In general the patients are so eager to tell their complaints, that Mr. Schroeder, the porter (who is in league with Mr. Myersbach and his head apothecary, Mr. Koch) is able to collect their diseases, which are related to Mr. Myersbach before the patients are introduced to him, by which stratagem he is capable of repeating what they complained of.
Sometimes persons apply who are not easily deceived, or who are not minute in their queries; in these instances Mr. Schroeder has orders to introduce another patient into Mr. Myersbach’s room, in order to interrupt the first conversation, and dismiss the sooner the inquisitive patient.
If neither Mr. Schroeder nor any of the other sevants, who are dispersed in different apartments to over-hear the discourse of the patients, and thereby gain some account of the complaints, should not at first succeed in their attempts, such patients are made to wait two or three hours before they are admitted to Mr. Myersbach, that by exhausting their patience they may be induced to complain of the urgency of their diseases, and afford an opportunity for the servants to collect at least some of the symptoms, which are communicated to the oracle, who afterwards admits them, and repeats what his domestics had previously informed him of.
When a friend brings the urine of the patient whose disease neither the porter nor the other servants are able to collect, Mr. Myersbach usually first enquires if the patient is ill in bed; the answer is, that he, she, or it is confined in bed; by the he or she, he discovers the sex of the patient, and by it he supposes a child, and replies accordingly; thus if the person says she is confined to her bed, Mr. Myersbach immediately rejoins, he sees by the water that it belongs to a woman, &c. This supposed discovery so surprizes weak people, that afterwards, as I have heard Mr. Myersbach say, they will swallow any thing his broken English expresses; though in general the patients are so agitated and eager to believe all he says, as to first tell him their case, and then admire his repetition of what they had related.
When a person of rank applies for relief, and the porter, &c. cannot learn what his disease may be, Mr. Myersbach is denied being at home, and the patient is desired to leave his address, and to attend next day, and in the interval the servants endeavour to learn the nature of this complaint. Many of the nobility I have known thus duped into a belief of Mr. Myersbach’s discernment, when his information was procured by his servants.
As Mr. Myersbach is not a physician, and is unacquainted with medicine, he carefully avoids meeting any gentlemen of the faculty; but if such an accident should happen, he pretends to be in a very great hurry, being expected in some other place, and thus escapes a discovery of his ignorance
After the patient receives his prescriptions, and comes into the shop to have it made up, Mr. Koch pays very little attention to it, but mentions whatever he pleases to be substituted for it, although it have no connection with the prescription, which indeed is only held out to the patient to cover the deception.
Nearly one uniform rotine[sic] of medicines is given to the patients, beginning with the green drops and polychrest pills, and proceeding with the sweet drops and red powder, or the begoar and absorbent powders, and the same pills without being silvered; but if the patient still remains unrelieved, similar medicines are continued differently coloured, with the addition of the black pill, or some other antidyne.
While Mr Myersbach resided in Berwick-street, the shop was very ill furnished with drugs; and when he removed to Hatton-street I represented the necessity of procuring some, lest any medical gentleman should pay us a visit; a fresh assortment was therefore procured from Messrs. Corbyn and Brown, druggists, in Holborn, as very few were exported from Germany.
Sept. 18. JOHN ULRIC HAUSSMANN.
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British Library Newspaper Collection Colindale - Burney Collection
26 September 1776 (14,851) Page 2 Columns 1 and 2 |