Thomas Beddoes to Robert Allen, April/May 1801 [fragment]
Dear Sir,
Your letter has given me a mixture of pain and pleasure; but I have little doubt, by calling in all our resources, you will perfectly recover. Now what I would fain have you try, is a grain and a half, or two grains, of calomel a day, in addition to the digitalis and compound tincture; also a caustic, bigger than a shilling, nearest the place where you suspect most or any disorganization; do not, I conjure you, neglect this. If the skin be hot and dry the night, rise out of bed, leaving the feet under the clothes. I would almost insure you health on those terms. I am sorry to recommend a complicated plan, but the thing is to restore health, and a little superfluity of medication cannot always be avoided. Write to me when the caustic is in train, for then I shall certainly hear of the reduction of both fever and cough.
Published: The Medical and Physical Journal, 9 (March 1803), 265