Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 1321

JOHN SAPPINGTON (1776-1856) The theory and treatment of fevers. The Author 1844 Rev. and cor. xviii [19]-216 pp. 16.2 cm.

Born into a Maryland medical family, Sappington grew up in Tennessee where his family had moved when he was a young boy. He completed a five-year apprenticeship under his father and later attended one term of lectures at Philadelphia Medical College. Two terms were then required to receive a degree, but Sappington elected to forgo the degree since it was not required in order to practice medicine at that time. He initially practiced in Tennessee and later moved to Missouri where he settled at Arrow Rock, some thirty miles west of Columbia, and developed his famed anti-fever pills. One of the earliest books to be published west of the Mississippi River, this book was revised by Sappington's friend and fellow physician, Ferdinando Stith of Franklin, Tennessee, before some 16,000 copies were printed. Sappington opens the book with a collection of testimonial letters extolling the virtue and efficacy of his pills. The pills, a recipe for which appears in the book, were likely successful because they contained quinine and were administered during the febrile course of malaria fever, which was then common throughout much of the United States. He also presents his methods for treating and preventing fevers and provides arguments against the practice of treatment by purgings, phlebotomy, and emetics. Sappington's views on the treatment of fevers were in direct opposition to the medical thought of his day, in that he believed fever to be a symptom of disease rather than a cause. Sappington was not well received by the medical profession because of his views and the aggressive marketing techniques he used in distributing his pills. Nevertheless, he commented that "Although the author has vended pills to a large amount, and realized considerable sums of money by his sales, the people have also saved a great many dollars by using them; been relieved of much pain and suffering, and very many lives have no doubt been saved and prolonged. The author considers himself driven to this alternative, more from motives of benevolence than from those of self-interest" (p. 79).

Cited references: Cushing S73

Gift of John Martin, M.D.