Essai sur les scrophules, soutenu a l'école de Médecine de Paris, le vendémiaire an 10.
Paris: De l'Imprimerie de J.A. Brousson, [1801]. A little light foxing. Very good. [with:] SALMADE, M.A. Précis d'observations pratiques sur les maladies de la lymphe, ou affections scrophuleuses et rachitiques, etc. Seconde édition. Paris: Chez Merlin, 1810. 248 pp. [and:] BODARD, D.M. Des engorgemens des glandes, vulgairement connus sous le nom de scrofules, ecrouelles ou humeurs froids; de l'utilit'e des diverses preparations des feuilles et des racines de Tussilage, dans le traitement de ces maladies. Troisième edition. Paris: Chez Lelong, Libraire...1816. [and:] DUHAMEL, le Docteur. Considérations pratiques sur les maladies scrofuleuses et leur traitment par les préparations d'or. Paris: J.B. Baillière, 1839. [and:] INSTITUT DE FRANCE, Académie des Sciences. Rapport sur un mémoire de M. Le Dr. A. Legrand intitulé: De l'or dans le traitement des scrofules...[Paris: 1837]. Bound together in quarter calf over decorative boards. Octavo. [6], 53 pp. Item #7164
A collection of rare pieces on scrofula. Though the authors of these articles have excellent credentials, which are usually noted on the title-pages, there is no biographical information readily available about any of them. None of the pieces in this volume appears in Garrison and Morton, and none are listed in MELVYL, nor are dates for any of them available in the standard sources. Scrofula or "...the King's Evil is a very grievous and obstinate Disease, ever since Edward the Confessor's Time, because said to be cured by him and other succeeding Kings, both of England and France. Above ninety-two thousand Persons are recorded to have been touched for it by King Charles the Second only, and with what Success is variously related, disputed, and believed...The lowest Degree of this Disorder seems to be the Swelling of the Upper Lip, without any apparent Cause, which I look upon as an infallible Sign of the Evil in the Habit of Body, though no other Appearances. Sometimes both Lips, the Nose, and Cheeks inflame and swell, the lower Jaw-bones are often troubled with Swellings on and about them, and cause bad and rotten Teeth. Frequent Ulcers on the Gums, and many Swellings under the Ears, Jaws, and Chin, and many Parts of the Neck and Shoulders, sometimes smooth, moveable, and not discoloured, or painful; at other times come to Sores..." (Morley, An Essay on the Nature and Cure of Scrophulous Disorders, Vulgarly called the King's Evil...8th edition, 1772). Since the beginning, medicine has been attempting to find a more scientific and less superstitious explanation for these various ailments, causes and cures. The present work is a later and more scientific presentation of what today we know as tuberculosis.
Price: $600.00