6^ 



POPULAft SOlElsrOE NEWS. 



[Aprii., 1889. 



this process, the patient became nervous, or had 

 convulsions, he must be treated to No. 3, nerve-root, 

 or skunk cabbage. Steaming was an adjunct in this 

 process, and this consisted in subjecting tlie victim 

 to the steam of vinegar and water. The apparatus 

 was an open-bottomed chair, in which llie patient 

 was seated naked, but enveloped in a comforter. 

 Underneatli the cliair an iron basin was placed, 

 filled with water and vinegar, into which was 

 plunged a red-hot stone. During this process, the 

 poor wretch was treated to alternate doses of lobelia, 

 cayenne pepper, or skunk cabbage, according as he 

 was hot, cold, or ''had fits." This ordeal was re- 

 peated daily, or oftener, until the subject was either 

 cured or killed. 



Thomson's fame soon spread all over New Eng- 

 land, and he went from town to town, "doctoring" 

 all kinds of maladies, and attaining a notoriety for 

 skill, without precedent in the realm of quackery. 

 . His methods, however, became so harsh, and the 

 results oftentimes so fatal, that he was repeatedly 

 prosecuted for malpractice. He was several times 

 imprisoned, was tried eight times for manslaughter, 

 poisoning, and murder, but was each time acquitted. 

 The most remarkable case for which he was tried 

 was that of Ezra Lovett, Jr., of Beverly, Mass., and, 

 as this is a fair sample of his heroic methods, it may 

 be interesting to give the treatment adopted in this 

 instance, which was followed by fatal results. Noth- 

 ing seemed to ail Lovett but an ordinary "cold," 

 but Thomson took him in hand in true, heroic 

 fashion. He first steamed him, according to rule, 

 and, while sweltering and suffocating under the 

 blankets, he was made to swallow a teaspoonful of 

 lobelia, which caused vomiting, but the dose was 

 repeated thrice in half an hour, operating with great 

 vehemence. Then a "coffee," composed of marsh- 

 roseinary and bay-berry bark, was given, and the 

 victim, sweating profusely, was put into a warm 

 bed. The treatment was continued daily, and on 

 the third day the patient was made to walk out in 

 the bleak air of January ; then he was dosed with 

 more lobelia and the "coffee." His debility increas- 

 ing, he got six more powders of lobelia on the sixth 

 day, when the poor fellow said he was dying, as 

 "the medicine had got down to his navel," attended 

 with great pain. Thomson said he would "unscrew 

 the navel," and two strong men held Lovett while 

 more doses of lobelia were forced down As this 

 process was followed by "fits," a dose of the skunk 

 cabbage was given, when the exhausted wretch gave 

 up the ghost. 



For this barbarous maltreatment, Thomson was 

 tried for murder, but was acquitted. (See Sixth 

 Massachusetts Reports, 134.) 



Thomson attained a wider notoriety than narrow 

 New England could afford. He went to New York 

 in 1806, to cure yellow fever, and in 1812 he went to 

 Washington to obtain a patent for the use of lobelia 

 in fevers, and also for his steam-sweating. Strange 

 to say, he came back with a patent, and formed a 

 "Friendly Medical Society," the rights and honors 

 to which could be obtained for $20. While in Phil- 

 adelphia, the celebrated Doctors Rush, Mitchell, and 

 Barton treated him with considerable deference and 

 "patience." 



Thomsonionism was introduced into England by 

 the CofRnites, but it met with a sterner fate there, 

 no less than thirteen cases of manslaughter having 

 been reported as the result of the lobelia process, 

 modified by cayenne pepper. 



Thomson had, withal, a poetic vein, and, like 

 Silas Wegg, sometimes "dropped into verse." An 

 amusing example is here given of his ingenious 

 way of putting into rhyme the operation of his 

 physic, with moral reflections : 



"The emetic No. i*s designed 

 A j»;eneral medicine for mankind, 

 Of every country, clime, or place, 

 Wide as the circle of our race. 



"In any case, and state, and stage, 

 Whatever malady may rage, 

 In male or female, young or old, 

 Half its value won't be told. 



"Let No. 2 be used bold, 

 To clear the stomach of the cold; 

 Next take the coflee. No. 3, 

 And keep as warm as you can be. 



"When sweat enough, as we suppose. 

 In spirit wash, and change your clothes; 

 Then get to bed, both clean and white, 

 And sleep in comfort all the night." 



Elisha Perkins, the founder of Perkinism, was 

 Worn in Norwich, Conn., Jan. 16, 1741. His system 

 was much more harmless and less heroic than that 

 of Thomson, consisting of the use of metallic 

 "tractors," or "pullers-out of disease," which he in- 

 vented in 1796. These consisted of two small 

 pieces of metal, one made of light brass, the other 

 of polished steel. The two pieces, which were 

 about 3 1-2 Inches long, fitted together in a groove, 

 .so as to look like one instrument when used. It 

 was claimed that these metallic pieces possessed 

 electrical power, and, when drawn over apart of the 

 body affected with rheumatism, or kindred maladies, 

 the curative effect was wonderful. The most mar- 

 vellous stories were told of the results of the opera- 

 tion, and the magnetic and voltaic power was so 

 great that it would operate through the clothing, 

 without applying the instrument to the bare skin. 

 These tractors were endorsed by the faculties of 

 three colleges in the LTnited States, and in England 

 the inventor was most warmly received by the 

 learned as a countryman of Franklin, whose scien- 

 tific discoveries were interesting the civilized world. 

 An institute was formed in England, presided over, 

 by Lord Rivers, and the learned of all professions 

 were swift to join it. Certificates of the highest 

 order, and of the most positive character, flooded 

 the land, and Elisha Perkins was looked upon as a 

 great benefactor of his race. 



But exposure was near at hand, and this was made 

 in a very adroit way by Drs. Haggaeth and Fal- 

 coner, who made wooden tractors, and painted them 

 so as to precisely resemble the genuine article. 

 And, strange to say, the results produced by their 

 use were exactly the same as those which followed 

 the metallic wonder-workers. 



The wily doctors carried on their work of decep- 

 tion with a high hand, even going so far as to in- 

 duce people to give public thanks in the churches 

 for their wonderful recovery. A volume was pub- 

 lished, filled with scores of cures effected by the use 

 of the wooden tractors, and the result was the com- 

 plete overthrow of Perkins and his outrageous hum- 

 bug. 



The faith in these tractors, and in other methods 

 of marvellous curing, is but a transmission of the 

 royal faith cure, by a touch from a king's hand. 

 For centuries, the kings of England and France 

 had, for five guineas each, been in the habit of 

 touching scrofulous swellings, and, by the magic 

 power, the diseased gland would resume its normal 

 condition. Edward, the Confessor, touched, in one 

 year, nearly ten thousand cases, and one peison 

 was executed for high treason for speaking against 

 the wonder-working power of his pious majesty. 

 Edward's fame arose from the effect produced by his 

 touch upon a suppurating gland on the neck of a 

 pretty young noblewoman. She dreamed that the 

 disease would disappear if the swelling could be 

 washed by the king's own hand. Edward complied 

 by washing the gland with warm water. During 

 this process, the softened tumor burst, and, dis- 



charging the pus, the part soon healed. This was 

 hailed as a miraculous result, and the fame of the 

 king knew no boimds. 



We smile at all this nonsense, and wonder at the 

 ignorance and superstition of a former day. But a 

 little observation will reveal the fact that, although 

 the revolting and palpable methods nave become 

 nearly obsolete, there yet exist, in more subtle and 

 fascinating forms, practices which will none the 

 better stand the tests of scientific analysis. Let us 

 be just with our own time, as well as sit in judg- 

 ment upon the absurdities of the fathers. 



[Original in The Popular Science AVws.J 



MONTHLY SUMMARY OF MEDICAL 

 PROGRESS. 



BY W. S. WELI.S, Jrt. n. 



TiiK presence of an excess of uric acid in the 

 blood, accompanied by mental depression, has been 

 the subject of some recent investigation by Haig, 

 {London Pra clHioner.) 



When uric acid is present in excess, depression of 

 mind and irritability of temper are marked, but give 

 place to a feeling of mental buoyancy when the 

 excess has abated. Many suffer from mental lassi- 

 tude and depression in the morning, between break- 

 fast and lunch. It is at this time that the acidity of 

 the urine is least. A dose of mineral acid will drive 

 the uric acid out ot the blood. Shooting pains in the 

 joints very commonly accompany the disappearance 

 of the uric acid from the blood. The occasional 

 administration of mineral acids will not always cure 

 headache produced by excess of uric acid, unless 

 care is exercised to avoid meat and stimulants. In 

 severe cases the diet must be restricted for months 

 to bread, butter, milk, potatoes, and fruits. At the 

 beginning of treatment the neutralization of excess 

 of uric acid may be hastened by xv Grs. of sodiinn 

 salicylate, three or four times daily. In some cases, 

 a single dose of Grs. xx, at bedtime, has been suffi- 

 cient. 



A PAPER on a "New Method of Ophthalmoscopic 

 Examination," by Dr. Bcllarminoft", was recently 

 read to the Berlin Medical Society. Dr. Bellar- 

 minoff shows that, if the eye be treated with cocaine, 

 and adry plate of glass, 6 to 10 mm. in diameter, with 

 parallel plane surfaces, be placed upou the cornea, 

 and carefully pressed against it, the fundus of the 

 eye may be inspected with great facility, because the 

 fluid from the surface of the cornea fills the space 

 between the glass plate and the cornea, so that the 

 eftect upon the light rays of the curvature of the cor- 

 nea is counteracted. 



In day-light a plane mirror may be used. At 

 night a lamp, with reflector or condensation lens, is 

 sutficient. A common mirror may be used, and it is 

 not necessary that it shall have a central opening. 

 The fundus, thus illuminated, is, at the ordinary 

 reading distance, visible as an upright image, not 

 only to the investigator, but to two or three persons 

 standing beside him, gazing with both eyes at the 

 eye of the patient. The image thus seen is not 

 much enlarged, but the field obtained is much larger, 

 and it is thought that the study of the chamber, iris, 

 lens, and vitreous may be advanced by this method. 



Dk. Variot (Med. Press and Circular) proposes a 

 new method of destroying tattoo marks, which 

 hitherto has proven extremely difficult of achieve- 

 ment. 



He pours on the marked spot a concentrated solu- 

 tion of tannin, and works it into the skin by a series 

 o." pricks, just as in tattooing proper. A certain 

 quantity of tannin is thus introduced beneath the 

 skin. He then rubs the part with nitrate of silver. 



