484 THE TREATMENT OP DISEASES. 



back. His complaint was very obstinate ; lie was incapacitated from following his 

 ordinary occupation, and, being unable to obtain other work, was in a few weeks 

 reduced to the brink of starvation. One day, when very " hard up," he was 

 strolling in Regent's Park, when he saw a sixpence lying in the grass. It seemed 

 almost a godsend to him, and he was on the point of stooping down to pick it up 

 when the pain in the loins seized him, and he was unable, in spite of his utmost 

 efforts, to get near it. He described very graphically how he stood for over an hour 

 looking at the sixpence, and fearing every moment that some one should come up 

 and claim it. The method he finally adopted of obtaining the long-coveted treasure 

 was, we trust under the circumstances, not very culpable. Seeing a little girl 

 playing on one of the adjoining walks, he called her, and said, " Here, my dear, 

 I Ve just dropped sixpence. Will you pick it up for me 1 " and in another moment 

 it was in his possession. In this instance the patient was as powerless to stoop 

 down and pick up that coin as if he had been paralysed. He had not actually lost 

 the power of moving, there was no palsy, but he dare not move, because the effort 

 gave him so much torture. 



The remedies for lumbago are, as might be supposed, chiefly local. There 

 are, however, other methods of treatment which are often attended with 

 satisfactory results. 



When the pain is very severe, relief may, in the majority of cases, be obtained 

 almost immediately by an injection of morphia under the skin. This is a fact 

 which has been known to medical men, and extensively employed for many 

 years. The only objection that can be urged against it is, that in many people 

 morphia gives rise to headache, giddiness, and other unpleasant symptoms. 

 Quite recently a French physician made a somewhat curious discovery. He 1 

 had a patient whom he had frequently treated with hypodermic injections of 

 morphia for acute attacks of lumbago, but always with the production of a 

 train of unpleasant constitutional symptoms. One day the patient called to 

 say how glad he was to find he had made some alteration in the medicine,, 

 for the last injection had relieved the pain as usual, but had not produced any 

 headache or giddiness. The doctor at once declared that he had used the- 

 same morphia solution as usual, and in order to convince the patient, sent for 

 the bottle to show him. On examination the bottle was found to contain nothing 

 but water, and on inquiry being instituted the servant confessed that some 

 days before she had accidentally upset the bottle and spilled the contents, and 

 that, fearing detection, she had filled it with water. The doctor at once 

 saw that the fact was of value, and hastened to publish the discovery to the 

 world. It then appeared from the testimony of numerous trustworthy observers 

 that even the water was not essential, that it was the puncture with the needle 

 which did good, and that equal benefit might be obtained without the injection 

 of any substance at all. 



The treatment of lumbago by "acupuncture," as it is called, is attended 

 with the most favourable results. We have seen cases in which the relief has 

 been instantaneous. The mode of procedure is very simple. The patient stands 

 upright, holding up his shirt behind so as to expose the loins. The 



