Introduction - Uppsala Monitoring Centre

Pills about him, left Gilbert Jones two of them, one of which he took
soon after, which had but little Operation, and thereupon he took the
other, but without any Benefit, and afterwards he took one of his
drops, (for which and what Pills he had then of him, he paid him a
guinea) but this Drop strain’d, vomited, and purg’d him to so great a
degree, that it brought upon him such dismal and frightful Symptoms,
that his wife, who constantly attended him, declar’d she would not
continue in the room, if he took another of these Drops, for twenty
Pounds. After he had taken this Drop, he was never able to go out of
his Room, and his Head was so much affected with the Violence of
its Operation, that it was never well afterwards. R. Varley, an
Apothecary, in the same Street, was about the 5 th of April, 1735, sent
for to him, who upon asking him what his Complaints were, Jones
told him, that he had taken Mr. Ward’s Medicines, and that he was
much worse for them; that his Limbs were a great deal worse than
before he took them; and, notwithstanding R. Varley the
Apothecary’s Endeavours, he grew daily worse and worse; and
thereupon he desired a Physician might be advised with upon the
Case, which was agreed to, and Dr. Williams, of Dartmouth–street,
was sent for, but his whole Constitution was so much shock’d and
impair’d by the Pills followed with this Drop, that, notwithstanding all
the Endeavours of the Physician and Apothecary, they could not
remove its dire Effects, and thereupon he died about the 20 th Day of
the following Month.’ (Clutton, 1736). Clutton maintained that Joshua
Ward’s medication contained arsenic. This case illustrates the
adverse effects of ‘secret remedies’ and the attitude of the medical
profession towards them and the quacks that sold them. (see 1803).
John Douglas wrote ‘A dissertation on the venereal disease’. He
quotes other authors on the problems with mercury: ‘Deep sordid
ulcers affect several parts of the mouth; whence spitting is
continued….. the patient is gradually wasted, and at length turns
consumptive… so fretted and teased with pain… a violent and
dangerous looseness; which often turns into a bloody flux… the
salivary, maxillary and parotid glands swell all of a sudden, grow hot
and painful, the tongue is tumified and hangs out at the mouth; the
face and the whole head are much swelled, whence great difficulty
of swallowing and breathing; their speech is lost… deep sleep,
lethargy, fever, etc… sickness and vomiting spasms of the
members, fainting and cold sweats.’ (Douglas, 1737).
1740 The ‘Remediorum Specimina ex praxi A.W.’, or ‘Examples of