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G.R. HILL : 1885 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL OF 19TH CENTURY 'ECLECTIC MEDICAL' EDUCATION USING MANY OF THE FORBIDDEN AND DANGEROUS DRUGS OF TODAY

Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. On offer is a super, very interesting manuscript relic of 19th Century medical and pharmacological knowledge, treatment and procedure being a 200 page large 12 x 7.5 inch notebook handwritten by G.R. Hill in 1885 while he was a student at the Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati. The book is an incredible snapshot of medical science before the age of aspirin, penicillin, and other game changers. We note that in some cases the cures appear worse than the diseases. [There is an examination section at the end where presumably you answered and were then given a medical license. There is also a section on "Civil Malpractice" dated 1885 given by one 'Professor Christian' that goes into the patient being able to recoup monies for remedies gone wrong.] HISTORICAL NOTES: The Institute was part of the 'Eclectic Movement' in medicine focusing on herbal and other curatives to relieve the pain and discomfort of symptoms and at the time considered an radical and progressive alternative in an era where bleeding and purging patients was still the norm. Graduating and becoming Dr G R Hill, he practiced in Chicago and in Kendall, Wisconsin. He then contributed to various Eclectic Medical Journals through the early 1900s. The Eclectic Medical Institute began in the 1840s and by the 1880s was at its peak. Many prominent doctors taught there, and what this notebook contains is nothing short of the entire course curriculum for the college, including the professors and their departments, the curriculum for each department, the body's diseases and their cures, and many many RX's using different herbs and substances, many derived from ancient origins, especially from the Chinese. Let us remember that this was before the use even of aspirin, so this is the dark ages indeed for medicine. The notes in here go into Venereal Diseases like Syphilis and Gonorrhoea quite a bit. It was taught by Professor H K Whitford. Of course, fevers, respiratory diseases, and other internal diseases are mentioned also. We note with fascination that many treatments include what are today considered illegal or highly dangerous drugs: Cannabis Indices, Cocaine, Cantharides (Spanish Fly), opium, Digitalis, Cyanide, acids galore, and other potentially deadly "curatives". These are found at the back of this notebook, which contains over 100 pages of herbal and other medicines all alphabetized, their RX's and their uses. For instance, Cannabis Americana and Cannabis Indices (marijuana) were at this time synthesized into a "resin and volatile oil." You were to take "1 to 5 M every 3 hours by resin or oil." It was used for "passive haemorrhage from uterus and cystitis; also gonorrhoea, syphilis, chronic celulitis, profuse menstruation," and a cure for "Nymphomania!" One took Cannabis Indices for this 'disease', which was exhibited as "A hyperthesia of nerves that supply the sex organs." So, it dilated the blood vessels and purportedly stopped the problem. In "excessive sexual intercourse," it goes on to state, "or in excessive masturbation, small dose of Cannabis Indices frequently repeated every 3 to 4 hours in 1/2 to 1 m dose." There are also cures in here for an opium habit and a cure for alcoholism, which they thought "dilated the brain blood vessels." Cocaine, Digitalis, Spanish Fly and Cyanide are also used for symptoms of maladies which today are quite laughable. However, many oils derived from flowers and plants in this compendium are still used today, like Eucalyptus Oil, Wintergreen, various teas, and other oils which you can buy anywhere today. Overall VG.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Very Good

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