A Treatise on the Effects and Various Preparations of Lead, Particularly of the Extract of Saturn, for Different Chirurgical Disorders; The Third Edition, With Additions; and a Table exhibiting the Difference between English and French Weights

London: Printed for P. Elmsley (Successor to Mr. Vaillant), 1772. Leather bound. Good. Duodecimo size, 233 pp. French surgeon Thomas Goulard (1697-1784) promoted the use of lead in medicine, famously with his "Goulard's extract", a mix of lead acetate and lead monoxide, for a variety of purposes and health benefits; in this book he provides recipes for the "Extract of Saturn", which, he goes on to state, "appears to be only a very simple preparation of Lead" (p. 197).

It is surprising that any medical person would promote the use of lead in any "preparation" intended to heal, as the ill-effects of lead on the human body were observed as far back as the ancient Romans; in fact, "Julius Caesar's engineer, Vitruvius, reported, 'water is much more wholesome from earthenware pipes than from lead pipes.' " (n.b., quote from Wiki)

___DESCRIPTION: Full contemporary brown leather, the spine with five raised bands and red leather label with gilt rules and lettering, fold-out table comparing English and French weights toward the back of the book, original green ribbon marker is present; duodecimo size (7" by 4.25"), pagination: [i] [1] 2-232.

___CONDITION: Volume is good, with a strong, square text block and a clean and bright interior; the leather boards show overall rubbing and some soil, corners rubbed, hinges are tender (a professional restorer re-attached the front board, name available upon request), cracked gutter at pp. 122-123, off-setting from the ribbon marker on page 75, toning to the margins of the endpapers, and vintage pencil notations to the rear paste-down, possibly from a prior bookseller.

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