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Dr. Russell Thacker Trall – Publications

Trall, Russell. (1851). The Hydropathic Encyclopedia: A System of Hydropathy and Hygiene. New York, Fowlers, and Wells. https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-63950840R-bk

  • The Hydropathic Encyclopedia is broken down into 8 parts: 1) outline of anatomy, 2) physiology of the human body, 3) hygienic agencies and the preservation of health, 4) dietetic and hydropathic cookery, 5) theory and practices of water treatment, 6) special pathology, and Hydrotherapeutics, 7) application to surgical diseases, and 8) application of hydropathy to midwifery and the nursery. It was designed as a guide for families and students and a textbook for physicians.

Trall, Russell. (1853). Home Treatment for Sexual Abuses. A Practical Treatise. New York, Fowler & Wells. https://archive.org/details/hometreatmentfor00tral/page/n7/mode/2up. 140 pages.

  • This was written as a practical treatise on the nature and causes of excessive and unnatural sexual indulgences, the diseases and injuries resulting therefrom.  He discussed their symptoms and hydropathic management.
Split Pea Barley Recipe
From the The New Hydropathic Cook-Book.
Recipes are a bit different from what you will find today.

Trall, Russell. (1853). The New Hydropathic Cook-Book. New York: Fowlers and Wells.

  • It contains recipes for cooking on hygienic principles and a philosophical exposition of the relations of food to health: the chemical elements and proximate constitution of alimentary principles, the nutritive properties of all kinds of ailments, the relative value of vegetable and animal substances, the selection and preservation of dietetic materials.
  •  Dr. Trall’s words in his Hydropathic Cook Book (1853) are still valid: “However strange may seem the assertion, it is nevertheless true, that the philosophy of diet has never been taught in medical schools! Physicians, generally, are as profoundly ignorant of the whole subject as are the great masses of people.” Confirming this statement in 1916, Dr. Richard C. Cabot, one of the outstanding physicians of the world, wrote: “Almost nothing is known about diet. There are numerous books on the subject, many of which are only helpful for pressing leaves but not for what they contain.”

Trall, Russell. (1854). Uterine Diseases and Displacements. New York: Fowler and Wells. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011596490. 386 pages.

  • Written as a practical treatise on the various diseases, malpositions, and structural derangements of the uterus and its appendages. 
  • In this text, Trall covers remedies for female diseases.  The book is broken into 2 sections.
    • Part one focuses on uterine diseases and covers the anatomy and physiology of the uterine system, inflammations, ulcerations, tumors, cauterization, and menstrual diseases.
    • Part two focuses on displacement and covers prolapsions, retroversions, and inversions of the womb and vagina.

Trall, Russell. (1855). Tobacco: its History. New York, Fowlers, and Wells. https://archive.org/details/101220790.nlm.nih.gov. 24 pages.

  • Dr. Troll discusses the history of tobacco and how it was initially first opposed, then tolerated, then embraced, and finally eulogized.  King James of England prohibited its use under severe penalties. He declared that smoking is loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs. He covers the prevalence, expense, chemical properties, the adulterations of tobacco, the physiological and pathological effects, the medicinal use, and the negative effects. He also discusses how alcohol and tobacco are usually used at the same time and, finally, how to break the habit.

Trall, Russell. (1856). The Alcoholic Controversy; a Review of the Westminster Review on “The Physiological Errors of Teetotalism.”  New York, Fowler and Wells. 114 pages. https://archive.org/details/alcoholiccontrov00tral. 

  • Discussion focuses on whether alcohol is considered food, the dangers of alcohol (large and small quantities), the nutritive value of wine and beer, and the effect of alcohol on digestion.  In review, he shares that 1) alcohol is essentially poisonous in all quantities and under all circumstances, 2) alcohol is never food in any sense whatsoever, nor under any circumstances, 3) alcohol is inimical to everything that possesses life, 4) alcohol, never impacts material of nutrient, nor material of force to the living organism, 5) alcohol, under no circumstances, supports vitality, and 6) that the use of alcoholic drink is abuse, whether employed as medicine or a beverage and is a violation of physiological law.
Trall’s home gymnasium or exercise center.
From The Illustrated Family Gymnasium.
New York, Fowler & Wells.

Trall, Russell. (1857). The Illustrated Family Gymnasium. New York, Fowler & Wells. 236 pages.

  • The book’s objective is to share the facts concerning exercise and give the best practical application to the development of bodily powers and functions and the cure of chronic disease and weaknesses and constitutional defects and deformities.  Dr. Trall feels that most people would benefit from using their bodies; he presents a range of exercises available within a home setting.

Trall, Russell. (1857). A New Theory of Population; Deduced from the General Law of Animal Fertility, with an introduction. New York, Fowler. https://archive.org/details/newtheoryofpopul00tral. 48 pages.

  • This book unfolds a theory of population based on the laws of organization, sustained by all the evidence of human and comparative anatomy and physiology and demonstrated by the history of all the races of mankind. He shares the chance to be represented in the future generations, which are intimately connected with recognizing this law; for it is the law of progress.
  • Dr. Trall shares a new theory of population and compares it to Malthus and Mr. Doubleday’s True Law of Population.

Trall, Russell. (1860). The Scientific Basis of Vegetarianism. Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Vegetarian Society. New York. Published for the Society. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.092012946&seq=7. 56 pages.

  • The American Vegetarian Society gathered on September 19, 1860, in Philadelphia, PA; the proceedings are documented in this book. Dr. Trall spoke on the Scientific Basis of Vegetarianism. He shares that the importance of vegetarianism can hardly be exaggerated. He believed it was the beginning of true dietetic reform. He also felt it was an essential prerequisite for a successful temperance and anti-tobacco reform movement. He shares that the demand for liquor and tobacco usually accompanies morbid appetites that utilize improper food.

Trall, Russell. (1860). Who Are the Health Teachers.” Eternal Health Truths of a Century Ago, no. June, 1960, pp. 54-57, Out of Print. Edited by Christopher Gian-Cursio.

  • Dr. Trall shares ample testimonies demonstrating that the medical profession does not lead people into better and more healthful habits. When people violate the laws of life and health, and then when disease, which is the inevitable penalty of transgression, occurs, dose and drug are the penalty. He shares that it’s impossible for drug doctors to be health teachers.
  • A copy was donated to the Internet Archive to be digitized at a future date.

Trall, Russell. (1860). Water-Cure for the Million. New York: Davies & Kent. https://archive.org/details/101220791.nlm.nih.gov. 76 pages.

  • In this book, the processes of water cure are explained, as well as popular errors exposed, hygienic and drug medication contrasted: rules for bathing, dieting, exercising, etc., recipes for cooking, and directions for home treatment.  Remarkable illustrated cases follow this.
  • Dr. Trall shares in this book that he never failed to cure an acute disease when he had the case from the beginning, with no medicine of any kind being given. He has treated hundreds of cases of fevers, including all kinds that prevail (bilious, typhus, intermittent, scarlet, pernicious, etc) without losing a case. I treated a large number of cases of measles, smallpox, and erysipelas and never not lost a patient. He treated many cases of influenza and pneumonia in old and young, strong and feeble, and never lost a case. He shares that during one winter, when the deaths of scarlet fever and ammonia exceeded 100 per week for months on end, none of the physicians at his establishment lost a single case, although they treated many.

Trall, Russell. (1861). Nervous Debility. State Library of Pennsylvania, Davies & Kent. https://archive.org/details/nervousdebilityn00tral

  • Trall discusses the nature, causes, consequences, and hygienic treatment of invalids suffering from prematurely exhausted vitality.

Trall, Russell. (1862). Pathology of the Reproductive Organs: Embracing All Forms of Sexual Disorders. Boston, Emerson. https://archive.org/details/66030910R.nlm.nih.gov/page/n1/mode/2up. 255 pages.

  • In this scholarly text, Dr. Trall explains the hygienic principles of bathing, hydration, food, exercise, light, clothing, sleep, bedding, and cleanliness. In the first part, he discusses venereal diseases and the virus and its modes of propagation, incubation, inoculation, syphilization, mercurialization, transmission, symptoms, complications, and treatment. In part two, he discussed the causes of spermatorrhoea, symptoms, complications, drug treatment, and cauterization. in part three, he dives into female diseases and goes through menstruation, inflammation, ulcerations, and other female issues. A Bart for he goes into miscellaneous issues (e.g., adhesion of the labia, paralysis of the clitoris, fistulous ulcers, cancers, dropsy, etc).

Trall, Russell. (1862). Diphtheria. New York: Fowler and Wells. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100141997. https://archive.org/details/diphtheriaitsnat00traluoft/page/n3/mode/2up. 290 pages.

  • Diptheria is perhaps a relic of the past in this age of mass vaccination. However, there are many places where modern medicine is not practiced or not available. 
  • Dr. Trall shares, “The increasing prevalence of the malady known as diphtheria in various parts of the United States, the disastrous results of drug medication, and the superior safety and efficacy of the Hygienic or Hygeio-Therapeutic method of treatment supply the motive for presenting the public with a monograph on the subject.” 
  • He carefully crafts a description of diphtheria, its pathology, history, infectiousness, causes, mortality, complications, allopathic drug treatments, and hygienic treatment. He includes a resumé of the various theories and practices of the medical profession.

Trall, Russell. (1864). The True Temperance Platform, or An Exposition of the Fallacy of Alcoholic Medication: being the substance of addresses delivered in the Queen’s Concert Rooms, Hanover Square, and in Exeter Hall, London, during the session of the International Temperance Convention, September 2, 3 and 4, 1862. New York, R.T. Trall & Co. 166 pages. https://archive.org/details/63850650R.nlm.nih.gov

  • Graham begins by asking the question, “Is alcohol useful as a medicine?”.
  • He goes on to share that medical men tell us that alcohol is a “caustic and irritant poison” and also a “supporter of vitality”; that it “inflames the blood and exhausts the nerves” and yet “imparts energy to the living fiber.” They tell us that it “hardens the brain and decomposes the membranes” and that it is also “respiratory food.” Graham discusses these fallacies and goes on to share experiments and case studies.

Trall, Russell. (1866). Alcoholic Medication. Harvard University, Miller, Wood. https://archive.org/details/alcoholicmedica00tralgoog. 56 pages.

  • This paper was prepared to submit to the national temperance conference held at Saratoga Springs on August 1, 1865. Its intent was to cover the ground of the scientific argument concerning alcoholic medication. He shares that the medical friends of temperance are divided into three classes: 1) Those who regard alcoholic medicine as indispensable and declare that there are no adequate substitutes. 2) Those who claim that it is per se a good medicine but who admit that it may be dispensed with provided we have other substitutes. 3) Those who believe it is not useful as a medicine.
Apple Jonathan
Apple Jonathan. From The New Hydropathic Cook-Book.
New York: published by Samuel R. Wells.

Trall, Russell. (1869). The New Hydropathic Cook-Book. New York: published by Samuel R. Wells.

  • This publication contains recipes for cooking on hygienic principles, also containing a philosophical exposition of the relations of food to health, the chemical elements and proximate constitution of alimentary principles, the nutritive properties of all kinds of ailments, the relative value of vegetable and animal substances; the selection and preservation of dietetic materials. 

Trall, Russell. (1872). The True Healing Art: Or, Hygienic vs. Drug Medication – An Address Delivered in the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D. C. New York, S.R. Wells.

  • The lecture was widely published and circulated among the populace, and the health reform movement in America reached its height.  Ironically, in 1861, with the onset of the Civil War, national attention focused on survival, and health reform ended.  

Trall, Russell. (1872). An Essay on Tobacco-using; Being a Philosophical Exposition of the Effects of Tobacco on the Human System. Battle Creek, Michigan. Office of the Health reformer. https://archive.org/details/essayontobaccous00tral/page/n3/mode/2up. 92 pages.

  • Dr. Trall created this pamphlet to help educate people on tobacco use. He goes into the properties of tobacco, the physical evil of using it, and the mental, moral, and social evils of using it. He discusses tobacco as a business and its relationship to intemperance. He also focuses on women who smoke and wear tight, laced courses and the impact on them.
Apple Dumplings
Apple Dumplings
From the book The New Hydropathic Cook-Book:
with Recipes for Cooking on Hygienic Principles.
New York: Published by Samuel R. Wells.

Trall, Russell. (1873). The New Hydropathic Cook-Book: with Recipes for Cooking on Hygienic Principles. New York: Published by Samuel R. Wells.

  • Initially published in 1854, it contains the philosophical exposition of the relations of food to health, the chemical elements and proximate constitution of alimentary principles, the nutritive properties of all kinds of ailments, and the relative value of animal and vegetable substances. The leading objects of this work are to present, in the smallest possible compass, a summary of the principles and facts in chemistry and physiology that apply to the philosophy of diet and to furnish such as are not familiar with the details of cooking on hygienic principles, plain formulas for preparing an ample variety of dishes, with due regard for the laws of life and health. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900’s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. 

Trall, Russell. (1873).The Health and Diseases of Woman. Battle Creek, Michigan. Office of the Health Reformer. https://archive.org/details/healthdiseasesof00tral/page/n7/mode/2up. 84 pages.

  • In this book, Dr. Trall jumps right into women and the medical profession. He talks about the responsibility of motherhood and women’s disadvantages. He goes into the origin of many infirmities, respiration, dress, sexual function, puberty, and the use of allopathic drugs during pregnancy or chronic disease. He discusses that there is a better way to heal and ends with a discussion on women and tobacco.

Trall, Russell. (1873). The Hygienic Hand-Book. New York, Wells. https://archive.org/details/63820600R.nlm.nih.gov. 316 pages.

  • Dr. Trall discusses bathing processes, types, rules, duration, crisis, temperature, hydration, food and dietetic rules, exercise, ventilation, light, clothing, sleep, bedding, and cleanliness. Following this, the text becomes an encyclopedia of the terminology in hygienic home treatment. This was written as a practical guide for the sick room, arranged alphabetically, with an appendix of the hygeio-therapeutic movements. 

Trall, Russell. (1873). Diseases of the Throat and Lungs. New York: Samuel R. Wells.   https://archive.org/details/101220792.nlm.nih.gov. 52 Pages.

  • Dr. Trall discusses consumption and its forms and general affections of the throat and lungs. He reviews where it can be found in the US, the causes, and who would be most liable.  He goes into the stages of consumption, the prognosis, and treatment. He goes into detail about clothing, diet, drink, bathing, and throat aid.  He also discussed his croup, diphtheria, influenza, and pneumonia.

Trall, Russell. (1873). Digestion and Dyspepsia: New York: S.R. Wells. https://archive.org/details/b20406356 174 pages.

  • This book is broken up into two parts. Part one focuses on digestion and goes into detail about nutrition, salvation, teeth, internal digestion, and absorption of nutrients. He next focuses on the use of tobacco and its impact on digestion. He also goes into women and tight lacing and the impact on digestion.
  • Part two focuses on dyspepsia. He goes into the nature of its special causes, symptoms, and principles of treatment. He focuses specifically on food, drink, exercise, bathing, clothing, sleep, ventilation, light, temperature, mental influences, and occupation.
  • A complete Explanation of the Physiology of the Digestive Processes.

Trall, Russell. (1874). The Mother’s Hygienic Hand-Book.New York, S.R. Wells. https://archive.org/details/mothershygienich00tral. 208 pages.

  • This was written as a text for the development and training of women and their families on the treatment of their diseases with hygienic agencies. Dr. Trall covers his handbook in 23 chapters: 1) prenatal care, 2) anatomy of the uterine system, displacement of the uterus, menstruation, menstrual disorders, pregnancy, miscarriage, presentations and positions of the fetus, in utero, parturition, diseases during pregnancy, management of labor, attention to the child and mother, disorders in labor, disorders during lactation, disorders of infancy and childhood, training of children, hygiene, raising children, accidents and emergencies, and poison and antidote.  
Trall's Hygeian Home Hygeio Therapeutic College
Trall’s Hygeian Home Hygeio Therapeutic College

Trall, Russell. (1874). The Hygeian Home Cook-Book; or, Healthful and Palatable Food Without Condiments. New York, S. R. Wells. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/07033845/.

  • With mid-nineteenth-century advances in scientific studies of health and nutrition, diet-based cookbooks like Dr. Russell Trall’s proliferated. Trall founded the New York Hydropathic and Physiological School in 1854, and his New Hydropathic CookBook was one of the first to subscribe to the school’s advocacy of the water cure, using baths and drinking pure water to combat disease and maintain health. The diet proposed in the cookbook consists almost entirely of fruits, grains, and vegetables, with a few animal-based recipes for those who demand a broader diet. More than just a list of recipes, the cookbook presents the basis of Trall’s diet—the belief that all nutritive material comes from vegetables. Thus, animal foods are inferior because they are derivative and likely to be impure. It also includes a discussion of digestion and an exhaustive catalog of vegetable foods. 

Trall, Russell. (1875). Popular Physiology: a Familiar Exposition of the Structures, Functions, and Relations of the Human System, and their Application to the Preservation of Health. New York, S. R. Wells & Co https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011825983 https://archive.org/details/popularphysiolog00tral. 240 pages

  • This volume’s objective, partly a compilation from the author’s larger works, is to present anatomical descriptions, illustrations, and a more complete explanation and application of Physiology and Hygiene to the purposes of practical life. It is intended to be specially adapted to the wants of families and schools. Over 16 chapters, Dr. Trall covers man’s place in nature, races of men, temperament, bodily positions, the body, framework, the ligaments, the muscles, digestion, absorption, respiration, circulation, secretion, and excretion, senses, the nervous system, anatomy, and hygiene.

Trall, Russell. (1875). Sexual Physiology: a Scientific and Popular Exposition of the Fundamental Problems in Sociology. New York: Wood & Holbrook. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100604378. https://archive.org/details/8103747.nlm.nih.gov. 324 pages.

  • This work aims to discuss the anatomical and physiological problems, rigidly scientific, up to the hour of going to press in 1875. Over 16 chapters, Dr. Trall discusses the male and female organs of generation, the origin of life, sexual generation, the physiology of menstruation, impregnation, pregnancy, embryology, parturition, lactation, the law of sex, regulation of the number of offspring, the theory of population, the law of sexual intercourse, hereditary transmission, and the philosophy of marriage. Particularly interesting is that Dr. Trall discusses and focuses on several chapters on women’s rights, and he states, “Woman’s Rights. —No truth is to my mind more self-evident, no rule of right more plain, no law of Nature more demonstrable than the right of a woman to her own person. Nor can this right be alienated by marriage. “

Trall, Russell. (1875). The Human Voice: Its Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Therapeutics, and Training.  University of California. S. R. Wells & Company.  https://archive.org/details/humanvoiceitsan00tralgoog. 133 pages.

  • The object of this work is to present the facts and principles applicable to the culture and uses of the Human Voice and to furnish Lyceums and Debating Clubs with a concise Code of Rules and Usages to regulate their proceedings. It is not expected nor intended to supersede the more elaborate works on Elocution, which may be indispensable for the Orator and Teacher, but to furnish all who desire to read and speak well and who must rely mainly on self-education with a plain and intelligible guide in theory and practice. Over 7 chapters, Dr. Trall covers the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the voice in the first three chapters. Next, he covers the therapeutics of the voice, training, exercises on the elementary sounds, and selections for practice.

Trall, Russell. Kellogg, John. (1875). The Household Manual of Domestic Hygiene, Foods and Drinks, Common Diseases, Accidents. Harvard University, Office of the Health Reformer. https://archive.org/details/householdmanual00kellgoog. 275 pages.

  • This publication deals with subjects considered to be useful to every household. The aim has been to make the work practical in character and to condense the information. The suggestions and hints given under Domestic Hygiene, if applied, will negate many of the ills and suffering within domestic life. 
  • The chapter on Foods and Drinks contains much that may be new to a majority of those who have never investigated the subject from the standpoint of health. It is not intended to be in any sense complete. The objective is only to call attention to a few of the ways in which disease and premature death are the result of errors in diet. 
  • In Simple Remedies for Common Diseases, Dr. Trall has simple treatments for more than sixty maladies with remedies that can be found in any household.
  • Accidents and Emergencies cover information to enable a person to save many lives if it is carefully and promptly applied at the proper time.
  • The recipes for cooking have been tested by experienced cooks and others and will be found to be a great improvement over those in ordinary use. These recipes have been collected and tested from numerous reliable sources.
  • A table of contents of each will be found in immediate connection with it instead of being introduced into the index. Dr. R. T. Trail concludes the book with two essays on the Diseases of Women and Use of Tobacco. 

Trall, Russell. (1881). Uterine Diseases and Displacements. New York: Fowler & Wells. https://archive.org/details/67131410R.nlm.nih.gov

  • Written as a practical treatise on the various diseases, malpositions, and structural derangements of the uterus and its appendages. 
  • In this text, Trall covers remedies for female diseases.  The book is broken into 2 sections.
    • Part one focuses on uterine diseases and covers the anatomy and physiology of the uterine system, inflammations, ulcerations, tumors, cauterization, and menstrual diseases.
    • Part two focuses on displacement and covers prolapsions, retroversions, and inversions of the womb and vagina.
Advertisement for Trall's New York Hygeio-Therapeutic College.
Advertisement for Trall’s New York Hygeio-Therapeutic College.

Trall, Russell. (1883). Water-Cure for the Million – New York, Fowlers, and Wells. 56 pages.

  • The processes of water cures are explained, and popular errors are exposed. Dr. Trall compares and contrasts hygienic and drug medication, discussing bathing, dieting, and exercising rules.  He also shares recipes for cooking along with directions for home treatment. 

Trall, Russell. (1885). Sexual Physiology and Hygiene, or The Mysteries of Man. New York: M.L. Holbrook & Co. . 358 pages.

  • Dr. Trall first published this work in 1865.  However, using what he learned in his practice, he has revised about 2/3 of it. More than forty new illustrations have been added, making it the best-illustrated work of the kind.
  • He covers the anatomical and physiological problems of concern, rigidly embracing all the most recent scientific discoveries and applications addressed to the layman rather than the professional reader. Its sole object is to instruct the masses of the people on those subjects which have hitherto been to them, in great part, a sealed book.
  • This was the first attempt to popularize, in a scientific work, the subject of Sexual Physiology. The public has too long ignored as indelicate or as too intricate and mysterious to be comprehended except by those who are educated in all the branches of the medical profession. It is important information that all humans should know, as it is the foundation of their earthly well-being.

Trall, Russell. (1891). Sexual Physiology and Hygiene: an Exposition Practical Scientific Moral and Popular of the Fundamental Problems of Sociology. Glasgow, Thomas D. Morison, New York, M.L. Holbrook & CO. https://archive.org/details/b20442658/page/n5/mode/2up. 302 Pages.

  • This 302-page book is divided into 16 chapters. It discusses the origin of life, sexual generation, physiology, and hygiene of menstruation, impregnation, pregnancy, embryology, labor, lactation, the law of sex, previous pregnancies, offspring, the law of sexual intercourse, hereditary transmission, and sexual hygiene.
  • This edition underwent a series of reprints.
    • Under the imprints Glasgow: Thomas D. Morison; London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, in 1897, also stating “From the sixtieth thousand,–American edition” on title page and the spine, Under the Morison and Simpkin imprints in 1908, stating “Eighty-fifth thousand” on title page and “From sixtieth thousand” on spine.–Under the Simpkin imprint in 1913, stating “Eight-ninth thousand” on t.p.–Under the Simpkin imprint in 1919, stating “Ninety-eight thousand” on the title page, Under the Simpkin imprint in 1917 and 1922.
  • 1895 Reprint. Sexual Physiology and Hygiene. New York Fowler & Wells Co. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100633700. 408 pages


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