Re: [asa] Converse with Scholars tonight at 8PM

At 12:45 PM 3/9/2007, Michael Roberts wrote:

>If you want - Primitive Physic by John Wesley M.a. 14 th edition
>1770 Bristol To cure "a consumption" p44ff p45 191 In the last
>stage, **** a healthy woman daily. This cured my father. Sent to me
>by a good methodist who is an FRS. Will everyone turn Calvinist
>now!!!! ~ Michael Roberts

QUOTE: "I confirm that the entry for "Consumption," on p. 43 in my
edition, reads as follows, in small italic type which makes the first
letter somewhat
ambiguous. It could be an "s" or an "f", more likely the latter but
possibly the former. (Remember that the long "s" is commonplace in
18th century texts, so much so that I never notice it anymore unless
I am forced to, as in this case. "In the last stage, [italics now
start] s/fuck a healthy woman [italics
end] daily. This cured my Father." ~ Ted Davis - Fri, 09 Mar 2007
12:35:08 -0500

QUOTE: "There is either a textual variant, a misreading on someone's
part, or a bowdlerization here. In the copy I have of Wesley's
Primitive Remedies (the title given to his Primitive Physik in an
edition of 1973 by the Woodbridge Press Publishing Company in Santa
Barbara CA) the critical word is not f*** but s*** (the stars
representing the same letters in both cases.)" ~ George Murphy -
Fri, 9 Mar 2007 12:39:26 -0500

QUOTE: "The "f" and "s" in pre-1800 books are readily
distinguishable. The "f" has a horizontal line on the both sides of
the vertical line (slightly longer on the right side) and the "s" has
a relatively short horizontal line coming out on the left side only
of the vertical line. Therefore, it should be straightforward to
tell what Wesley wrote." ~ Paul Bruggink ~ Sun, 11 Mar 2007 08:13:01 -0500

@@ It _is_ straightforward:

[1] Primitive Physic; or, An Easy and Natural Method of curing most
Diseases By John Wesley, A.M. http://tinyurl.com/ysnyob Page
42: "In the last stage suck a healthy woman daily. This cured my
father." ~ John Wesley

*
[2] JSTOR: Medical Folklore and
Quackery http://tinyurl.com/ypg99s "In the last stage suck a
healthy woman. This cured my father." ~ John Wesley ... born in the
early days of the eighteenth century (1703), in the county town of
Norwich, ... "

Quoting lain to Michael: "... As to Wesley saying "F*** a good woman
- it worked for my father", I find it very hard to believe those were
the exact words he said. Could you cite a reliable source? ~ Iain
Strachan Sat, 20 Jan 2007 15:32:20 Re: [asa] Creation Care.

~ Janice ... who thinks it's pretty clear that it would be bizarre
in the extreme for anyone to _really_ think that the "Reverend"
Wesley would have used the "f" word let alone prescribe that as a
"cure" for consumption. Who is kidding whom?

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Received on Sun Mar 11 19:03:43 2007