The North Star (Rochester)/1848/01/14/Ruggles' Water-Cure
RUGGLE'S WATER-CURE.
Although many of your readers have been made acquainted with Dr. Ruggles skill in detecting the symptoms of disease by the sense of touch, and of the happy results that have attended his application if the water treatment in remarkable cases, I should deem it a privilege to be allowed, through the columns of your paper, to state, for the information and encouragement of such as may be suffering from scrofulous humor, the result of his treatment in the following case:
My son, ten years of age, inherited this debilitating disease from his mother. From his infancy, I had resorted to the remedies of the regular physicians, and the various quack medicines in use, without avail. In the summer of 1845, his symptoms became more alarming. Nausea, vertigo, inflammation of the bowels, and extreme weakness of the nervous system, were among the symptoms which deeply concerned the family for his future prospects. At this time he was examined by Dr. Ruggles, who considered him a good case for the cure. I at once placed him under his care, where he remained about seven months, during which time he had a painful crisis, which commenced on the trunk of his body, and extended down the legs to the feet and toes, which became inflamed and swollen to more than twice their ordinary size; the color of his feet changing alternatively from a red to a purplish hue. They finally became suppuarated, in which state they continued about six weeks, the humor exhaling from the sides of his feet and the ends of his toes, leaving the system entirely free from the disease. Since leaving the cure, he has grown as fast as could be desired, and continues in the enjoyment of good health.
Northampton, Dec. 16, 1847.