Thursday, 8 November 2012

9th November 1786


Showers

Died Lovelace Love. This gentleman was known for his extraordinary bulk. He weighed upwards of 60 stones and his coffin was 7 feet long and 4 feet deep. His death was occasioned by his immense corpulence
Am suffering from an Ague my servant Squinting Agnes sent for Quint the local churgeion. I must confess to feeling uneasy when this information was conveyed to me as Quint is a better Cow doctor than a human one and the sad death of Mistress Ralphs over bled by leeches is still the subject of gossip in the parish. But the alternative of Polk the Churgeion in Leek gives even more feelings of unease. Polk removed the left leg of a farmer badly gored by a bull and in haste removed  the left testicle.

Quint examined the stools and the urine and found the later somewhat discoursed and the colour of sack
Quint left a receipt for the Ague. It read "Take of the best bark in fine powder, half an ounce, venicle treacle, two drachms. Lemon juice as much as it will make a electuary. Divide it into three doses and taken over three nights in warm beer"

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