Letter 2738

Posted on August 2, 2016 by -

Victor Ferguson to Hans Sloane – May 14, 1698


Item info

Date: May 14, 1698
Author: Victor Ferguson
Recipient: Hans Sloane

Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4037
Folio: ff. 73-74


Original Page


Transcription

Ferguson notes that the recent letter he received from Sloane was the only one ‘come to hand these severall years’. He wants to be informed of interesting happenings in medicine and asks if there is any information on ‘Ipecacoana root’ being used to cure dysentery. He notes that much of one’s time is spent in transit when practicing rural medicine. Ferguson is reading interesting books and consulting Mr Hamilton, a patient they have in common. Victor Ferguson (d. 1729) was a physician of Newtown, near Belfast (Toby C. Bernard, A New Anatomy of Ireland: The Irish Protestants, 1649-1770 (Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2003), ch. 5; “Fergusons of Belfast” URL: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~colin/FergusonsOfIreland/Belfast.htm).



Patient Details

  • Patient info
    Name: N/A Mr. Hamilton's Son
    Gender:
    Age:None
  • Description

    The son had a 'Mordant constitution' and had contracted the measles, though the symptoms were not pronounced. The extreme weather was having an effect on the condition

  • Diagnosis
  • Treatment
    Previous Treatment:

    He was bled and purged


    Ongoing Treatment:

    The apothecary Mr Fairly gave the boy a medicine without Ferguson's knowledge, which irritated Ferguson


    Response:

    All of the doctors involved were at a loss as to what should be done. Ferguson requests Sloane give his advice

  • More information
  • Medical problem reference
    Measles