"As he lay in a small back room adjoining the yard, it happened that one of his sons, in turning a waggon and horses, drove the tongue of the waggon with such force against the window, near which the old man lay stretched on a bed, as to beat in the sash of the window, and to scatter the pieces of broken glass all about him. To such a degree was he alarmed by the noise and violence, that he instantly leaped out of bed, forgot that he had ever used crutches, and eagerly inquired what was the matter. His wife, hearing the uproar, ran into the room, where, to her astonishment, she found her husband on his feet, bawling against the author of the mischief, with the most passionate vehemence. From _that_ moment, he has been entirely exempt from the gout, has never had the slightest touch of it, and _now_ enjoys perfect health, has a good appetite, and says he was never heartier in his life. This is probably the more remarkable, when I add, that he has always been used to the hard work of a farm, and _since_ the year 1785 has frequently mowed in his own meadow, which I understand is low and wet. I am well informed, in his mode of living, he has been temperate, occasionally indulging in a glass of wine, after the manner of the German farmers, but not to excess. "To you, who have been long accustomed to explore diseases, I leave the task of developing the principles, on which this mysterious restoration from the lowest decrepitude and bodily wretchedness, to a state of perfect health, has been accomplished. I well know that tooth-achs, head-achs, hiccoughs, &c. are often removed by the sudden impression of fear, and that they return again. But to see a debilitated gouty frame instantly restored to vigour; to see the whole system in a moment, as it were, undergo a perfect and entire change, and the most inveterate and incurable disease _radically_ expelled, is surely a _different_ thing, and must be acknowledged a very singular and marvellous event. If an old man, languishing under disease and infirmity, had _died_ of mere fright, nobody would have been surprised at it; but that he should be absolutely cured, and his constitution renovated by it, is a most extraordinary fact, which, while I am compelled to believe by unexceptionable evidence, I am totally at a loss to account for. I am your sincerely affectionate brother, JACOB RUSH." These facts, and many similar ones which might be mentioned, afford ample encouragement to proceed in enumerating the means which are proper to prevent the recurrence of the gout, or, in other words, to eradicate it from the system.