Donkey milk knowledge archive · Historical source

John Wesley’s “Primitive Physick” (1776): a whooping-cough recipe with seven weeks of asses’ milk

In “Primitive Physick”, the Methodist preacher John Wesley collected simple household remedies for poor people. In the 17th edition of 1776, the section on whooping cough contains the brief advice to give asses’ milk for seven weeks.

Historical account: The information reproduced here reflects the knowledge of its time. It is not scientifically substantiated, is not a recommendation and cannot be applied to today. Donkey milk is a food, not a remedy.
1776LondonPopular collection of remedies (household medicine)
Author
John Wesley (1703–1791), Anglican clergyman and founder of the Methodist movement
Work
Primitive Physick: or, an Easy and Natural Method of Curing most Diseases, 17th edition, London: R. Hawes, sold at the Foundry in Moorfields, 1776
Passage
Section 32 “Chin Cough, or Hooping-Cough”, remedy no. 135, p. 43
Time & place
1776 (17th edition; first edition 1747) · London
Type of source
Popular collection of remedies (household medicine)

In the original words

What the original says

Or, give Asses-milk for seven weeks:

Or [according to Wesley] give asses’ milk for seven weeks.

English (18th century)Wesley, Primitive Physick, 17. Auflage (London 1776), Abschnitt 32 „Chin Cough, or Hooping-Cough“, Nr. 135, S. 43

Or, half a Pint of Milk, warm from the Cow, with the Quantity of a Nutmeg of Conserve of Roses dissolved in it every Morning.

Or every morning half a pint of milk, still warm from the cow, with a nutmeg-sized amount of conserve of roses dissolved in it.

English (18th century)Wesley, Primitive Physick (London 1776), Nr. 136, S. 43

English rendering: our own translation by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, following the sense of the text.

Digitised copy · 1776Page 43 of the 17th edition of Wesley’s “Primitive Physick” (London 1776): at the very top is remedy no. 135 “Or, give Asses-milk for seven weeks” (microfilm image).

A look at the original

What the passage looks like

Page 43 of the 17th edition of Wesley’s “Primitive Physick” (London 1776): at the very top is remedy no. 135 “Or, give Asses-milk for seven weeks” (microfilm image).

The page comes from a freely accessible digitised copy. Click to open the passage at the library.
Internet Archive, Sammlung Eighteenth Century (Mikrofilm); Vorlage gemeinfrei

View in the digitised copy →

Background

Who, when, what kind of text

John Wesley was not a physician but a preacher. For decades he travelled through Britain and saw that poor people could not afford a doctor. In 1747 he therefore published, anonymously, “Primitive Physick”, a collection of household remedies arranged by disease, with cold baths, herbs, diet and simple medicines. Remedies he considered proven he marked “Tried”.

The little book became one of the most frequently printed medical guides of the 18th century and went through more than twenty editions. Wesley added and removed remedies in almost every new edition. The 17th edition of 1776 was printed in London and sold at the Methodist preaching-houses, so it reached readers of modest means above all.

Content

What the source reports about donkey milk

The section on whooping cough (“Chin Cough, or Hooping-Cough”) follows directly after Wesley’s rules on child care. It lists nine remedies: daily cold baths, rubbing the feet with hog’s lard or the back with rum, juice of pennyroyal with sugar candy – and, in fifth place and without any explanation, asses’ milk for seven weeks.

Immediately afterwards Wesley names cow’s milk still warm from the cow with conserve of roses, a powder of salt of wormwood and cochineal, and gamboge. As a last resort “in desperate cases” he recommends a change of air. For the asses’ milk there is no information on quantity or time of day, and it does not carry the mark “Tried”.

A comparison with the 12th edition of 1765 shows that the asses’ milk remedy was added later: there the juice of pennyroyal is followed directly by the warm cow’s milk. Donkey milk is not a substitute for breast milk or infant formula; infant feeding belongs in medical hands.

At a glance

Figures & facts from the source

1747first edition, published anonymously at the time
177617th edition, London, R. Hawes
No. 135asses’ milk remedy in section 32 on whooping cough, p. 43
7 weeksrecommended duration of the asses’ milk
9remedies for whooping cough in the 1776 edition (nos. 131–139)

Timeline

Where this source stands in the history of donkey milk

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Critical assessment

How reliable is this source?

Source value

The 1776 edition can be viewed in full on microfilm; remedy number and page can be checked. Wesley gathered remedies from books and oral tradition and rarely names his source. The book therefore shows what counted as a household remedy among ordinary people rather than the state of medical practice.

A remedy enters the book

The comparison with the 1765 edition shows that Wesley only included asses’ milk between 1765 and 1776. This fits its growing popularity in Britain, also documented by Buchan’s “Domestic Medicine” of 1769.

Today’s assessment

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection against which children are vaccinated today; sick children need medical treatment. There is no evidence that donkey milk works against whooping cough. The passage is a document of medical history, not a set of instructions.

Our assessment

Wesley’s line is short but revealing: by 1776 asses’ milk was apparently so familiar that a book for poor readers could recommend it without any explanation. Precisely because it concerns children, the passage also shows how far today’s medicine has moved on.

References

Sources to check

More sources and studies in the research archive. Summarised by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, as of November 2026.