Meatritionist

Mons. Desrenaudes, living in the Rue du Faubourg St. Honoré, became very corpulent in a comparatively short time. This was a source of great inconvenience to him, from the fact, that being much devoted to the pleasures of the turf, his increased weight unfitted him for the saddle. During the year 1852, he followed my system of treatment for two months, and obtained most satisfactory results, and, as in every other case, without necessitating the slightest interference with his daily avocations.

M. Albert C. was an officer in the 4th Hussar regiment. He became so corpulent that he wished to exchange into the gendarmery. In 1852, he was appointed lieutenant in this branch of the service. His new position, however, still required him to be much on horseback; and when required to travel any distance, and to trot for a short time, he suffered much from difficulty of breathing, and complained of a sense of oppression in the region of the heart. It seemed as though the heart had not sufficient space for the execution of its movements. Feeling naturally anxious about his health, he wrote to me desiring to place himself under my care. Impressed with the idea that his trouble was consequent upon his excessive corpulence, I gave him advice, which he followed for several weeks; but in consequence of a severe wound in the leg, which obliged him to keep his bed, and undergo a surgical operation, he left off my plan of treatment. Some time afterwards, he fell sick; he was bled, leeched, &c., and partially recovered his health; but the heart affection became exceedingly troublesome, especially when on horseback. His physician advised him to return to Paris. 

On his arrival, he resumed my system of treatment, and after a fortnight experienced great relief; his appetite had improved, he slept well, and the pain which he had suffered in the region of the heart disappeared. When he came to Paris, he was scarcely able to walk, but at the end of fifteen days he could walk all over the city. His health became thoroughly re-established on the loss of his obesity, and he was enabled to resume his military duties.

On the recommendation of this patient, Madame de M., in the month of June, 1852, requested me to call upon her. She was between thirty and thirty-five years of age, and during the last eight years she had become enormously fat. She was ailing, and had been under treatment for almost every variety of disease. Most of the medical men whom she had consulted, owing to the pain she complained of, ascribed her trouble either to organic pulmonary lesion, to bronchial affection, or to disease of the heart. She had tried every means of cure. Had been under the care of many of the principal physicians to the hospitals of Paris, and also of professors of the faculty. Deriving no advantage from these, she had consulted homœopathic practitioners, and had been treated by them unavailingly. In her despair, she had sought the advice of a female clairvoyant; and in order that she might obtain every possible benefit from the treatment, had taken her into her own house—but her sad condition was in no wise ameliorated.

Possessed of a naturally active and energetic temperament, she was nevertheless compelled to remain seated in an arm-chair, yet could not lean back in it, owing to a sense of suffocation which such a position was sure to induce. When weary of this erect position, the only relief she could obtain was by leaning upon her left elbow, resting on the knee of the same side. If she attempted to recline upon the right side, she was subject to fits of coughing and suffocation. Her days were passed in this position: at night she was obliged to sit upright, without any support to her back; and when overcome with weariness, would fall forward upon the left elbow, the only support she could endure. Finally, however, in consequence of the great and continued pressure of the weight of the body, the elbow became inflamed, an extensive sore formed upon it, and a pad for the elbow became necessary. She had scarcely any appetite, and had long since given up the use of meat. She could walk a little about her apartment, and although her sister had lived for the last six years in the house on the opposite side of the street, she had not been able to visit her. Madame de M. although by no means tall, weighed between one hundred and eighty and one hundred and ninety pounds. Under percussion the chest proved resonant throughout, and air entered freely the whole extent of the lungs. By the aid of the stethoscope a râle was heard in both lungs. Beneath both clavicles there existed scars, the result of blisters and cauteries. And the whole surface of the chest and the pit of the stomach were covered with the marks of leech bites. There were no febrile symptoms. Complexion blonde, with a remarkably fair skin and large blue eyes, which seemed never to have known pain. Under such circumstances no organic lesion either of the lungs, the bronchi, or of the heart could be suspected: and I was satisfied that the great disturbance of health in the case of this lady arose from excessive obesity. Having placed herself under my treatment, she experienced relief the first week, and, at the end of a fortnight, Madame de M. had perceptibly grown thinner. One morning, when calling to see her, I was told that she had gone for a ride to the Bois de Boulogne, and that she had been out also the day before, and was able to get in and out of the carriage without assistance. She continued to lose her embonpoint and her health became thoroughly re-established. She was able to lie down in bed, and upon either side. At the end of the month she visited friends whom she had not called upon for the last six or eight years, and six weeks or two months after commencing my treatment, she danced repeatedly at a ball given by her sister upon the occasion of her recovery. Until then she had not worn corsets for the last six years.

It was not until the month of October following, that I again had occasion to see Madame de M. Not feeling well, she sent for me. She had caught cold the day before, when returning late in the evening from the country, and was slightly feverish. She was, however, quite well again in a day or two. The last two years she has enjoyed excellent health, although, like most other ladies, she is occasionally subject to trifling nervous attacks. In the enjoyment of health and riches, she leads the fashionable life of a gay young lady. How forcibly does her present condition contrast with the previous eight long years, passed in weariness and suffering!

In the month of June, 1852, Mr. Lucian Eté, chief operator in the chemical works of Mr. Christofle, silverer and gilder, Rue de Bondy, sought my advice in reference to his corpulence, which gave him much anxiety, as he feared that he would be obliged to give up work. The sole support of a numerous family, it required his utmost efforts to go through the duties of the day. Obliged to be constantly in motion, and frequently to go up and down stairs, he suffered great pain in the kidneys, and was often so much out of breath that it was almost impossible for him to speak when giving his orders or explanations. His head was constantly bathed in perspiration; and if he attempted to sit down for a moment, he was immediately seized with an irresistible drowsiness. He had been repeatedly bled and purged, but without any salutary effect.

Lucian Eté followed my plan of treatment for two months. During the first month he lost from fifteen to twenty pounds of fat. I do not recollect how much he lost in the second month, but at the end of this time he was so far reduced that further treatment was unnecessary. Let it be observed, that during the two months he was under treatment, he was not absent a single day from his duties in the factory.

I heard from Lucien d'Eté last year. He was then in the enjoyment of perfect health, and his corpulence had not returned.

Madame d'Hervilly, residing in garrison at Elbœuf, with her husband, a captain in the 2nd regiment of the line, having met with my treatise on Obesity, came to Paris in order to consult me. After her return to Elbœuf, she adopted my system of treatment, and a fortnight afterwards wrote as follows:

"6th July.—Your predictions have been verified. I am now in excellent health, and no longer suffer from the great oppression to which I was formerly subject during hot weather. Your medicine, according to my experience, is everything that can be desired; but I have been a sufferer for the last thirty years, and it will take some time to effect a perfect cure. I have not perceptibly diminished in size, but am sensible of a peculiar freedom of motion of the internal organs. My husband also intends shortly to put your system in practice."

On the 11th August, this lady wrote again, to say that she was still pursuing the treatment; that she had not weighed herself, but was then several inches less in circumference than before.

The treatment was continued, and she became thin. Her husband subsequently adopted the system for a month, and derived great advantage from it. I cannot say how much his weight was diminished; but his great desire was to get rid of an unsightly cushion of fat, situated upon the back of his neck. I learn from Madame d'Hervilly that this unmilitary-like appendage has disappeared.