Praxis catholica: or the countryman's universal remedy wherein is plainly and briefly laid down the nature, matter, manner, place and cure of most diseases, incident to the body of man, not hitherto discovered, whereby any one of an ordinary capacity may apprehend the true cause of his distempers, wherein his cure consists, and the means to effect it : together with rules how to order children in that most violent disease of vomiting and looseness, &c. : useful likewise for seamen and travellers : also an account of an imcomparable powder for wounds or hurts which cure any ordinary ones at once dressing. Written by Robert Couch, sometime practitioner in physick and chyrurgery, at Boston in New-England. Now published with divers useful additions (for public benefit) by Chr. Pack, operator in chymistry.
Publication Details
London: Printed for Robert Harford, 1680 CE.
The first medical book written in the British colonies of North America. The introduction, "To all ingenious students and practitioners in physick and chyrurgery", is signed Robert Couch, but the extent of additions in the rest of the book by the book's London editor and publisher, the chemist Christopher Packe, is difficult to determine. Couch emigrated from England to Boston in 1663 and spent the remainder of his life in the colonies. After his death prior to 1680 his manuscript was acquired by Francis Willis of Ware River, Virginia, who sent it to Packe, who arranged for its publication with a dedication to Willis.
Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.
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Thematic Classifications
| Catalog Metadata | Reference Information |
|---|---|
| Entry Number | #9698 |
| Permanent Link | https://staging.historyofmedicine.com/entry/11885 |
| Author Bio Link | Wikipedia ↗ |
| External URL | praxis-catholica-or-the-countrymans-universal-remedywritten-by-robert-couch |
Geographic Context
Publication place: London
Mentioned in annotation: Boston