358 PHltOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1772^ 



time, besides the farther spreading of the irruption itself, the integuments of 

 the legs thickened very much, and the limbs swelled to such a degree, as to 

 render him unable to walk. The quantity of branny scurf and scales thrown 

 off, at this time, was very great; he says, " handfuls might have been taken out 

 of his bed every morning." 



In this unhappy situation, even loathsome to himself, it was recommended to 

 him to take the juice of water parsnep, in the quantity of one common table- 

 spoonful every morning, fasting, mixed with 2 spoonfuls of white mountain 

 wine. Accordingly, about the middle of January 1771, he procured a half-pint 

 phial of what was so called, by means of the person who had recommended it, 

 and who had assured him that he had been greatly relieved, in a similar disorder, 

 by it. The first spoonful he took did not begin to give any great uneasiness for 

 2 hours, but after that time, his head began to be aftected in a very extraordinary 

 manner; a violent sickness soon succeeded, and violent vomiting; and, after he 

 was put to bed, there came on cold sweats, and a very strong and long con- 

 tinued rigor, so that the people about him thought him dying for some time; 

 but, in a few hours, all these symptoms wore off. 



Such, however, had been the inveteracy of his disorder, and so strong his 

 desire to find relief, that he determined not to desist; and, after having omitted 

 his medicine for one day, he repeated it, in nearly the same dose, and with 

 similar effects as to sickness and vomiting, though the uncommon sensation in 

 his head, and the succeeding rigor, were by no means so violent. He had reso- 

 lution enough to continue this dose every other morning, for more than a fort- 

 night, and then reduced it to 3 tea-spoonfuls, which was just the half of the 

 first dose. 



Before he had taken this juice one month, he was sensible of a very great 

 change for the better ; encouraged therefore by these appearances, he persevered 

 in its use till the middle of April, by which time his skin, though not quite 

 cleared, yet had ceased to throw off any more scurf, was become soft, clean, 

 and well conditioned, and, as he has repeatedly assured me, he got then into a 

 much better conditioned state than he had experienced for many years before. 

 From first to last, this juice never purged him; though he says, even in its 

 reduced dose, it never failed to occasion a dizziness of the head, a nausea and 

 sickness, which were not unfrequently succeeded by a vomiting, that always in- 

 stantly relieved his head. 



From the middle of April to the middle of June, he desisted from the use of 

 the juice, but, in its stead, drank every morning for breakfast, the infusion of 

 the leaves of the same plant, which, he says, is like common bohea tea. The 

 infusion seldom occasioned nausea, or sickness, but always brought on a small 



