Letter 0928

Posted on August 2, 2016 by -

John Ray to Hans Sloane – June 10, 1704


Item info

Date: June 10, 1704
Author: John Ray
Recipient: Hans Sloane

Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4039
Folio: ff. 311-312


Original Page


Transcription

Ray ordered his bookseller to give Sloane a copy of his Supplement. He agrees to look over Sloane’s introduction to The Natural History of Jamaica. 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

  • Patient info
    Name: N/A John Ray
    Gender:
    Age:76 years old.
  • Description
  • Diagnosis

    Painful leg sores.

  • Treatment
    Previous Treatment:
    Ongoing Treatment:

    Ray agrees with Sloane's advice and has avoided purging. He has a constitution that renders 'catharticks' useless unless used immoderately. He is using straight stockings and bandages.


    Response:

    Although Ray agrees that keeping his legs elevated is probably the best treatment, as recommended by Sloane, he has not been doing it. Ray still uses the bandages and stockings, '...but carelessly, and to no great effect'. He cannot bind the smalls of his legs straight because they are surrounded by ulcers. As to Sloane's suggestion to take antiscorbutics of scurvy grass, watercress, and brooklime, he worries those herbs would be too hot for him, and Millington had warned against scurvy grass.

  • More information
  • Medical problem reference
    Injuries (includes wounds, sores, bruises), Leg Sores, Pain, Skin ailments