If the difficulty of conducting the operation of antimony, renders the general application of it, in regular practice, dangerous, it must, as a secret remedy, in the hands of those who have no medicinal skill, be still more pernicious. But as some secrets, now, universally extolled, are avowed, by their proprietors, to be preparations of antimony, let us next proceed to examine their claim to the high character which they have obtained. For this purpose the fever-powder may be selected, since if the impropriety and danger of its general use should be demonstrated, the arguments in favour of less celebrated secrets will not require a serious refutation. Unpleasing as the task may be, and however odious, to some, it may render the man who undertakes it, yet the great importance of life and health requires, that the precepts of the most illustrious physicians should not pass without examination, nor secret and mysterious remedies be adopted with implicit faith. The devout solemnity with which the fever-powder is ushered into the world, the exorcisms against detractors and malicious persecutors, and the invocation of God to support his own work, being in the usual stile of the mystical chymists, require no comment. As there may be some, says the Inventor, whose lucrative views may tempt them to persecute me, and the method I propose, with all the detraction and falsehood which may be expected from self-interest and unprovoked revenge, these I shall advise to save themselves a good deal of unnecessary trouble, and to let it alone; for if it be of men it will come to nought, The process for making it has been carefully concealed, while its being an antimonial preparation, hath, with industry and ostentation, been universally published. From the view which has already been given of the natural history of antimony, its analysis and chymical properties, its preparations and their medical effects, it has, I By a judicious regulation of the doses of different preparations of antimony, by guarding against the pernicious effects which might arise from the virulent particles which it contains, by directing such food, drink, and medicines as may promote its salutary operation, and prohibiting those by which it might be rendered noxious; skilful and experienced physicians have been able, in singular instances, to render it a safe and efficacious remedy: but when it has been accidentally or imprudently given in too large doses Had, therefore, the Inventor discovered a method of divesting this Proteus-like mineral of all pernicious qualities, and rendering it a medicine invariably safe and efficacious, however combined with other remedies, or mixed with a variety of humours, food, and drink in the stomach, his powder would have been more proper for common use, and might have been trusted, in unskilful hands, with less danger, than other antimonial preparations. But it does not in this respect lay any claim to superiority. Supposing, says the Inventor, physicians perfectly well skilled in the preparation and uses of it, that knowledge will inform them, that nothing can be added to it that will in any degree increase its virtues; or rather that no addition can be made to it that will not diminish them By this frank declaration we understand that the fever-powder retains the mutability of antimony, and is, from slight accidents, changed from a salutary medicine to a noxious substance; and hence proceeds the Inventor’s anxiety to prevent improper combinations. But the dread of dangerous consequences, or some other cause, has led him unwarily and inconsistently to depreciate his powder, and reduce it below all other antimonial preparations; for though by certain additions the virtues of antimony may be diminished, yet by others they may be improved; and this, it is probable, from the known properties of that mineral, will also hold with the fever-powder, although the contrary is here expressly asserted. But, lest the assertion should give unfavourable impressions, it is immediately retracted; and we are told that, occasion may sometimes occur of employing, advantageously, These contradictions are suspicious, but if the efficacy of the medicine is confirmed by authentic facts, the Inventor may still be intitled to our confidence; and for this purpose some cases are related in which it was successfully used: the first is that of Mrs. Morton, on which it is remarked, that many gentlewomen were present during her whole disorder, saw her take the medicine, observed the effects, and are ready to give their testimony to the truth of what has been asserted. From what has been advanced on this subject, it clearly appears, that the operation of antimony is precarious, and its effects uncertain. Not only the most skilful physicians have given various and contradictory opinions concerning it, But though the cases had been attested by competent judges, yet the inferences in favour of the powder are not warranted by the circumstances related. Thus Mr. French of St. Albans street, late Surgeon of his Majesty’s ship the Levant, “having given These are not the only circumstances in which the evidence is deceitful; successful cases are industriously published, while those ending fatally Those who use it often become insensibly interested in advancing its reputation, and are not only incompetent judges, but partial in their testimony. Thus some who, with horror and remorse have applied for assistance, accusing themselves of murder, and vowing, for ever, to renounce quackery, have afterwards triumphed and assumed the credit of cures of which they had absolutely despaired, though the sick were, by other means, rescued from the danger incurred by the severe operation of this violent remedy; while others, shocked by the fatal consequences of their facility and misplaced confidence, wish to banish it for ever from their remembrance. The cases must therefore be dismissed as insufficient A proof of its salutary influence is attempted to be drawn from the bills of mortality. Fewer having, on an average, died in the space of thirteen years, from the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty, to the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three, than in the preceding thirteen years; this decrease in the funerals amounting to sixty-two thousand, two-hundred and sixty-six, is attributed to the fever-powder It might with some plausibility be objected, that the bills of mortality being collected from the reports of incompetent judges, cannot be admitted as proper evidence of the fact; but as no extraordinary skill seems necessary for the employment, and as the bills cannot be supposed to be made up with any partial intention, this argument In collecting this proof, the whole circle of disorders, accidents and casualties has been calculated, though the powder was then only recommended for fevers. It has, indeed, been since extended to other diseases, but our examination shall be restricted to fevers, during the period to which the Inventor refers. Though some of the cases which he relates happened in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-one, yet the medicine was not much known till one thousand seven hundred and fifty, the Æra from which its auspicious influence on the bills of mortality is dated. But antimonial medicines were more in fashion before the powder came into general use, than The something, it is well known, was essence of antimony or tartar emetic, medicines under the direction of prudent practitioners, similar in their operation and in their effects, not only to each other, but also to the fever-powder; and though the Inventor has perhaps too The numbers of those who died of fevers from the year one thousand seven hundred and thirty-eight, to one thousand seven hundred and fifty, including a series of thirteen years, is fifty-five thousand four hundred and ninety, and those in a like series of years, immediately succeeding, is thirty-six thousand three hundred and seventy-two; consequently nineteen thousand one hundred and eighteen fewer have died in the latter than in the former period, and this has, with some appearance of justice, been urged as a proof of the efficacy of the fever-powder. But if this decrease in the funerals were actually owing to that medicine, it should have been still more observable in the last ten years, when the powder has been more universally used. But, in that period, thirty-five thousand four hundred and ninety-four have died, and consequently, the number of deaths, by fevers, have increased eight thousand seven hundred and eighty; and if inflammation, rash, and sore-throat, which were included in the former calculations, are added, the number will amount, nearly, to ten thousand, and therefore, on an average, one thousand, or near one-third more have died, of fevers, every year, in the last ten years, while the medicine has been universally used, than in the thirteen immediately preceding. The proof, therefore, from the bills of mortality is fatal to the fame of the fever-powder, and the decrease in the funerals during the thirteen years to which the Inventor appeals for the But an appeal to the sum-total of the funerals, to prove the efficacy of the fever-powder, is unfair and inconclusive, since a great number of deaths happen from disorders, accidents and casualties with which it cannot possibly have any connection. That it might have a fair trial, our calculation has been restricted to fevers; and if the other diseases, in which it is recommended, had been included, the evidence would have been still more unfavourable. Another argument in favour of the powder is, if it had not been attended with general success, it could not, amidst the opposition of Physicians, have grown into reputation. But transitions, from the highest approbation of antimony, to the absolute condemnation of it, have been so frequent, and are so familiar As to the opposition of physicians, the Inventor, indeed, that the prophecy with which he set out might be fulfilled Were we not witnesses of his triumph, we should naturally conclude that he had suffered as a martyr in the cause of truth and humanity. Yet we find, in his Dissertation, many cases in which the powder was given under the sanction of eminent physicians, and these, too, produced by the author, in proof of its efficacy; though by his own account of the medicine, it is of all others the most improper to be used without an accurate knowledge of its composition, and cannot therefore be prescribed by physicians on any justifiable principles; although they may, from facility or complaisance, yield to the importunity and prejudice of the sick or their relations, and assent, even against their better judgement, to its administration. When the fever-powder is given, says the Inventor, no other medicine should be taken either with it, or during the course It may be left to the Author to explain how those physicians, who do not But so far is this heinous charge of committing murder to discredit the powder from being supported by any shadow of proof, that physicians, on the contrary, have been complaisant to excess, or culpably indolent, in suffering the many misrepresentations concerning this medicine to pass uncensured and unexposed; and those who, from the most laudable principles, have In the course of more than twenty years practice, though I have never prescribed this medicine, yet, I have not, after fairly declaring my opinion, opposed its being given, when desired by the sick or their relations; and as the cure, where I have been concerned, has been wholly committed to it, without the addition of any medicine, or even regimen, excepting what is prescribed in the printed directions, or what the Inventor himself has ordered, some fair opportunities have occurred of observing its effects, to which, and In some instances it has occasioned fainting, convulsions, and other violent symptoms, which terrified those who gave it. In all which I have seen, it has proved unsuccessful, though, in some cases the cure has afterwards been accomplished by safer methods; and in those where it was too late to use other remedies, the sick have died, although it was probable they might have recovered by a different management, which has succeeded in similar instances, but from an abused and misplaced confidence, has too often been set aside to make way for this favourite medicine. An argument still remains in favour of the powder drawn from the credit due to its Inventor. If that is impeached When our assent is demanded, on the credibility of the relator, to any fact which we are not permitted to examine, we can only judge of its probability from his known accuracy and ability. Several specimens of these have occurred in the course of our enquiry. Quotations have been misrepresented But the inaccuracy betrayed in the directions given with the powder, is sufficient to put us on our guard. The best general and plain direction, we are told, is to repeat half a paper, or ten grains and a half of the powder once in six hours But not to insist on the contradictions abounding in this dissertation, one more only shall be mentioned. No addition, it has been said, can be made to this medicine, by which its virtues will not be diminished, and that assertion has again been retracted; but as one affirmation is as good as another, that there may be no doubt which is to be credited, the Inventor being extremely cautious of leading any one The real motives assigned for these contradictions and this mysterious conduct, waving whatever artifices might be employed by way of palliation or disguise, are represented without reserve, and with that sincerity which will stand the strictest scrutiny. The Inventor was very cautious of divulging a medicine of such vast importance, because if it failed of success, it would subject him to infinite reproach. He was so ignorant as to expect assistance and applause from every one concerned in any branch of physic, not considering that a miliary or nervous fever of twenty days continuance, was attended with greater emoluments than one that terminated in two or three. But he had soon an opportunity of discovering his error, for some became his avowed enemies, without the least pretence to any provocation; whilst others, with the countenance Thus, from the parade, ostentation, and mysterious secrecy, with which this medicine has been published, from its resemblance to the Berlin specific febrifuge, from its being prepared from an arsenical mineral, and easily converted into a noxious substance; from the difficulty of ascertaining the dose, and conducting its operation, and from the necessity of calling in other medical |