Letter 2614

Fol. 135 This comes to you by ye order of Lord Chief Justice Eyre to desire your assistance on his Lordships present indisposition. You have been acquainted with his complaints of late of a weakness in his legs and weakness from short walking or journeying. These symptoms have increased upon him since his coming to this place, but 8 or 9 days agoe his Lordship was seiz’d with violent payns in calfs which began usually about midnight and continued till 7 or 8 in ye morn with great restlessness preventing sleep. The seat of payn is ye whole length of ye legs which under ye paroxysms are extremely hott, attended at ye same time with a brisk fever, ful pulse and foul tongue. Notwithstanding this ye urine has never afforded ye least high colour or sediment, but is allways pale with an uncommon brightness or shining. Upon ye appearance of fever I have treated his Lordship with a cooling regimen, keeping ye body open with lenitive electuary and testaceous powders in a diaphoretic antimony, salt prunell and ye like. It is observable that after ye first days abstinence from flesh and wine (which he has born without any sinking of spirits) he had very good rest one night and gentle sweats, which have since fayld him yesterday morning his Lordship lost near three times of blood from ye Arm, but without giving better rest ye night past. It is very observable that his Appetite continued not ye least palld by his low Diet of which he eats freely and drinks of thin liquors very plentifully. I have this morn given him a gentle purgation of tamaurel, senna, manna, cream of tartar. I have hitherto expected absolution by gentle sweat but still disappointed, or at least as ye fever seems to be of ye intermittent kind (for all ye day he is very… and easy) his case would afford a fair indic for ye cortex…