About this Item
8vo. 5 x 8 inches. [4] + xii + [8] + 376 pp. Final advertisement leaf not present in this copy. Bound in original calf, gilt; spine in compartments with raised bands, with contrasting maroon title label, gilt. Extremities worn, joints starting to crack. good interior. Armourial bookplate of Sir Thomas Miller Bt. Illustrated by two engraved plates, including frontispiece. A pioneering early treatise on the medical use of sea water, with case studies, letters from other physicians and including a translation of Dr Speed's Commentary on Sea Water. At the end is a comprehensive survey of the mineral springs in England and Wales, including Bristol, Bath, Buxton, Matlock, Scarborough, Tunbridge Wells and Cheltenham, followed by accounts of foreign waters at Spa and Pyrmont and Seltzer in Germany. The physician, Richard Russell (1687-1759) was born and educated in Lewes and at the University of Leiden, where he investigated the action of the glands and from which he graduated MD in 1724, having already practised as a surgeon at home. He had observed that local people in nearby Brighton, which was already attracting visitors, were drinking sea water to help with abdominal complaints and was aware that some London physicians also recommended this practice. Russell developed his own regime of sea water drinking and bathing, describing his theories in De tabe glanduari, sive, De usu aquae marinae. of 1750. When a pirated English translation appeared, Russell issued his own, the first edition of this title being published in 1752. 'In many cases the virtue of Russell's sea water treatments lay not in the water itself, but in the dietetic and hygienic routine and discipline imposed in Brighton's attractive surroundings. Russell's success helped to popularize such treatments and contributed to Brighton's emergence as Britain's first fashionable seaside resort' (DNB). The owner of the book was likely to have been Sir Thomas Miller, 5th Baronet (c.1735-1816), of Lavant, near Chichester and later of Froyle, Hants. He was MP for Lewes, 1774-78 and for Portsmouth, 1808-16 (his son, the 6th Baronet, was also Sir Thomas (1781-1864)). NATURAL HISTORY/SCIENCE MEDICINE MEDICINE MARITIME 18TH CENTURY NATURAL HISTORY/SCIENCE. Seller Inventory # 21910
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