Such was the case with a schoolmaster, who when living, resided in the
village of H—. He prematurely suffered from Idiopathic irritation of the
bladder, for on carefully sounding him, no stone could be detected, and
therefore it was conceived, that inflammatory action in that viscus
existed, which accompanied with pain at intervals, especially during the
night annoyed him exceedingly. Disease advancing, he consulted a general
practitioner in the neighbourhood, and subsequently other medical men,
among them an eminent physician in Norwich. But the obstinacy of the
disease soon caused his confidence to be shaken, and fearing the result,
he yielded to the foolish solicitation of meddling acquaintance, who
persuaded him to consult a notorious quack. Complying with their wish,
he followed the advice given by the remorseless pretender to knowledge in
disease, and applied bullock’s milts to the feet, partook of stimulants
(ammonia and spirits of turpentine) in the day, with brandy and laudanum
at night; on taking only two doses of the former, his anguish increased
considerably, which became partially allayed by the laudanum, but no
sleep succeeded—the expression “the complaint has flown upwards,” escaped
the lips of the dying man, and delirium closed the scene.
To consult the accelerator of his death—the iniquitous quack—he undertook
a journey of forty miles, only four days previously; and although the
disease might eventually have killed him, still his condition was good,
emaciation had made but little progress, and his appetite continued
excellent. From taking stimulants, the gradual decay of nature was
denied him. His agony was such, that in cases like his, an Infinite and
Merciful Being has wisely ordained that collapse should take place, that
the nervous system should receive a lasting shock, and thus was the
schoolmaster the victim of credulity, relieved of his earthly pilgrimage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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