Essay by Charles Hamilton of Spittlehaugh that was originally published anonymously, although not in its entirety, in 1744 in Medical Essays and Observations revised and published by A Society in Edinburgh, Vol.V, Part II, pp.787-805. In the essay Hamilton describes the effect of the disease, treatments used, and specific patients he has treated. The patients he describes were treated by him in the early 1730s and he refers to his time 'on this island' and the treatment of negroes [African continental ancestry group] on plantations and is presumably talking of his experience working in the West Indies, possibly Nevis.
Inscriptions on the inside front cover indicate that the manuscript was acquired by the Manchester Medical Society in 1874 and was subsequently allocated the reference O 6543 viz. their 1890 library catalogue. An additional note reads, 'To Dr Beatty with W. Stewart's best regards'. The manuscript has the original pagination pp.1-52.