I must admit to some trepidation when I decided to make the
hero of my upcoming release, The Artist’s Healer, a physician. Medicine
and the medical profession aren’t subjects I delve into much today, so tackling
them in the nineteenth century seemed daunting. But once again, I was delighted
that my research (lovely, lovely research) turned up some wonderful source
materials, including a treatise that was used to teach medicine during the
early nineteenth century. My copy was the sixteenth edition, published in 1798 and
authored by Dr. William Buchan, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians,
Edinburgh.
Dr. Buchan was something of a celebrity. His treatise was
first published in 1769, and the last edition was published in 1871, decades
after his death. It was translated into most European languages. The full title
(and it’s a whopper!) is Domestic Medicine; Or, A Treatise on the Prevention
and Cure of Diseases by Regimen and Simple Medicines, With an Appendix,
Containing a Dispensatory for the Use of Private Practitioners. To which are
Added, Observations on the Diet of the Common People Recommending a Method of
Living Less Expensive, and More Conducive to Health, Than the Present. Phew!
But what tickled me most about the book was the entire chapter
devoted to saltwater bathing and drinking mineral waters at a spa.
Dr. Buchman has a number of concerns about spas. “No part of
the practice of medicine is of greater importance, or merits more the attention
of the physician, as many lives are lost, and numbers ruin their health, by
cold [saltwater] bathing, and the imprudent use of the mineral waters.”
According to Buchman, only a physician in residence at a spa
will have occasion to both know the properties of the waters and to apply them
to cure disease. When used improperly, he claims saltwater bathing can cause
apoplexy, fever, and diseases that outlast any benefit. He thinks even less
highly of warm water bathing but acknowledges that it is little used in Britain.
(Personally, I wouldn’t brag about that!)
He does, however, believe that saltwater bathing is
particularly useful for those living in populous cities, who “indulge in
idleness and lead sedimentary lives.” He advises it for the nervous, which
“includes a great number of the male and almost all of the female inhabitants
of great cities.” Humph! He also discusses the practice of throwing cold water
over a person coming out of a warm bath. “Though this may not injure a Russian
peasant, we would not recommend it to the inhabitants of this country.”
He has more to say about drinking mineral waters. He recommends
drinking a little over time, because too much too fast will cause a “purge.” (Anyone
who has endured the preparations for a colonoscopy will understand fully.) He
prescribes a half pint glass at bedtime and an hour before breakfast, dinner,
and supper.
But my favorite recommendation? When one goes to a spa to
drink the waters, it is best to relax, breathe the fresh air, stroll the shops,
and enjoy the company. My hero physician, and the citizens of Grace-by-the-Sea,
would agree.
