The improved American family physician, or, Sick man's guide to health : containing a complete theory of the botanic practice of medicine, on the Thomsonian and hygeian system, with alterations and improvements : to which is appended a concise formula for compounding medicines for the cure of every complaint incident to human nature : also, a complete digest of midwifery, so that the old proverb may be verified, that every man may be his own physician.

  • Day, L. Meeker.
Date:
1833
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The improved American family physician, or, Sick man's guide to health : containing a complete theory of the botanic practice of medicine, on the Thomsonian and hygeian system, with alterations and improvements : to which is appended a concise formula for compounding medicines for the cure of every complaint incident to human nature : also, a complete digest of midwifery, so that the old proverb may be verified, that every man may be his own physician. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    administer it, as a person knows how to clear a stove and the pipe when clogged with soot, that the fire may burn free, and the whole room be warmed as before. The body, after being cleared of whatever clogs it, will consume double the food, and the food will afford double the nourishment and heat that it did before. We know that our life depends on food, and the stomach be- ing in a -situation to receive and digest it. When the stomach and bowels are clogged, all needed is, the most suitable medicine to remove the obstruction in the sys- tem. AH disease is caused by clogging the system ; and all disease is removed by restoring the digestive powers, so that food may keep up that heat on which life depends. I have found by experience, that the learned doctors are wrong in considering fever a disease or enemy ; the fever is a friend, and cold the enemy. This I found by their practice in my family, until they had five times given them over to die. Exercising my own judgment, I followed after them, and relieved my family every time. After finding a general principle respecting fevers, and reducing that to practice, I found it sure in all diseases, where there was any nature left to build on, and in three years' constant practice, I never lost one patient. 411 attended on all the fevers peculiar to our country, and always used it as a friend, and that returned the gratitude to the patient. I soon began to give this infor- mation to the people, and convinced many that they might as certainly relieve themselves of their disease, as of their hunger. The expense to them to be always able to relieve themselves and families, would be but small; and the medicine they may procure and prepare themselves. This greatly disturbed the learned doctors, and some of them undertook to destroy me, by reporting that I aged poison ; though they made no mention of my using their instruments of death, Mercury, Opium, Ratsbane, Nitre, and the Lancet. I considered it my duty to with- Itand them, though I found my overthrow was what they aimed at. A plan was once laid to take me in the night, but I escaped. Next I was indited, as though I 2