A narrative of the life and medical discoveries of Samuel Thomson : containing an account of his system of practice, and the manner of curing disease with vegetable medicine, upon a plan entirely new / written by himself.

  • Thomson, Samuel, 1769-1843.
Date:
1833
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A narrative of the life and medical discoveries of Samuel Thomson : containing an account of his system of practice, and the manner of curing disease with vegetable medicine, upon a plan entirely new / written by himself. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    which made him more popular with the faculty, but less useful to his fellow creatures. My mind was bent on learning the medical prop- erties of such vegetables as I mot with, and was constantly tasting every thing of the kind J and having a retentive memory, I have always re- collected the taste and use of all that were ever shown me by others, and likewise of all that I dis- covered myself. The practice of tasting of herbs and roots has been of great advantage to me, as I have always been able to ascertain what is useful for any particular disease by that means. I was often told that I should poison myself by tasting every thing I saw; but I thought I ought to have as much knowledge as a beast, for the Creator had given them an instinct to diccover what is good for Food, and what is necessary for medicine. I had but very little knowledge of disease at this time; but had a great inclination to learn, whenever I had an opportunity; and my own experience whicb is the best school, had often calked my attention to the subject. The herb which Iliad discovered when four years old, I had often met with; but it had never occur- red to me that it was of any value as a medicine, until about this time—when mowing in a field with a number of men one day, I cut a sprig of it, and gave to the man next me, who eat it; when we had got to the end of the piece, which was about six rods, he said that he believed what I had given him would kill him, for he never felt so in his life. I looked at him, and saw that he was in a most profuse perspiration, being as wet all over as he could be; he trembled very much, and there was no more color in him than a corpse.— I told him to go to the spring and drink some wa- ter* ho attempted to go and got as far as the wall