An Authentic Narrative of the Success of Tar-water, in Curing a Great Number and Variety of Distempers: With Remarks, and Occasional Papers Relative to the Subject

Thomas Prior; George Berkeley

[London] : Dublin printed, London re-printed, for W. Innys, C. Hitch, and M. Cooper, in Paternoster-Row; and C. Davis, in Holborn, 1746

Octavo. 192 pp. Modern brown leather, gilt, raised bands, black leather spine label. Fine binding. Minor toning, scattered spotting. 

George Berkeley published Siris, Philosophical Reflexions and inquiries concerning the virtues of tar-water, and divers other subjects connected together and arising from one another. The early 1740's were a period of famine and epidemic in Ireland and there were no physicians in Berkeley's diocese. Berkeley took it upon himself to do what he could for the sick and settled upon tar-water as the best malady for the various ailments that he treated. Berkeley prepared tar-water by mixing pine tar with water, allowing it to settle, and then draining off the clear fluid for medicinal use. Siris, which starts with a discussion of the virtues of tar-water for curing most diseases, was the most popular of his books during his lifetime. It was widely read on the continent and in America and quickly went through several editions. Most of its readers, however, read it for its medical discussions and ignored the main subject of the book, a chain of philosophical reflections that start with tar and end with the Trinity. In Siris Berkeley restated many of the tenets of the immaterialism of his youth but mixed them with even more speculative ideas, drawing heavily on classical works. The end result is the most difficult of Berkeley's works to read although one with significant philosophical content.  Subject; Hydrotherapy.