All disease arises from a single cause, the impurity of the blood, and the Vegetable Universal Medicine cures every disease by purging that impurity through the bowels.
The central proposition of the Hygeian system, set out in Morison’s collected works (Morisoniana, 1829) and summarized by the Dictionary of National Biography: there is one disease, the impurity of the blood, and one cure, purgation by the pills. It is a mechanism-only claim, asserting a cause and a remedy without any controlled demonstration of effect. It is refuted: modern pathology recognizes many distinct disease processes with many causes, the humoral notion of a single blood impurity is obsolete, and purgation does not purify the blood. The claim is the engine of the case, because from “one disease, one cure” follow both the rejection of orthodox medicine and the instruction to dose heavily.
Appears in
Sources
- Morisoniana; or, Family adviser of the British College of Health: being a collection of the works of Mr Morison, the Hygeist — Morison, James. Morisoniana; or, Family adviser of the British College of Health: being a collection of the works of Mr Morison, the Hygeist. 2nd ed. London: Sherwood & Gilbert, 1829. Wellcome Collection (catalogue work wa63a4qz). Public Domain Mark.
- Morison, James (1770-1840), Dictionary of National Biography — Goodwin, Gordon. 'Morison, James (1770-1840).' In Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co. Transcribed text at Wikisource.
- Medicine, Quackery and the Free Market: The 'War' Against Morison's Pills and the Construction of the Medical Profession, c.1830-c.1850 — Brown, Michael. 'Medicine, Quackery and the Free Market: The "War" Against Morison's Pills and the Construction of the Medical Profession, c.1830-c.1850.' In Medicine and the Market in England and its Colonies, c.1450-1850, edited by M.S.R. Jenner and P. Wallis, 238-261. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.