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What common condition can be treated with cow dung? How do crushed
oystershells ease heartburn? Can eels cure deafness? And how do you
stop a stubborn case of the hiccups? If someone was struck down by
illness or injury in the late eighteenth century, the chances are
that they would have referred to William Buchan's Domestic Medicine
- with the result that they might have found themselves drinking a
broth made from sheep brain or administering drops of urine in
their ears. The book's author, a Scottish physician, published his
self-help manual in 1769 specifically for the benefit of people who
were unable readily to access or afford medical assistance. Copies
could be found in coffee-houses, in apothecary shops and private
households, and in 1789 Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers
took the sensible precaution of grabbing the copy from HMS Bounty
before they fled to Pitcairn Island. Much of Dr Buchan's advice on
how to live a healthy life and avoid disease is still sound and
relevant today, such as eating a varied and healthy diet, breathing
plenty of fresh air, and taking exercise. Many of his prescriptions
are amusing when viewed in retrospect, such as his fondness for
powdered Spanish fly and genital trusses. Other recommendations -
bleeding a woman experiencing a difficult childbirth or
administering mercury to treat numerous ailments - were downright
dangerous. This edited selection of entries from one of the first
medical self-help manuals gives a fascinating insight into popular
treatments of the eighteenth century, derived both from folklore
and the emerging medical science of the day.
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