THOMAS POLLARD of Westwood, near Crediton in Devonshire, ill five years with weakness, numbness and coldness of the right hand and arm, was admitted 15th November 1784. The disorder came on suddenly, without any assignable cause.
The bath was ordered twice a week, and the water directed to be drunk daily. The bath, after a few trials, was omitted, and the use of the pump directed three times a week, with a stimulating linament. This course was continued, with the use of the bath once a week, to the time of the patient’s discharge, 25th May 1785, when he was sent home cured, greatly to the credit of the waters and contrary to the expectations of his attendants. He had been in the hospital six months and ten days.
From Narrative on the Efficacy of the Bath Waters in Various Kinds of Paralytic Disorders admitted into the Bath Hospital from the End of 1775 to the End of 1785, published by Order of the Committee 1787 (available online via Historical Texts)