RHEUMATISM. 631 



There was one physician whose treatment seemed to be wonder- 

 fully successful in giving relief. Whenever she was taken suddenly,, 

 he was accustomed ,to immediately call in this physician. The lady 

 being taken with a violent attack, and he going hurrjedly for the 

 physician, he found him just leaving to call on a patient that needed 

 his immediate attention. Upon his making known his business, the- 

 physician said, " I cannot possibly go now ; but if you will go and 

 get a preparation of aconite [which he described], I guess she will 

 come out all right." Said he, " Iwent and got the aconite, and gave 

 as directed. She got Well, and," he added in a laughing way, " I 

 never went back for him afterward ; and if taken in time, I '11 war- 

 rant it will cure any case of rheumatism." 



A year or two afterward, being suddenly exposed to a cold, 

 chilling rain, in the fall, without being provided with suitable under- 

 clothing, I was taken with a severe attack of rheumatism in the right 

 side and arm. I was in the country, where I could not obtain any 

 medicine, and was compelled to wait for thirty-six hours, until I 

 reached a point where there was a drug store, and obtained a little 

 of the ordinary tincture of aconite. Of this I took six or eight drops 

 three or four times a day. Within twelve hours I was sensibly, re- 

 lieved, and within two or three days I was well. During the suc- 

 ceeding twelve or fourteen years I had several severe attacks, and 

 each time was entirely relieved in from a few hours to a few days, 

 by the use of the same remedy. But I was careful to take it 

 promptly on the first appearance of the trouble. , 



During my professional experience I was constantly subject to 

 rheumatic attacks, there being a constant predisposition to them, 

 compelling me to exercise the greatest precaution. To illustrate 

 some of these attacks and the effects of the remedy, I would mention 

 that there was such a constant inclination to it in the right arm and 

 shoulder that every change of weather would be felt by me. For ex- 

 ample, in Natick, Mass., when getting out of bed in the morning, the 

 arm being strained a little, a violent attack set in, and in an hour or 

 .two I could not raise my arm to a horizontal position, the pain being 

 so intense as to be almost unbearable. I immediately obtained a lit- 

 tle .aconite, took it as before stated, and by four o'clock that day I 

 could easily raise the arm to the head, and in two or three days the 

 trouble was all gone-. 



The last attack was in the hip, occurring about three years be- 

 fore this writing (1887). It also set in upon getting out of bed in 

 the morning. The pain soon became intense, and I could scarcely 

 walk. This attack seemed so severe that I felt doubtful of being re- 

 lieved by my old remedy. I concluded, however, to try it, and, to 



