Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 859.5

R. (ROBERT) JAMES (1703?-1776) A treatise on canine madness. Printed for J. Newbery 1760 [3], ii-vi, 264 p. 21 cm.

In this treatise on “hydrophobia,” physician Robert James recommends the use of mercury ointment and a patent medicine called Turpeth Mineral to prevent a mad dog’s bite from leading to rabies. He begins this work with a brief history of the disease and its causes, then gives brief case studies describing patients he successfully treated. As a well-preserved contemporary copy of an early English book on canine disease, it is of considerable interest, its author, though, was famous for something different—as the inventor of James’ Fever Powder, perhaps the most successful patent medicine of its day. He patented the product-a mixture of phosphate of lime, oxide of antimony and mercury-in 1747, and it enjoyed such enduring popularity that it was used for more than a century to help cure a wide range of ailments (especially among the well-to-do who could afford its high price); it was still to be found in Queen Victoria’s medicine cabinet in the 1860s. James attended Litchfield grammar school, where he and fellow pupil Samuel Johnson established a lifelong friendship; James gave Johnson assistance with several medical definitions used in his famous Dictionary of 1775. For his part, Johnson—who is given credit for having written the six-page dedication to the Duke of Kingston here—afforded James entrée into the world of literary London, and he became favored by Hester Thrale and others. But the footing on his medical promontory was precarious; the Fever Powder was promoted for inappropriate use, and it was believed, for example, that Oliver Goldsmith’s death was hastened by his reliance on it. Moreover, James’ reputation was eroded by the exaggerated claims he made about the popularity and efficacy of his creation, by his drunkenness (Johnson said he was never sober during the final two decades of his life), and by his blatant womanizing.

Cited references: Wellcome III, p. 343

John Martin, M.D. Endowment