Thomas Beddoes to the Editors of The Medical and Physical Journal, 21 November 1799
Gentlemen,As nobody, to my knowledge, has been moved by my exhortations, in Considerations on Airs, in the W. C. Contributions, and in my Essay on Consumption, to try the effect of living with cows in phthisis pulmonalis, I have lately, myself, put this practice to the test of experiment. I have gone to work on such a scale, that I shall, in no long time, be able to stand before the public, and to say whether this expedient will produce any beneficial effect or not. I do not expect to jump all at once into a cure for the majority of cases of true consumption; but, by the analysis, variation, and amplification of the method, I do certainly expect to discover something valuable, at least in the way of relief.
Upon seeing one of my patients who had been subjected to the process for about a month, an apothecary in Bristol has thought it worth while to imitate it; and I hope others will also follow the example, now it can be done without the opprobrium of innovation.
Before your next Number appears, I shall, probably, publish the first part of my reports.
I am. Gentlemen,
Your most obedient servant,
Thomas Beddoes
Rodney-Place, Clifton.
Nov. 21, 1799.
Published: The Medical and Physical Journal, 2 (November 1799), 415–16