Important French explorer and botanist (1773?1858) who emigrated to South America in 1816. AMS in Spanish, signed "Amado Bonpland," one page both sides, 8.25 x 10.5, September 17, 1850. Bonpland pens instructions for a remedy, likely a cure for syphilis. In full (translated): "1. When the sick man is ready for a thorough cure, he should be ready to forget that women exist; otherwise, taking remedies will be in vain. 2. Throughout the time of the cure, he should make daily use of a decoction of rice and flax seeds, and every ten days, he should take five of Dr. Brandreth?s universal vegetable pills. 3. Every day, he should take two spoonfulls of sarsaparilla syrup, i.e., one in the morning when he wakes up and the other at two or three o?clock in the afternoon. Each spoonful of [syrup] is to be added to a cup of the decoction of rice and flax seeds, and everything is to be mixed well before he drinks it. He should not take the syrup on the purge days, and he should continue taking it this way for the three bottles that are sent. 4. Every two days, he should take one heating pill when he goes to bed, until they are gone, making sure to take one on his purge days. 5. If he judges it useful, he should gargle and wash with mixtures to be prepared from the remedy labeled for external use and a decoction of elder flowers. The gargling mixture is to be prepared as follows: in a small cup of elder decoction, he should add a small teaspoonful of the liquor for external use, and he should gargle with this mixture. Washing: the mixture should be prepared from a spoonful of the liquor labeled external use and half a bottle of elder flower decoction. 6. If all these instructions are followed precisely, the sick man should be thoroughly cured." In very good condition, with a tear and slight paper loss to the left edge, and old repairs to splitting along the central horizontal fold. Originates from the papers of noted photographer Charles D. Fredricks, a friend of Bonpland. The sarsaparilla root was used as a cure for syphilis and rheumatism; between that and Bonpland's instruction to "forget that women exist," this remedy is presumed to have been intended for syphilis. A remarkable manuscript with fascinating medical content.
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