Dear Readers,
Thank you for visiting this blog. I often wonder who you are, since this subject seems a bit esoteric. I find it fascinating, but I do admit that when I start talking about it, people's eyes glaze over and their smiles go a little waxen. And I only give it three sentences of explanation! So thank you to those of you who are interested and take the time to read this.
I will be taking a break from posting until after the New Year, since my son is home from California and my daughter from college. I also have started a new job with lots of commuting. I think I have maybe another 20-30 posts to go, but I'm also lousy at estimating that kind of thing.
So allow me to use one of Charles Wesley's hymns to remind us all of the incredibleness of Christmas. We praise God because God came to earth as a mere mortal. "Our God contracted to a span," to a short human lifespan. "He wrapped him in our clay," meaning God sent Jesus as an infant to live in our fragile human form. Yet Jesus was and is the Godhead -- GOD, the amazing and immortal GOD, bigger and deeper and better than we can ever understand. Jesus came as Immanuel, which means "God with us."
"Let earth and heaven combine,
Angels and men agree,
To praise in songs divine
The incarnate Deity,
Our God contracted to a span,
Incomprehensibly made man.
"He laid his glory by,
He wrapped him in our clay;
Unmarked by human eye,
The latent Godhead lay;
Infant of days he here became,
And bore the mild Immanuel's name."
(Wesley, Charles. Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord - 1745, #5: 1 and 2, quoted in Manskar, Steven. A Disciple's Journal: 2013: A Guide for Daily Prayer, Bible Reading, and Discipleship (Nashville, TN: Discipleship Resources, 2012), 9.)
A blessed Christmas to all those you like and love and especially to all those we dislike or even hate. May you feel the presence of God with you.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Consumption, part three
Deborah Madden has written a wonderful chapter on John's recommendations for consumption -- "Pastor and Physician" (in "Inward and Outward Health," cited previously). I quote her here extensively to explain the differing types of treatments for the differing types of consumption.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a micro-organism that can infect many different sites in the body. In the 18th century, these manifestations had individual labels:
The King's Evil, also called scrofula, caused swelling in the neck, since the TB affected the lymph glands there.
Pott's Disease was TB of the spine, perhaps explaining the large number of hunchbacks of the time.
Tabes mesenterica was TB of the small intestine ("tabes" is Latin for "wasting").
Lupus vulgaris was TB erupting on the skin (Madden, "Pastor," 124).
Thus, John had many different suggestions, all based on the medical understandings of his time. Let me quote Madden:
"We know [William] Buchan [author of Domestic Medicine] believed that the cure of consumption resided chiefly in a proper regimen, though he also suggested drinking 'bitter' plant decoctions, in 'constrict' the body and its organs, such as ground-ivy, camomile, and comfrey-root. ... Primitive Physic lists several 'constricting' medicines designed to alleviate or even cure consumption. These included the juice of watercress, used to treat inflammatory and intestinal disorders, especially the lungs, in the Georgian period, as well as ground-ivy or hyssop infusions, which were recommended by John Hill in his Family Herbal for coughs and obstructions of the breast. Hyssop has fever-reducing qualities and, indeed, is still used in 'complimentary' medicine today to alleviate bronchitis. In the eighteenth century it was used to treat inflammatory disorders.
"Due to its poisonous nature, ivy has a very powerful effect on the internal organs, blood circulation and heart. As such, it was used by Georgian physicians to treat many different diseases. In common with the current medical thinking Wesley prescribed a number of inhalations and vaporizations for relieving pulmonary consumption. It was thought that inhalations acted as a 'balsam' for the lungs and eased a patient's restricted breathing and rasping cough. He suggested inhaling burning frankincense, steam of 'white rosin' and steamed 'spirit of vitriol', the latter of which was recommended by [John] Fothergill. Physicians believed that vitriol 'braced' the body and Wesley argued on a number of occasions that it was the best bracer available.
"The remedy which required his patient to 'cut up a little turf of fresh earth' and inhale its healing properties might now seem quite a strange prescription, though Wesley's direction here was not as eccentric as it appears. It had been put forward by [Sir Richard] Blackmore in his Treatise of Consumptions: turf was considered valuable for treating this disease because of its sulphurous odour. Blackmore argued that sulphur was particularly useful and explained how the 'chymists' had styled it a 'balsam' for 'the lungs' and blood. Turf was remarkable because it 'eminently contributes to the cure of those that are obnoxious to that distemper.'" (Madden, "Pastor," 123.)
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a micro-organism that can infect many different sites in the body. In the 18th century, these manifestations had individual labels:
The King's Evil, also called scrofula, caused swelling in the neck, since the TB affected the lymph glands there.
Pott's Disease was TB of the spine, perhaps explaining the large number of hunchbacks of the time.
Tabes mesenterica was TB of the small intestine ("tabes" is Latin for "wasting").
Lupus vulgaris was TB erupting on the skin (Madden, "Pastor," 124).
Thus, John had many different suggestions, all based on the medical understandings of his time. Let me quote Madden:
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| Chamomile [camomile] Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret, 15 October 2012 |
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| Hyssop Old Rectory, Epworth, UK 9 October 2012 |
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| Sir Richard Blackmore, MD (1654-1729) (Wellcome Library) |
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| John Fothergill, MD (1712-1780) (Wellcome Library) |
"The remedy which required his patient to 'cut up a little turf of fresh earth' and inhale its healing properties might now seem quite a strange prescription, though Wesley's direction here was not as eccentric as it appears. It had been put forward by [Sir Richard] Blackmore in his Treatise of Consumptions: turf was considered valuable for treating this disease because of its sulphurous odour. Blackmore argued that sulphur was particularly useful and explained how the 'chymists' had styled it a 'balsam' for 'the lungs' and blood. Turf was remarkable because it 'eminently contributes to the cure of those that are obnoxious to that distemper.'" (Madden, "Pastor," 123.)
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Consumption, part two
In regards to consumption, John differed from from nearly all medical practitioners of the time in believing it could be cured. He strongly believed that offering very ill patients hope was important for recovery, and he recommended both physic and prayer (Madden, "Pastor," 114). After all, both had helped in his own recovery from consumption in 1753. He offered more recipes in Primitive Physick for the treatment of consumption than any other illness.
"A Consumption.
"177. Cold bathing has cured many deep consumptions: tried.
178. One in a deep consumption was advised to drink nothing but water, and eat nothing but water-gruel, without salt or sugar. In three months time he was perfectly well.
179. Take no food but new butter-milk, churned in a bottle, and white bread. -- I have known this successful.
180. Or, use as common drink, spring-water and new milk, each a quart: and sugar candy two ounces.
181. Or, boil two handfuls of sorrel in a pint of whey [thin milk*]. Strain it, and drink a glass thrice a day: tried.
182. Or, turn a pint of skimmed milk, with half a pint of small beer.* Boil in this whey about twenty ivy leaves, and two or three sprigs of hyssop. Drink half over night, the rest in the morning. Do this, if needful, for two months daily. This has cured in a desperate case: tried.
183. Or, take a cow-heel from the tripe ["the intestines, the guts"*] house ready drest, two quarts of new milk, two ounces of hartshorn shavings, two ounces of isinglass, a quarter of a pound of sugar-candy, and a race ["a root or sprig"*] of ginger. Put all these in a pot: and set them in an oven after the bread is drawn [out]. Let it continue there till the oven is near cold: and let the patient live on this. -- I have known this cure a deep consumption more than once.
184. Or, every morning cut up a little turf of fresh earth, and lying down, breathe into the hole for a quarter of an hour. -- I have known a deep consumption cured thus:
185. "Mr. Masters, of Evesham, was so far gone in a consumption, that he could not stand along. I advised him to lose six ounces of blood every day for a fortnight, if he lived so long: and then every other day: then every fifth day, for the same time. In three months he was well." ([from] Dr. Dover.) Tried.
186. Or throw frankincense on burning coals, and receive the smoke daily through a proper tube into the lungs: tried.
187. Or, take in for a quarter of an hour, morning and evening, the steam of white rosin ["juice of pine"] and beeswax, boiling on a hot fire-shovel. This has cured one who was in the third [worst] stage of a consumption.
188. Or the steam of sweet spirit of vitriol dropt [dropped] into warm water:
189. Or, take morning and evening a tea-spoonful of white rosin powdered and mixt with honey. -- This cured one in less than a month, who ws very near death.
190. Or, drink thrice a day two spoonfuls of juice of water-cresses. -- This has cured a deep consumption.
191. In the last stage, suck a healthy woman daily. This cured my Father. [According to William Buchan, a consumptive husband whose wife had lost her infant suckled her breast milk to relieve her discomfort, and this helped his own health improve (Buchan, Domestic Medicine, 225 in Madden, "Pastor," 121).]
For diet, use milk and apples, or water-gruel made with fine flour. Drink cyder-whey, barley-water sharpened with lemon-juice, or apple-water.
So long as the tickling cough continues, chew well and swallow a mouthful or two, of a biscuit or crust of bread, twice a day. If you cannot swallow it, spit it out. This will always shorten the fit, and would often prevent consumption. ...
"A Consumptive Cough.
215. To stop it for a time, at lying down keep a little stick liquorice shaved like horse-radish between the cheek and gums. I believe this never fails." (Wesley, Physic, 44-46, 48.)
*(Jackson.)
John Fletcher was diagnosed with consumption in 1775, which was probably worsened by his high intake of milk products (remember milk could carry TB). Fletcher's condition was critical, so John recommended travel and preaching, which he felt motivated and exercised his Methodist leaders. Fortunately, Fletcher's doctor vetoed this action, and Fletcher did not die until 1785 and then of typhoid. He'd only been ill two weeks with it (Forsaith).
"A Consumption.
"177. Cold bathing has cured many deep consumptions: tried.
178. One in a deep consumption was advised to drink nothing but water, and eat nothing but water-gruel, without salt or sugar. In three months time he was perfectly well.
179. Take no food but new butter-milk, churned in a bottle, and white bread. -- I have known this successful.
180. Or, use as common drink, spring-water and new milk, each a quart: and sugar candy two ounces.
181. Or, boil two handfuls of sorrel in a pint of whey [thin milk*]. Strain it, and drink a glass thrice a day: tried.
182. Or, turn a pint of skimmed milk, with half a pint of small beer.* Boil in this whey about twenty ivy leaves, and two or three sprigs of hyssop. Drink half over night, the rest in the morning. Do this, if needful, for two months daily. This has cured in a desperate case: tried.
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| Ginger Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret 15 October 2012 |
184. Or, every morning cut up a little turf of fresh earth, and lying down, breathe into the hole for a quarter of an hour. -- I have known a deep consumption cured thus:
185. "Mr. Masters, of Evesham, was so far gone in a consumption, that he could not stand along. I advised him to lose six ounces of blood every day for a fortnight, if he lived so long: and then every other day: then every fifth day, for the same time. In three months he was well." ([from] Dr. Dover.) Tried.
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| Frankincense Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret 15 October 2012 |
187. Or, take in for a quarter of an hour, morning and evening, the steam of white rosin ["juice of pine"] and beeswax, boiling on a hot fire-shovel. This has cured one who was in the third [worst] stage of a consumption.
188. Or the steam of sweet spirit of vitriol dropt [dropped] into warm water:
189. Or, take morning and evening a tea-spoonful of white rosin powdered and mixt with honey. -- This cured one in less than a month, who ws very near death.
190. Or, drink thrice a day two spoonfuls of juice of water-cresses. -- This has cured a deep consumption.
191. In the last stage, suck a healthy woman daily. This cured my Father. [According to William Buchan, a consumptive husband whose wife had lost her infant suckled her breast milk to relieve her discomfort, and this helped his own health improve (Buchan, Domestic Medicine, 225 in Madden, "Pastor," 121).]
For diet, use milk and apples, or water-gruel made with fine flour. Drink cyder-whey, barley-water sharpened with lemon-juice, or apple-water.
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| Liquorice Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garden 15 October 2012 |
"A Consumptive Cough.
215. To stop it for a time, at lying down keep a little stick liquorice shaved like horse-radish between the cheek and gums. I believe this never fails." (Wesley, Physic, 44-46, 48.)
*(Jackson.)
John Fletcher was diagnosed with consumption in 1775, which was probably worsened by his high intake of milk products (remember milk could carry TB). Fletcher's condition was critical, so John recommended travel and preaching, which he felt motivated and exercised his Methodist leaders. Fortunately, Fletcher's doctor vetoed this action, and Fletcher did not die until 1785 and then of typhoid. He'd only been ill two weeks with it (Forsaith).
Friday, December 14, 2012
Consumption, part one
We now know that "consumption" covered a large range of illnesses, since it described any kind of illness that included coughing and wasting away. Over the years of the 18th and 19th centuries, the diagnosis of consumption became more and more specific until Robert Koch discovered it was caused by the micro-organism mycobacterium tuberculosis in 1882. It is still dreaded today, since it is second only to AIDS as the most lethal illness caused by a single infectious agent and 1.4 million people died from it in 2011 (World Health Organization, "Tuberculosis," http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs104/en/index.html, accessed 14 December 2012). It is the only disease that is so virulent and infectious that all US health care workers must be tested yearly for it. You may have had a TB test yourself. |
| Queen Mary I (1516-1558) touching neck to heal boy of TB (Wellcome Library) |
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| "A Collection of Remarkable Cures of the KING's EVIL, Perfected by the Royal Touch, Collected f[r]om the Writings of many eminent Physicians and Surgeons, and learned Men," 1748 (Wellcome Library) |
"Nocturnal sweats, and great thirst, as well as purulent expectoration, are symptoms that discover a confirmed consumption ... in this confirmed state of the distemper there is generally a great dejection of appetite, and a nauseous loathing of foods, with dead sickness of stomach, frequent vomitings, which are sometimes caused by excess of green choler, like verigrease, or juice of leeks, that is often ejected, to free the stomach of its burden; and sometimes excited by a long and vehement fit of coughing, that nature employs to pump and ease the lungs." (Blackmore, Richard. A Treatise of Consumptions and Other Distempers Belonging to the Breast and Lungs (London: 1724), 135 and 28; quoted in Madden, Deborah. "Pastor and Physician: John Wesley's Cures for Consumption" in Madden, 'Inward and Outward Health,' 95.)
John wrote in his journal on 8 May 1777: "I went to Yarn. There I found a lovely young woman in the last stage of a consumption; but such a one as I never read of, nor heard any physician speak of, but Dr. Wilson. The seat of the ulcers is not the lungs, but the windpipe. I never knew it cured ... this young woman died in a few weeks." (Wesley, John. The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. (4 vols, London: J. Kershaw, 1827) 8 May 1777, vol 4, 94 in Madden, "Pastor," 95.) In 1767, he wrote that he also had been in the last stage of consumption (Wesley, Letter to Mary Bosanquet, 16 August 1767 in Letters (Telford), vol,. 5, 61, quoted in Madden, "Pastor," 96), so he had personal experience with the illness, almost dying of it in 1753 (Madden, "Pastor," 102). As consumption could describe varying illnesses, we do not know if he had TB.
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| Pewter spittoon Receptacle for spit, which went out of fashion in the 1880s when it was realized spitting contributed to the spread of diseases like TB (Wellcome Library) |
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| China spittoon (Wellcome Library) |
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Smallpox treatments
"Small pox" per Primitive Physic:
"628. Drink largely of toast and water:
629. Or, let your whole food be milk and water, mixed with a little white bread:
630. Or, milk and apples.
631. Take care to have free, pure and cool air. Therefore open the casement every day: only do not let it chill the patient.
632. If they strike in, and convulsions follow, drink a pint of cold water immediately. This instantly stops the convulsions and drives out the pock: tried.
"There may be pustules a second time, coming out and ripening like the small pox, but it is barely [simply] a cutaneous [skin] disorder.
"In violent cases, bleed in the foot: bathe the legs in warm water, twice or thrice a day, before and at the eruption; and apply boiled turnips to the feet. Never keep the head too hot.
"In very low depressed cases, wine may be given; and if the pustules lie buried in the skin, a gentle vomit. In many cases a gentle purge of manna ["a gum, a honey-like juice ... it is the product of two different trees, both varieties of the ash*], cream of tartar, or rhubarb.
"In the Crude Ichorose [with thin, watery secretions*] small-pox, a dish of coffee now and then, with a little thick milk in it, has often quieted the vexatious cough.
"After the incrustation [scab] is formed, change the sick: but let it be with very dry warm linen." Dr. Huxham [John is citing the source he got the suggestion from]. (Wesley, Physic, 97-98.)
Early Methodists not only depended on medical treatments, but on prayer, believing that the presence of Christ became tangible through both medicine and spirituality (Webster, Robert. "Balsamic Virtue: Healing Imagery in Charles Wesley" in Newport, Kenneth and Campbell, Ted (eds), Charles Wesley: Life, Literature and Legacy (Peterborough, UK: Epworth, 2007, 237). Charles Wesley recorded in his journal, "My companion was taken ill of a fever. We prayed for him in strong faith, nothing doubting. Monday and Tuesday he grew worse and worse. On Wednesday the small-pox appeared; a favorable sort. Yet on Thursday evening we were much alarmed by the great pain and danger he was in. We had recourse to our never-failing remedy, and received a most remarkable, immediate answer to our prayer. The great means of his recovery was the prayer of faith." (Wesley, Charles. Journal, p. 238-39, quoted in Shaw, Jane. The Miraculous Body and Other Rational Wonders: Religion in Enlightenment England (PhD dissertation, University of California at Berkley, 1994), 74.)
As a praise for the lay practitioner of the 18th century versus the physician, let me point out to you that although Edward Jenner is considered the "inventor" of vaccinations, a woman -- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu -- brought back the idea from women in Turkey, and a farmer inoculated his family with cowpox the year before Jenner even became interested in the subject. Benjamin Jesty was a farmer in Dorset, who, during a smallpox epidemic, successfully inoculated his wife and two sons directly from a infected cow udder in 1774 (Cule, John. "The Rev. John Wesley, MA (Oxon.), 1703-1791: 'The Naked Empiricist' and Orthodox Medicine," Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Science (1990), 45(1), 45-46, http://ljhamas.oxfordjournals.org, accessed 27 November 2012).
Due to vaccinations, smallpox was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980 (World Health Organization, "Smallpox," http://www.who.int/topics/smallpox/en/, accessed 13 December 2012).
*(Johnson.)
"628. Drink largely of toast and water:
629. Or, let your whole food be milk and water, mixed with a little white bread:
630. Or, milk and apples.
631. Take care to have free, pure and cool air. Therefore open the casement every day: only do not let it chill the patient.
632. If they strike in, and convulsions follow, drink a pint of cold water immediately. This instantly stops the convulsions and drives out the pock: tried.
"There may be pustules a second time, coming out and ripening like the small pox, but it is barely [simply] a cutaneous [skin] disorder.
"In violent cases, bleed in the foot: bathe the legs in warm water, twice or thrice a day, before and at the eruption; and apply boiled turnips to the feet. Never keep the head too hot.
"In very low depressed cases, wine may be given; and if the pustules lie buried in the skin, a gentle vomit. In many cases a gentle purge of manna ["a gum, a honey-like juice ... it is the product of two different trees, both varieties of the ash*], cream of tartar, or rhubarb.
"In the Crude Ichorose [with thin, watery secretions*] small-pox, a dish of coffee now and then, with a little thick milk in it, has often quieted the vexatious cough.
"After the incrustation [scab] is formed, change the sick: but let it be with very dry warm linen." Dr. Huxham [John is citing the source he got the suggestion from]. (Wesley, Physic, 97-98.)
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| Prayer and benediction Charles Le Brun (1619-1690) (Wellcome Library) |
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| Benjamin Jesty, 1805 (Wellcome Library) |
Due to vaccinations, smallpox was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980 (World Health Organization, "Smallpox," http://www.who.int/topics/smallpox/en/, accessed 13 December 2012).
*(Johnson.)
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Smallpox
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| "The eruption of pustular smallpox on the face of a woman. Fig 1 depicts the mature eruption. When the last photograph was taken incrustation had begun and brown pus was exuding from beneath the scabs. The patient died of septic absorption." 1906 (Wellcome Library) |
Smallpox is a virus which can be passed from one person to another through breathing or contact with the pus or scabs. The people who caught it most often were the new young workers arriving in London, who had no natural immunity. Since there were 8,000 migrants to London each year in search of higher wages, there were a lot of people who could get sick. It was labeled "small pox" to differentiate it from "the great pox," which was syphilis (Waller, 101-02, 2).
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| Comparison between smallpox and cowpox pustules on the 10th and 11th days of the disease, 1896 (Wellcome Library) |
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| Smallpox pustules 1908 (Wellcome Library) |
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| Lady Montagu (artists of the time eliminated the pox scars of famous people) (Wellcome Library) |
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was beautiful before she contracted smallpox in her twenties (Cockayne, 22). She was in Turkey when she observed women taking the liquid from smallpox pustules and then transferring the liquid into small scratches on healthy people. This prevented the healthy persons from getting smallpox. Lady Montagu returned to England as a champion of this method and had her own son inoculated. Unfortunately, occasionally the inoculation caused a full-blown case of smallpox (Olsen, 271-72).
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| "Edward Jenner among patients in the Smallpox and Inoculation Hospital" 1802 Notice the patients to the right who have already been inoculated now have cows coming out of their arms, mouths, noses, faces, and buttocks. The illustration derides Jenner's inoculation. (Wellcome Library) |
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| Sarah "Sally" Wesley, painted before her smallpox Charles Wesley's home, Bristol 11 October 2012 |
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Fever
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| Willow bark Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret, 15 October 2012 |
The "best" treatment of the eighteenth century was bloodletting. Let's reexamine this practice after our initial aversion.
Bleeding effectively decreases fever for three reasons:
1. The loss of blood decreases the body's temperature.
2. The loss of iron in the blood decreases the number of bacteria feeding on the iron, and therefore lowers the amount of infection causing the fever.
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| "Breathing a Vein" (blood letting) (Wellcome Library) |
(Kasting, N.W. "A Rationale for Centuries of Therapeutic Bloodletting: Antipyretic Therapy for Febrile Diseases," Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 33 (1990), 509-16, quoted in Madden, Cheap, 229.)
From Primitive Physic:
"A
Fever.
"In
the beginning of any fever, if the stomach is uneasy, vomit; if the bowels,
purge: if the pulse be hard, full or strong, bleed."332. Drink a pint or two of cold water lying down in bed: I never knew it do hurt:
333. Or, a large glass of tar water warm, every hour:
334. Or, thin water-gruel sweetened with honey with one or two drachms [1/8-1/4 ounce] of nitre [saltpeter] in each quart.
335. The best of all julaps in a fever is this: Toast a large thin slice of bread, without burning; put it hot into a pint of cold water; then set it on the fire till it is pretty hot. In a dry heat it may be given cold; in a moist heat, warm; the more largely the better: tried.
336. Or, for a change, use pippin ["a sharp apple"*] or wood-sorrel tea: or pippin-whey: or, wood-sorrel whey.
337. (To prevent catching any infectious fever do not breathe near the face of the sick person, neither swallow your spittle whilst in the room. Infection seizes the stomach first.)
338. Or, stamp a handful of leaves of woodbine; put fair water to it, and use it cold as a clyster [rectal suppository]. It often cures in an hour.
339. Or, smear the wrists, five or six inches long with warm treacle, and cover it with brown paper. -- See Dr. Tissot['s book].
340. Or, apply treacle plaisters ["plaster: a glutenous or adhesive salve"*] to the head and soles of the feet, changing them every twelve hours:
341. Or, use Doctor Boerhaave's fever-powder, viz. Eight ounces of nitre, a quarter of an ounce of camphire, half a quarter of an ounce of saffron, and eight grains of cochineal. These are to be powdered, mixt together, and kept dry in bottle. Ten grains taken on going to bed abate feverish heat, and procure rest. Ten grains are to be taken every three or four hours for a continued fever.
A high Fever.
342. Attended with a delirium and a vigilia [insomnia?], has been cured by plunging into cold water, which is a safe and sure remedy in the beginning of any fever.
343. Such a delirium is often cured by applying to the top of the head, a treacle plaister: tried.
An intermitting Fever.
344. Drink warm lemonade in the beginning of every fit: it cures in a few days; tried.
345. Or, take a tea-spoonful of oil of sulphur in a cup of balm-tea, once or twice a day.
A Fever with pains in the Limbs
346. Take twenty drops of spirits of hartshorn in a cup of water twice or thrice in twenty-four hours:
347. Or, drink largely of cinquefoil tea.
A Rash Fever.
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| Ground ivy Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret, 15 October 2012 |
348. Drink every hour a spoonful of juice of
ground ivy. It often cures in
twenty-four hours. -- Use the decoction when you have not the juice.
349. Use the cold bath for two or three weeks, daily.
A Worm Fever.
350. Boil a handful of rue and wormwood in water; foment ["1. to cherish with heat. 2. To bathe with warm lotions."*] the belly with the decoction, and apply the boiled herbs as a poultice; repeat the application night and morning. This frequently brings away worms from children, who will take no internal medicine; and is likewise serviceable, if the fever be of the putrid kind" (Wesley, Physic, 62-64).
* (Johnson.)
Monday, December 10, 2012
Syphilis
Supposedly
brought by Christopher Columbus from the Americas to Europe, the first outbreak
of European syphilis was immediate in 1493-94 (Porter, Blood, 13). The English
called it "the French disease" (Arnold, 305), due to their dislike of
the French. Identification of a single
celled parasite as the cause would not be made until 1905, but the diagnostic
test was immediately developed in 1906 and by 1910 10,000 syphilitic patients
had been cured by the drug Salvarsan (Porter, Blood, 103).
John's lack
of suggested treatments for venereal disease was unusual. The diseases were rampant, and practitioners
made a lot of money off "cures." (Madden, Cheap, 255-56).
"Dr" Rock, the quack, was famous for his "Incomparable
Electuary" which he peddled as the "only venereal antidote"
(Porter, Bodies, 15). However, John does not mention any treatments
in Primitive Physic's 14th edition
(the one republished by The New Room in Bristol). Physicians gave mercury orally, by injecting
it into the nose and genitalia, and putting it in ointment to be applied to affected
skin areas. It had awful side effects,
such as hyper-salivation, nausea, and diarrhea, but it did decrease symptoms
(Waller, 105-06). Mercury also caused
loss of teeth (Porter, Bodies,
15).
"The patient
is affected with an unusual pain in the genitals ... a spot, about the size and
coulour of a measle, appears on some part of the glans ... A discharge appears
from the urethra ... the aforesaid pustule becomes an ulcer ... Great pain during
erections ... Pain in the head, arms and ankles .... Crusts and scabs appear on
the skin ... The bones of the skull, shin-bones, and the arm-bones, are raised
into hard tubers ... The bone becomes carious ["rotten"*] and
putrescent ["the state of rotting"*] ... ulcers destroy the cartilege
of the nose. This they eat away; so that
the bridge sinks in and the nose flattens ... At length, limb by limb perishing
away, the lacerated body, a burden to earth, find ease only in the grave."
- Thomas Sydenham, MD (Waller, 105).
Sydenham did not make the connection that syphilis also caused
progressive dementia, with grandiose delusions, increasingly poor memory,
slurred speech, facial tics, and unstable ambulation (Arnold, 242).
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| "The Quack Doctor's Studio" -- William Hogarth The young rake is returning the useless pills the "doctor" has given him, while the rake's prostitute covers her syphilitic sores by her mouth (Wellcome Library) |
 |
| Natural and Political Observations ... Made upon the Bills of Mortality 1662 (Wellcome Library) |
Venereal
disease was considered disgraceful. When
someone died of syphillis, often the searchers were bribed to record the cause
of death as something else, and when John
Graunt studied the Bills of Mortality he believed that only truly hated people
were recorded as dying of it (Waller, 104-05).
One of
every three patients admitted to St. Thomas's Hospital was for syphillis, and
was hospitalized for 2-3 months for treatment with mercury. Since no one understood the remission and
recurrence of the disease, if a patient had been "cured" and then
they returned to the hospital, they were whipped as punishment for returning to
their evil ways (Mathias). Wives often
got the diseases from their husbands, who everyone thought had been cured (Waller,
104).
.JPG) |
| Artificial nose Wellcome Museum, London (on loan from Hunterian Museum) 14 October 2012 |
However,
there were "No Nose Clubs" formed in the 18th century for people who
had lost their noses to syphyllis, accidents or war. Often false noses were attached to glasses
(Artificial nose display in "Superhuman" summer special exhibition, Wellcome Museum,
London, viewed 14 October 2012) or made to adhere on their own (see left).
 |
| "The Martyrdom of Mercury," 1709 (Wellcome Library) |
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Itch and dropsy
Itch
Many sources could cause itching. Ringworm, spots and sores, chapping, scabies, eczema and impetigo were all possibilities (Cockayne, 55). John, however, focused on itching caused by lice. He wrote in Primitive Physic, "This distemper is nothing but a kind of very small lice, which burrow under the skin. Therefore inward medicine, are absolutely needless. -- Is it possible any Physician should be ignorant of this?" (Wesley, Physic, 75.) John would have been familiar with itch, since he treated himself for it at least twenty times. As he traveled, he would have to sleep in infected beds because of his commitment to be with those who were poor (Watson, David Lowes. "Faithful Discipleship" lecture, Wesley Pilgrimage, Salisbury, UK. 10 October 2012.)
"439. Wash the parts affected with strong rum: tried.
440. Or, anoint them with black soap: but wash it off soon.
441. Or, steep a shirt half and hour in a quart of water, mixed with half an ounce of powdered brimstone. Dry it slowly, and wear it five of six days. Sometimes it needs repeating: tried.
442. Or, mix powder of white hellebore with cream for three days. Anoint the joints three mornings and evenings. -- It seldom fails.
443. Or, beat together the juice of two or three lemons, with the same quantity of oil of roses. Anoint the parts affected. It cures in two or three times using." (Wesley, Physic, 75.)
Dropsy (edema)
"A dropsy is a preternatural collection of water in the head, breast, belly, or all over the body. It is attended with a continual thirst. The part swelled pits [leaves an indentation] if you press it with your fingers. The urine is pale and little." (Wesley, Physic, 52.) See the swelling of the abdomen in the etching?
There were two types of dropsy identified in the 18th century. Anaseara, which was thought to be caused by a leg tumour, evidenced itself mainly in leg swelling. Acites was considered to be caused by a tumour anywhere else in the body, including the abdomen. The lifestyle causes were identified as too much alcohol; too much bleeding, vomiting, urinating or defecating; the sudden inability to evacuate; drinking cold liquids when the body is overheated; dampness; and heredity (Madden, Cheap, 222-23).
As a hospice nurse, I have seen two types of abdominal and leg swelling. One is caused by congestive heart failure, which was poorly understood at Wesley's time since they thought heart failure immediately led to death. He and other medical practitioners believe this type was due to sluggishness of the blood, suppressed perspiration, and lazy fibers in the heart (Madden, Cheap, 223). The second form is acites, which is caused by liver failure often due to alcohol abuse.
John's treatments:
"252. use the cold bath daily, after purging:
253. Or, rub the swelled parts with sallad oil by a warm hand, at least an hour a day. This has done wonders in some cases. [It would cause redistribution of the extra fluid trapped in the extremities.]
254. Or, cover the whole belly with a large new sponge dipt in strong lime-water, and then squeezed out. This bound on often cures, even without any sensible [observed] evacuation of water.
255. Or, apply green dock-leaves to the joints and soles of the feet, changing them once a day.
256. Or, mix half an ounce of amber with a quart of wine vinegar. Heat a brick (only not red hot) and put it into a tub. Pour them upon it and hold the part swelled over the smoke, covering the tub close, to keep in the smoke. The water will come out incredibly, and the patient be cured: tried.
257. Or, eat a crust of bread every morning fasting: tried.
258. Or, take as much as lies on a six-pence [this was a way to measure amounts] of powdered laurel-leaves, every second or third day. It works both ways: tried.
... 260. Or, make tea of roots of Dwarf Elder. It works by urine [excretion]. Every twelve or fourteen minutes, (that is, after every discharge) drink a teacup full. -- I have known a dropsy cured by this in twelve hours time.
... 262. Tar water drank twice a day has cured many; so has an infusion of juniper berries roasted, and made into a liquor like coffee:
... 264. Or, half a pint of decoction of Butchers Broom (intermixing purges twice or thrice a week.) The proper purge is ten grains of jalap, with six of powdered ginger. ...
... 266. Or, take sena, cream of tartar and jalap, half an ounce of each. Mix them and take a drachm [1/8 ounce] every morning in broth. It usually cures in twenty days. ...
267. Or, be electrified: this cures dropsies supposed incurable." (Wesley, Physic, 52-54.)
Many sources could cause itching. Ringworm, spots and sores, chapping, scabies, eczema and impetigo were all possibilities (Cockayne, 55). John, however, focused on itching caused by lice. He wrote in Primitive Physic, "This distemper is nothing but a kind of very small lice, which burrow under the skin. Therefore inward medicine, are absolutely needless. -- Is it possible any Physician should be ignorant of this?" (Wesley, Physic, 75.) John would have been familiar with itch, since he treated himself for it at least twenty times. As he traveled, he would have to sleep in infected beds because of his commitment to be with those who were poor (Watson, David Lowes. "Faithful Discipleship" lecture, Wesley Pilgrimage, Salisbury, UK. 10 October 2012.)
 |
| Louse (top) and flea published 1746 (Wellcome Library) |
"439. Wash the parts affected with strong rum: tried.
440. Or, anoint them with black soap: but wash it off soon.
441. Or, steep a shirt half and hour in a quart of water, mixed with half an ounce of powdered brimstone. Dry it slowly, and wear it five of six days. Sometimes it needs repeating: tried.
 |
| Hellebore The Old Rectory, Epworth, UK 9 October 2012 |
443. Or, beat together the juice of two or three lemons, with the same quantity of oil of roses. Anoint the parts affected. It cures in two or three times using." (Wesley, Physic, 75.)
Dropsy (edema)
"A dropsy is a preternatural collection of water in the head, breast, belly, or all over the body. It is attended with a continual thirst. The part swelled pits [leaves an indentation] if you press it with your fingers. The urine is pale and little." (Wesley, Physic, 52.) See the swelling of the abdomen in the etching?
 |
| "Christ Healing the Dropsical Man" early 19th century (Wellcome Library) |
There were two types of dropsy identified in the 18th century. Anaseara, which was thought to be caused by a leg tumour, evidenced itself mainly in leg swelling. Acites was considered to be caused by a tumour anywhere else in the body, including the abdomen. The lifestyle causes were identified as too much alcohol; too much bleeding, vomiting, urinating or defecating; the sudden inability to evacuate; drinking cold liquids when the body is overheated; dampness; and heredity (Madden, Cheap, 222-23).
As a hospice nurse, I have seen two types of abdominal and leg swelling. One is caused by congestive heart failure, which was poorly understood at Wesley's time since they thought heart failure immediately led to death. He and other medical practitioners believe this type was due to sluggishness of the blood, suppressed perspiration, and lazy fibers in the heart (Madden, Cheap, 223). The second form is acites, which is caused by liver failure often due to alcohol abuse.
John's treatments:
"252. use the cold bath daily, after purging:
253. Or, rub the swelled parts with sallad oil by a warm hand, at least an hour a day. This has done wonders in some cases. [It would cause redistribution of the extra fluid trapped in the extremities.]
254. Or, cover the whole belly with a large new sponge dipt in strong lime-water, and then squeezed out. This bound on often cures, even without any sensible [observed] evacuation of water.
255. Or, apply green dock-leaves to the joints and soles of the feet, changing them once a day.
256. Or, mix half an ounce of amber with a quart of wine vinegar. Heat a brick (only not red hot) and put it into a tub. Pour them upon it and hold the part swelled over the smoke, covering the tub close, to keep in the smoke. The water will come out incredibly, and the patient be cured: tried.
257. Or, eat a crust of bread every morning fasting: tried.
258. Or, take as much as lies on a six-pence [this was a way to measure amounts] of powdered laurel-leaves, every second or third day. It works both ways: tried.
... 260. Or, make tea of roots of Dwarf Elder. It works by urine [excretion]. Every twelve or fourteen minutes, (that is, after every discharge) drink a teacup full. -- I have known a dropsy cured by this in twelve hours time.
.JPG) |
| Juniper Old Rectory, Epworth, UK 9 October 2012 |
.JPG) |
| Butcher's Broom Old Rectory, Epworth, UK 9 October 2012 |
... 264. Or, half a pint of decoction of Butchers Broom (intermixing purges twice or thrice a week.) The proper purge is ten grains of jalap, with six of powdered ginger. ...
... 266. Or, take sena, cream of tartar and jalap, half an ounce of each. Mix them and take a drachm [1/8 ounce] every morning in broth. It usually cures in twenty days. ...
267. Or, be electrified: this cures dropsies supposed incurable." (Wesley, Physic, 52-54.)
Saturday, December 8, 2012
St. Anthony's Fire and Gout
Let's return to some of the illnesses John Wesley addressed.
St. Anthony's Fire
We now know that St. Anthony's Fire is really an inflammation of the skin, bad enough to be gangrenous, and caused by eating the ergot fungus. The fungus grew on rye. Its poisoning was a dominant illness in Europe between 900 and 1700 (Madden, Cheap, 211-12). John described it as "a Fever attended with a red and painful swelling, full of pimples, which afterwards turn into small blisters, on the face or some other part of the body." (Physic, 25.) It was thought to be caused by extremes in temperatures, alcohol, and sexual passions (Madden, 211). John recommended [remember he numbers each treatment in Primitive Physic]:
29. Take a glass of tar-water warm in bed, every hour, washing the part with the same.
- Tar-water is made thus. -- Put a gallon of cold water to a quart of Norway tar. Stir them together with a flat stick for five or six minutes. After it has stood covered for three days, pour off the water clear, bottle and cork it.
30. Or take a decoction of elder leaves, as a sweat; applying to the part a cloth dipt in lime-water, mixed with a little camphorated spirit of wine.
- Lime-water is made thus. -- Infuse a pound of good quick lime in six quarts of spring-water for twenty-four hours. Decant and keep it for use.
31. Or, take two or three gentle purges [vomits]. -- No acute Fever bears repeated purges better than this, especially when it affects the head; mean time boil a handful of Sage, two handfuls of elder leaves (or bark) and an ounce of Alum in two quarts of forge water, to a pint. Wash with this every night. [He then refers the reader to Dr. Tissot's book on health care.]
32. If the pulse be low, and the spirits sunk, nourishing broths and a little negus [wine with hot water, lemon juice, spices and sugar] may be given to advantage.
33. Or let three drachms [3/8 of an ounce] of nitre [salt peter*] be dissolved in as much elder-flower tea, as the patient can drink in twenty-four hours. If the disease attacks the head, bleeding is necessary. Dressing the inflammation with greasy ointments, salves, and. [etc?] is very improper.
34. Bathing the feet and legs in warm water is serviceable, and often relieves the patient much.
- In Scotland the common people cover the part with a Linen cloth covered with meal." (Wesley, Physic, 25-26.)
The Gout in the Foot or Hand
377. Apply a raw lean beef-steak. Change it once in twelve hours, till cured. Tried [when John or one of his acquaintances had tried and found a treatment successful, John would label it as "tried."].
The Gout in any Limb
378. Rub the part with warm treacle [molasses*], and then bind on a flannel smeared therewith. Repeat this, if need be, once in twelve hours.
- This has cured an inveterate Gout in thirty-six hours.
379. Or, drink a pint of strong infusion of elder-buds dry or green, morning and evening. This has cured inveterate Gouts.
380. Or, at six in the evening, undress and wrap yourself up in blankets. Then put your legs up to the knees in water, as hot as you can bear it. As it cools, let hot water be poured in, so as to keep you in a strong sweat till ten. Then go into a bed well warmed and sweat till morning. --- I have known this cure an inveterate Gout, in a person above sixty, who lived eleven years after. --- The very matter of the Gout is frequently destroyed by a steady use of Mynsicht's Elixir of Vitriol." (Wesley, Physic, 69-70.)
Gout is caused by too much uric acid in the blood, which causes deposits of uric acid crystals in the joints, legs and arms, causing swelling (see picture above). Even now it is thought to be triggered by rich foods, meat, and alcohol. It is considered to be a disease of a highly civilized lifestyle, and has a genetic/hereditary component. Wesley believed its discomfort could be decreased if it was hereditary, and cured if it was not. Both John and his mother had it (Madden, Cheap, 232-33, 270).
"Gout" in premodern times included not only what we label gout today, but the symptoms could also be caused by lead poisoning and by rheumatoid arthritis. One of the ways to get rid of the uric acid and the lead is to increase urination. Therefore, hot bathing would stimulate urination of toxic chemicals and also relax arthritic inflammation (Root-Bernstein, Robert and Root-Bernstein, Michele. Honey, Mud, Maggots and Other Medical Marvels: The Science Behind Folk Remedies and Old Wives' Tales (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997), 55). Elder bud tea is helpful because it not only is a diuretic which makes people excrete urine, but it also has a tranquilizing effect (Madden, Cheap, 233).
*(Johnson)
 |
| Descriptions of ergot poisoning Wattisham, Suffolk, 1762-63 (Wellcome Library) |
St. Anthony's Fire
We now know that St. Anthony's Fire is really an inflammation of the skin, bad enough to be gangrenous, and caused by eating the ergot fungus. The fungus grew on rye. Its poisoning was a dominant illness in Europe between 900 and 1700 (Madden, Cheap, 211-12). John described it as "a Fever attended with a red and painful swelling, full of pimples, which afterwards turn into small blisters, on the face or some other part of the body." (Physic, 25.) It was thought to be caused by extremes in temperatures, alcohol, and sexual passions (Madden, 211). John recommended [remember he numbers each treatment in Primitive Physic]:
29. Take a glass of tar-water warm in bed, every hour, washing the part with the same.
- Tar-water is made thus. -- Put a gallon of cold water to a quart of Norway tar. Stir them together with a flat stick for five or six minutes. After it has stood covered for three days, pour off the water clear, bottle and cork it.
30. Or take a decoction of elder leaves, as a sweat; applying to the part a cloth dipt in lime-water, mixed with a little camphorated spirit of wine.
- Lime-water is made thus. -- Infuse a pound of good quick lime in six quarts of spring-water for twenty-four hours. Decant and keep it for use.
31. Or, take two or three gentle purges [vomits]. -- No acute Fever bears repeated purges better than this, especially when it affects the head; mean time boil a handful of Sage, two handfuls of elder leaves (or bark) and an ounce of Alum in two quarts of forge water, to a pint. Wash with this every night. [He then refers the reader to Dr. Tissot's book on health care.]
32. If the pulse be low, and the spirits sunk, nourishing broths and a little negus [wine with hot water, lemon juice, spices and sugar] may be given to advantage.
.JPG) |
| Elder flowers and elder Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret 15 October 2012 |
34. Bathing the feet and legs in warm water is serviceable, and often relieves the patient much.
- In Scotland the common people cover the part with a Linen cloth covered with meal." (Wesley, Physic, 25-26.)
The Gout in the Foot or Hand
377. Apply a raw lean beef-steak. Change it once in twelve hours, till cured. Tried [when John or one of his acquaintances had tried and found a treatment successful, John would label it as "tried."].
 |
| "Punch [Alcohol] Cures the Gout, .. the Colic, ... and the Tisick [tuberculosis]" etching by James Gillray, 1799 (Wellcome Library) |
378. Rub the part with warm treacle [molasses*], and then bind on a flannel smeared therewith. Repeat this, if need be, once in twelve hours.
- This has cured an inveterate Gout in thirty-six hours.
379. Or, drink a pint of strong infusion of elder-buds dry or green, morning and evening. This has cured inveterate Gouts.
380. Or, at six in the evening, undress and wrap yourself up in blankets. Then put your legs up to the knees in water, as hot as you can bear it. As it cools, let hot water be poured in, so as to keep you in a strong sweat till ten. Then go into a bed well warmed and sweat till morning. --- I have known this cure an inveterate Gout, in a person above sixty, who lived eleven years after. --- The very matter of the Gout is frequently destroyed by a steady use of Mynsicht's Elixir of Vitriol." (Wesley, Physic, 69-70.)
Gout is caused by too much uric acid in the blood, which causes deposits of uric acid crystals in the joints, legs and arms, causing swelling (see picture above). Even now it is thought to be triggered by rich foods, meat, and alcohol. It is considered to be a disease of a highly civilized lifestyle, and has a genetic/hereditary component. Wesley believed its discomfort could be decreased if it was hereditary, and cured if it was not. Both John and his mother had it (Madden, Cheap, 232-33, 270).
"Gout" in premodern times included not only what we label gout today, but the symptoms could also be caused by lead poisoning and by rheumatoid arthritis. One of the ways to get rid of the uric acid and the lead is to increase urination. Therefore, hot bathing would stimulate urination of toxic chemicals and also relax arthritic inflammation (Root-Bernstein, Robert and Root-Bernstein, Michele. Honey, Mud, Maggots and Other Medical Marvels: The Science Behind Folk Remedies and Old Wives' Tales (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997), 55). Elder bud tea is helpful because it not only is a diuretic which makes people excrete urine, but it also has a tranquilizing effect (Madden, Cheap, 233).
*(Johnson)
Friday, December 7, 2012
Air pollution
The air of
any large town was filled with particles from home fires used for heat, and from
both the fires and dust from manufacturing.
It was bad enough that a 1775 German visitor wrote a friend that the
smoke was so thick he had to write "by the light of a candle (at half past
ten in the morning." (Mare, Margaret and Quarrell, W.H. (eds and trans.). Lichtenberg's Visits to England as described in his Letters and Diaries (Oxford, 1938), quoted in
Cockayne, Emily. Hubbub: Filth, Noise
and Stench in England, 1600-1770 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007,
146.) Since fireplaces were used for
heat, smut and soot clung to the walls, ceilings and settled on the
floors. Coal was cheap, but it left more
residue than wood. The diarist John Evelyn (1620-1706) wrote
that the "pernicious smoke ... superinducing a sooty Crust or furr upon
all that it lights, spoyling the moveables, tarnishing the Plate, Gildings and
Furniture, and Corroding the very Iron-bars and hardest stone with those
piercing and acrimonious Spirits which accompany its Sulphure." (Evelyn,
John. Fumifugium, or the inconvenience of the Aer and Smoak of London dissipated (London, 1661), 6, quoted in Cockayne, 152.)
Evelyn believed that private fires were not the primary cause of the air
pollution, but that "foul mouth'd Issues" of manufacturing sites
were.
It was not
only bad in the cities, but in the coal mines.
Rev. John Fletcher, a Methodist, served as a Church of England parish
priest in Madelay for 25 years.
He wrote, "Form, if you can an idea of the misery of men, kneeling, stooping, or lying on one side, to toil all day in a confined space, where a child could hardly stand; whilst a younger company, with their hands and feet on the black dusty ground, and a chain about their body, creep and drug along, like four-footed beasts, heavy loads of the dirty
mineral ... destructive damps, and
clouds of noxious dust, infect the air they breathe, Sometimes water
incessantly distils [drops or flows*] on their naked
bodies; or bursting upon them in streams, drowns them, and deluges their
work. At other times, pieces of
detached rocks crush them to death, or earth breaking in upon them buries them
alive. And frequently suphurous vapours,
kindled in an instant by the light of their candles, form subterraneous thunder
and lightning ..." (Fletcher, John.
"An Appeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense" (Bristol, UK:
Pine, 37), quoted in Forsaith, Peter, ed. "Unexampled Labours: Letters of the Revd John Fletcher to Leaders in the Evangelical Revival" PhD thesis, (Peterborough, UK: Epworth, 2008).
Fletcher is notable because John Wesley wanted Fletcher to succeed him
as leader of the Methodists. Fletcher
refused in 1773, accepted in 1775 when Wesley was ill enough to die, and then
refused Wesley again in 1776.
Fletcher died in 1785 (Forsaith). Wesley
outlived him by six years.
People were not concerned about air pollution (Cockayne, 244), following the adage, "We will bear with the Stink, if it bring but in Chink ["money"*]." (Fuller, Thomas. Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British (London, 1732), 282, quoted in Cockayne, 241.)
* (Johnson.)
Forges,
furnaces, and ovens all belched unpleasant smoke when used by craftsmen like
hammersmiths, beer brewers, maltsters and goldsmiths. Kilns for baking bricks were another huge
culprit in rapidly expanding cities (Cockayne, 207). And that is just the pollutants, not to
mention the noxious odors from dying, paint-making, candle-making, and multiple
other trades (Cockayne, 210-211).
"It is well known that foetid smells, stagnated and putrid Air, are
in general the Cause of many Dreadful Diseases; such as Malignant Fevers,
putrid sore Throats, the Plague ..." observed a fumigator at the end of
the eighteenth century (Groote, Gerard. Fumigating Ingredients to remove offensive smells, foul, putrid and stagnated air, from halls, chambers, courts of justice, distemper'd gaols (London, c. 1780), quoted in
Cockayne, 213).
Food was
affected by air pollution. Produce grown
in tiny city gardens would have become increasingly polluted, which meant more
people had to buy fruit, vegetables and herbs (Cockayne, 88). Cabbage, radishes and spinach were most likely
to be contaminated by particles from coal smoke (Cockayne, 93). Meat was also affected by smoke as it hung
waiting to be purchased; Evelyn wrote
that London's smoke would "so Mummife, drye up, wast[e] and burn it [the
meat], that it suddenly crumbles away, consumes and comes to nothing."
(Evelyn, 12-13, quoted in Cockayne, 95-96).
Evelyn
worried about London residents, who had to inhale "nothing but an impure
and thick Mist, accompanied with a fuliginous and filthy vapour, which renders
them obnoxious to a thousand inconveniences, corrupting the lungs and disordering
the entire habit of their Bodies; so that Catharrs [sinus congestion], phthisicks [tuberculosis or asthma], Coughs and
Consumptions, rage more in this one City, than in the whole Earth besides
..." (Evelyn, 12-13, quoted in Cockayne,
209).
 |
| (Wellcome Library) |
He wrote, "Form, if you can an idea of the misery of men, kneeling, stooping, or lying on one side, to toil all day in a confined space, where a child could hardly stand; whilst a younger company, with their hands and feet on the black dusty ground, and a chain about their body, creep and drug along, like four-footed beasts, heavy loads of the dirty
.JPG) |
| Rev. John Fletcher John Wesley's House, London 13 October 2012 |
People were not concerned about air pollution (Cockayne, 244), following the adage, "We will bear with the Stink, if it bring but in Chink ["money"*]." (Fuller, Thomas. Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British (London, 1732), 282, quoted in Cockayne, 241.)
* (Johnson.)
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