A Book Any Layperson Could Reference

Early settlers did not necessarily trust doctors (see last post) and were often able to circumvent seeing one by simply “reading up” on medicine, themselves. In this, they didn’t always lag so far behind a university-trained doctor, who may have only listened to a course of lectures before venturing into his profession. Several popular books were available to laypersons who wanted a reference to guide them; Every Man his own Doctor  or The Poor Planter’s Physician by Dr. John Tennent (American edition, 1734) was extremely popular.

Tennent began by condemning doctors’ high fees (whether they cured or killed the patient) and spoke of his great love for mankind as the reason for his publication. He launched into some of the commonest problems faced in the New World, such as “cough,” which he said was the foundation for many other “distempers” and therefore should be dealt with as quickly as possible.

James Gillray’s 1801 Satiric Print of a Colonial Quack

“It may be cured in the Beginning by riding moderately on Horseback every Day,” Tennent wrote. Additionally, the patient could take a little ground ivy tea sweetened with syrup of horehound at night before bed. If that did not effect a cure, the next measures followed the harsh cures of the time: “It will be proper to bleed Eight Ounces and be constant in the use of other Remedies.”

Woman Having the Vapours

The “vapours” or “hysteric fits” should start with a stomach cleanse accomplished by dosing the patient with “Indian Physic” (a perennial herb called Bowman’s root, which induced vomiting.) Next, the (usually) female patient should have her bowels purged. Among other remedies, she was urged to not let the disappointments of the world weigh upon her, and to “be cheerful in Spite of a churlish Husband, or cloudy Weather.”

Tennent’s suggestions may not have cured every illness, but they were no worse than what any physician would have recommended.