be improved 
 by animal food ; by a fair allowance of ale 
 or porter ; and by taking milk, or cocoa 
 made with milk, instead of tea and coffee. 
 A raw egg, beaten up in a tumbler fall of 
 milk, once or twice daily, will do good. 
 
 Sore Nipples are often indirectly the 
 cause of defective lactation. Slight exco- 
 riations, as well as chaps and fissures, need 
 prompt attention, to prevent their becom- 
 ing very troublesome. If the usual astrin- 
 gent lotions, such as a dilute solution of 
 subacetate of lead, or of borax and glyce- 
 rine, do not readily heal the sore, your 
 physician should be consulted ; especially 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 449 
 
 if the fissures are deep. Never attempt 
 cauterization, nor the use of nitrate of 
 silver, in any form, without first consulting 
 him. In the meantime, the mouth of the 
 child should be frequently examined, so 
 that, if there be ulcers, they maybe cured. 
 
 Remedies used to arrest the secretion 
 of milk, such as the extract of belladonna, 
 iodide of potassium, colchicum, camphor, 
 tobacco, used in the form of an ointment, 
 or otherwise, or even the popular remedy 
 of sage tea, should never be used without 
 first consulting your physician. 
 
 Ancee. See Chlorosis. 
 
 Ascites, or Dropsy of the Peritoneum, 
 consists of a tense, swollen condition of 
 the abdomen, owing to the presence of a 
 watery fluid in the cavity of the serous 
 lining; and is often mistaken for preg- 
 nancy, hence to very many ladies a matter 
 of very serious importance, aside from the 
 dangerous nature of the disease itself. 
 
450 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 It may arise from chronic peritonitis ; 
 chirrhosis, cancer, renal disease and albu- 
 minaria ; disease of the heart, enlargement 
 of the spleen, etc., cirrhosis of the liver, 
 and renal disease, most frequent causes of 
 this complaint. Symptoms are, character- 
 istic appearance of the patient, upper part 
 of the body wasted, features pinched, coun- 
 tenance very anxious ; abdomen greatly 
 enlarged, and the skin tight and shiny, 
 with the superficial veins much dilated, 
 urine scanty, often loaded with urates ; 
 in ascites from cirrhosis it generally con- 
 tains bile ; in that from renal disease we 
 will find albumen. Increasing deteriora- 
 tion of general health. Weakness and 
 emaciation, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, 
 inability to lie down, exhaustion, ending 
 fatally when the dropsy is due to organic 
 disease. As a rule, in ascites, as in all 
 renal diseases, preparations of mercury 
 are injurious, and even diuretics must be 
 
GUIDE TO. PIEALTH. 451 
 
 employed very cautiously. Baths, such as 
 warm, vapor, Turkish and hot-air, are 
 especially useful, given under the direction 
 of the physician. 
 
 Bed case, or Bed-ridden. A not unfre- 
 quent form of hysteria. Subjects of it 
 live in bed ; they are generally tranquil, 
 cheerful, have good digestions, and like 
 the kind attentions of sympathizing friends. 
 Often impressed with the belief that there 
 is serious disease in the spine, or in the 
 womb; there are certain movements which 
 they think cannot be made without " hor- 
 rible " pain. Menstruation is frequently 
 attended with suffering ; leucorrhcea not 
 uncommon. May sometimes be traced to 
 uterine misplacements, such as retroflec- 
 tion. The treatment of this malady re- 
 quires great skill, tact and judgment on 
 the part of the medical attendant, and is 
 perfectly curable if rightly managed. I 
 have had several very interesting cases 
 
452 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 under my care, which., by great patience, 
 persistent attention, and a nice adaptation 
 of expedients to promote confidence on 
 the part of the patient, I have been suc- 
 cessful in curing in a very short -time. 
 Galvanism is found very useful in such 
 cases, aud when by its aid we can create 
 energy sufficient to secure a removal from 
 the bed to a sofa, from sofa to chair, from 
 chair to crutches, and so on, until the 
 patient can walk out in the open air, the 
 cure will be quite rapid. 
 
 Blennorrhagia, a name derived from 
 the two Greek words meaning mucus, or 
 slime ; and, to burst forth. It is a dis- 
 charge from the mucous membrane of the 
 vagina, or urethra, usually contracted in 
 sexual intercourse, and very similar to 
 though less virulent than Gonorrhoea. 
 Treatment the same. 
 
 Chlorosis, or Green Sickness. A pecu- 
 liar form of anaemia (deficiency of blood) 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 453 
 
 affecting young women about the age of 
 puberty. The red blood corpuscles are 
 pale, small, and diminished in number. 
 The serum is in excess. The symptoms 
 are, a* wax-like hue of countenance ; pallor 
 of skin, whence the popular name of " green 
 sickness ; " deficient or depraved appe- 
 tite ; constipation ; abundant limpid urine ; 
 weak, quick pulse ; hysteria ; pale, scanty 
 menstrual discharge ; leucorrhoea ; listless- 
 ness ; headache ; palpitations ; backache, 
 etc. The treatment should be, good living, 
 pure air, sea-bathing, with proper tonic 
 remedies, to be prescribed by the physi- 
 cian, in accordance with the peculiar con- 
 stitutional and idiopathic tendencies of the 
 patient. 
 
 Chorea, or St. Vitus' Dance. A disease 
 characterised by irregular, tremulous, and 
 often ludicrous actions of the voluntary 
 muscles, especially those of the face and 
 limbs ; there being incomplete subser- 
 
454 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 viency of those muscles, especially of the 
 face and limbs, to the will. Has been 
 called " insanity of the muscles/ 7 Mostly 
 attacks girls between six and fifteen 
 years' of age, though not uncommon in 
 boys. 
 
 The symptoms of this disease are, at 
 commencement slight twitching spasms of 
 the facial muscles. By degrees almost all 
 the voluntary muscles become infected; 
 child cannot keep quiet, though the move- 
 ments are, to some extent, under the 
 control of the will; constant restlessness 
 of the hands and arms, perhaps of the legs, 
 most marked when the patient sees that 
 she is watched. Features curiously twist- 
 ed and contorted ; vacancy of countenance ; 
 temper irritable ; irregular appetite, per- 
 haps constipation; one-half of the body 
 usually more affected than the other ; the 
 disease may be confined entirely to one 
 side ; then termed hemichorea. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 455 
 
 Rheumatic fever may precede, accompany, 
 or follow chorea. It sometimes, though 
 very rarely, terminates in epilepsy. 
 
 In the treatment of this distressing com- 
 plaint, nourishing food and general care are 
 of the utmost importance, whilst regula- 
 tion of the bowels and uterine functions, 
 if the patient has reached the age of, 
 puberty, must be carefully attended to. 
 The physician, who will of course be ; 
 promptly s consulted, will iraj)ose restric- 
 tions upon everything likely to produce 
 mental excitement, and by suitable tonics, 1 
 aided by sea-bathing, gymnastic exercises, 
 and exercise in the pure air, make every 
 effort to restore tone and strength to the 
 system. 
 
 Clitorites. Inflammation of the clitoris. 
 The clitoris is occasionally attacked with 
 subacute inflammation ; leading to k exces- 
 sive enlargement, or to a shrinking up, or 
 falling away of the bladder. It may also 
 
456 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 be excessively developed from some con- 
 genital malformation. It is sometimes the 
 seat of cancerous infiltration. The entire 
 organ may be diseased, or only its prepuce. 
 The clitoris occasionally becomes indura- 
 ted, with or without enlargement. This 
 is said to be due to self-abuse. It is often 
 deemed necessary to amputate it in order 
 to cure this practice, but the operation I 
 consider of very doubtful utility, and would 
 not advise it. 
 
 Chylous Urine. The excretion of urine 
 of a milky appearance, from the presence 
 of fatty matter in a molecular state. The 
 urine, after standing a short time, and 
 sometimes whilst in the bladder, coagulates 
 into a trembling mass, resembling blanc- 
 mange. The usual symptoms are : lassi- 
 tude, pains about the loins and epigastrium, 
 (that part . of the abdomen immediately 
 over the stomach). The attacks frequently 
 intermit ; the urine will be healthy for 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 457 
 
 months, and then chylous for months. 
 This is a very weakening disease, and 
 calls for very careful tonic treatment. 
 Aside from proper medicinal agencies, 
 only to be prescribed by the physician, 
 the patient should have change of air, 
 salt water baths, and nourishing diet. 
 
 Coccyodynia. Pain or tenderness about 
 the coccyx, (so called from its resemblance 
 to the beak of the cuckoo) which is the small 
 triangular bone appended to the point of 
 the sacrum, or bone forming the posterior 
 wall of the pelvis. Pain is often occasioned 
 by a fall or blow, childbirth, violent horse 
 exercise, etc. Inflammation may be set 
 up in the fibrous tissues around, and mus- 
 cular attachments to the coccyx. The 
 symptoms are : pain on sitting down or 
 rising up from a chair, on walking, • at 
 stools, etc. The sufferer sometimes can 
 only sit on one hip ; any movement which 
 stretches the coccygeal ligaments, or 
 
458 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 brings the neighboring articulations into 
 play, causes suffering ; sometimes this is 
 most severe, often aggravated by sexual 
 intercourse, or by the menstrual flow. It 
 is occasionally an accompaniment of ute- 
 rine or ovarian disease, when it is sympa- 
 thilic, or neuralgic. In its treatment, the 
 reader will at once see, from the nature 
 and gravity of the complaint, that no half- 
 way measures can be relied upon. The 
 first step necessary will be the removal of 
 any uterine or ovarian disease, and an 
 improvement of the general health by 
 tonics ; subcutaneous injections of mor- 
 phine are recommended by some physi- 
 cians, but I do not approve of them in any 
 case. They are dangerous always, and 
 sometimes fatal. Surgical operations may 
 be. necessary, such as subcutaneous divi- 
 sion of the muscles and ligaments connect- 
 ed with the coccyx, so as to set the bone 
 at rest. Sometimes a complete removal 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 459 
 
 of the whole organ, or a portion of it, is 
 necessary. 
 
 Constipation. This term is frequently 
 made use of in the preceding pages, and 
 its meaning is probably quite generally 
 understood ; but as I do not wish anything 
 left in doubt, I will very briefly define it 
 as an idiopathic disease, i. e., arising 
 spontaneously, and not from another ; or it 
 may arise during the progress of any acute, 
 or chronic disease. By habitual costive- 
 ness is meant, a prolonged departure 
 from the standard natural to the individual. 
 As a rule, most people have a daily evacu- 
 ation ; but some only go to stool every 
 second or third day. The symptoms of 
 constipation are : the functions of the 
 stomach, liver and pancreas imperfectly 
 performed; a sense of mental and bodily 
 depression ; sallow and pasty complexion. 
 Dry skin ; scanty urine ; no stools, or only 
 scanty motions, pale, clay-like, and very 
 
460 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 offensive. In obstinate cases ; a loss of all 
 power for exertion ; headache, palpitation, 
 neuralgia, hypochondriasis. The treat- 
 ment for this disorder must be governed 
 almost entirely by the peculiar circumstan- 
 ces and constitutional tendencies and idyo- 
 sincrasies of the patient, the mode of life, 
 occupation, etc., etc., and whether the 
 difficulty is only occasional and temporary, 
 or habitual and constant. Purgatives of 
 almost every kind known to the pharma- 
 copsea, in different forms, are administered 
 as cathartics and enemas, as often aggra- 
 vating as alleviating the complaint. A 
 careful attention to and regulation of the 
 diet, is a much surer and safer method of 
 overcoming it. For this purpose I recom- 
 mend good, wholesome, and digestible food. 
 Ripe fruits in the morning. Figs, or 
 prunes, eaten just before the regular meal. 
 Oatmeal porridge, brown bread, especially 
 the unbolted wheat meal, or Graham bread. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 461 
 
 daily exercise, avoidance of too much 
 sleep ; sponge, or shower-baths ; friction 
 over the bowels ; and more than all, the 
 bowels to be solicited to act at a regular 
 hour daily. This I have often found effec- 
 tual, when other remedies, much relied 
 upon, have failed. Much common sense, a 
 great deal of patience and care, and very, 
 very little dosing and drugging will be 
 found the best in managing this painful 
 and annoying difficulty. 
 
 The patient should early consult a re- 
 liable and intelligent physician, and impli- 
 citly follow his directions. My practice in 
 this, as in all other similar cases, is to 
 follow the indications of nature as closely as 
 possible, and with the occasional but timely 
 administration of remedies which my ex- 
 perience has shown me are most efficacious 
 in " breaking down " constipation, very 
 rarely fail in accomplishing it. 
 
 Ecstacy, or Trance. A condition anal- 
 
462 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 agous to the cataleptic. The patient be- 
 comes insensible to all external impres- 
 sions ; and is absorbed in contemplation 
 of some imaginary object. The eyes are 
 immovably fixed; impassioned sentences, 
 fervent prayers, psalms and hymns are 
 recited with great expression. Eeligious 
 fanatics, by encouraging some predominent 
 idea, fall into a state of trance, etc., claim- 
 ing to receive spiritual revelations. Faith, 
 enthusiasm, etc., become very much exalt- 
 ed. See Hysteria. 
 
 Fallopian Tube Dropsy. In my des- 
 cription of the generative organs of the 
 female, I purposely omitted allusion to the 
 Fallopian tubes, and the important part 
 they have to perform in the act of concep- 
 tion, my object being, as already stated, 
 only to describe such organs as might be 
 affected by direct contagion, or subject to 
 the touch or sight in vaginal and uterine 
 examinations, as anything beyond those 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 463 
 
 would necessarily require the presence of 
 a physician, and should, under no circum- 
 stances, be meddled with by an inexpe- 
 rienced person. 
 
 The Fallopian Tubes are two small 
 canals, enclosed in the peritonseum, ex- 
 tending from the pendus, or upper part of 
 the womb, to the ovaries. They vary 
 from four and a quarter to five inches in 
 length, and serve the double purpose of a 
 , conduit, or passage-waj^- for transmitting 
 the fecundating principle of the male, and 
 for carrying the germ furnished by the 
 female from the ovary to the uterus. Fal- 
 lopian Tube Dropsy is an uncommon af- 
 fection. When it occurs, the fringed 
 extremity of the tube, together with the 
 uterine orifice, get completely obliterated, 
 in consequence of chronic inflammation, 
 the portion of the tube between the open- 
 ings becoming the seat of an accumulation 
 of pus, or serous fluid. As many as 
 
464 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 twenty-three pints of fluid have been found 
 under these circumstances. Of course a 
 disease of such gravity requires the very 
 best medical and surgical treatment, as it 
 admits of but one method of relief, viz : 
 puncturing the sack with a small trocar, 
 and canular through the roof of the 
 vagina. 
 
 Galactorrhea. Superabundant Secre- 
 tion of Milk in nursing women, in conse- 
 quence of which, this fluid continually 
 oozes away ; several pints may thus escape 
 in the course of twenty-four hours, keeping 
 the patient's clothing wet, and weakening 
 her system, inducing hysteria, dyspepsia, 
 low spirits, and even consumption, or 
 dropsy. The treatment should be, first to 
 wean the infant, thus relieving the mother 
 of that care ; compression of the breasts 
 by strapping with belladonna plaster ; 
 nourishing food ; close examination as 
 to the condition of the uterus and ova- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 465 
 
 ries, and the removal of any disease 
 therein. 
 
 Hysteria. A term derived from a Greek 
 word signifying the womb, because the 
 disorder known by this name is generally 
 supposed to have its origin in that organ. 
 It is a nervous affection which occurs in 
 paroxysms, or stimulates other diseases. 
 The attacks are accompanied with abun- 
 dant secretions of urine; and frequently 
 with a sense of a ball rising in the throat ; 
 occasionally convulsions. Women from 
 the age of puberty to the decline of men- 
 struation are most liable to it. The symp- 
 toms, especially those characterising the 
 hysteric paroxysm or Jit, are : convulsive 
 movement of the trunk or limbs; beating 
 the breasts with clenched hands, or tearing 
 the hair or clothes ; shrieks and screams ; 
 violent agitation, or feeling of suffocation ; 
 the attack ending with convulsive out- 
 breaks of crying or laughter, and some- 
 
466 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 times with hiccough. Occasionally the 
 patient falls to the ground insensible and 
 exhausted, soon recovering, tired and cry- 
 ing. Perhaps urine is involuntarily dis- 
 charged during the excitement : Anaesthe- 
 sia, or loss of sensibility is not uncommon ; 
 sometimes lasting for months, affecting the 
 left side more than the right ; and being 
 so deep that pins and needles may be 
 thrust into the affected muscles without 
 causing pain. The appetite for food be- 
 comes increased or diminished, or deprav- 
 ed, so that the most extraordinary sub- 
 stances are eaten. 
 
 Hysteria simulates almost all diseases. 
 The favorites are : suppression of urine ; 
 stone in the bladder ; pleurisy ; consump- 
 tion ; loss of voice ; paralysis ; epilepsy ; 
 and affections of the spine or joints. Hys- 
 terical cough, hiccough, or vomiting may 
 prove very obstinate. There forms a pe- 
 culiar expression of countenance ; fulness 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 467 
 
 of the upper lip ; drooping of the upper 
 eyelids ; menstruation often irregular ; 
 more or less profuse leucorrhoea, or whites. 
 These sufferings are by no means feigned, 
 and the patient very generally really be- 
 lieves that she is most grievously affected. 
 ' Tis true that in many instances there 
 may be some degree of deception resorted 
 to, in order to increase the sympathy of 
 friends, yet after all there is actual disease. 
 The mode of treatment should be adapted 
 to the peculiar temperament and idyosin- 
 crasies of the patient. During the parox- 
 ysms the dress should be loosened ; care 
 taken to prevent self-injury ; the body 
 surrounded with cool air ; application of 
 ammonia to the nostrils. If it can be 
 swallowed, a draught containing a drachm 
 of ammoniated tincture of valerian. If 
 apparent insensibility continues, cold water 
 may be freely dashed over the head and 
 face. In general, tonic medicines ; mental 
 
468 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 occupation ; sea-bathing ; shower-baths ; 
 attention to the uterine functions ; check- 
 ing catamenia, if too abundant, and promot- 
 ing them if too scanty, will, under the 
 immediate direction of the physician, be 
 found the best course to pursue. I can 
 recall numerous cases, in my own practice, 
 where the resources of art have been taxed 
 to their uttermost in combating this dis- 
 tressing malady, yet I have generally been 
 very successful in overcoming it, and 
 restoring my patient to health, and the 
 useful and happy enjoyment of life. 
 
 Patients are very apt to resort to certain 
 well-known specifics and patent medicines 
 to help them in this disease ; but they are 
 unsafe and unreliable. The trusted and 
 well-tried physician can only be depended 
 upon. Moral and hygienic remedies, 
 rather than therapeutical agencies, are 
 the most to be relied upon for a radical 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 469 
 
 Impotence in woman may be due to firm 
 adhesions of the labia pudendi ; exces- 
 sively developed and persistent hymen ; 
 absence, malformation, or an impervious 
 condition of the vagina; obliteration of 
 this canal through inflammation; tumors 
 of the vagina, or uterine tumors, which 
 have passed into the vaginal canal ; closure 
 of the uterine cavity by tumors, cancer, 
 etc. ; malposition of the uterus ; acute 
 retroflexion or anteflexion ; inflammatory 
 affections of the uterus ; a closing up of 
 the Fallopian tubes ; disease of their 
 fringed extremities ; vaginal fistulae, or 
 complete rupture of the perineum, allow- 
 ing improper escape of the seminal fluid, 
 etc. 
 
 Sterility in woman is a different affair 
 altogether from impotency. The former 
 precludes the idea of coition, or the act of 
 copulation, whilst the latter admits coition 
 and most generally enjoys it, even to dan- 
 
470 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 gerous excess. Amongst other causes, 
 sterility frequently arises from amenor- 
 rhea ; exhaustion, or excessively general 
 weakness ; too frequent, or imperfect 
 sexual- excitement, or a restraint of the 
 organism, i. e., the passionate impulse, or 
 pleasurable sensation experienced during 
 the indulgence of the sexual act. Absence, 
 arrest of development, or disease of the 
 ovaries ; leucorrhoea, especially when the 
 discharge is abundant and acrid ; by 
 causing the destruction of the spermatozoa 
 before they reach an ovule. 
 
 For the treatment of sterility no specific 
 directions can be given, except by the 
 consulting physician, with his patient be- 
 fore him. There are very few cases which 
 may not be cured. Among the thousands 
 whom I have treated for this difficulty, I 
 have found only those in which idiopathic 
 obstructions existed, that I could not suc- 
 cessfully relieve. There are no specifics 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 471 
 
 for it, and what would remove every obsta- 
 cle in one case, might prove useless in 
 others. Great attention to promote the 
 general health, removal of functional 
 derangements, regularity, exercise, free- 
 dom from care and anxiety, moderation in 
 sexual indulgence, and then only at proper 
 periods, just after the cessation of the 
 monthly flow, with a few medicines which 
 the skilful physician ought to know how 
 to prepare and administer, with words of 
 encouragement and hope, will generally 
 accomplish all that is desirable. 
 
 You had better state your case to some 
 well known physician, who has an estab- 
 lished reputation as a specialist in such 
 cases, with your hopes and wishes, and he 
 will direct you what to do. 
 
 Mammary Abscess. Milk Abscess, or 
 Abscess of the Breast. May be acute or 
 chronic ; the former a result of active 
 inflammation. It forms either in the sub- 
 
472 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 stance of the gland, or between the gland 
 and skin, or between the gland and ehest 
 walls. In acute cases, the symptoms are, 
 frequent occurrence of rigors during the 
 progress of inflammation. Engorgement 
 of the breast ; deep-seated or diffused 
 burning pains ; throbbing, and sense of 
 heavy weight ; formation of a painful point 
 or knot in the breast, etc. The chronic 
 form of this complaint is of a more serious 
 character. The lump, or knot in the 
 breast, is apt to be mistaken for a malig- 
 nant tumor. Matter forms very slowly ; 
 may be the result of scrofula, or derange- 
 ment of the general health, without any 
 inflammatory symptoms. It occurs in 
 child-bearing, as well as in the sterile 
 women. The first indications are : a hard- 
 ness of the gland, and soreness about the 
 nipple ; an imperfectly circumscribed and 
 uneven tumor can be detected ; fluctuation 
 indistinct. Nipple may be drawn in. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 473 
 
 Adhesion occurs between the tumor and 
 skin. The treatment should be tonic 
 and stimulating. Nourishing food; malt 
 liquors ; free punctures and draining tube ; 
 pressure ; poultices and strapping applied 
 to the breast. Attention to the digestive 
 and uterine organs. 
 
 Mammary Hypertrophy, or Enlargement 
 of one or both breasts may occur in single 
 or married women. Usually one gland 
 first begins to enlarge, and slowly in- 
 creases in size. At the end of a^year or 
 so the other breast gets affected. There 
 are no inflammatory symptoms, induration 
 or pain. The enlargement becomes bur- 
 densome and unsightly. The affected gland 
 may project firmly from the thorax; or it 
 may hang flabby and loose — a pendulous 
 breast. In many cases, the uterine func- 
 tions are out of order, and imperfectly per- 
 formed. The general health usually im- 
 paired. The causes are frequently owing 
 
474 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 to masturbation or self-abuse, sometimes 
 to imperfect sexual intercourse. I have 
 seen cases where both breasts were 
 affected, in which they hang down nearly 
 to the navel. The treatment in these 
 cases is very difficult, and in the hands of 
 an unskilful and incompetent physician, 
 very unsatisfactory. There should be 
 great attention given to the uterine func- 
 tions. Pressure should be applied by 
 strips of ammoniac and mercury or mercu- 
 rial, or litharge, or belladonna plaster ; or 
 by spring-pads, or air-cushions. Where 
 the patient is pregnant, a hope of cure 
 may be entertained when milk begins 
 to flow. Various preparations, amongst 
 others, of iodine have been largely tried 
 but seldom with any benefit. The clitoris 
 has sometimes been cut away, but I very 
 much doubt the expediency of this. In 
 very severe cases, one or both breasts 
 have been amputated. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 475 
 
 Mammary Tumors. The female breast 
 is liable to become the seat of several 
 varieties of tumor. Some are simple; arid 
 with one or two exceptions, are composed 
 of elements more or less resembling those 
 entering into the composition of the struc- 
 ture of the gland itself. Others are malig- 
 nant, and are formed of elements foreign 
 to the healthy organism. Among them 
 we may name : 
 
 1. Lacteal, or Milk Tumor, which is a 
 distension of one or more of the milk tubes, 
 owing to a closing up of the orifices ; or a 
 rupture of a milk passage, with escape of 
 its contents into the surrounding connec- 
 tive tissue. This occurs whilst giving 
 suck. The symptoms are, the appearance 
 of a small cyst or lump, varying in size 
 from that of a walnut to that of an orange, 
 which, when recent, is elastic and fluctu- 
 ating. As the serous portion of the milk 
 gets absorbed, the tumor becomes firmer, 
 
476 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and feels almost solid. There is generally 
 absence of pain, and the general health 
 unaffected. The enlargement commonly 
 discovered by accident, when the patient 
 very likely becomes very much alarmed, 
 fearing cancer. The treatment should 
 consist in free puncture, and keeping the 
 wound open until all discharge ceases ; 
 sometimes a cure cannot be effected until 
 milk ceases to be secreted, and the infant 
 weaned. It will be a favorable symptom, 
 if slight inflammation and suppuration fol- 
 low the puncture, as cure will be likely to 
 follow, as in the case of ordinary abscess. 
 2. Fatty Tumors. Masses of fat may 
 be developed within the breast, or in front 
 or behind it, and give rise to an appear- 
 ance of mammary enlargement. Such 
 tumors grow slowly, and sometimes attain 
 a weight of several pounds, and are not 
 only inconvenient from their bulk, but an 
 unpleasant disfigurement of the person. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 477 
 
 3. Cartilaginous and bony tumors, have 
 been found in the breasts on some occa- 
 sions. 
 
 4. Chronic Mammary Tumors ; gener- 
 ally commence in healthy women between 
 the time of puberty and the thirtieth year ; 
 single, more liable to them than married 
 women. The growth of this kind of 
 tumor is slow, and an enormous size may 
 ultimately be obtained. It sometimes 
 remains stationary for a long time, and 
 rapidly increases in bulk. It may then as 
 rapidly diminish in size, owing to an 
 absorption of the fluid in the cysts, but 
 never disappears entirely. The symptoms 
 are ; at the commencement of the tumor 
 begins a small, movable lump, and appears 
 isolated from the gland tissue ; is not 
 painful, and does not involve the skin ; but 
 the real "breasts may shrink away. The 
 treatment should be adapted to the pecu- 
 liarities of the patient; remedies to induce 
 
478 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 absorption are apt to injure the general 
 health. If the growth is rapid and in- 
 creasing, a surgical operation may be 
 necessary. 
 
 5. Inflammation of the Nipple, is very 
 common at the commencement of the milk 
 secretion and giving suck. There are some- 
 times very painful ulcers, fissures, chaps 
 or cracks. The great suffering sometimes 
 impairs the general health, occasioning 
 constant dread of injury, mental depres- 
 sion, loss of appetite and restless nights. 
 The disease may often be prevented by 
 bathing the nipple night and morning 
 during the last few weeks of pregnancy, 
 with astringents, such as Port wine, or 
 sugared lime water. Many curative 
 measures are recommended, but whatever 
 may be done, extreme care should be 
 taken that the nipple should be well dried 
 after nursing, and the child should not be 
 allowed to lie with it in its mouth, after a 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 479 
 
 proper meal. Nipple shields of glass, or 
 vulcanized India rubber should be used to 
 afford protection during nursing. As 
 direct applications the following formulae 
 will be found useful : — 
 
 E. Glycerine, fluid ounces, 1 ; Liquoris 
 Plumbi Subacetatis, fluid drachms, 2 ; 
 Spiritus Rectificati, fluid drachms, 4 ; 
 Aequse Rosse, fluid ounces, 8 ; mix, and 
 moisten the nipple frequently. Or, 
 Zinci Sulphatis, grains, 16 ; Spiritus 
 Rosmarini, Tincture Lavendulge Com- 
 postse, of each fluid drachms, 2 ; 
 water, fluid ounces, 8 ; mix. 
 
 Either of the above, as lotions, are 
 sufficiently astringent, cooling, and of the 
 kind, most excellent. Ointments, when 
 indicated by dryness of the skin, etc., of 
 Balsam of Peru and spermaciti, glycerine 
 and almond oil, or dusting the nipple with 
 powdered spermaciti, or oxide of zinc, tied 
 
480 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 up in a muslin bag, will be found to afford 
 great relief as well as protection against 
 the irritation likely to be produced by the 
 dress. 
 
 The above, with many other diseases of 
 the breast less common, are often causes 
 of great pain, disquietude and distress, 
 and should be carefully looked after by the 
 nurse or patient herself. They may in- 
 duce permanent disorders of a serious 
 nature, and it is always better and safer in 
 the first instance to have the assistance of 
 a physician. The reader will have per- 
 ceived what the dangerous and malignant 
 nature of many of these diseases of the 
 breast really are ; and how unwise it would 
 be to rely either for relief or cure upon the 
 uncertain prescriptions of unskilful prac- 
 titioners. There are many home remedies 
 I know, always ready at hand, which may 
 afford temporary relief, and it is always 
 very proper to apply them, but as perma- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 481 
 
 manent relief can only bo expected from 
 an improvement of the general health, the 
 doctor had better be consulted. Among 
 other disorders of the breasts, that of 
 
 Mastodynia, or Neuralgia, is not an 
 unfrequent one ; the symptoms of which 
 are heat, and more or less swelling of the 
 affected breast ; sometimes the lumps 
 rather firmer than is natural ; more fre- 
 quently the gland is healthy to the touch ; 
 the pain is of a wearying aching character, 
 it may be very acute, subject to variations 
 like neuralgia elsewhere. It is most com- 
 monly due to some ovarian or uterine 
 irritation. In many women the breasts 
 are irritable and tender at the commence- 
 ment of each menstrual period, and the 
 general health seldom good. Loss of 
 appetite, constipation, restless nights, and 
 anxiety are the premonitory symptoms 
 of the complaint. Young infants, and 
 children about the age of puberty are 
 
482 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 liable to enlargement and tenderness of 
 the breasts. Sometimes there is consider- 
 able secretion of milk. The disorder often 
 subsides spontaneously, provided the nurse 
 or assistants do not keep up an irritation, 
 by their too officious applications. I have 
 more than once seen abscesses in the 
 breasts of an infant, occasioned by the 
 nurse using friction with oil " to rub the 
 milk away." The proper treatment would 
 be an effort to cure the disorder on which 
 the pain depends. Removal of any ova- 
 rian or uterine irritation, careful attention 
 to diet, exercise, clothing, etc. Among 
 therapeutical remedies the following will 
 be found serviceable : — 
 R. Tincture of Cinchonae, Comp., one 
 fluid ounce ; Tincture of Aconite, 
 thirty drops ; Tincture of Serpentaria, 
 or Acetated Tincture of Racemose, 
 three fluid drachms ; Essence of 
 Peppermint eight fluid ounces. Mix, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 483 
 
 Take one-sixth part three times a day. 
 Preparations of ammonia and bark, castor 
 oil, friction of the breasts with belladonna 
 liniments ; support by strapping or band- 
 age if the breast be pendulous, will be 
 found very beneficial. I recommend any 
 of these, as offering the safest means of 
 temporary relief only. The doctor is the 
 only reliable resource, and then only after 
 he has examined the difficulty. 
 
 The Ovaries, are in the female analagous 
 to the testicle of the male ; that is, both of 
 them secrete a product indispensible to 
 reproduction. They are two in number, 
 and are situated on the sides of the womb, 
 just behind the Fallopian tubes, but vary 
 in situation, according to the age of the 
 individual, and the state of the uterus. 
 These organs contain the ovule, or egg, 
 from which, after fecundation by the male 
 sperm, is formed the incipient human 
 being. The ovaries are often liable to 
 
484 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 various diseases and accidents among 
 them 
 
 Ovarian Displacements. One or both 
 ovaries are occasionally forced out of posi- 
 tion by some uterine or other tumor, or an 
 ovary may escape from the pelvis, forming 
 a true hernia. Displacements of the first 
 kind usually aggravate the symptoms 
 of the disease causing them, but the pain 
 often ceases if the tumor increase in size, 
 and passes upwards out of the pelvic 
 cavity. Displacement of the second class 
 may be congenital, that is, innate, or exist- 
 ing from birth, or may happen accidentally 
 after puberty. Occasionally, the ovary 
 forms the contents of an inguinal (i. e. in 
 the groin) renal, (belonging to the leg) or 
 umbilical hernia. When anything of this 
 kind is suspected, there should be no delay 
 in applying to first-class surgical advice. 
 
 Ovarian Tumor, synonymous with ova- 
 rian dropsy j consists of a conversion of 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 485 
 
 the ovary, or parts of it, into cysts, or 
 pouches containing morbid matter. These 
 are of an extremely dangerous, and often 
 fatal character. The symptoms are very 
 slight in their early stages, and the disease 
 generally escapes detection until the ab- 
 domen begins to be enlarged. And here 
 the poor patient, however unexceptionable 
 her character may have been, is likely to 
 become the object of unjust suspicion and 
 ungenerous reports. Her increased size 
 indicating it, she is charged with being 
 * in the family way," and neither her 
 protestations or denials are credited until 
 too late. In some cases the tumor, while 
 in the pelvic cavity, causes irritation of 
 the rectum and bladder ; there is a sense 
 of weight and oppression ; pain and numb- 
 ness down the thigh of the affected side. 
 Back-ache ; menstruation not materially af- 
 fected, usually regular, but perhaps a little 
 abundant. 
 
486 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 In more advanced stages there is great 
 pain and tenderness, with distension of the 
 abdomen. Menstruation gets disordered 
 and irregular ; loss of flesh ; constipation 
 and indigestion follow ; then, loss of appe- 
 tite ; restless nights ; frequent mictura- 
 tion; scanty urine; difficult and labored 
 breathing ; swelling of the thighs and legs ; 
 patient's sufferings greatly augmented, 
 and her movements impeded from the size 
 of the tumor ; rapid decline, with occa- 
 sional suppression of the urine. The treat- 
 ment in these cases must be prompt and 
 bold. No faint-hearted physician, or un- 
 skilled hand should be trusted here. Ab- 
 dominal tapping is the first method indi- 
 cated for relief, followed by well adapted 
 pressure, and the administration of proper 
 alteratives and resolvents. Drugs to pro- 
 duce absorption are worse than useless. 
 The following prescription will be found 
 highly beneficial: — 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 487 
 
 R. Iodide of Potassium, fifteen to thirty 
 grains ; Wine of Colchicum, half a fluid 
 drachm ; Tincture of Hyoscyainus, two 
 fluid drachms ; Sulphate Magnesia, 
 two hundred and twenty grains ; in- 
 fusion of Mayweed, eight fluid ounces. 
 Mix, and take one-sixth part three 
 times a day. 
 Neuralgia. I insert this, not because 
 I consider it of the class of diseases of 
 which this list is especially designed to 
 instruct the reader, although one variety 
 of it, Sciatica, is most frequently due to 
 uterine difficulties, syphilitic taint, etc. ; 
 but the disease having become somewhat 
 a popular one, and by many regarded as 
 the cause of almost every pain or ache 
 experienced about the face or head, I 
 have thought that something said about it 
 would be generally acceptable. The term 
 Neuralgia is derived from two Greek 
 words, signifying suffering nerve, and is 
 
488 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 generally indicated by violent pain in the 
 trunk or branch of a nerve, occurring in 
 paroxysms, perhaps at nearly equi-distant 
 intervals. It may attack the nerves of the 
 head, trunk, or extremities, and it is those 
 situated beneath the skin of these regions 
 which suffer most frequently. There are 
 three varieties : — 
 
 (1). Tic Douloureux ; which chiefly af- 
 fects the forehead and face with excruci- 
 ating pain, shooting over the cheek, lower 
 eyelids, also of the nose and upper lip. 
 Another branch of it is usually confined to 
 the lower teeth nerves, and the pain is 
 experienced in the lower lip, gums, teeth, 
 chin, and side of the tongue. Whichever 
 nerve suffers, the torture is equally con- 
 fined to that side of the face where the 
 nerve is situated. The attack comes on 
 suddenly, and the patient at once puts up 
 a hand to press the seat of suffering; it 
 greatly increases in severity, becomes 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 489 
 
 lancilating and burning, and then ceases 
 in the course of a few seconds. The 
 attacks are perhaps preceded by some 
 derangement of the digestive organs ; by 
 difficult and labored breathings ; by slight 
 rigors, followed by heat. Sometimes the 
 sufferer will be free of it for weeks, and 
 then there will occur almost constant par- 
 oxysms for many days. It may be due to 
 dyspepsia ; ansemia, (deficiency of blood) 
 renal disease ; disease of the facial bones ; 
 organic disease of the brain ; disease of the 
 teeth and gums, etc., etc. 
 
 (2). Hemicrania ; or half the skull. 
 Headache affecting one side of the brow 
 and forehead. Often accompanied with 
 sickness, sometimes periodical. Has been 
 called sun-pain j as at times it only con- 
 tinues so long as the sun is above the 
 horizon. 
 
 (3). Sciatica; indicated by acute pain 
 following the course of the great sciatic 
 
490 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 nerve, (the largest of all the nerves, and 
 is distributed chiefly to the muscles of the 
 thigh). It extends from the sciatic notch 
 (hip joint) down the back part of the thigh, 
 along the space back of the knee-joint, and 
 along the nerves of the leg to the foot. 
 It may be due to a pressure of intestinal 
 accumulations, or of simple or malignant 
 uterine tumors, inflammation, rheumatism, 
 or gouty or syphilitic taint, over-fatigue, 
 exposure to cold or wet. In the treatment 
 of neuralgia, the general remedies should 
 be ; nourishing diet, with prudent use of 
 tonic, and slightly stimulating drinks, such 
 as old ale, stout, etc. ; raw eggs ; milk, in 
 place of tea or coffee. Warm clothing; 
 flannel worn next the skin, or chamois 
 leather jackets and drawers ; Avarm, tepid, 
 or cold salt-water baths ; Turkish bath ; 
 friction of the skin. Medicines having a 
 tendency to keep the bowels open, slightly 
 purgative and tonic, are proper. In the 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 491 
 
 absence of a physician, any of the following 
 
 will be found serviceable : — 
 
 E. Composite Decoction of Aloes, Com., 
 infusion of Gentian Root ; of ' each, 
 four fluid ounces ; Liquor Potassas, two 
 fluid drachms. Mix and take one 
 sixth part early every morning. Or, 
 
 E. Sulphate Sodse, Preciptate Sulphur, 
 of each, one and a half ounce. Mix, 
 take one teaspoonful in a tumbler full 
 of milk and water early in the morn- 
 ing. 
 
 Or, where there is dyspepsia, or sup- 
 pressed menstration : — ■ 
 
 E. Pepsine, 32 grains ; Extract Barba- 
 does Aloes, 8 grains ; Glycerine suf- 
 ficient to make a mass. Divide into 
 8 pills, one to be taken daily at 
 dinner. 
 Preparations of Iodide of Iron and cod- 
 liver oil, Iodide of Potassium, Colchicum, 
 
492 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Phosphate of Iron, under the directions of 
 the physician, are found more or less use- 
 ful, whilst local applications and the 
 removal of decayed teeth will be found to 
 produce the happiest results. The ex- 
 ternal application of iodine, dusting the 
 surface with morphia, spray of pure ether, 
 hot douches of medicated water, galvanism, 
 and dry cupping will all naturally assist in 
 relieving the pain and quieting the nerv- 
 ous agitation. 
 
 Persons affected by neuralgia, which 
 they have cause to suspect may arise 
 from any derangement of the generative 
 organs, or in fact from any cause what- 
 ever, should at once consult some reliable 
 physician, and avoid unnecessary dabbling 
 in drugs unadvised. But let it be remem- 
 bered that, every pain in the head or face 
 is not neuralgia, nor apply that term to 
 transient flashes of pain, or slight aches, 
 the causes of which may be fairly traced to 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 493 
 
 other causes less obscure and more easily 
 disposed of. 
 
 Ovaritis. Inflammation of the Ovary, 
 occurs under two forms, — the acute and 
 subacute, or chronic. 
 
 1. Acute Ovaritis ; may arise from 
 violence, the use of strong caustics, 
 dilitation of the mouth of the womb with 
 sponge tents, sudden suppression of the 
 menses from shock, gonorrhoea, etc. The 
 left ovary more frequently attacked than 
 the right. The symptoms are ; pain, some- 
 times very severe, causing paroxysms like 
 labor pains ; more frequently of a dull, 
 aching character, with occasionally sharp^ 
 lancinating attacks, tenderness about the 
 lower part of the abdomen, groin, and 
 inner part of the thigh. Passage of hard- 
 ened stools causing much suffering by pres- 
 sure on the ovary. Fever; rapid pulse; 
 nausea ; restlessness, with disgust for food. 
 On examination by the touch, the swollen 
 
494 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and exquisitely sensitive ovary may be 
 easily detected. If suppuration occur, 
 there will be rigors ; quick and feeble 
 pulse ; glazed red tongue ; excessive sick- 
 ness, and a sense of weight and throbbing 
 about the lower region of the abdomen. 
 Should the abscess burst, it may set up 
 severe inflammation of the pelvis. These 
 cases are very tedious, and none but the 
 most experienced physicians must be cal- 
 led upon to attend them. In case medical 
 assistance cannot conveniently be had, hot 
 hip-baths should be administered night 
 and morning; warm fomentations, with 
 hemlock, or linseed poultices applied to 
 the vulva (opening to the female genera- 
 rative organs), hypogastric (the abdominal 
 space above the pubes) and the inguinal 
 (near the groin) regions. The rectum 
 should be cleared of all foecal accumula- 
 tions by enemas of olive oil, etc. Prepar- 
 ations of Iodide of Potassium, etc,, may be 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 495 
 
 given. The following recipes will be found 
 useful : — 
 
 R. Iodide Potassi, forty grains ; Tincture 
 Rhubarb, one fluid ounce ; Extract 
 Sarsaparilla, two fluid ounces. Mix. 
 Take a small teaspoonful in a wine- 
 glassful of water three times a day. 
 
 Or, in cases where there has been gon- 
 orrhoea at any former period, syphilis, 
 scrofulous sores, etc. : — 
 
 R. Iodide Potassi, thirty to ninety grains, 
 (depending upon the age, strength, 
 etc. of the patient) ; Glycerine, one 
 fluid ounce ; Tincture of Aconite, 
 twenty drops ; Wine of Ipecacuanhse, 
 half a fluid drachm ; Juice of Dande- 
 lion, six fluid drachms ; Decoction of 
 Sarsaparilla Compound, eight fluid 
 ounces. Mix, and take one-sixth part 
 three times a day. A most excellent 
 remedy* 
 
496 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 If the attack should be due to sudden 
 suppression of the menses, suitable emmen- 
 agogues should be given. 
 
 2. Chronic Ovaritis is a very common 
 disease durrag the period of sexual vigor. 
 It runs a very tedious course, and may be 
 set up by excessive sexual intercourse ; 
 unskilful use of the uterine sound, or 
 caustics, rheumatic, or syphilitic taints. 
 The symptoms are; dull and continuous 
 aching in the ovarian and sacral regions ; 
 tenderness of the upper part of one or both 
 thighs; scanty and difficult menstruation; 
 great pain on sexual intercourse, (which 
 had better be avoided). Irritability of the 
 stomach, nausea, indigestion, constipation, 
 flatulence. Fits of hysteria ; irritability of 
 the bladder; swelling and tenderness of 
 one or both breasts; attacks of nympho- 
 mania (morbid and excessive sexual desire, 
 often assuming a form of insanity) may 
 arise from subacute ovaritis. The ovary, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 497 
 
 on making a vaginal examination, will be 
 found inflamed, swollen, and extremely 
 sensitive. To say that such cases should 
 at once have the attentions of a skilful 
 medical adviser is superfluous, as no pru- 
 dent woman will, under such circumstan- 
 ces, attempt to doctor herself; she may, 
 however, in the absence of the physician, 
 take warm hip-baths, dress warm, and in 
 every way strive to strengthen and fortify 
 the system. The diet should be concen- 
 trated, stimulating and nutricious ; such 
 as underdone roast beef, beef-steaks, milk, 
 raw egg's, etc. Gentle walking exercise 
 in the open air. 
 
 The following prescription maybe taken 
 very beneficially : — 
 
 R. Bromide of Ammonium, twelve to sixty 
 grains ; Infusion of Orange Peel, eight 
 fluid ounces. Mix, and take one-sixth 
 part three times a day, an hour before 
 meals. 
 
498 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 This preparation is highly recommended 
 for diseases in which the nervous system 
 is functionally involved, as epilepsy, etc. 
 It is a valuable absorbent in glandular 
 enlargements, and in excessive corpulency ; 
 while it has also a peculiar soothing in- 
 fluence upon the mucous membranes. Cod- 
 liver Oil, Ammonia and bark. Iodide of 
 Iron and Cod-liver Oil, etc., are all very 
 valuable remedies, but should be prepared 
 under the direction of the physician. 
 Strong purgatives should be especially 
 avoided, as also should sexual intercourse. 
 
 Pelvic Cellulitis. Inflammation of the 
 cellular, or areolar tissue of the pelvis, 
 occurs mostly in connection with abortion, 
 or lingering labor at full term. Also as a 
 consequence of external violence, uterine 
 disease, or some scrofulous state of the 
 system. This disease is very apt to come 
 on quite insidiously, most commonly, how- 
 ever, it arises from some constitutional 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 499 
 
 disturbance. The patient has fever, head- 
 ache, restlessness ; much local pain, throb- 
 bing and tenderness ; aching pains in the 
 limbs ; difficult micturation, with a bearing 
 down sensation ; nausea and vomiting ; 
 painful swelling, somewhat felt at the 
 lower part of the abdomen ; always easily 
 detected by a vaginal examination. If the 
 morbid action be allowed to go on to sup- 
 puration, that is, to the formation of pus, 
 with increased severity of general symp- 
 toms, the case may become exceedingly 
 severe and dangerous. Rigors, with se- 
 vere throbbings and tenderness will inter- 
 vene. Neuralgic pains down the thighs. 
 Pus may be discharged into the upper 
 part of the vagina or bladder, or the larger 
 intestines or rectum ; sometimes into the 
 peritoneum, (serous membrane lining the 
 abdominal cavity) causing peritonitis, or 
 inflammation of the peritoneum ; or it may 
 burrow and make its escape externally. 
 
500 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Troublesome seams, or sinuses are some- 
 times produced, and pus formed again and 
 again for months. The treatment for such 
 cases should be soothing, antiphlogistic, 
 and tonic ; cathartics of Castor Oil, Rhubarb 
 and Magnesia, Citrate of Ammonia, or 
 Potash, Morphia, Chloroform and Indian 
 Hemp, Ammonia and Bark, hot hip-baths, 
 fomentations, Linseed poultices, hot water, 
 vaginal injections. Strengthening food, 
 such as milk, raw eggs, beef-tea, with ani- 
 mal food as soon as the stomach can bear it. 
 These directions are given, not to avoid, 
 but as a timely resource until, the physi- 
 cian can be called. It will be seen that 
 such cases are of too serious a character 
 to be trifled with, or entrusted to the 
 direction of uneducated, or unskilled advi- 
 sers. How many lives have I known sac- 
 rificed ; how many interesting, but unfor- 
 tunate girls and women destroyed by mere 
 lack of care and attention, under circum- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 501 
 
 » 
 stances where, perhaps, their character 
 was somewhat involved, solely through 
 fear, or a false delicacy in not calling in, 
 at once, an experienced medical attendant, 
 and confiding to him all the circumstances 
 and causes of their troubles. This is a 
 serious and growing evil, and occasions 
 much mischief every way. Physicians are 
 frequently called upon, after irreparable 
 injury has been inflicted, and when, as it 
 often happens, that the patient succumbs 
 to a fate brought about by her own indis- 
 cretions, or the mal-practice of some incom- 
 petent person, the doctor is forced into an 
 unfortunate publicity, as having been con- 
 cerned in an " abortion case " of which he 
 is as innocent as the child unborn. Coro- 
 ner's inquests are holden, arrests are 
 made, investigations had, bail required, 
 and a sensation created entirely uncalled 
 for, and to, perhaps, the lasting damage of 
 an honorable man, or an unfortunate woman, 
 
502 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 simply that a little trouble and expense 
 might be avoided in the onset. 
 
 Pelvic Hematocele. An effusion of 
 blood into the peritoneal pouch, between the 
 uterus and rectum, or into the surrounding 
 parts. The symptoms vary according to 
 the amount of hemorrhage. If excessive, 
 a severe nervous shock may follow. Ex- 
 haustion, with acute pain in the lower part 
 of the abdomen ; chilliness or shivering ; 
 coldness of the extremities ; vomiting ; 
 increased feebleness of circulation ; ghastly 
 expression of countenance. Death may 
 occur in a few hours. In case the loss of 
 blood is great or excessive, there will be 
 violent abdominal pain ; chilliness, followed 
 by fever ; anxiety of countenance ; pinch- 
 ing and pallor of face ; difficult mictura- 
 tion, with frequent desire to empty the 
 bladder; irritability of rectum ; perhaps a 
 sudden cessation of catamania, if the flow 
 be on at the time. Pulvic tumor likely to 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 503 
 
 arise ; appreciable through the abdominal 
 and vaginal walls. 
 
 In a third class of cases the symptoms 
 have the same character, but are less acute 
 than the foregoing. The Pelvic tumor may 
 only be discovered by vaginal examina- 
 tion ; danger of peritonitis, and of haemor- 
 rhage returning after an interval. While 
 absorption may be hoped for 7 prompt and 
 energetic measures should be taken to 
 arrest the disease. In acute cases, the 
 treatment should consist of stimulants and 
 anodynes ; brandy, wine and opium in large 
 doses. Mustard poultices to the feet ; 
 bladders of ice to the lower part of the 
 abdomen, and to the vulva. When the 
 loss of blood has been moderate, there 
 should be perfect repose, in a recumbent 
 posture. Opium in sufficient doses to 
 relieve pain and prevent faintness. Ice, or 
 mustard poultices over the stomach ; cold 
 applications to the vulva. The following 
 
504 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 prescriptions will be found exceedingly 
 beneficial at different stages of the com- 
 plaint : — 
 
 R. Gallic Acid, fifteen to twenty-five 
 grains j Aromatic Sulphuric Acid, 
 fifteen to twenty drops ; Tincture of 
 Cinnamon, 2 fluid drachms ; pure 
 water, 2 fluid ounces. Make a draught 
 to be taken every four hours, until 
 the bleeding ceases. Or, in less 
 urgent cases : — 
 
 R. Gallic Acid, twelve grains ; powdered 
 Ipecacuanha and Opium, five grains. 
 Make a powder, to be taken every 
 eight or twelve hours. Regulate the 
 quantities according to the number of 
 powders likely to be needed. 
 
 When the flowing is quite passive, the 
 following mixture : — 
 
 R. Exsiccated (dried) Alum, 60 grains; 
 Syrup of red corn poppy, (Papaver 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 505 
 
 rhoeas) six fluid drachms ; Acidulated 
 infusion of Rose leaves, eight fluid 
 ounces (one pint). Mix. Take two 
 table spoonsful every six hours. 
 
 Puerperal Mania. A peculiar form of 
 insanity, occurring to women soon after 
 delivery. The symptoms are, restlessness, 
 sleeplessness, severe pain in the head, 
 diminution of the secretion of milk. Skin 
 hot and dry ; pulse full and thick ; tongue 
 thickly furred ; often great debility ; per- 
 haps prostration from flooding, lingering 
 labor, or some morbid poison in the system. 
 Delirium frequently very violent ; great 
 general irritation ; tendency to commit 
 suicide, or child murder. The treatment 
 should be ; first to arouse and support the 
 powers of the patient ; and second, to allay 
 the irritability of the brain and nervous 
 system. For the first, give brandy and 
 egg mixture, prepared as follows : 
 
506 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Take the whites and yolks of three eggs 
 and beat them up in four ounces of plain 
 water. Add slowly three or four ounces 
 of brandy, with a little sugar and nutmeg. 
 Two table spoonsful should be given every 
 four or six hours. In some cases of great 
 prostration, the efficacy of the mixture is 
 much increased by the addition of one 
 drachm of the tincture of yellow cinchona 
 to each dose. Preparations of Bark and 
 Ammonia, Cod-liver Oil. Pounded beef in 
 broth, wine, beer, milk. To allay the brain, 
 and nervous irritability : — 
 
 R. Extract of Stramonium, three grains ; 
 Extract of Hyoscyamus, twenty grains ; 
 Extract of Hops (Lupuli) forty grains. 
 Mix and divide into twelve pills ; one 
 to be taken every four hours until 
 relief is obtained. 
 
 Where there is great inclination to 
 sleeplessness ;— • 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 507 
 
 K. Extract of Opium, one third to one full 
 grain ; or the Hydrochlorate of Morphia, 
 one quarter to one full grain ; Extract 
 of Hyoscyamus, three grains. Make 
 one pill, to be taken at bed time. 
 
 When a patient has arrived to that con- 
 dition in which preparations such as the 
 foregoing, are deemed necessary, she will 
 of course have the attendance of a compe- 
 tent physician, who will be able to direct 
 what is proper to be done. The patient 
 should be in charge of a trained and trusty 
 nurse, and it may be prudent to keep from 
 her room the visits, or attendance of her 
 family and friends, until the violence of 
 the attack abates, and symptoms yield to 
 the remedies given. 
 
 Pyrosis. Generally known under the 
 name of Heart-burn, Water-brash, etc. 
 Exhibits itself under a form of indigestion, 
 in which there is frequent eructation of a 
 thin, watery, and acid, or tasteless fluid. 
 
508 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Very common with women, with whom a 
 favorite remedy for it is u to eat a piece of 
 chalk. 77 The complaint often exists in con- 
 nection with some derangement of the ner- 
 vous or uterine system ; or with organic 
 disease of the stomach, pancreas, or liver. 
 As indigestion is oftenest the cause of this 
 painful sensation, so a careful attention 
 should be given to diet. Animal food less 
 likely to produce it than vegetable ; a 
 saccharated solution of lime and milk is 
 often found to allay the burning sensation, 
 and give relief. 
 
 It. .Saccharated solution of lime and milk, 
 one to four drachms ; add four ounces 
 of Milk. Mix, and drink. 
 Carbonate of Magnesia is very useful. 
 
 Uterus. A term derived from the Latin 
 word Titer , meaning a " bottle of skin or 
 leather/' and applied to the womb. What 
 this is/ is generally understood ; but as I 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 509 
 
 design to allude to some diseases of this 
 organ, I deem it necessary, even at the 
 risk of repetition, to explain as concisely as 
 I can, its location and characteristics. 
 The womb, then, is a hollow muscular 
 organ, designed for the lodgment and nour- 
 ishment of the foetus from the moment of 
 conception until birth. In its ordinary 
 condition, it is a compact, fleshy body, 
 about three inches in length, two inches in 
 its greatest breadth, shaped somewhat like 
 a flattened pear, the narrower portion 
 being below. The upper, or broader part 
 is termed the fundus, the contracted por- 
 tion is called the cervix, or neck, and the 
 external orifice, communicating with the 
 vagina, the os tincce, or os uteri. At the 
 superior (upper) angles it sends off the 
 Fallopian tubes, which, when conception 
 takes place, receive the ovule or ovules 
 from the ovary, and convey them to the 
 uterus. 
 
510 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 The diseases of the uterus are all of such 
 character as to require the aid of skilful 
 medical attendance, and should never be 
 experimented on or tampered with by 
 either the person afflicted, or attending 
 nurses. The whole subject is one of great 
 delicacy, and any information upon the 
 subject which I should attempt to convey 
 in the brief space allotted to each subject 
 in this catalogue, would embarrass, rather 
 than benefit the reader. I therefore very 
 properly, I think, pass it by, merely stating 
 the fact that for the most part all 
 
 Uterine troubles or difficulties have 
 their origin in some congenital or acciden- 
 tal malformation, or displacement, which 
 the surgeon alone can remedy or alleviate 
 by , operation, according to the necessities 
 of the case after careful examination ; inter- 
 nal administration of medicine in such 
 cases being, for the most part, entirely 
 useless. Displacements of the uterus are 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 511 
 
 oftener the causes of sterility in the female 
 than all other causes put together, and 
 until such displacements, or other struc- 
 tural obstacles to the free passage of the 
 male semen, or spermatozoa into the uterus 
 are overcome by replacement, excisions of 
 the os thieve, or incision, in order to render 
 access to the germ, or egress to the secre- 
 tions possible, conception is completely 
 impossible. Of the various troubles to 
 which the uterus is subject, those of ante- 
 version, and retroversion are the most fre- 
 quent. These are called displacements; 
 and whilst they remain so, are the occasion 
 of more or less suffering, painful to be 
 borne, undermining the general health, 
 and, as before stated, utterly precluding 
 any possibility of conception. 
 
 Naturally, and in proper position, the 
 uterus rests upon the vagina, at nearly 
 right angles with it, the fundus, or upper 
 part pointing somewhat in the direction of 
 
512 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 the navel. It may be tilted a little, one 
 way or the other, without the position 
 being necessarily considered as " out of 
 the way." If it turn forwards or back- 
 wards for twenty-five or thirty degrees, it 
 may not amount to a mal-position ; but if it 
 inclines so far as forty degrees in either 
 direction, without soon rectifying itself, it 
 is out of place, and usually goes from bad 
 worse, till the mal-position becomes fixed 
 and persistent. 
 
 Anteversion, is when the fundus, or upper 
 part of the womb is thrown forward, so as 
 to compress the neck of the bladder, which 
 lies almost directly in front of it. 
 
 Retroversion, is that condition in which 
 the fundus is thrown backward towards, 
 or upon the rectum. The physical symp- 
 toms in either case are, a dull, wearying 
 backache ; tenderness about the groins and 
 inside the thighs ; a sense of fulness in the 
 rectum or bladder; pain from sexual inter- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 513 
 
 course ; leuchorrhoea ; dysmennorrhoea ; 
 nausea; loss of appetite; mental depres- 
 sion ; listeria, etc. Menstruation not ne- 
 cessarily interfered with. Whilst but very 
 little, or no reliance can be placed upon 
 therapeutical agencies, still, there are occa- 
 sions when the administration of internal 
 remedies may be found of great service, 
 either in mitigating pain, or quieting the 
 nervous system, giving nature a chance to 
 recuperate and rally her forces to her own 
 relief. Quinine, steel and nux vomica, in 
 combination, as a tonic, is often found very 
 serviceable. 
 
 Vaginitis. Inflammation of the vagina. 
 It may be either acute or chronic. The 
 former is not very common ; but the latter, 
 better known as The. Wliites, or Vaginal 
 Leuchorrhoea, is one of the most common 
 diseases to which women (particularly the 
 married) are liable. It is characterized by 
 a constant or frequent leuchorrhoeal dis- 
 
514 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 charge, '-the whites," accompanied with 
 backache ; and sense of weariness after 
 slight exertion ; loss of appetite ; indiges- 
 tion ; flatulence and constipation ; mental 
 depression, etc. Sometimes the discharge 
 is so profuse, and of such an acrid charac- 
 ter, as to produce exfoliation, or a peeling off 
 the outer skin of the mucous membrane of 
 the vagina ; coming off in flakes, or some- 
 times in masses, forming complete casts of 
 that organ. 
 
 Very few complaints are more annoying, 
 or so troublesome, not only by reason of 
 its debilitating effects, but by the irrita- 
 tion and discomfort produced by the con- 
 stant dripping. 
 
 The causes of this disease are undoubt- 
 edly a general relaxed state of the system ; 
 neglect of cleanliness ; depression of the 
 vital powers; want of energy, etc. 
 
 The treatment for this, as for all similar 
 disorders, where a general weakness is in- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 515 
 
 dicated, should be tonic and stimulating ; 
 out of doors exercise ; industrious appli- 
 cation to some useful employment; cheer- 
 ful society ; substantial food ; regular 
 hours ; and a determined purpose in life. 
 Females troubled in this way are generally 
 cold-blooded, suspicious, and very little 
 disposed to amorous indulgences. 
 
 Vulvitis. Several forms of trouble- 
 some inflammation may attack the vulva, 
 (which we have already described). 
 
 Simple Vulvitis. Is not very uncommon 
 from want of cleanliness, excessive inter- 
 course, venerial taint, or irritation of the 
 adjoining parts. The symptoms are, pain 
 and tenderness, swelling, mucous discharge, 
 heat or scalding during micturation, aching 
 about the loins, groins and thighs, with con- 
 stitutional disturbance. The treatment 
 should be such as to purify the blood, and 
 to throw off the humors from the system. 
 Seidlitz Powders, effervescing Citrate of 
 
516 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 Magnesia, cold hip-baths, alum or lead 
 lotions, avoidance of all stimulants. 
 
 2. Follicular Inflammation of the Vulva. 
 An accumulation of sebaceous matter, or 
 an inflammation of sebaceous follicles, 
 scattered over the mucous membrane of 
 the vulva. Both sides of the vaginal 
 entrance usually affected ; with tissues 
 within the nymphee, and at the base of the 
 clitoris. This is a very intractable and 
 stubborn disorder, and is most common 
 during pregnancy, and at about the change 
 of life. The symptoms are ; the parts are 
 found more or less inflamed, and studded 
 with numerous raised vascular points, 
 sometimes having specks of ulceration on 
 their summits. Soon the points run 
 together, forming a strip of highly injected 
 mucous membrane ; subsequently the vas- 
 cularity (the little blisters) disappear, and 
 the tissues look as if covered with white 
 paint ; a disturbance of the general health, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 517 
 
 constriction of the circular muscle, which 
 contracts the vagina. Leucorrhoea; irri- 
 tation and smarting of the genitals. Sexual 
 intercourse very painful, pains in the back 
 and thighs. The treatment should be both 
 local and general. An application to the 
 parts affected of morphia and hydrocyanic 
 acid lotion ; tobacco lotion ; glycerine and 
 lime-water ; iodide of lead and belladona3 
 ointment; hemlock poultices-; warm hip- 
 baths, containing extract of poppies and 
 soda. 
 
 Caustics and astringents should be care- 
 fully avoided. For local treatment the 
 following recipes may be selected from : — 
 
 R. Liquoris Morphias Hydrochloratis, half 
 a fluid ounce ; Liquoris Potassae, two 
 fluid drachms ; Glycerine, one fluid 
 ounce ; Aquas Laurocerasi, one fluid 
 ounce ; Aquas Sambuci, eight fluid 
 ounces. Make a wash and use it 
 
518 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 morning and night. Or ; the common 
 tobacco lotion may be freely used, 
 made as follows : — Take of common 
 plug tobacco about a quarter of an 
 ounce, and steep it in a pint of water, 
 strain it, and use'it freely as a wash. 
 
 Tor general treatment, the food should 
 be plain and nourishing, avoiding highly- 
 seasoned dishes, coffee, wine and beer ; 
 change of air highly beneficial. Great 
 attention should be given to cleanliness of 
 person. 
 
 3. Pudendal Erythema, or a general 
 inflammation, redness or itching of the 
 female generative organs, arises from neg- 
 lect and want of cleanliness, or from exces- 
 sive exhalation of moisture in stout, middle 
 aged women, the surfaces of the labia and 
 perineum and upper part of inside the 
 thighs become the seat of a burning and 
 itching irruption. The parts becoming of 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 519 
 
 a bright red color ; with sensation of heat 
 and great discomfort. By neglect, or in- 
 temperate living, it may assume a very 
 painful form, and end in erysipelas. The 
 best way to get rid of this trouble, is to 
 give particular attention to cleanliness by 
 frequent bathing, keeping the parts most 
 likely to become irritated dusted with 
 Pearl Powder, or powdered Spermaceti. 
 Fuller's earth is a common domestic rem- 
 edy, and a very good one. 
 
 Warty Growths, frequently spring up 
 around the vulva and scattered* about the 
 labia, nymphse, vestibule, perineum, and 
 around the anus. They sometimes appear 
 in large clusters, and give rise to irrita- 
 tion and offensive moisture. They should, 
 and may be, safely removed w T ith scissors, 
 the sensibility may be destroyed with 
 ether spray. If bleeding occurs, apply a 
 solution of perchloride of iron, or any ordi- 
 nary styptic. 
 
520 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 LETTER FROM A YOUNG LADY. EARLY HIS- 
 TORY. DECLINING HEALTH, SYMPTOMS OF 
 HER COMPLAINT, LOSS OF APPETITE, PAINS 
 IN THE HEAD AND BACK, WEAKNESS OF 
 THE LIMBS AND FEET. MY REPLY AND 
 COUNSELS IN THE CASE. LETTER FROM A 
 MARRIED* LADY. DESCRIPTION OF HER 
 
 CASE. MY REPLY. CASE OF A WASHING- 
 TON BELLE. LETTER FROM A MARRIED 
 LADY DESIROUS OF HAVING CHILDREN. 
 MY REPLY. 
 
 ALTHOUGH it is a general rule in my 
 private medical correspondence to 
 destroy all letters received by me contain- 
 ing matters of a private and confidential 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 521 
 
 nature, } T et there are many instances where 
 the narrative is so interesting, and the 
 nature of the case so grave and important, 
 that I preserve, for future reference, such 
 as I deem necessary to illustrate a princi- 
 ple, or to establish a point essential to a 
 correct knowledge of my theory, and mode 
 of practice iu treating female complaints. 
 Among others upon my files I find the 
 following letters, upon which are endorsed 
 a memorandum of my treatment of the 
 several cases therein described; with a 
 brief synopsis of the answers which I 
 deemed it necessary and proper to write. 
 Upon a reference to my diary I find that, 
 in their publication I shall violate no rule 
 of professional obligation, whilst in two or 
 three cases' I have the express permission 
 of the writers to do so. These letters will 
 prove interesting and useful in exhibiting 
 to my lady readers- and friends the great 
 variety of circumstances under which my 
 
522 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 advice and assistance are sought, as they 
 will also enable them to judge how far the 
 symptoms and complaints therein described 
 are analagous to their own ; and it may 
 afford them some relief to find that, in 
 other and similar cases the skill of the 
 physician has not been resorted to in 
 vain. 
 
 [Letter from a Young Lady,] 
 
 — — , 186 — 
 .Dr. Frederic Morrill: 
 
 Dear Sir: — Taking courage from the 
 respectful manner in which I have often 
 heard your name alluded to as a kind, 
 considerate, and skilful physician, I ven- 
 ture to address you a few lines in regard 
 to myself, begging you to give them your 
 careful thought and attention, and to give 
 me such advice, and, if necessary, such 
 medical assistance as you think best adapt- 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 523 
 
 ed to my relief, for I assure you that I stand 
 
 greatly in need of both. I enclose 
 
 dollars, which I Ifcpe you will accept for 
 the trouble I am about to give you ; and 
 will, from time to time, make such further 
 payments for the services you may render 
 to me as shall abundantly satisfy you. I 
 will now proceed to give you, in as brief a 
 manner as I am able, such an account of 
 my present ailments and troubles as will, I 
 trust, enable you to perfectly understand 
 my case. 
 
 I am not yet eighteen years of age, am 
 rather tall and slender in form, and of (I 
 am told) a sanguine temperament. Some 
 
 three years' ago I left my home in H , 
 
 in the State of Maine, where I had, until 
 that time, resided with my father ; having 
 lost my mother when I was but five years 
 old. Deprived of a mother's tender and 
 anxious care at so early a period of my 
 life, I was left to the tender mercies of 
 
524 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 hired help, relieved only by such occa- 
 sional attentions and caresses as I could 
 snatch from my father. * I grew up to 
 fifteen, without those maternal instructions 
 and examples, without which, I find, that, 
 girl as I am, I have been unconsciously 
 led astray, into habits and practices which 
 are, I fear, fast conducting me to an early 
 grave. Already has my health given way 
 to that extent, that my friends, with whom 
 I am staying, are fearful that 1 am going 
 into a decline, and may die of consump- 
 tion. I no longer enjoy the companion- 
 ship of my young friends, my mind wan- 
 ders, and in spite of every resolution to 
 the contrary which I form, I feel myself 
 daily growing more gloomy, capricious, 
 and desponding. I have lost my former 
 elasticity of step, and my lips and cheeks 
 have assumed a deathly and ashen hue. 
 My appetite has left me, and my nights are 
 restless and uneasy. I have frequent and 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. o2o 
 
 severe pains in my head, up and down my 
 back, sides, and around my hips, whilst 
 there is such weakness of the limbs and 
 feet that exertion of any kind is irksome 
 and oppressive. At the suggestion of my 
 aunt I have occasionally taken various 
 kinds of herb teas and other decoctions in 
 which she has great faith, but which do not 
 in the least degree benefit me. In fact, 
 doctor, I feel that I am fast sinking into 
 the grave unless I can find relief. I have 
 heard others tell of your great skill in 
 curing such cases as mine, and that, you 
 are able, by even such an imperfect ac- 
 count as I have given, to prescribe reme- 
 dies which are sure to give relief. It 
 would be utterly impossible for me to go 
 to Boston and submit myself to any per- 
 sonal examination by you ; but if I have 
 omitted to state anything which you ought 
 to know, write to me, and I will endeavor 
 to inform you as truly and clearly as my 
 
526 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 present ill health will allow. Permit me 
 to express the hope that you will pardon 
 the freedom with which I have written, 
 and that you will, with as little delay as 
 possible, comply with my wish. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Harriet R . 
 
 [My Answer.] 
 
 Boston, , 186- 
 
 Miss Harriet R- 
 
 Your letter of duly came to hand. 
 
 Its length, and the deeply interesting 
 nature of its contents, induced me to lay 
 it aside for a day or two, in order that I 
 might find time to give it something more 
 than passing attention. Although I know 
 from the symptoms and peculiarities of 
 your case, such as you describe them to 
 me, that unaided and unrelieved by medi- 
 cal advice, and the necessary remedies for 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 527 
 
 the recovery of your health r you are expos- 
 ed to the utmost danger, and that the pain- 
 ful anticipations of your friends that, you 
 may go into a decline, will be realized. 
 Yet, at present, there is no occasion for 
 immediate alarm, except in the danger 
 arising from any delay on your part in 
 resorting to the proper means of relief and 
 cure. I recognize the truthfulness of your 
 narrative, in the accuracy and fidelity of 
 your description of the symptoms and 
 progress of a debility arising from the 
 causes you intimate as producing your 
 own, and I am glad that it is in my power 
 to afford you most certain and permanent 
 relief. However distressing your case 
 may be, — and I fully believe it to be as 
 painful and discouraging to you as you 
 describe it, — it is by no means a novel one, 
 nor one from which you may dread any 
 very serious ills, other than those which 
 you now suffer, provided you will at once 
 
528 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 submit to such treatment as I shall advise. 
 You are, it would seem, a 3 T oung lady of 
 precocious instincts and strong passions, 
 which, through the want of early guidance 
 and restraint, have led you into errors and 
 practices not only highly injurious and 
 pernicious, but which, if left unchecked 
 and entirely unsubdued, will result in the 
 most fatal consequences. Imbecility, idi- 
 otcy, madness, or death itself, not only 
 may, but some one of them are most cer- 
 tain to intervene, as a result of the condi- 
 tion in which you now unhappily find 
 yourself. I shall take care, however, that 
 no such calamity shall befal you. My long 
 experience, and the numerous cases in 
 which your own would afford a fair example 
 of them all, enables me to assure you that 
 you are not beyond the reach of the cura- 
 tive art. It will necessarily take some 
 considerable time, and subject you to much 
 self-denial, to follow, as you must, those 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 529 
 
 dietetic and hygienic rules which it will be 
 necessary for you to observe if you would 
 attain your wishes in the complete restor- 
 ation of your health ; and bo able to fill as 
 you ought, the noble and interesting sta- 
 tions of niaiden, wife, and mother, to which 
 Vou may be destined. I send you by ex- 
 press, to-day, certain parcels containing 
 medicines, accompanying which are speci- 
 fic directions for their use, with general 
 directions for exercise, bathing, recreation 
 and sleep, to which it will be necessary for 
 you to conform. The- medicines now sent 
 are such as are best adapted to your pres- 
 ent condition, and to prepare you for such 
 others as an altered and improved state of 
 your health may indicate, after the present 
 supply has been exhausted. It is not 
 absolutely necessary that I should see you, 
 although it is preferable that I should do 
 so. You will, however, from time to time, 
 let me know the progress you are making, 
 
530 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and at the proper time I will send you 
 other preparations which will hasten, and 
 I hope go far to reestablish your health. 
 In the meantime I beg you to have perfect 
 confidence in my ability to cure you ; and 
 the pleasure which at all times I shall feel 
 in being regarded as your confidential 
 adviser and friend. 
 
 F. Morrill, M. D. 
 
 Note. This young lady proved to be a far more 
 sensible and persevering person than I had feared she 
 would turn out to be when I took her case in hand. 
 She implicitly and faithfullv followed my directions, 
 and the medicines which from time to time I found it 
 necessary to prepare for her use, soon produced their 
 effects in bringing about a change most gratifying to 
 all who witnessed it. In a few months she ceased to 
 be the careworn and depressed invalid of her former 
 days; and when once my treatment began to take 
 effect, she rallied and gained strength with a rapidity 
 truly astonishing. In a short time she became as 
 healthy, hearty, and I may justly add, as beautiful, 
 as she had formerly been sick, frail, and despairing, 
 in her daily looking for a slow, lingering, and ap- 
 proaching death. She is now a happy wife, and 
 mother of a large and interesting family. And quite 
 recently, when I wrote to her asking her permission 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 531 
 
 G , N. H., , 186—. 
 
 Dr. Frederic Morrill, 
 
 Dear Sir, — By the advice of some 
 friends here who are acquainted with you, 
 and have, as they assure me, been highiy 
 benefitted by you in cases quite similar to 
 my own, I am induced to write toj~ou, and 
 solicit your advice regarding my health, 
 which has for a long time been in a failing 
 condition. I am a married woman, and 
 although such for nearly three years, am 
 not, and unhappily for myself, likely to 
 become, a mother. Previous to my mar- 
 to publish her letter to me, written in her youth, and 
 in the hour of her distress, she replied cheerfully, 
 " By all means, doctor, publish it if you think it may 
 be useful to do so. You saved me, and you have my 
 earnest prayers that your life may be spared many 
 years to benefit and restore others." I have given 
 this correspondence, comprising as it does a little his- 
 tory, in all its simplicity, as a specimen of hundreds 
 in my possession, and well calculated, I believe, to 
 inspire hope and confidence in the minds of the dis- 
 tressed and suffering. 
 
532 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 riage, and almost from my childhood, I had 
 enjoyed good health, and am not aware 
 that I had, at any time, been afflicted with 
 any illness or complaint which should at 
 this time have caused the ills which I now 
 suffer. I am most sincerely and fondly 
 attached to my husband, who, I have every 
 reason to believe, fully reciprocates my 
 affection for him. He is passionately fond 
 of children, and above all things in the 
 world, is desirous of having a family. The 
 little prospect there is of his wishes in 
 that respect being gratified, is, I know, 
 the cause of no little disquietude, if not 
 downright unhappiness and dissatisfaction 
 on his part. That this misfortune, — for 
 such I regard it, — is owing to myself, I 
 feel almost certain. Soon after my mar- 
 riage I was conscious of certain derange- 
 ments, which led to a gradual decline of 
 health and strength, producing not only an 
 indifference, but I may say, an absolute 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 533 
 
 reluctance to that commerce and sexual in- 
 tercourse to which, as a wife, I am obliged 
 to submit and he, as a husband, has a 
 right to claim. When I assure you that 
 this unhappy state of things arises solely 
 from derangements and debility over 
 which I have no control, and which I have 
 in vain sought to correct and over- 
 come, you will know to what an extent 
 I am suffering, and how necessary it is to 
 consult a physician. I am rather positive 
 that my sufferings are aggravated by the 
 position in which I am placed ; and yet, I 
 would rather suffer death than do anything 
 to add to the evident discontent and un- 
 happiness of my husband. Can you, 
 doctor, from what I have written, form 
 such an opinion of my condition as will 
 enable you to prescribe for my relief. My 
 inability and reluctance to adopt a plainer 
 manner of expressing myself, may cause 
 me to come short of conveying to your 
 
534 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 mind all I wish you to know ; but still I 
 trust that, I have stated enough to enable 
 3^ou to express an opinion of what is best 
 for me to do. An early answer will confer 
 a great favor, for which I will not only re- 
 munerate you to your entire satisfaction, 
 but for which I shall feel grateful beyond 
 my powers of language to express. 
 
 With great respect, 
 
 The reader will readily perceive that, 
 this letter, although calculated to excite 
 my sympathies for this estimable lady, did 
 not give me such information as would 
 enable me in any proper or reliable manner 
 to make such a diagnosis of her case as to 
 justif}^ me in prescribing for her without 
 a personal interview and examination. I 
 wrote to her to this effect, and shortly 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 535 
 
 afterwards was called upon by her in per- 
 son at my office. She was evidently a 
 lady of excellent culture ; had a pleasing 
 yet melancholy cast of features, was of 
 about a middling height, dark complexion, 
 and' exceedingly slow, reserved, and lan- 
 guid in all her language and movements. 
 Her unhappy and embarrassing condition 
 seemed to absorb her whole attention ; and 
 although expressing herself willing and 
 ready to submit to any course of medical 
 treatment I might advise, yet I found it by 
 no means an easy task to sift out, as it 
 were, from all she narrated to me, the true 
 causes of her ailments and troubles. I 
 did so, however, to my entire satisfaction ; 
 and although her case presented obstacles 
 and complications such as I have but 
 rarely met with, I felt confident in my 
 ability to effect a cure. I first induced 
 her to a change of scenery and her usual 
 daily pursuits, and to place herself under 
 
536 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 my care in my immediate vicinity, where 
 I could daily notice such changes as 
 might occur. Under the treatment re- 
 sorted to, the functional derangements 
 very rapidly disappeared, and her general 
 health very much improved. By a careful 
 and judicious administration of remedies I 
 soon had the satisfaction to see her per- 
 fectly restored to health, and in a condition 
 to return to her husband, a companion, 
 indeed, meet for him, in every hope, aspiv 
 ration, and condition of life. They are 
 now in possession of an interesting and 
 healthy family, which, with ample store of 
 this world's goods, leaves no room for 
 despondency, unhappiness, or discontent. 
 
 In looking over the extensive corres- 
 pondence which I have had with patients in 
 every stage, and under every form of disease, 
 I find more difficulty in making the proper 
 selections than from any want of material. 
 It would be easy for me to place before 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 537 
 
 my readers some most interesting letters 
 which would exhibit to them many pecu- 
 liar and important phases of female com- 
 plaints which I have to deal with, but 
 which do not, in my opinion, so clearly 
 come within the limits of that particular 
 class of ailments to which I more particu- 
 larly desire to call attention in this book. 
 My desire is, as I have repeatedly stated, 
 to explain, in plain and simple language, 
 the great prevalence of, and the extreme 
 danger arising from, a certain class of dis- 
 orders, having their origin and seat in the 
 genito-urinal organs ; consequently endan- 
 gering and deranging all the functions of 
 procreation and maternity, and producing, 
 if unheeded and neglected, a train of evil 
 consequences, the duration of which are 
 only to be measured by life itself. In 
 addition to the plain and simple style in 
 which I have endeavored to do this in the 
 earlier pages of this book, I have thought 
 
538 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 it would add to its usefulness and interest, 
 and commend it more to the confidence of 
 my readers, if I append to it these exposi- 
 tions of actual cases written by the ladies 
 themselves, who have heretofore sought 
 my advice. 
 
 Written, as they evidently were, only in 
 the hope and desire of conveying an 
 accurate description of their feelings and 
 ailments, it is to be presumed that they 
 made no drafts upon their imagination, and 
 stated only what they really felt and be- 
 lieved to be true ; and I venture to believe 
 that, every female who may peruse this trea- 
 tise, will readily recognize, in the descrip- 
 tions they have given, a striking similarity 
 to feelings, disorders, and complaints which 
 she has, at some period, realized to some 
 extent herself. I should extend this vol- 
 ume to a size far beyond that which I 
 had contemplated when I began it, were I 
 to multiply, as I might easily do, these 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 539 
 
 evidences of popular confidence in my 
 ability and skill to perform all I pledge 
 myself to do in the way of medical or 
 surgical treatment for every complaint to 
 which the gentler sex are liable. I cannot, 
 however, refrain from transcribing the 
 following letter from a lady somewhat 
 advanced in years, and who, clinging to 
 life with all the tenacity and desire 
 prompted by the possession of every 
 means for enjoyment which wealth can 
 afford, only lacked that most essential 
 element of all earthly happiness, health, to 
 render her condition in life a most enviable 
 one. She had, as she informed me, in her 
 interviews with me, been early possessed 
 of sound bodily health, and fortified, as she 
 felt herself to be, by a strong and vigorous 
 constitution, she had, unshackled by any 
 of those restraints imposed by the careful 
 guardianship of watchful parents and de- 
 voted friendship, early in life rushed into 
 
540 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 all the excesses of youth, and at times set 
 at defiance every maxim of prudence and 
 virtue. Once entered upon a life of plea- 
 sure, she gave full rein to every passion, 
 and suffered to pass unheeded the frequent 
 admonitions which, abused, and too fre- 
 quently outraged nature would give, that 
 she was sowing the wind to reap the 
 whirlwind. At the time she applied to me 
 she was compelled to regard her condition 
 in its true aspect, and to acknowledge 
 herself " beaten/ 7 as she expressed it, by 
 those remorseless enemies to health and 
 repose, which she had so much defied in 
 the hey-day of her youth and strength. 
 With all her faults, and the dreadful 
 consequences of her past life upon her, 
 her strongly marked, but somewhat mascu- 
 line, yet still beautiful, features, could not 
 otherwise than command my admiration; 
 whilst her dignity and commanding lofti- 
 ness of expression, almost compelled a 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 541 
 
 respect not unmingled with a degree of 
 awe, sometimes experienced when we first 
 find ourselves in the presence of extra- 
 ordinary women. She had heard of me in 
 the city of Washington, which had, for 
 many years, been the theatre of her 
 triumphs as a reigning belle, and from 
 which place, after a slight correspondence, 
 she had come to place herself under my 
 care. By my advice she secluded herself 
 from public observation and all social 
 intercourse, in one of our suburban towns, 
 where, under an assumed name, she lead a 
 life of abstemiousness, and directed her 
 attention solely to the recovery of her 
 health. With the wilfulness of spirit that 
 ever characterized her life, and pointed 
 her out as one of the u fastest women of 
 the age/ 7 she settled herself down with a 
 dogged determination to be cured, if it 
 was in the power of medicine and skill to 
 effect it. 
 
542 MEDICAL ADVISEK. 
 
 I must confess that I felt highly compli- 
 mented, as well as pleased, at the un- 
 limited confidence with which she com- 
 mitted herself to my care, and was 
 determined that no effort on my part 
 should be wanting to perfect her cure. 
 She was under my care for several 
 months, and although I frequently des- 
 paired of restoring her fully to health, yet 
 I had the satisfaction to perceive that, 
 gradually her diseases and complaints gave 
 way to the regimen I had imposed, and 
 the remedies which I had administered. 
 At the commencement of the autumn 
 following the time when she first called 
 upon me, her health had been so far re-es- 
 tablished, that I permitted her to return to 
 society. On leaving, she promised to keep 
 me advised as to her health and progress 
 towards complete restoration. In the fol- 
 lowing winter I received from her the 
 following letter :— 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH 543 
 
 Washington, D. C., 186-. 
 
 My Dear Doctor : 
 
 You have not forgotten me, I presume, 
 amidst all the calls and demands of your 
 numerous and exacting patients. When I 
 left you, you know that I promised to 
 keep you informed as to the condition of my 
 health, and threatened also, that, at some 
 time when leisure and inclination com- 
 bined to render the task comparatively an 
 easy one, I would comply with a request 
 of yours, that I would give you, in form, 
 for future reference, some of the leading 
 features, not only of my extraordinary 
 case, such as you found it to be, but also 
 some of those causes to which you but 
 too truly attributed the deplorable and 
 miserable condition I was in when I first 
 came to you, a poor blighted and desperate 
 creature, in search of my long lost health. 
 You remember the reticence which I ever 
 
544 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 maintained when the subject of my early 
 life was alluded to ; and yon well remember 
 how careful I was not to commit myself by 
 any exposure likely to come back upon me 
 to my discomfiture in after life, But the 
 fidelity with which you devoted yourself 
 to my welfare, and the skill with which 
 you combated the complaints and weakness 
 which had nearly overwhelmed me, have 
 made me your friend for life ; and the strict 
 and manly honor which marked your 
 whole intercourse with me, during so 
 many months, have so completely disarmed 
 me of all hesitancy to confide in you, that 
 I feel inclined, by a sense of gratitude, to 
 express to you how large the debt I feel 
 that I owe to you, as my preserver and best 
 earthly friend. From the earliest period 
 of which I can remember, I have been sole 
 mistress of my actions and conduct through 
 life. I only know my parents through 
 what has been communicated to me by 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 545 
 
 others ; whilst my temporal wants have 
 been amply provided for by a fortune too 
 large for any want which I may ever feel. 
 Endowed by nature with no small share of 
 personal attractions, and aided by every 
 accomplishment which art could confer, I 
 entered upon life with every prospect 
 open before me of position and happiness. 
 In an unfortunate hour I fell the victim of 
 the seducer's wiles, which implanted in my 
 heart a thirst for revenge on all mankind. 
 I resolved never to marry; and giving 
 myself up to unbridled desire, and, unre- 
 strained by want, or any earthly ties, I 
 have vibrated between the great centres 
 of fashion, vice, folly, and debauchery for 
 forty years, and under the maddening 
 influence of my early conceived hatred for 
 your sex, have, in ruining them, brought 
 upon myself that Pandora's box of evils 
 under which I was groaning, when I 
 placed myself under your care. A mother, 
 
546 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 I am still childless, and I yet bear my 
 father's name, because I am not entitled, 
 by any act of lawful wedlock, to call 
 myself by any other. The relations which 
 I have, first and last, maintained with men 
 of the most distinguished rank in the 
 country, you have often suspected, and it 
 is clue to truth to say that, they have been 
 of that character to lead one into every 
 temptation and experience to which a 
 woman can be subjected. Time and time 
 again, I have had repeated to me the 
 severe lesson that, neither rank nor 
 wealth alone, could protect us from the 
 consequences of violating nature's laws. 
 Always ashamed of the penalties I was 
 paying for my follies, I did, as thousands 
 of others do, when circumstanced as I was : 
 I doctored myself. I resorted to every 
 known drug and compound vended in the 
 shops, and exhausted the whole catalogue 
 of nostrums and specifics, famous for their 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 547 
 
 wonderful properties in curing diseases, 
 until I had completely staturated my 
 whole system with their detestable ingre- 
 dients ; and during all this time my pride 
 forbade me to abate one iota of the round 
 of pleasure, (?) vice, and dissipation in 
 which I daily and nightly plunged. 
 
 But the time came when tonics, stimu- 
 lants, and cosmetics, could play their part 
 no longer. Narcotics, opium, either crude 
 or in the shape of laudanum, or morphine, 
 were resorted to, to quiet the raging fires 
 within, until overtasked nature succumbed 
 to the too heavy load I had laid upon it. 
 In rapid and sharp succession came the 
 prostration of all the nervous system, the 
 loss of appetite, and the loathing of food ; 
 dyspepsia and derangement of the organs 
 of nutrition and digestion, with that com- 
 plete upsetting and bouleversement of all my 
 feminine attributes, as only you, as a physi- 
 sician, can imagine, and as you, also as a 
 
548 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 physician, at least in my own case, have had 
 an opportunity to witness and cure. When 
 I recall to mind the suffering and misery I 
 have undergone, the perils I have en- 
 countered and escaped, and remember that 
 it is to your care and to your consumate 
 skill that I am indebted for even life itself, 
 I am at a loss for words to express the 
 extent of my gratitude. **■*.*.*.** I 
 trust it may be pleasing for you to learn 
 that, warned by your counsels and en- 
 couraged by your friendship and kindly 
 interest manifested in my welfare, I shall 
 henceforth strive to lead a life of sobriety 
 and virtue ; and if I do not, at some f uture 
 time, become a distinguished Magdalene 
 and penitent it will be only, as you know, 
 from my utter detestation of everything 
 that by any possibility could be construed 
 into hypocracy and pretence. * * * * 
 Gratefully and sincerely yours, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. . 549 
 
 [Letter from a Lady.] 
 
 186- 
 
 Doctor Morrill: — 
 
 The idea of addressing myself to you 
 has often suggested itself to me, but I 
 have hesitated and delayed it so long, that 
 I fear I should relinquish it altogether, 
 were I not now compelled to seek the 
 advice 'of some one ; and I know of no 
 person to whom I can, in my present 
 emergency, turn with such confidence as I 
 can to you. Your reputation, as a skilful 
 and honorable physician, emboldens me to 
 address you in all frankness, and I trust, 
 should I not succeed in making myself 
 throroughly understood, you will not 
 attribute it to any prudish reserve on my 
 part, but to my inexperience and want of 
 ability to enter into all the details, perhaps, 
 necessary to give you such an accurate 
 idea of my case, as will enable you to 
 
550 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 advise and prescribe for me without a 
 personal interview, which, at this time 
 I am particularly anxious to avoid. I 
 am a married lady, of twenty-eight years 
 of age, and have resided with my husband, 
 to whom I am most devotedly attached, 
 over eight years, and am, I am sorry 
 to say, still unblessed by offspring. This 
 obstacle to our mutual happiness is the more 
 severely felt by me, as I am his second wife ; 
 his former wife having presented him with 
 three fine children; and I am sure that 
 our happiness would be more complete 
 were I also as fortunate even in a lesser 
 degree. I am pained and mortified at 
 the reflection that it must be attributed 
 to some physical defect or incapacity on 
 my part that this unhappy sterility exists. 
 Possessing pretty general good health, 
 and descended from a parentage by no 
 means inclined to disease or debility, 
 in any form, I have been, and am now, 
 
GUIDE TO ^HEALTH. 551 
 
 distressed as to what may be the cause 
 • to which I should attribute my misfortune, 
 as well as to any hopes that I may 
 reasonably entertain that these obstacles 
 to my becoming a mother, is resting with 
 me, (as I am apprehensive they do), can 
 be removed. I am not aware of any 
 functional malformation, and I am quite 
 sure of no irregularities operating to my 
 disadvantage. 
 
 Weighed down by these troubles, and 
 (if I may so express myself), my longings 
 to make my husband happy, I have 
 repeatedly, at intervals, sought a change 
 of air and scenery, and by lengthy visits 
 to the country, and other healthful resorts, 
 endeavored, by exercise, alternated by 
 quiet and repose, a frugal, as well as 
 highly nutritious diet, to assist me 
 in accomplishing my desires. But my 
 efforts thus for have proved in vain. I 
 have not dared to listen to the suggestions 
 
552 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 frequently made to me, that medical 
 treatment would probably relieve me from 
 this painful, and 1 must say frankly, 
 mortifying condition in which I find myself. 
 Having been favored with a perusal of 
 your correspondence with other ladies by 
 whom you have been consulted in regard 
 to female complaints, pertaining to 
 themselves, I have felt, from the 
 earnestness and intelligence which you 
 display, as well as the success which 
 attended your prescriptions, that, if 
 medicine could benefit me, you are the 
 only physician whom I could trust to 
 administer it. If I have succeeded in 
 making my condition plain to you, you 
 will do me the favor to give my case 
 the earliest attention. You shall find in 
 me a docile and obedient patient, and 
 you may be assured that whatever course 
 of treatment you may prescribe, shall be 
 most scrupulously followed. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 553 
 
 I do not ask to occupy your attention, 
 even in considering over the contents of 
 this letter, without remunerating you for 
 the time, (which to you, must be valuable), 
 which you must necessarily devote to it. 
 Enclosed you will find an amount which, I 
 trust, will prove satisfactory ; and should 
 I become your patient, and your success 
 equal my hopes, your compensation shall 
 not only be ample and liberal, but in a 
 measure proportioned to the gratitude I 
 shall ever feel for the benefits you may 
 be the means of conferring upon your 
 unhappy but confiding friend. 
 
 Please address, Mrs. . 
 
 [My Answer.] 
 
 Bostox, , 186 
 
 My Dear Madam : 
 
 I have received and perused with much 
 
 interest, your letter of , and you may 
 
 rest assured that you have my heartfelt 
 
554 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 sympathy for the unpleasant circumstances 
 in which you are placed, as well as my 
 most grateful acknowledgements for the 
 kind and almost too flattering manner in 
 which you express your confidence in 
 my ability to serve you. When I read 
 your letter, and observe the ability which 
 marks its composition, I am, I confess, 
 not a little astonished that a person, 
 evidently so well-informed and possessed 
 of the good common sense which you 
 indicate, should for so many years have 
 submitted to the cause which has produced 
 so much unhappiness to. yourself, and 
 doubtless also to your excellent husband 
 as well. There was no necessity for all 
 this suffering and anxiety, this constant 
 feverish excitement, attendant upon 
 disappointed hopes ; and the continued 
 flitting from the city to the country, and 
 from the country to the watering places, 
 for a change of air and scenery, needful, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 555 
 
 as you suppose, to promote your wishes, and 
 to render you more susceptible of attaining 
 your hopes. From your description of 
 yourself, I cannot see any reason whatever 
 why you should despair. There is evidently 
 no material or functional obstacle in the 
 way, and I am very certain that, with 
 proper treatment, patience and care, you 
 may be made to realize the best and 
 most sanguine hopes you may choose to 
 entertain. Very few females are naturally 
 and constitutionally incapable of conception. 
 The inability to propagate more commonly 
 lies with the male ; but the fact you 
 mention, that your husband's first wife 
 presented him with children, is certainly 
 very strong presumptive evidence that 
 such impediments as do exist to your 
 mutual fecundity, are with you, rather 
 than with him. Causes may, however, 
 have arisen during the 'interval of 
 widowhood, on his part, of which you 
 
556 MEDICAL ADYISER. 
 
 may have no idea ; and . which, if known, 
 would tend greatly to relieve your 
 mind of the oppression caused by the 
 apprehensions which you feel that, to you 
 alone may be attributed the misfortunes 
 which at present grieves you so intensely. 
 Were I not satisfied that it has been 
 owing to your extreme hesitation, — arising 
 from a modesty and too conscientious 
 scruples to take medical advice upon this 
 subject, — I should feel, in a far less degree 
 than I now do, that any sympathy or 
 -compassion for your present unhappy 
 condition was altogether misplaced and 
 uncalled for. For eight years you have 
 been living with a husband, between 
 whom and yourself, — so far as I may 
 judge from the contents of your letter, — 
 there exists in the highest degree every 
 sentiment and affection, upon the possession 
 of which, contentment and happiness in 
 the marriage relation so much depends. 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 557 
 
 There are no mental reservations nor 
 repugnancies to render your association 
 and embraces "uncongenial to either of you, 
 and yet, all this long time of eight years 
 you have been pining and groaning, and 
 almost dying ; primarily, because you did 
 not bear children, and secondly, as a 
 consequence of, and punishment for, your 
 neglect to resort to the plainest and most 
 apparent duty which stared you in the 
 face, namely, to take medical advice in 
 relation to it. I speak quite plainly to 
 you, madam. It is my duty to do so. 
 Considerations arising from my anxiety 
 for your health, prompt me to do this. 
 Have you ever reflected that all this 
 worriinent, care and anxiety/ which has 
 accompanied you by day, and beset your 
 pillow by night, may not, by its depressing 
 influences have done much to shorten 
 your life, and engender diseases not yet 
 developed, which may entail far greater 
 
5o8 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 misfortunes upon both yourself and 
 husband than the one you now seek to 
 remedy ? 
 
 How can you excuse to yourself this 
 long continued violence done to the most 
 natural, purest and best aspirations of 
 the female heart? A most superficial 
 knowledge of the physiology of your sex 
 would have told you that, maternity in 
 the marriage state is one of nature's laws, 
 and any failure on your part to comply 
 with it, unless through compulsory causes, 
 over which you have no control, inevitably 
 entails consequences not only such as you 
 have expressed, but even lunacy and 
 death itself. You have only to turn over 
 the pages 6f history, and in the lives of 
 princes you may learn how much agony 
 suffering, and degradation might have 
 been prevented had this law been faithfully 
 and religiously observed. You have 
 sinned then against yourself, your husband, 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 559 
 
 and against those very beings whom you 
 might have had at this moment around 
 you, to comfort, cheer and bless you. But 
 pardon me, madam. I have, unconsciously 
 to myself, allowed my feelings to 
 control my pen for the moment, and 
 in my zeal to impress upon you 
 the wrong you had hitherto done, in 
 neglecting to remedy the evil under which 
 you are suffering, have almost forgotten to 
 comply with your request to inform you 
 if I could advise and assist you in so 
 important and interesting a matter. I 
 answer unhesitatingly that I can and will 
 do both. It belongs to my profession to be 
 able to do this, and having for many years 
 directed my studies and investigations 
 to this important branch of medical 
 science, I have been able to acomplish all 
 in this respect that you can require. By 
 the aid of medicines, which are, I am quite 
 sure, only used by myself in this country, 
 
560 MEDICAL ADVISER. 
 
 and of whose fructifying effects hundreds 
 of happy mothers can bear witness, I 
 never fail to remove every cause of 
 disquietude and barrenness in a manner 
 so mild, safe, and effectual, that the 
 system receives no shock, and nature, 
 relieved of the shackles which have 
 hitherto restrained her in her most 
 wonderful work, bounds onward to a new 
 lease of life and happiness, in those 
 pledges of mutual love, without which 
 your house, though a palace, will be 
 desolate indeed. In your case I think 
 there is no need of my seeing you. 
 Should it become necessary, I can easily 
 inform you at any time, after I shall have 
 learned the effects of the preparations I 
 now send. 
 
 Please keep me from time to time 
 informed of the state of your health, and 
 the progress you may make in realizing 
 certain results in the course of medical 
 
GUIDE TO HEALTH. 561 
 
 treatment which I shall prescribe for you. 
 The medicines, carefully and securely 
 packed, will be forwarded at once, with 
 specific directions for their use. With 
 sincere wishes for the ultimate attainment 
 of every desired blessing, I am very truly 
 your friend and confidential adviser. 
 
 F. MORRILL, M. D. 
 
 The foregoing, selected from a mass 
 of correspondence long since cast aside, 
 were preserved only as mementos of 
 cases, which, at the time, deeply interested 
 me. They disclose a state of facts, more 
 or less existing with every nervous or 
 otherwise diseased sufferer, and point out 
 a source of relief about which there need 
 be no mistake. The reader will, I am 
 sure, know how to appreciate the 
 information they convey, and, I trust, be 
 wise enough to profit by the suggestions 
 they contain. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction to the Second Edition. Page 3d. 
 
 Preface to the Revised and Enlarged (this) 
 Edition. Page 17. 
 
 THE MEDICAL ADVISER AND 
 GUIDE TO HEALTH. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 Chapter I. Page 1-34. 
 
 Introduction to the subject. Motives for "writing 
 this treatise. Sexual diseases and the social evil — 
 whom it affects. Artificial forms of living, and 
 the unguarded association of the sexes. Stimulating 
 drinks. Premature development of the virile passions. 
 Physiology and the laws of Life. A knowledge of 
 necessary. Former ignorance of. Seminal weakness 
 and physical debility. Physicians. 
 
 Chapter II. Page 34-63. 
 The progress of sexual disease. Proper method of 
 treatment. Special danger of the married. Mer- 
 
 (5G3) 
 
564 CONTENTS. 
 
 curial diseases. Dangerous nature of the drug. 
 Advice to those afflicted. Medical pretenders, charla- 
 tans and quacks. Hydrocele. Former mode of 
 treatment useless. Palliatives. Impediments to 
 marriage. Loss of sexual power. Causes. 
 
 Chapter III. Page 63-92. 
 
 Addressed to elderly men. Recuperation. The 
 treatment for sexual diseases similar in both sexes. 
 What are considered as sexual diseases. Gonorrhoea, 
 or Clap, — what it is. Its symptoms and appearance. 
 Abortive treatment. Injections. How to use a 
 syringe. Advice and suggestions. Receipes for 
 gonorrhoea. Chordee, —remedy for. Gleet, —what 
 it is. Its symptoms and appearance. Duration, 
 Remedies. Stricture. Sir Benjamin Brodie's opin- 
 ion. Method of cure, and remedies. 
 
 Chapter IV. Page 92-133 
 
 Prescriptions, why not more given. Unreliability 
 of drugs as usually found in apothecary's shops. How 
 I procure my principle medicines. Living witnesses 
 of their efficacy. Correspondence. Its inviolability. 
 Exceptions. Violation of nature's laws. Consum- 
 ption. Diseases of the heart and liver. Rheumatism. 
 Imperfections of sight and hearing. Baldness. Letter 
 from a gentleman, describing his case. His early habits. 
 
CONTENTS. 565 
 
 Constipation and costiveness. Loss of memory and 
 lack of energy. Thoughts of suicide. Cold sweats. 
 fevers, horrid and lascivious dreams. Note. Inci- 
 dents, cure. Letter from J. G., of H., Vt., describ- 
 ing his case, — masturbation, fits. Letter from an 
 elderly gentleman, describing his case. Its extra- 
 ordinary and repulsive character. Satyriasis, Letter 
 from a gentleman giving the characteristics and 
 peculiarities of his wife's case. "What had been 
 done for her. Her present condition and his fears. 
 My reply. Cunning, and concealment of secret 
 habits. Plainness of speech, and mode of address in 
 such cases. Specialism, — why and how brought 
 into disrepute. Is honorable, if properly pursued. 
 Illustrious examples. Abercrombie, Hunter, Bell, 
 Eicord, Acton. Usefulness the criterion, and the 
 Public the best judge of merit. 
 
 Chapter Y. Page 133-145. 
 
 Recipes. Character of those given, for gonorrhoea. 
 Injections of Nitrate of Silver. Why sometimes 
 objectionable. Chlorate of Potash. Decoction of 
 Brazil Bark, etc. By whom prescriptions should be 
 put up. Danger of self doctoring. Country doctors. 
 Why they so little understand private and sexual 
 diseases. Old authors, — their works now obsolete 
 and useless. Case of a young man who had been 
 
566 CONTENTS. 
 
 nearly a year under treatment by a country 
 physician. His failure to cure. The doctor's bill. 
 
 Chapter VI. Page 145-163. 
 
 Spermatorrhoea. Seminal weakness and nocturnal 
 emissions. Diseases of the procreative organs alarm- 
 ingly prevalent. The labors of the specialist. No- 
 tions of the uneducated. Passion for dosing and 
 drugging. Popular idea of the virtue of drugs. Pill 
 eating. How this popular idea is taken advantage of 
 by quacks. The true method of treating a patient. 
 Masturbation the principal cause of spermatorrhoea. 
 All seminal weakness not spermatorrhoea. Its aban- 
 donment the first condition of relief. Lead us not 
 into temptation. A cowardly, selfish and debasing 
 habit. Opinion of Jas. D. TVakely, M. D., Editor 
 of the London Lancet. His opinion of marriage as a 
 curative means. Why, under certain circumstances 
 "it would be immoral, unscientific and unmanly." 
 Men addicted to vicious habits, and subjects of 
 sexual weakness, are, as a rule, " inexpressibly 
 nasty." How a wife protects herself against the 
 advances of a broken-down husband. Dr. T. B. 
 Curling, President of the Hunterian Society, London. 
 His opinion of spermatorrhoea. How caused. Its 
 effects upon the patient. Specific action upon the 
 brain. Gives rise to epileptic symptoms. The heavy 
 
CONTENTS. 5G7 
 
 penalty for gross indulgence in sensuality. A de- 
 graded nature and a ruined constitution. 
 
 Chapter VII. Page 1G3-190. 
 
 The testicles, — their construction, and the dis- 
 eases to which they are liable. Frequency of these 
 complaints. Too little attention given them at first. 
 Sterility a result of diseased testicle , Wonderful 
 structure. Peculiarities of swelled testicle. Atrophy, 
 or wasting of the testicle. Dangers arising from 
 the imprudent use of Iodine, as a medicine. Case 
 reported by M. Cullerier. Case of wasting of the 
 testicle reported by Baron Larrey. Old methods of 
 treating swelled testicle. Great delicacy of the 
 organ. "What may occasion swelling. Remote 
 causes of the trouble. Case reported by Hildanus, a 
 Latin author. An interesting case which was caused 
 by an accident on the Boston and Providence Pail- 
 way in 1839. A case in which swelled testicle was 
 occasioned by a blow on the face, reported by Dr. 
 Smith, in the Lancet for August, 1841. Resources 
 of modern science. 
 
 Chapter VIII. Page 187-197. 
 
 Personal. Reflections suggested by a life of com- 
 petition. Trials of a true specialist. Tricks of 
 adventures. Pandering to the universal appetite for 
 
568 CONTENTS. 
 
 drugs. Colored water and inert substances given as 
 remedies. Yalue of concentrated medicines and 
 small doses. The Morrill Medical Institute, No. 3 
 Bulfinch Street. Caution to patients against the 
 " roping in " system of charlatans and quacks. 
 
 Chapter IX. Page 198-204. 
 
 Personal and Professional. Early experience. 
 Uncle Toby's treatment of the fly. Professional 
 independence. Ambition for professional excellence. 
 
 Chapter X. Page 205-267. 
 
 Symptomatology. Reasons for furnishing this 
 chapter. The diseases enumerated, those that I 
 make a particular study. Acne, definition of; des- 
 cription, symptoms. Amnesia ; description of, symp- 
 toms, varieties. Bubo ; what it is, from what it arises. 
 Carbuncle ; derivation of name, description of, reme- 
 dies. Catarrh; meaning of the word, what it is, 
 symptoms of, etc. Conjunctivitis ; what it is, symp- 
 toms, treatment, contagious. Convulsions ; causes of, 
 description of. Corneitis ; derivation of the name, 
 varities. Syphilitic Keratitis ; indications of, a very 
 disagreeable disease. Diabetis Mellitus ; meaning 
 of the term, description. Diuresis; or excessive flow 
 of urine. Enuresis; or urinating in bed. Hema- 
 turia; or bloody urine, Hoemorrhoids ; or piles. 
 
CONTENTS. 569 
 
 Hydrocele and Hcematocele ; description of, proper 
 treatment. Hydronephrosis ; dropsy of the kidney. 
 Insanity, described, varieties, erapyricism and quack- 
 ery rebuked. Iritis ; its signification, result of 
 syphilis. Lepra ; what it is, remedies for. Nephritis ; 
 described, symptoms of. Paraphymosis ; what it is, 
 causes of. Penis Cancer ; described. Periostitis ; as 
 a result of syphilitic taint, described. Peritonitis ; 
 meaning of the word, symptoms, dangerous character. 
 Pamryngitis ; or syphilitic sore throat, its danger. 
 Priaprism; described, remedies for. Prostrate En- 
 largement. Prostatitis ; or inflamation of the pros- 
 trate gland, described, its causes. Rectal Cancer; 
 description of, consequences, so-called cancer doctors 
 useless. Rectal Stricture. Rectal Ulcers. Renal 
 (Kidney) Cancer ;. described, symptoms. Renal De- 
 generations ; varieties, described. Rheumatism. Tes- 
 tis ; what it is, varieties, acute, chronic, orchitis. 
 Scrofulous testicle. Uroemia ; described. Urethetis ; 
 or inflamation of the urethra, description, treatment 
 of. Urinary Calculi, or Gravel ; described, a very for- 
 midable disease, lithotomy. Vesical Inflammation ; or 
 inflammation of the bladder, acute, chronic, symp- 
 toms, treatment. Chronic Cysts ; symptoms. Vesical 
 (bladder) Paralysis ; described. Vesical (bladder) 
 Spasm. Vesical (bladder) Irritability. Conclusion 
 of Part Pirst. 
 
570 CONTESTS. 
 
 PART SECOND. Page 2G9. 
 
 ADDRESSED TO FEMALES EXCLUSIVELY. 
 Introduction to the First Editon. History of 
 the work. Lack of information upon important sub- 
 ject. Misery resulting from ignorance. Education 
 of the passions. Bibliographical Acknowledge- 
 ments. List of authors consulted in the preparation 
 of this book, page 281-285. 
 
 Chapter I. Page 289-297. 
 
 TO SINGLE LADIES. 
 
 Nature generally perfect. The vices of civilization. 
 Age of puberty. An era in life. Premonitions of 
 trouble. Cautions against the use of drugs unad- 
 vised. 
 
 Chapter II. Page 297-308. 
 
 To single ladies continued. Early lessons, habits, 
 temptations and dangers. Fears and apprehensions 
 What should be done. Recipes,— Tartrate of Iron, 
 Potassia and Powdered Columbo. Sub. Carbonate 
 of Iron, Gentian and Orange Peel. Considerations 
 in selecting a physician. ■*" 
 
 Chapter III. Page 308-115. 
 
 To single ladies continued. Important and delicate 
 subjects. Serious truths. Secret habits. Cannot 
 
CONTEXTS. 571 
 
 be concealed from the observing. Symptoms, loss 
 of appetite, unnatural craving for food, desire for 
 unseemly and disgusting objects for food. Abstraction 
 of mind, disagreeable dreams, cold extremities. 
 Necessity for frank disclosure and dealing with your 
 physician. 
 
 Chapter IV*. Page 315-325. 
 
 Reasons for an enlargement of this work. The 
 good it has accomplished. Its originality, and the 
 public confidence in it. Specialism. — its advantages. 
 
 Chapter V. Page 325-336. 
 
 The young maiden. Catemenial discharge. The 
 age of puberty. Healthful and unhealthful flow. 
 Cautions. Amenorrhea. 
 
 Chapter VI. Page 336-355. 
 
 TThat constitutes healthy menstruation. Suppression 
 and irregularity. Causes, peculiarities, pallor, waxy 
 appearance of the skin, remedies and prescriptions. 
 Recipes, — preparation of Nitric Acid and Taraxacum, 
 Aloes and Sennse, Gamboge and pill hydragyri, 
 extract of Ergot and tincture of Serpentaria. Pod- 
 ophyli and Hyoscyami. Griffith's Mixture. Steel 
 and ammonia. Quinine and steel. Steel and pepsine. 
 Volatile tincture of Guaiacum and Copaiba. Juniper 
 
572 CONTENTS. 
 
 and Acid Tartrate of Potash. Hiera Picra. When 
 pregnancy may be suspected. Cheerfulness. Travel. 
 Mineral waters. 
 
 Chapter VII. Page 355-693. 
 
 Menorrhagia, or profuse and unnatural menstrua- 
 tion. Causes sometimes obscure and difficult to be 
 ascertained. Symptoms. Danger of mistakes in 
 diagnosis. Cautions. Natural instincts not always 
 reliable. Why. Science the only true guide. Treat- 
 ment of Menorrhagia. Recipes, astringents, diet, 
 mental agitation. Useful suggestions. 
 
 Chapter VIII: Page 369-382. 
 
 Introduction to a description of the female sexual 
 organs. Of what they consist. How named, their 
 location and uses. Their technical and familiar 
 names. Information and suggestions necessary to a 
 correct understanding of the subject. Counsels. 
 
 Chapter IX. Page 382-399. 
 
 Reflections. Dysmenorrhoea. Its signification. 
 Organic dysmenorrhea. Nervous dysmenorrhoea. 
 Symptoms. Its general prevalence. The reality of 
 the disease. Interesting letter from a lady. Import- 
 ance of a correct diagnosis, etc., etc. 
 
CONTENTS. 573 
 
 Chapter X. Page 399-418. 
 
 Vaginal and uterine examinations. Timely hints. 
 When necessary, and how to be made, Responsibili- 
 ties and liabilities of the operator. Ladies good 
 advertisers. Exposure of the person not necessary. 
 Points to be noted. Examination when limited to the 
 touch only. The speculum. When required. Posi- 
 tion. Assistants. Opinion of a distinguished physi- 
 cian. Remarks. 
 
 Chapter XL Page 418-424. 
 
 Continuation of advice to young ladies. Interest- 
 ing digression in relation to male associates. Places 
 of amusement. The theatre. Dance houses, soci- 
 ables, and public dancing halls. Who attend them. 
 It is the first step which costs. Where wives are not 
 sought after, and where they are. Why. Conclusion 
 to young ladies. 
 
 Chapter XII. Page 424-447. 
 
 Especially adapted to married ladies. Barrenness. 
 Its sorrows may be removed. Mismated. Children. 
 Preventives to conception. The use of. Justifiable, 
 under certain circumstances. My system of medical 
 treatment. Advice to applicants for professional 
 services. 
 
574 CONTEXTS. 
 
 Chapter XIII. Page 447-520. 
 
 SYMPTOMATOLOGY. 
 
 Of private, sexual, vaginal, uterine, and other dis- 
 eases peculiar to females, alphabetically arranged, 
 with useful suggestions and hints as to their proper 
 treatment, etc. Agalactia, Sore Xipples, Arcites, 
 Bed Case, Blennorrhagia, Chlorosis, Chorea, or St. t 
 Vitus Dance, Clitorites, Chylous (milky) Urine, 
 Coccyodynia, Constipation, Ecstacy, or Trance, Pal- 
 lopian Tube dropsy. Description of the Eallopian 
 Tubes. Galactorrhea ; or, superabundant secretion 
 of milk. Hysteria, description of, and causes. Im- 
 potence in woman. Sterility. Distinction between 
 impotence and sterility. Mammary; or, breast 
 abscess. Mammary Hypertrophy; or, enlargement 
 of the breasts. Mammary Tumors,, varieties, simple, 
 malignant. (1) Lacteal ; or, Milk Tumor. (2) Patty 
 Tumors. (3) Cartilaginous and Bony Tumors. (4) 
 Chronic Mammary Tumors. (5) Inflammation of 
 the Xipple. Prescriptions for Mastodynia, or Neural- 
 gia, description of, remedies for. The ovaries des- 
 cribed. Ovarian displacements. Ovarian Tumor 
 described, peculiarities and danger of them. Unjust 
 suspicions arising from. Recipe for treatment. 
 Neuralgia arising from uterine difficulties and syphili- 
 tic taint. Varieties of. (1) Tic Douloureux. (2) 
 
CONTEXTS. 575 
 
 Hemicrania. (3) Sciatica, described, remedies for. 
 Ovaritis ; or, Inflammation of the ovary. Different 
 forms of. (1) Acute Ovaritis, description of. Symp- 
 toms. Prescriptions for, and general treatment. (2) 
 Chronic Ovaritis, description of, symptoms and treat- 
 ment. Pelvic Cellulitis, described, treatment for. 
 Pelvic Hoematocele, symptoms, prescriptions for. 
 Puerperal Mania, described, treatment. Pyrosis ; or, 
 Heart-burn, remedies for. Uterus, the meaning of 
 the term, described. The diseases to which it is 
 subject. Anteversion, Retroversion, Vaginitis, Varie- 
 ties, the Whites ; or, Vaginal leuchorrhoea, described, 
 causes, treatment. Vulvitis. (1) Simple Vulvitis. 
 (2) Follicular inflammation of the Vulva, described, 
 prescriptions, etc. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. Page 520— 5G1. 
 
 Letter from a young lady. Her early history. 
 Declining health. Symptoms of her complaint. 
 Loss of appetite. Pains in the head and back. 
 Weakness of the limbs and feet. My reply and 
 counsels in the case. Letter from a married lady. 
 Descriptions of her case. My reply. Case of a 
 Washington belle. Letter from a married lady desir- 
 ous of having children. My reply. General Obser- 
 vations. Conclusion. 
 
 THE END.