Curiosities of Medical Experience Part 47

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries mummies formed one of the ordinary drugs found in Apothecaries shops, and as considerable sums were expended in its purchase as had been laid out upon the _besoards_ of various rare animals. It became a lucrative branch of trade to the Jews.

The demand not being easily supplied from the vigilance of the Egyptian Government, various frauds were introduced. So powerful were the supposed qualities of mummies, that Francis I. always carried a small parcel of it about him mixed with rhubarb. Lord Bacon tells us that mummy has great force in stanching of blood. Boyle a.s.sures us that it is one of the useful medicines commended and given for falls and bruises. The Arabs to this day make use of mummy powder mixed up with bitters. This preparation is called _mantey_, and is esteemed a sovereign remedy for bruises.

HYDROPHOBIA.

This term has been erroneously applied to the disease arising from the bite of a rabid animal, since many instances are recorded of mad dogs not only drinking freely of water and other fluids, but actually swimming across rivers; while, on the other hand, the horror of water has attended maladies totally unconnected with rabid injuries: Sauvages plainly expresses himself on this subject. "Apud Gallo-provincales, experientia, canes lubosque rabidos bibisse, munduca.s.se, flumen transna.s.se, ut olim Maralogis et bis Forolivii observatum, adeoque nec potum aversari." Dr.

James relates the case of a mad dog that drank both milk and water, and swam through a pond. Similar cases are recorded of mankind.

This disease was known to the ancients, and the Greek term for rabies was _lyssa_, referred to several times by Homer, when Hector is compared to a mad dog by Teucer and Ulysses. It was also known by the name of _cynolisson_, _phobodipson_, and _hygrophobia_. According to Plutarch, the disease was first observed in the time of Asclepiades. Coelius Aurelia.n.u.s is the most correct of the ancient writers on the subject. This disease, although it may appear in every climate, is far less common in hot regions than in those of a moderate temperature. In the West Indies it is unknown; nor has it been observed in South America. In Egypt and Syria it has never been seen. Mr. Barrow informs us that at the Cape of Good Hope, and amongst the Caffres, their dogs are exempt from the malady, although constantly fed upon putrid meat.

Water-dread has been observed in various rheumatic and inflammatory affections, and frequently arises in a spontaneous manner; while many cases are recorded of the alarming symptoms being witnessed when no rabid bite has been inflicted. Violent pa.s.sions, both in men and animals, seem to impart a peculiar acrimony to the saliva. Meekren, Wolff, Zacutus Lusita.n.u.s, mention fatal cases after the bite of a man in a pa.s.sionate fit. Le Cat gives a case of death produced by the bite of an enraged duck.

Thiermayer gives us two fatal cases of the bite of a hen and a goose, and Camararius has an instance of epilepsy produced by the bite of a horse.

Of the cause of this disease we are utterly ignorant: thirst, without the means of quenching it,--the use of putrid food,--sultry weather, have been considered as producing the fearful disorder; but no one instance is recorded that can justify the opinion. The streets of Lisbon are crowded with dogs, feeding upon disgusting offal, under a burning sky, yet rabies is scarcely ever observed among them. It is more probable that certain mental emotions, such as anger and fear, have a peculiar influence on the animal. All the aggregate symptoms of the disease show that the nervous system is disturbed; and the singular effect of confidence in the treatment of persons bitten by a rabid animal, confirms the fact. This is further proved by many cases of hydrophobia unconnected with rabid bites.

Marcel Donat relates the case of a woman who complained of pains in the neck and right arm, with constant trembling. In three days the pain ceased, but the tremor continued; a sense of suffocation followed, which was attended with a horror of water and every liquid, although the throat was burning. In five days she died in excruciating agonies, but preserving her senses until the last. Koehler saw a young soldier, who, having fallen asleep against a stove, was suddenly awakened with a sensation of intense thirst, which he quenched with a draught of cold water.

Hydrophobia immediately ensued, and the next day terminated his existence.

Selig relates the case of a man at Neukirchen, who was attacked with all the alarming symptoms of this malady after having laboured in the fields on a very hot day, and bathed in the river. The following day he was affected with violent rheumatic pains, which shortly ushered in an intolerance of fluids, and inability of swallowing. In the course of twenty-four hours he expired. It appeared upon inquiry that a year before he had purchased from the hangman of the town some dog's grease, to rub himself to relieve some troublesome affection; and it was stated that the dog had been killed by a gamekeeper, who suspected him of being mad.

Cases of plague have been attended with water-dread. Lalius Diversus saw a woman labouring under the epidemic, who was thrown into agonies when she even saw other persons drinking. Sarcotius, in his history of the epidemic diseases of Naples, informs us that the fever was invariably attended with hydrophobic symptoms. The fever that prevailed at Breslau in 1719, presented the same peculiarity.

Various venene substances have also been known to give rise to this disease. Professor Brera, of Pavia, witnessed it after the use of stramonium. Rancid oils have caused similar accidents. In regard to the causes that produced madness in dogs, numerous experiments have been made, particularly in the Veterinary School of Alfort: one dog was fed with salted meat, and totally restrained from drinking; another was allowed nothing but water; and the third was not allowed food or drink of any kind. The first died on the forty-first day; the second on the thirty-third; and the third on the twenty-fifth; not one of them evincing any symptoms of rabies.

It appears that a peculiar predisposition renders some individuals more subject to the accidents that follow the bite of rabid animals than others. Mr. Hunter gives an instance in which, out of twenty persons who were bitten by the same dog, only one received the disease. It appears, however, that this virus is less volatile than most others, and is capable of remaining in a dormant state for a very long period; and if we are to give credence to many reports on the subject, it may linger in the system for several years. At other times, its destructive nature has proved immediately injurious. Heisler has given a case where a man was affected by merely putting into his mouth the cord by which the mad dog had been confined. Palmarius relates the case of a peasant, who, in the last stage of the disease, communicated it to his children by kissing them. It has, however, been clearly demonstrated, that inoculation of rabid saliva does not propagate the distemper. Experiments were made both by Magendie and Breschet in 1813. In 1800, when a dresser in the Hotel Dieu of Paris, I witnessed several experiments of the kind, and with similar results. At the same period, I had occasion to observe the effect of imagination in many cases. Several persons had been bitten by a rabid dog in the Faubourg St. Antoine, and three of them had died in our wards; a report, however, was prevalent that we kept a mixture that would effectually prevent these accidents; no less than six applicants were served with a draught of coloured water, and in no one instance did any accident ensue.

The period of the development of the accidents after the bite in animals is various. According to Meynall, the disease appears amongst dogs from ten days to eight months after the injury. In the hounds of Earl Fitzwilliam, who were bitten in June 1791, the intervals varied from six weeks to six months. Dr. James made a similar observation in Mr. Floyer's pack.

No malady has been submitted to more curious and fearful modes of treatment than hydrophobia; and in many cases such has been the dread of the disease, that patients have been smothered or drowned. Dioscorides seared the wound with irons heated to whiteness; other pract.i.tioners first excised the wounded part, and then applied fire or caustic. While fire was resorted to by some pract.i.tioners, water was recommended by others, and submersion in a river or a pond has frequently been urged as an effectual remedy. In the time of Celsus, the miserable sufferer was thrown without any warning into a fishpond, alternately plunging his head under water and raising it: when the poor wretch could swim, he was forcibly kept immersed until filled with water. After this experiment, which Celsus terms the _unic.u.m remedium_, for fear that the patient might be attacked with convulsions, he was taken out of the pond, and soused in warm oil. Van Helmont recommended that the poor devil should be kept under water while the psalm _Miserere_ was sung, and most probably the terrified choristers were not expeditious in their performance. Morin relates the case of a young woman, twenty years old, who was plunged in a tub of water, with a bushel of salt dissolved in it, and dipped repeatedly, until she became insensible; however, much to the surprise of the bystanders, who thought her dead, she recovered, and could not only look upon water, but was able to drink it. Bleeding nearly to death, mercury, cantharides, and various medicines, have been also called into aid; but none have appeared to prove effectual in curing this dreadful disorder. One of the most singular modes of treatment was the introduction of rabid blood into the system of the patient,--in fact, a h.o.m.oeopathic plan of Dr. Rithmeister of Powlowsk, in Finland, who has recorded several cases to prove that the blood of a rabid animal, when drunk, is a specific against canine hydrophobia. The doctor communicates a letter from Dr. Stockmann, a Russian physician, stating this practice to be both common and effectual in White Russia.

With a view of producing a fresh poisonous action that might neutralize the former one, it has also been proposed that a venomous serpent should be made to inflict a wound under the bite of the mad dog. I do not believe that this experiment has ever been tried; and, as Good observes, the claim of ingenuity is, most probably, the only one it will ever have to receive.

This fatal disease is enveloped in so much darkness, both as regards its causes and its treatment, that it may well be considered one of the opprobriums of the profession. The experiments of my late friend Sir David Barry are, however, of great importance; and in many cases of poisonous wounds, the application of cupping-gla.s.ses has been followed by evident favourable results.

To ascertain the existence of rabies in animals, more especially in dogs, is a matter of great importance, as being frequently the source of moral depression or of sanguine hope, that may tend to increase or diminish the severity of the accidents. One may apprehend madness in a dog when we see the animal dull, and seeking solitude and darkness, his sleep disturbed, and when awakened refusing food or drink. Its head droops, the tail hangs between the legs. The animal soon quits the abode of his master, the mouth secreting a viscid foam, the tongue pendulous and dry, the eyes bright and sparkling. His gait soon becomes uncertain; now precipitate, then slow and undecided. Impatient, and parched with a burning thirst, he cannot rest; and the sight of any fluid occasions an instinctive shudder. The rabid symptoms now become more violent; the animal will attack and bite other dogs, although much superior in strength. It is a.s.serted that dogs avoid him with terror. On these occasions the fury of the animal is not to be controlled; all ties of attachment are dissolved; and his master is but too frequently the first victim of his indiscriminate rage. Hence the absurd popular notion that mad dogs inflict their first bite on those to whom they are attached,--a circ.u.mstance that simply can be attributed to the natural endeavours of a master to check the violence of a domestic creature whom he generally can control. Mad dogs seldom bark, but express their angry uneasiness with a growl, which gradually becomes weaker, until the animal staggers, droops, and dies. Yet as there may exist many maladies amongst animals in which these symptoms are observed, to destroy them, as is usually the case, is a most absurd practice, since the individuals whom they may have bitten will sink into a fatal despondency; whereas, by allowing them to live, if they recover, it is evident that the patient will be easily persuaded that the dog was not in a rabid state.

The following cases, recorded by Dr. Perceval, are curious instances of the dormant state of this fearful virus, the effects of which are accidentally developed.

A wine-porter was labouring under a low fever; after a time appeared some symptoms of hydrophobia, and much inquiry elicited the recollection of his having been slightly bitten by a dog six weeks before. In the interval he was convicted of some fraudulent practice in the cellar of his master, to whom he owed great obligation, and was dismissed with disgrace. Anxiety on this event seemed to produce the fever, which terminated in rabies.

Lately an officer was bitten by a dog, whose madness being recognised, the bitten part was excised immediately: after an undisturbed interval of two months, he was advised to go to England to dissipate the recollection of the accident. There he exercised himself violently in hewing wood, felt pain in the hand which had been bitten, embarked for Ireland, had symptoms of hydrophobia on board the packet, and died soon after his arrival. From the varying period of attack, we might infer that the influence of occasional causes is very considerable. In the last patient, hydrophobia supervened exactly five weeks from the time of the bite: he lost one hundred and twenty ounces of blood in twelve hours, which sunk him much; violent perspiration, and at length delirium, attended the water-dread; during the last twenty-four hours he swallowed, and recovered his senses; and died slightly convulsed, whilst cutting an egg. These cases seem to point out agitation of mind and feverish excitation as powerful occasional causes.

Herman Strahl has recently related the following case of rabies in which the dog that had bitten the patient was not mad. In the month of January, 1833, an innkeeper was taken ill. The doctor found him dressed, and stretched upon his bed. He did not complain of any particular ailment, but loathed all food. He at last admitted that he experienced some difficulty in swallowing; and his mother having offered him a cup of tea, he refused it with a sense of horror, and his countenance immediately a.s.sumed a character of ferocity that terrified the bystanders. An apple having been given to him, he ate it without repugnance. It was now discovered that, five weeks before, he had been bitten by a dog he was training; and the wound was slow in healing. The dog was sought, and did not show the slightest sign of disease,--barking, playing, and drinking freely. In the evening the patient's case was aggravated; and it was with the utmost difficulty that he was made to swallow a spoonful of ptisan. The next day he was seized with a violent attack of rabies: seeing one of his sisters drinking, he fell into a furious rage, dashed a looking-gla.s.s to pieces, and entreated his relatives to withdraw, as he otherwise would inevitably bite them. This outrageous paroxysm lasted half an hour; at its expiration he fell into a tranquil sleep. But at night he was seized with another attack; and he began to howl and imitate the barking of a dog, and commenced breaking every thing in the room of a s.h.i.+ning appearance. His sisters fled in dismay; but he seized his mother, a woman of sixty-five years of age, cast her on the ground, and bit her in the cheek. After this desperate act, he seemed to be struck with a conviction of what he had done, and became more tranquil; but, half an hour after, on entering his chamber, he was found dead, his head under the bedclothes. His mother did not experience any accidents from the injury.

It is singular that, in this miserable condition, the patients will frequently show singular partialities; and, although repulsing any fluid offered to them by some individuals, will take it from others, and attempt, however vainly, to drink. In the Hotel Dieu of Paris, a young girl, affected with hydrophobia, would only take a cup of ptisan from me; but with looks of inexpressible anxiety returned it to me, after having struggled to moisten her burning lips. At Boulogne, a postilion, bitten by a mad dog, was violent with every one but one of my nephews: from him he also accepted drink, although unable to swallow it; before dying in excruciating agonies, he repeatedly asked for him, and begged that he might be sent for. He would not allow, even in his last moments, any other person to come near him;--another striking instance of that unknown power of sympathy to which I have frequently alluded in the preceding pages.

ON THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE.

In a former paper I have given a sketch of the progress of the Chirurgical profession, relating the many difficulties its members had to encounter in their endeavours to attain that degree of perfection to which surgery has risen; a perfection which we have every reason to believe will still continue to be improved by the daily discoveries of the Physiologist, whose labours may be considered the theoretical guide of the pract.i.tioner.

The history of medicine is equally fraught with much interest, since its being a science more or less conjectural, it has opened a vast career to the speculative mind, and a wide field for the ambitious. Having been long considered a divine inspiration, priesthood in every age considered this science an attribute of their vocation, adding to their spiritual and temporal power.

In a rude state of society it is more than probable that the art of curing diseases, as well as that of healing injuries, did not const.i.tute a special profession, but was practised indiscriminately by all persons whose experience and position in the midst of their uncivilized kinsfolks, gave some weight and importance to their advice. Warriors attended their wounded companions in arms. Parents sought to relieve their offspring, and children endeavoured to alleviate the sufferings of their aged and infirm sires. Thus, I may say, was the art of healing instinctively taught, and not unfrequently the brute creation guided the efforts of humanity; when man contemplated the means animals resorted to when labouring under disease. Plutarch affirms that it is to these instinctive efforts of animals that we are indebted for the knowledge of the various properties of plants. The wild goats of Crete pointed out the use of the _Dictamus_ and vulnerary herbs--dogs when indisposed sought the _Tritic.u.m repens_, and the same animal taught to the Egyptians the use of purgatives const.i.tuting the treatment called _Syrmasm_. The hippopotamus introduced the practice of bleeding, and it is affirmed that the employment of enemata was shown by the ibis. Sheep with worms in their liver were seen seeking saline substances, and cattle affected with dropsy anxiously looked for chalybeate waters. This study might therefore have been called an instinctive school.

Herodotus tells us that the Babylonians and Chaldeans had no physicians, and in cases of sickness the patient was carried out and exposed on the highway, that any persons pa.s.sing by who had been affected in a similar manner, might give some information regarding the means that had afforded them relief. Shortly, these observations of cures were suspended in the temples of the G.o.ds, and we find that in Egypt the walls of their sanctuaries were covered with records of this description. The priests of these shrines soon considered these treasures as their property, and turned their possession to a good account. Amongst the Hebrews we find that the Levites were considered as the only persons who could cure leprosy, and the practice of medicine became their province.

The priests of Greece adopted the same practice, and some of the tablets suspended in their temples are of a curious character which will ill.u.s.trate the custom. The following votive memorials are given by Gurter: "Some days back, a certain Caius, who was blind, learned from an oracle, that he should repair to the temple, put up his fervent prayers, cross the sanctuary from right to left, place five fingers on the altar, then raise his hand and cover his eyes. He obeyed, and instantly his sight was restored amidst the loud acclamations of the mult.i.tude. These signs of the omnipotence of the G.o.ds were shown in the reign of Antoninus."

"A blind soldier named Valerius Apes, having consulted the oracle, was informed that he should mix the blood of a white c.o.c.k with honey, to make up an ointment to be applied to his eyes, for three consecutive days: he received his sight and returned public thanks to the G.o.ds."

"Julian appeared lost beyond all hope, from a spitting of blood. The G.o.d ordered him to take from the altar some seeds of the pine, and to mix them with honey, of which mixture he was to eat for three days. He was saved, and came to thank the G.o.ds in presence of the people."

The _Ex volos_ of modern times suspended at the altars of saints in Catholic churches, are similar testimonials of superst.i.tious credulity, and priestly fraud, and const.i.tute a lucrative branch of business, more particularly to waxchandlers, who fabricate simulacra of every organ or member of the body that may be diseased.

Such was the study and practice of medicine, until the days of Hippocrates, justly named the father of medicine. But even this great man in his study of the problematic science, attributed to divine influence all that could not be comprehended and explained, giving the appellation of sacred, to that which appeared prodigious and inexplicable. This divine influence which was considered as invincible, setting at nought all human speculation and mortal efforts, he denominated the [Greek: to theion] the _Divinum quid_, he also fancied that the principle of fire was the source of all animation; for the which opinion, more modern writers p.r.o.nounced him an atheist, amongst other bigots, who thus accused him, we find Gundling and Drelincourt, and even Mosheim; while on the other hand, Will Schmidt, Fabricius, and Bellunensi have sought to reconcile his doctrine with the scriptures; and so far from this accusation being founded, it is well known that Hippocrates had such an implicit belief in the power of the G.o.ds, that he got himself initiated in the Eleusinian mysteries at Athens. We find in his Praenotum the following singular pa.s.sage: "Nevertheless, there does exist in all diseases something of a divine nature, and the physician who is able to foresee their results, must be admired for his judgment."

This divine _something_, has been the subject of much research and angry disputation. Galen considered it to reside in the atmosphere. Fernel considered it the principle of putrefaction and disorganization.

Mercuriali placed it in sideral influence, while Professor Martia.n.u.s maintained that Hippocrates had a firm belief in demons and malevolent spirits. It would be endless to recount all the idle disquisitions on this matter, which have too frequently converted universities into Pandemoniums.

The earliest teachers of medicine were the philosophers, amongst whom we must remark Pythagoras, who founded the school of Crotona, where a.s.suming the sanct.i.ty of the priesthood he obtained such an authority over his disciples, that it gave rise to the common expression of _jurare in verba magistri_. This truly wonderful man had learnt in Egypt the secret symbolic mode of writing of the priests, and he certainly did apply his extensive acquirements to the welfare of his country and the benefit of mankind; according at least to his views of the subject, which we have every reason to believe were conscientious. From his youth, when he bore away the prize in the Olympic games, his lofty ambition, which scarcely knew any bounds, constantly urged him on in a career of perfection in every branch of learning, which ultimately placed him on the highest ground that ever philosopher attained.

After Pythagoras, we find medicine taught by Anaxagoras, Democritus, Herac.l.i.tus; but Hippocrates was justly considered the father of medicine, and deserved the name of _great_--every line of his immortal works breathes a deep knowledge of the phenomena of nature, and an ardent desire to release the most important of all human sciences from the degrading trammels of ignorance and imposture. Nothing can afford a more convincing proof of the purity of his motives, and the integrity of his principles than the formula of the oath which he exacted from his disciples, and which runs as follows:

"I swear by Apollo, by Esculapius, by Hygeia, and all the G.o.ds, to fulfil religiously the solemn promise which I now do make.

"I will honour as my father, the master who shall teach me the art of healing, and convince him of my grat.i.tude, by endeavouring to minister to all his necessities. I will consider his children as my own, and will gratuitously teach them my profession should they express a desire to follow it.

"I shall act in a similar manner to all my brethren who are bound by a similar engagement, but shall not admit any other to my lessons, my discourses, or the exercises of my profession.

"I shall prescribe to my patients, such a course of regimen as I may consider best suited to their condition, according to the best of my judgment and capacity, seeking to preserve them from any thing that might prove injurious.

"No inducement shall ever lead me to administer poison, nor shall I ever give a criminal advice, or contribute to an abortion.

"My sole end shall be to relieve and cure my patients, to render myself worthy of their confidence, and not to expose myself, even to the suspicion of having abused this influence, more especially when a woman is in the case.

"I shall seek to maintain religiously both the integrity of my conduct, and the honour of my art.

"I will not operate for the stone, but leave that operation to those who cultivate it.

"To whatever dwelling I may be called, I shall cross its threshold with the sole view of succouring the sick, abstaining from all injurious views and corruption, especially from any immodest action.

"If during my attendance, or even after a recovery, I happen to become acquainted with any circ.u.mstances of the patient's life which should not be revealed, I shall consider this knowledge a profound secret, and observe on the subject a religious silence.

"May I as a rigid observer of this my oath, reap the fruit of my labours, enjoy a happy life, and obtain general esteem--should I become a perjurer, may the reverse be my lot."

At this period the physician who founded a school taught every branch of the science, and after examining his disciples, gave them a permission to practise the profession when properly qualified. Hippocrates was succeeded by his sons Thessalus and Draco.