John Ray to Hans Sloane – March 29, 1705*
Item info
Date: March 29, 1705* Author: John Ray Recipient: Hans SloaneLibrary: British Library, London Manuscript: Sloane MS 4039 Folio: ff. 280-281
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Language
English
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Library
British Library, London
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Categories
Medical
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Subjects
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Date (as written)
March 29, 1705*
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Standardised date
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Origin (as written)
Black Notley
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Others mentioned
Sr Thomas Millington
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Patients mentioned
John Ray
Original Page
Transcription
*Note that Ray has incorrectly marked the date on this letter; by March 29, 1705, Ray had been dead for some time. The letter is actually from 1704. Ray was a theologian and naturalist who collected and catalogued his botanical findings in the much lauded Historia plantarum (1686, 1688) (Scott Mandelbrote, Ray , John (16271705), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2005 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23203, accessed 18 June 2013]).
Patient Details
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Patient info
Name: N/A John Ray
Gender:
Age:76 years old. -
Description
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Diagnosis
Leg ulcers, which Sir Thomas Millington has diagnosed as incurable via outward applications; only internal medicine will suffice. His legs and feet are also swelling and pitting.
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Treatment
Previous Treatment:
Millington gave Ray the recipe for a diet drink: watercress, brooklime, dock-roots, a few alder leaves, all boiled in wort instead of hops, all worked up in a vessel.
Ongoing Treatment:
Response:Ray tried the drink once, and 'received some benefit', but did not keep up with the treatment as winter was coming and it did not work as suddenly as he expected.
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More information
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Medical problem reference
Pitting, Injuries (includes wounds, sores, bruises), Skin ailments, Leg Sores, Swelling