Reprint of Two Tracts: 1. An essay on gleets. 2. An enquiry into the nature, cause, and cure of a singular disease of the eyes

In Short

Originally printed in London during the mid-1770s, this rare volume collects two medical tracts detailing specialized treatments for chronic urethral discharges known as gleets and an unrecognized vision disorder caused by mercurial poisoning. Arguing against the crude, one-size-fits-all surgical practices of the era, the author outlines carefully graded suppurative methods, dietary regulations, and electrical stimulation. The book survives as a fascinating window into eighteenth-century clinical reasoning, showcasing a rigorous, empirical mind addressing stubborn physical maladies that baffled the leading medical practitioners of Europe.

The Story

The text opens with an address to the Worshipful Company of Surgeons, immediately critiquing standard medical approaches to gleets, which are frequently the lingering aftermath of a virulent gonorrhea. The author dismisses the old belief that relaxations cause the discharge, noting instead through probe exploration that the true seat of the disease is in ulcerated glands within the internal and glandular tunics of the urethra. He evaluates Jacques Daran’s popular suppurative bougies, identifying two fatal flaws: the rigidity of common plasters and a complete lack of graduation in suppurative strength. To correct this, he constructs a meticulous, multi-phase method beginning with softened diachilum cum gummis, followed by targeted sal ammoniac injections and progressively weaker healing unguents, supplemented by internal tonics like powdered bark for plethoric patients. To prove his theory, he chronicles two seemingly incurable cases: J.A., who suffered through years of failed treatments across Naples, Rome, Florence, and Paris before being cured in three months, and J.G., an artist afflicted for twenty-seven years whom the author also successfully restored.

The second tract shifts focus to the eyes, identifying a common yet previously unrecognized affliction termed accidental presbytopia, or long-sightedness, caused by unmanaged mercurial preparations. When saline mercurial particles enter the bloodstream and lodge in the minute vessels of the ocular muscles, they cause irritation, inflammation, and swelling. This internal bulk obstructs the delicate muscular adjustments required to shift the focus between near and distant objects. To cure this condition, the author devises a systematic regimen starting with low diets, gentle purgatives like cassia, and periodic bleedings to reduce the mass of blood, followed by antispasmodic suffumigations and soothing poultices. Once the swelling subsides, he introduces electrical sparks drawn from the canthi of the eyes and strengthening cold-water lotions. He illustrates this method through three compelling case histories: young Charlotte Blondel, who developed severe visual impairment after taking mercurial cakes for worms; D.B., a merchant whose suppressed gonorrhea turned into a blinding ophthalmia after corrosive sublimate treatment; and J.P., who suffered nearly two years of visual distortion after taking corrosive sublimate for a stubborn gleet. Through patient adjustments of diet, bleeding, and electrical stimulation, the text guides each patient back toward restored sight, concluding that proper, rational treatment can conquer maladies previously abandoned as hopeless.

How It Unfolds

The foundational critique The author opens his first tract by explaining that stubborn gleets stem from internal urethral ulcers rather than simple muscular relaxation or general weakness. He demonstrates that standard medical treatments fail because rigid, ungraduated bougies irritate the delicate tissues rather than properly managing the necessary suppuration. Furthermore, he cautions against the unthinking application of astringents that merely dry the outer edges and create dangerous, permanent urinary strictures.

The graduated remedy To solve this, the text introduces a precise therapeutic sequence utilizing softened diachilum, healing unguents, and specific chemical injections like sal ammoniac. He dictates that the strength of the remedy must be adjusted continuously as the condition improves over several weeks of dedicated treatment. He validates this protocol by successfully curing stubborn, long-standing patients who had spent decades seeking relief from prominent European practitioners without success.

The hidden eye disease Shifting to optics, the author identifies an unrecognized affliction he terms accidental presbytopia, a widespread condition caused by the unmanaged internal circulation of mercurial salts. He explains how these metallic particles lodge in the minute vessels of the ocular muscles, creating painful inflammation and swelling that severely disrupt vision. Because these swollen muscles cannot properly adjust the distance between the lens and the choroïdes, patients lose the ability to focus normally.

The optical restoration To heal the eye, the author prescribes a strict regimen of dietary regulation, gentle purgatives like cassia, and periodic bleedings to reduce systemic inflammation and dilute the vicious humours. He continues the recovery by applying soothing poultices, antispasmodic suffumigations, and carefully administered electrical sparks from the canthi to clear away remaining muscular obstructions. Finally, he restores the normal tone of the organ using refreshing cold-water lotions, successfully returning his patients to clear sight.

The People

The author acts as the central intellectual force, a physician who wants to reform medical practice by introducing rational, evidence-based methods for conditions previously abandoned as incurable. Standing in his way are entrenched ignorance, unthinking reliance on rigid commercial instruments, and patient indiscretions like overindulgence in wine. Through careful observation, the author transforms from an outsider commenting on venereal diseases into a successful healer who masters complex physical pathologies.

Among the patients, Jacques D.A. and the artist J.G. both seek relief from decades of agonizing urethral discharges. Obstacles such as ineffective treatments from famous practitioners like Daran block their recovery, leaving them cynical and resigned. Under the author’s care, both men change from hopeless sufferers into completely cured individuals who can indulge without relapse.

In the second tract, young Charlotte Blondel wants relief from visual impairment after a salivation induced by mercurial cakes for worms. An uncooperative mother and unprincipled practitioners stand in her way, but the author’s dietary and electrical treatments restore her sight. Similarly, patients D.B. and J.P. seek recovery from severe ophthalmia and blurred vision caused by corrosive sublimate treatments for venereal complaints. Hindered by scorbutic habits and initial atmospheric exposures, they ultimately find relief as the deobstructing methods successfully restore the natural focus of their eyes.

In Its Own Voice

Reflecting earnestly on his professional duty as a physician practicing in London, the author explicitly rejects financial secrecy in favor of open medical collaboration:

A man of mercenary principles would, no doubt, keep it a secret; but a liberal mind is above such interested procedures.

When carefully analyzing why standard surgical treatments for persistent urethral infections continually fail, the author insists upon the absolute necessity of proper tissue management:

I indeed considered suppuration as the only method to effect it.

Explaining the precise mechanical failure of vision caused by the internal accumulation of medicinal mercury, the author notes how muscular swelling distorts sight:

Thus the strait Muscles of the Eye being swelled and contracted by irritating Mercurial Particles, Objects cannot be distinguished but at one particular Distance.

What It's Really About

Beneath its clinical specifics, this book explores the urgent necessity of empirical precision and rational critique in a medical landscape dominated by dogmatism and commercial secrecy. The author interrogates the unexamined acceptance of traditional therapies, questioning why practitioners blindly follow ungraduated remedies that injure patients rather than heal them. The underlying argument asserts that diseases previously branded as incurable—whether chronic urethral gleets or mercurial-induced vision disorders—are simply misunderstood through poor anatomical knowledge. By combining rigorous optical physics, careful observation, and graduated treatments, the text champions a philosophy where scientific inquiry serves to alleviate human misery rather than enrich opportunistic operators.

Why Read It Today

Readers who are deeply fascinated by the history of science, medicine, and early modern intellectual thought will find this rare volume remarkably compelling. Reading these medical tracts feels like stepping directly into an eighteenth-century Soho consulting room, where a sharp, analytical mind wrestles with stubborn physiological puzzles using a fascinating mix of chemical applications, early electrical experimentation, and unflinching clinical logic. However, contemporary readers must be prepared to navigate significant period hurdles, including dense anatomical terminology, archaic pharmaceutical recipes, and occasional linguistic awkwardness stemming from the author's reliance on French idiom while writing in English. Despite these technical and stylistic challenges, the book offers an intellectually rewarding glimpse into the quiet, professional medical career of a famous historical figure long before his eventual political radicalization during the French Revolution. What ultimately stays with you long after finishing is the author's genuine humanitarian impulse and his absolute insistence that vulnerable, suffering patients deserve rational, carefully tested remedies rather than lifelong despair, quackery, and institutional abandonment.