1683

Thomas Sydenham publishes Tractus de pedagra et hydrope (Treatise on gout and dropsy). “Sydenham’s was the first influential voice since Greek times to preach unfashionable moderation; and subsequently both Boerhave’s and Cullen’s practice followed closely that of their great predecessor” (Coperman, loc 301ff.) He opposed the normal practice of bleeding for gout (loc 307) and harbored a “personal antagonism” to purging under any circumstances (loc 323-325). The treatise on gout is “a classic” in which “the concentration required in writing it frequently caused attacks of gout in Sydenham himself. The treatise on dropsy was “much less satisfactory,” as Sydenham was “Completely ignorant of the physiological and pathological mechanism causing oedema” (Dewhurst, 76).