d remedies. The works
of European painters of the century remind us of uroscopy or urine
examination. One of the outstanding paintings illustrating the
technique is by artist Gerard Dou who has the young doctor intently
examining the urine flask while taking the pulse of a pretty young
lady. Unfortunately, such revealing pictorial representations of life
and medicine in colonial Virginia do not exist.

On the other hand, in Virginia, the Reverend John Clayton displayed a
distinct flair for the scientific method in his analysis of urine. It
is safe to assume that his techniques were of a higher order than those
usually associated with uroscopy. Clayton, not satisfied to practice
just the art of observation, utilized the science of comparative
weights hoping to find diseases distinguished by minute variations in
the specific gravity of the liquid. He thought he could find
manifestations of "affections in the head" by his careful weighing and
study; manifestations not uncovered by visual observations alone.

In Gerard Dou's painting, it is to be remembered, the doctor not only
examined the urine but also took the pulse--another common practice.
This is not surprising insomuch as Galen--the great and ancient
authority--had written enough to fill sixteen books on the subject of
"pulse lore." Despite the facts that physicians centuries later
continue to take the pulse, they would not find the theories behind the
seventeenth-century practice acceptable. Galen's deductions have since
been described as fantastic, and his attempt to associate a specific
type of pulse rate with every disease futile. Yet the Virginia
physician, when he did take his patient's pulses, certainly did not
lose his or her confidence by gravely considering the mysterious
palpitation.

The physician with his many techniques and remedies did not restrict
himself solely to the illnesses of the sane for--contrary to popular
belief today--some effort was made to treat and cure the mentally ill.
America's first insane asylum was not established until 1769, but the
insane had received, even before this, medical attention. If the case
did not respond to treatment and took a turn toward violence,
confinement under conditions that would now be considered barbarous
often resulted. Before this extreme solution of an extreme problem
recommended itself, however, the mentally ill might be purged. The
intent was to relieve the patient of insanity-producing yellow and