“Another posthumous influence on [John] Redman [1722-1808] was Thomas Sydenham [1624-1689], known as the English Hippocrates. In the previous century Sydenham was the first to diagnose measles as a distinct disease, the first to distinguish between rheumatism and gout, the first to describe St. Vitus’ Dance, and the first to establish the psychic character of hysteria.

“But there was a downside to Sydenham’s theories, which influenced Redman and, by extension, Benjamin Rush. This was his insistence that disease resulted from an accumulation of ‘morbific matter’ in the body that could be drained only by bleeding, purging, or sweating. Rush never abandoned his belief in bleeding — which, as can be imagined, often caused the patient’s death quicker than the disease it was meant to ameliorate. and has, of course, long been discredited. If there was one major flaw in his otherwise flawless medical career, it was this practice, which earned him posthumously the pejorative cognomen ‘Dr. Vampire.’”

“In an animal it is supposed that the nutritive blood supply performs the two-fold task of bringing material for assimilation and removing the fatigue products, thus causing the disappearance of fatigue. This explanation, however, is shown to be insufficient by the fact that an excised bloodless muscle recovers from fatigue after a short period of rest. It is obvious that here the fatigue has been removed by means other than that of renewed assimilation and removal of fatigue products by the circulating blood.”