Letter 2453

Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet to Hans Sloane – February 25, 1720/21


Item info

Date: February 25, 1720/21
Author: Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet
Recipient: Hans Sloane

Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4046
Folio: ff. 68-69



Original Page



Transcription

Thomas Tufton (1644-1729), 6th Earl of Thanet, was a nobleman and politician. He served as Captain of the Troop of Horse, Member of Parliament for Appelby from 1668 to 1679, and was eventually invested as a Privy Councillor in 1702. He was Lord-Lieutenant of Cumberland from 1712 to 1714 (G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ‘The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant’, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume III, page 297).




Patient Details

  • Patient info
    Name: N/A Young Maid
    Gender:
    Age:
  • Description

    Tufton thinks he has gout, but is unsure as the condition subsided after 'four daies'. Then his stomach began to act up. He has had a 'loosness' for a few days, which was 'Occasioned by something that did not Agree with [his] stomach'.

  • Diagnosis

    He believes a 'Goutish humour' has something to do with his illness.

  • Treatment
    Previous Treatment:

    He took 'Gore Stone and Gascoin powder', which had little effect so he took 'Rawleighs Cordiall and the Gore Stone'. Tufton also took 'pearl powder in A glass of Bath water', but it did not agree with him. He found that 'Mixing Bath water with [his] wine at meals' agrees with him.


    Ongoing Treatment:

    He is going to take 'Rhubarb' and continue with 'this Cordiall' as Sloane suggested.


    Response:

    The 'gripings [have] much lessend' after he adjusted the dosages. His pains are less pronounced 'when [he is] Empty'. Tufton complains: 'I am too old to take Potions and Pills but Any sort of Cordialls Agrees with me'. His pain has subsided, but he is still taken by 'A gripeing'.

  • More information
  • Medical problem reference
    Smallpox, Mental Illness, Pain, Gout, Stomach, Digestion