Letter 3246

Posted on August 2, 2016 by -

Richard Middleton Massey to Hans Sloane – January 9, 1725/26


Item info

Date: January 9, 1725/26
Author: Richard Middleton Massey
Recipient: Hans Sloane

Library: British Library, London
Manuscript: Sloane MS 4048
Folio: ff. 122-123


Original Page


Transcription

Massey’s neighbour requests Sloane’s medical advice. Richard Middleton Massey (1678-1743) attended Brasenose College, Oxford but left before obtaining a degree. In 1706 he was admitted Extra-Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians and settled in Wisbech where he practiced medicine. Massey was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1712. He compiled the catalogue of the library of the Royal College of Physicians in 1727 (http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/2969).



Patient Details

  • Patient info
    Name: N/A Unnamed
    Gender:
    Age:
  • Description

    The patient has pain in the 'fore part of his head', which began at Michaelmas and continued for a time. He attempted to make the pain go away with alcohol, which only made it worse. Roughly 'once in a fortnight [...] he would be of a sudden frequently blind for a minute of two'. The man can 'distinguish light but not colours'. He experiences trembling in his knees.

  • Diagnosis

    Massey examined the man's eyes and could find nothing out of the ordinary. The quack told the patient he suffered from 'a gutta serena'.

  • Treatment
    Previous Treatment:

    Massey prescribed 'chalybeat wth bitters'.


    Ongoing Treatment:

    A 'quack of London' gave the man 'some drops wch he says will cure him however he [the patient] is not willing to trust him, but desires yr [Sloane's] prescription'.


    Response:

    The 'chalybeat wth bitters' cured the man's eye problems.

  • More information
  • Medical problem reference
    Eyes, Pain, Head