The Virginia Gazette

Continuation of the Abstract from Dr. Berkeley's Treatise on Tar-Water, With Reflections thereon, begun in our last.

I have dwelt the longer on this Head, because some Gentlemen of the Faculty have declared, that Tar-Water must inflame, and that they would never visit any Patient in a Fever who had been a Drinker of it: But I will venture to affirm, that it is so far from increasing a feverish Inflammation, that it is on the contrary a most ready Means to allay and extinguish it. It is of admirable Use in Fevers, being at the same Time the surest, safest and most effectual Paregoric and Cordial; for the Truth of which, I appeal to any Person's Experience, who shall take a large Draught of it Milk-warm in the Paroxysm of a Fever, (even when plain Water or Herb Teas shall be found to have little or no Effect. To me it seems, that its singular and surprising Use in Fevers of all Kinds, were there nothing else, would be alone sufficient to recommend it to the Publick.

17. I found all this confirmed by my own Experience in the late sickly Season of the Year 1741; having had 25 Fevers in my own Family cured by this Medicinal Water, drank copiously. The same Method was practised on several of my poor Neighbours with equal Success. It suddenly calmed the feverish Anxieties, and seemed every Glass to refresh, and infuse Life and Spirit into the Patient. At first some of those Patients had been vomited; but afterwards I found, that without vomiting, bleeding, blistering, or any other Evacuation whatsoever or Medicine, very bad Fevers could be cured by the drinking of Tar-Water, Milk-warm, and in good Quantity, perhaps a large Glass full every Hour, in Bed. And it was remarkable, that such as were cured by this comfortable Cordial, received Health and Spirits at once, while those who had been cured by Evacuations often languished long, even after the Fever had left them, before they could recover of their Medicines, and regain their Strength.

18. In Peripneumonies and Pleurifies I have observed Tar-Water to be excellent; having known some pleuritic Persons cured without bleeding, by a Blister early applied to the Stitch, and the copious drinking of Tar-water, four or five Quarts, or even more in 24 Hours.

19. I have known a Bloody Flux of long Continuance, after diverse Medicines had been tried in vain, cured by Tar-Water. But that which I take to be the most effectual and speedy Remedy in a Bloody-Flux, is a Clyster of an Ounce of common brown Rosin dissolved over a Fire in two Ounces of Oil, and added to a Pint of Broth; which not long since I had frequent Occasion of trying, when that Distemper was epidemical; Nor can I say, that any to whom I advised it, miscarried.

20. Nothing that I know corroborates the Stomach so much as Tar-Water; whence it follows, that it must be of singular Use in the Gout. And from what I have observed in five or six Instances, I do verily believe it the best and safest Medicine either to prevent the Gout, or so to strengthen Nature against the Fit as to drive it from the Vitals, or at other Times, to change a worse Illness into the Gout, and to get rid of it. Dr. Sydenham in his Treatise on the Gout, declares, that whoever finds a Medicine the most efficacious for strengthening Digestion, will do more in that and other chronical Distempers, than he can even form a Notion of.

21. The great Force of Tar-Water to correct the Acrimony of the Blood, appears in nothing more than in the Cure of a Gangrene from an internal Cause; which was performed on a Servant of my own, by prescribing the copious and constant Use of Tar-Water for a few Weeks. From my representing Tar-Water good for so many Things, some perhaps, may conclude it is good for nothing: But Charity obligeth me to say what I know, and what I think, howsoever it may be taken: Men may censure and object as they please, but I appeal to Time and Experiment.

22. From what I have observed, Tar-Water appears to me an useful Preservative in all epidemical Disorders, and against all other Infection whatsoever, as well as that of the Small-pox.

23. The Scurvy may be reckoned in these Climates an universal Malady, as People in general are subject to it, and as it mixes more or less in all Diseases.- A Cachexy, or ill Habit, is much of the same kind with the Scurvy, that the Scurvy may be well look'd on as a general Cachexy.-If I may be able to trust what Trials I have been able to make, this Water is good in the several kinds of Scurvy, acid, alkaline, and muriatic; and I believe it is the only Medicine which cures them all without doing Hurt in any.

24. I have found by my own Experience, and that of many others, that Tar-Water raiseth the Spirits, and is an excellent Antihysteric, no less innocent than potent in all hysterical and hypochondriacal Disorders.

25. Many hysteric and scorbutic Ailments, many Taints contracted by themselves, or inherited from their Ancestors, afflict the People of Condition in these Islands, often rendering them upon the Whole much more unhappy than those whom Poverty and Labour hath ranked in the lowest Lot of Life; which Ailments might be safely removed or relieved by the sole Use of Tar-Water; and those Lives which seem hardly worth living for bad Appetite, low Spirits, restless Nights, wasting Pains and Anxieties, be rendered very easy and comfortable.

26. This safe and cheap Medicine suits all Circumstances, and all Constitutions, operating easily, curing without disturbing, raising the Spirits without depressing them, a Circumstance that deserves repeated Attention, especially in these Climates, where strong Liquors so frequently and so fatally produce those very Distresses they are designed to remedy; and if I am not misinformed, even among the Ladies themselves, who are truly much to be pitied: Their Condition of Life makes them a Prey to imaginary Woes; which never fail to grow up in Minds unexercised and unemployed. To get rid of these, it is said, there are who take themselves to distilled Spirits; and it is not improbable they are led gradually to the Use of those Poisons, by a certain complaisant Pharmacy, too much used in the modern Practice, Palsy-Drops, Poppy-Cordial, Plague-Water, and such like; which being in Truth, nothing but Drams disguised, yet coming from the Apothecaries, are considered only as Medicines.

27. Intense living, or, if I may say so, lively Life is not more promoted by early Hours as a Regimen, than by Tar-Water as a Cordial; which acts not only as a slow Medicine, but hath also an immediate and cheerful Effect on the Spirits,— Tho' it cannot, otherwise than by Degrees, and in Time, work a radical Cure in chronical Distempers, it gives nevertheless speedy Relief in most Cases, as I have found by myself and many others. I have been surprised to see Persons fallen away, and languishing under a bad Digestion, after a few Weeks recover a good Stomach, and with it Flesh and Strength, so as to seem renewed by the drinking of Tar-Water. The Strength and Quantity of this Water to be taken by each individual Person, is best determined by Experience; and as for the Time of taking, I never knew any Evil ensue from its being continued ever so long; but on the contrary, great and many Advantages, which sometimes would not begin to shew themselves 'til it had been taken two or three Months.

28. After having said so much of the Uses of Tar, I must further add, that being rubbed on them, it is an excellent Preservative of the Teeth and Gums; that it sweetens the Breath and that it clears and strengthens the Voice: And as its Effects are various and useful, so there is nothing to be feared from an Alterative so mild and friendly to Nature. No Medicine disturbs the animal Oeconomy less than this, which, if I may trust my own Experience, never produces any Disorder in a Patient when rightly taken.

29. I knew a Person, indeed, who took a large Glass of Tar-water just before Breakfast, which gave him an invincible Nausea and Disgust, although he had before received the greatest Benefit from it. It may not be amiss likewise to observe, that I have known some, whose nice Stomachs could not bear it in the Morning, take it at Night going to Bed, without any Inconveniency ; and that with some it agrees best cold, with others warm.

30. In very dangerous and acute Cases much may be taken, and often as far as the Stomach can bear ; but in chronical Cases about half a Pint Night and Morning, may suffice; or in case so large a Dose should prove disagreeable, half the Quantity may be taken four Times, to wit. in the Morning and Night, and about two Hours after Breakfast and Dinner. A Medicine of such great Virtue in so many different Disorders, and especially in that grand Enemy the Fever, must needs be a Benefit, to Mankind in general. There are nevertheless three Sorts of People to whom I would particularly recommend it ; Sea-faring Persons, Ladies, and Men of studious and sedentary Lives.

31. To Sailors and all Seafaring Persons, who are subject to scorbutic Disorders and putrid Fevers, especially in long Southern Voyages, I am persuaded this Tar-Water would be very beneficial.

32. This same Water will also give charitable Relief to the Ladies, who often want it more than the Parish-poor ; being many of them never able to make a good Meal, and sitting pale, puny, and forbidden, like Ghosts, at their own Table, Victims to Vapours and Indigestion.

33. Studious Persons also pent up in narrow Holes, breathing bad Air, and stooping over their Books, are much to be pitied. —My own sedentary Course of Life had long since thrown me into an ill Habit, attended with many Ailments, particularly a nervous Colic, which rendered my Life a Burthen ; and the more so, because my Pains were exasperated by Exercise : But since the Use of Tar-Water, I find, tho' not a perfect Recovery from my old and rooted Illness, yet such a gradual Return of Health and Ease. that I esteem my having taken this Medicine the greatest of all temporal Blessings, and am convinced, that under Providence I owe my Life to it.

34. In distilling of Turpentine, and other Balsams, in a gentle Heat, it hath been observed, that there ariseth first an acid Spirit that will dissolve in Water ; which Spirit, unless the Fire be very gentle, is lost. This grateful acid Spirit, which first comes over, is as a learned Chymist and Physician informs us, highly refrigeratory, diuretic, sudorific, balsamic or preservative from Putrefaction, excellent in nephritic Cases, and for quenching Thirst ; all which Virtues are contained in this cold Infusion, which draws forth from Tar, only its Flower or Quintessence, if I may so say; or the native vegetable Spirit, together with a little volatile Oil.

So far Bishop Berkeley.

(The Reflections on the foregoing, are designed in our next.)