Description: Title: Discussions between Several Members of the Regular Medical Faculty, and the Thomsonian Botanic Physicians, on the Comparative Merits of their Respective Systems.Author: edited and compiled by Dr. A. Curtis, Teacher of Botanico-Medical Science.Publisher: Printed at the Office of the Thomsonian Recorder, by Jonathan Phillips, Columbus, Ohio.Publication Date: 1836, First Edition.Format: hardcover; full leather binding; red title panel on spine with gilt lettering and decorative gilt lines.Length: 400 pagesSize: 3 5/8" by 5 1/2"Provenance: The first front facing endpaper is inscribed "J. Saunders Slater, Bought in Baltimore, March, 1846." His signature and the date of 1847 also appear at the top of the Title Page. John Saunders Slater (1826-1880) had a varied professional career. In the 1840s he studied medicine in Cincinnati, at the time of the 1860 census he was a merchant in New Kent County, Virginia, and by 1880 is listed as an accountant. He served the Confederate States of America as a member of the New Kent Cavalry during the Civil War. The blog Spared & Shared 8, which is dedicated to the preservation and sharing of historical letters, documents a January 26, 1847 letter written in Cincinnati by Slater to his father, John ("Jack") Slater living in Slatersville, New Kent County, Virginia. The following excerpt of his letter clearly shows his training in Thomsonian herbal/natural medicine: "I was some grieved to learn that your health was so very feeble and delicate, and I am forcibly and sorrowfully brought to the conclusion that the vital principle which animates and sustains your physical organization will soon be overwhelmed and extinguished, unless you discard from your use, in toto, Brandreth’s Pills — a 'medicine' (?) alias, a 'prison,' which, though you may think relieves you at first, yet I do know (not conjecture) — slowly but as surely undermine the constitution as the deadly 'Bohm Upa’s;' and I know if you had seen their modus operandi as clearly and as forcibly demonstrated as I have, you would renounce — yes renounce — them forever! Now, I do beg of you to leave them off. I tell you, they drain the system of the very vitality itself. Better take no medicine at all, but confide in the recuperative natural, when you are sick, than make use of “Brandreth’s Pills” or of any other like materials. Now, when you are sick, if you won’t make use of inactive means, use the “composition” tea, sage, balm, catnip, or pennyroyal, or what is better than any, a strong tea of Boneset — all which are calculated to aid nature in her attempts to remove disease, & not to depress her. And moreover, you must be temperate and prudent in your diet & general habits. Your diet should be mostly vegetables and not too much of it. But I hope I have said enough on this subject. Follow my advice, and the result will be a restoration to a tolerable degree of health." The full text of this letter can be read at sparedshared8.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/1847-john-saunders-slater-to-jack-slater/.Description: Samuel Thomson (1769-1843) was a self-taught American herbalist and botanist, best known as the founder of the alternative system of medicine known as "Thomsonian Medicine", which enjoyed wide popularity in the United States during the 19th century. According to medicinal herbalist, Michael Moore, "Thomson's movement had affected a million or more Americans, started a medical reformation that would not peak for another 50 years, and the brightest medical minds of the time were split vehemently both against and for Thomson's right to practice...bitterly divided between Federalists and Republican politics...Populists and Elitists...rural and urban. The tribulations of this former pig farmer rocked the young republic for over a decade and were headlines everywhere. Because of the success of Thomson and his followers, states began, for the first time, regulating medical practice along party and class lines. Messy and fascinating stuff." According to the Preface "though the following discussions, first published in sundry political newspapers, in different parts of the United States, are now re-published in a more compact and permanent form, at the earnest solicitation of the friends of the Thomsonian System; yet, as they contain also, entire, all the arguments brought against it by its regular opponents; we have reason to expect that the latter will subscribe as largely to their distribution, as the former have done." The editor and compiler of Discussions, Alva Curtis (1797–1881), was a protege of Thomson who eventually broke away and established a rival botanical group, the physio-medicals. This book was printed by The Thomsonian Recorder, a semimonthly publication, which was the first and most prominent of more than 80 journals dedicated to disseminating Thomsonian medicine. Written in pencil on the last rear facing endpaper is the following, "To do good, and communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices, god is well pleased." On the facing inside back cover is penciled "A. Curtis, Ph. D." Condition: The binding is intact. The front hinge is cracked and the back hinge has some weakness. The cover is rubbed, bumped, and lightly soiled. The top and bottom of the spine are worn. The pages are foxed. The Title Page and Preface have damage along the lower margin.
Price: 185 USD
Location: Lee's Summit, Missouri
End Time: 2024-04-15T21:43:55.000Z
Shipping Cost: 4.87 USD
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Restocking Fee: No
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
Year Printed: 1836
Topic: Medicine
Binding: Leather
Subject: History
Original/Facsimile: Original
