1845 Family Physician by Alfred Folger RARE South Carolina Medical Book CHEROKEE

Description: The Family Physician: Being a Domestic Medical Work, Written in Plain Style, and Divided into Four Parts: the First, Devoted to Hygiene, or the Art of Preserving Health: the Second, to the History and Cure of General Diseases: the Third, to the History and Cure of Diseases Incident to Children and Females: and the Fourth, to the History of Medicines, &c., &c. By Alfred M. Folger Published: Z.D. Cottrell, Spartanburg C.H., S.C., 1845.1st edition. Hardcover in full calf leather binding w/ gold stamped spine label, stamp on ffep of “The Property of the Country Doctor Museum, Box 34, Bailey, N.C.”, 5.5" x 8.75”, 320 pp.Alfred M. Folger, a southern doctor who practiced in Stokes County, North Carolina and in Pickens, South Carolina. According to the title page, Folger was "formerly one of the attending physicians in the Cherokee Hospital," a reference to his appointment as the U S government physician at the Cherokee Hospital in Spartanburg, SC.. Part one is "Devoted to Hygiene, Or The Art of Preserving Health," and provides general advice for staying healthy, i.e. exercise, sleep, eating right, cleanliness, temperance, and sections on "periodical bleedings," and "wet feet." There are also sections on emotional health, including anger, fear and love, a section on the relationship between religion and health, and a section excoriating the use of tobacco. In a passage headed "On Hygiene Air," Folger recalls his experience working on the Cherokee emigration, where "it fell to my lot to attend to twelve hundred Indians, encamped in the woods...Some of them were situated in the low ground...others on a considerable eminence;" he adds that those on the high ground experienced a much lower degree of sickness, showing "the advantage of free air." Part two, "To The History of and Cure of General Diseases," describes the symptoms, causes, and treatments of numerous ailments, including gonorrhea, syphilis, deafness, mammary abscess, and more. Next, part three, "To The History and Cure of Diseases Incident to Children and Females," describes the symptoms, causes and treatments of diseases of women and children, including menstrual ailments, issues with pregnancy, miscarriage, and more. This section contains a lengthy passage on childbirth which warns against the dangers of using midwives while in labor ("How many mothers are doomed to drag out a miserable existence, from an injury sustained by the conduct of some ignorant old lady!"). Finally, part four, "A History of Medicines," describes numerous herbal remedies, including opium, "Indian Tobacco," "Indian Physic," and "Indian Turnip." It also contains recipes for various medicines, including cough mixtures, a mixture for colic of infants, pills for amenorrhea, etc. A rare and important South Carolina medical imprint. I've done my best to describe the book, but if you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to send me an e-mail.

Price: 2500 USD

Location: Clemmons, North Carolina

End Time: 2025-01-26T19:05:06.000Z

Shipping Cost: 9.95 USD