Burns - Lesser writings of S. Hahnemann & Boenninghausen
Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2002 9:47 am
some observations on burns from the big three 
Boenninghausen "Lesser Writings" seems to have sworn by Ars Caust., Carbo-v.
Hering - "Guiding Symptoms" -- see Petroleum .. action on tissues, skin
excerpt from Lesser Writings of S. Hahnemann, by-way-of Encyclopedia
Homopathica
Thousands of over hasty advocates of the pernicious employment of cold water
in serious burns, must hold their peace before the expressed convictions of
that most upright of practical physicians, Thomas Sydenham, who despising
the prejudiced opinion that has prevailed universally from Galen's time till
now, morbi contrariis curentur (therefore cold water for burns), and
influenced by his convictions and by truth alone, thus expresses himself: 1
As an application in burns, alcohol bears the bell from all other remedies
that have ever been discovered, for it effects a most rapid cure. Lint
dipped in alcohol and applied, immediately after the injury, to any part of
the body that shall have been scalded with hot water or singed by gunpowder,
will do this, provided that as long as the pain lasts the spirit be renewed;
after that, only twice a-day will suffice." Let him who can prove this to be
false come forward!
PAGE 642
Or, who can contradict one of the best and most enlightened practical
surgeons of our time, Benjamin Bell, when from his extensive experience he
alleges: 2 "One of the best applications to every burn of this kind is
strong brandy, or any other ardent spirit; it seems to induce a momentary
additional pain, but this soon subsides and is succeeded by an agreeable
soothing sensation. It proves most effectual when the parts can be kept
immersed in it; but where this cannot be done, they should be kept
constantly moist with pieces of old linen soaked in spirits."
Kentish, who, as a practitioner in Newcastle, had to treat the workmen who
were often fearfully burnt in the coal pits, considers very carefully in his
book 3 all the claims preferred in favour of cold water and all other
cooling remedies for burns, and he finds as the result of all his
experience, contrary to the great prejudice he felt in favour of these long
used things, that under their use no single person who had got a severe burn
on a great part of his body ever recovered, but that all were cured who were
treated by the speediest possible application and frequent renewal of hot
turpentine.
PAGE 643
But no proof for the truth of this can be so strong as that which is
afforded by comparative experiments performed simultaneously on one and the
same body. In my former paper I cited the case of a lady who got both her
arms burnt, one of which was treated by Bell with cold water, but the other
was kept covered with oil of turpentine; in the first the pains persisted
for a much longer time and a much greater period was required for the cure
than in the last, which was treated with the volatile oil.
Another experiment of not less convincing character is related by John
Anderson. 1 A lady scalded her face and right arm with boiling grease; the
face was very red, very much scalded, and the seat of violent pains; the arm
she had plunged into a jug full of cold water. In the course of a few
minutes oil of turpentine was applied to the face. For her arm she desired
to continue the use of the cold water for some hours, because it had
formerly been of service to her in burns (she could not say whether those
had been more severe or less so than the present one). In the course of
seven hours her face looked much better and was relieved. In the meantime
she had often renewed the cold water for the arm, but whenever she withdrew
it she complained of much pain, and in truth the inflammation in it had
increased. The following morning I found that she had suffered great pain in
the arm during the night; the inflammation had extended above the elbow,
several large blisters had risen, and thick eschars had formed on the arm
and hand. The face on the contrary was completely free from pain, had no
blisters, and only a little of the epidermis had become detached. The arm
had to be dressed for a fortnight with emollient remedies before it was
cured."
Who can read these honest observations of illustrious men without being
satisfied of the much superior healing power of the application of
spirituous fluids to that of cold water, which affords a delusive
alleviation, but delays the cure?
I shall not, therefore, adduce my own very extensive experience to the same
effect. Were I even to add a hundred such comparative observations, could
they prove more plainly, strongly, and convincingly than is done by these
two cases, that (warm) spirituous fluids possess an inestimable advantage
over the transiently alleviating cold water in the case of severe burns?
PAGE 644
How instructing and consoling, then, for mankind is the truth that is to be
deduced from these facts: that for serious and for the most severe injuries
from burning, though cold water is very hurtful for them, spirituous
applications (warm alcohol or oil of turpentine) are highly beneficial and
capable of saving many lives.
These proofs will serve to guide the great numbers of mankind who require
help, to the only effectual method, to the only health bringing (sanative)
remedy, without which, in the case of extensive burns (that is where the
greater part of the surface of the body has been scalded or burnt), delivery
from death and recovery is perfectly impossible, and has never been
witnessed.
This one single, and, as I have imagined, not unworthy object of my essay,
was evidently not perceived by Professor Dzondi, as is proved by his violent
letters to me; he only perceives in my remarks an attack upon his opinion.
It is a matter of very little interest to me to find that cold water which
has already been recommended ninety-nine times by others for burns, from a
predilection in favour of this palliative whose effects are so injurious, is
now served up to us again for the hundredth time, and I should feel ashamed
to make use of a Journal so useful in promoting the happiness of the people
as this is, for the purposes of merely personal recrimination and
discussion. Moreover, as in the article I allude to I advised him to
convince himself of the truth of my assertions by an experiment upon
himself, my object was thereby to inform every one of the conditions
necessary to be observed in order to constitute a really convincing pure
experiment of this kind.
I avail myself of this opportunity to expose the disadvantage of cold water
(and other ordinary palliatives) in the treatment of serious burns, and call
the attention of the public to the only effectual remedies, warm spirituous
fluids, in order that they may avail themselves of them in the hour of need.
This is not any mere idea of my own, but it has been clearly proved and
irrefragably demonstrated by the observations of the most honourable and
illustrious men of our profession (Sydenham, Heister, B. Bell, J. Hunter,
Kentish), and especially by the convincing comparative experiments of Bell
and Anderson.
I shall only observe further, that the burnt parts must be kept moistened
uninterruptedly with the warm spirituous fluid, e. g. warm alcohol, for
which end the linen rags soaked in it should first be simply laid upon the
injured parts, and then, in order to prevent evaporation, and to keep all
warm, covered with pieces of woollen cloth or sheepskin. If a very large
portion of the surface of the body is burnt, then some one will be obliged
to devote himself entirely and constantly to the external care of the
patient, removing the pieces of cloth or skin one by one, and pouring with a
spoon warm alcohol (or oil of turpentine) over the linen rags upon the skin
(without removing them), then as soon as they are dry, covering up the part
and going on to others, so that when the last part has been moistened and
covered up, it is time to commence again with the first part, which, in the
case of such a volatile fluid as warm alcohol, has in the meantime generally
become dry. This process must be continued day and night unremittingly, for
which purpose the person engaged in performing it must be changed every two
hours for a fresh one. The chief benefit, especially in severe and very
serious injuries from burns, depends on what is done within the first
twenty-four hours, or in the worst cases, the first forty-eight hours, that
is, until all trace of the pain of the burn is permanently removed. A basin
should be at hand containing very hot water, which should be frequently
renewed, in which some vessels full of alcohol should stand, of which the
attendant takes out the warmest for the purpose of wetting the rags, whilst
the rest stand in the basin in order to remain sufficiently warm, so that
there never shall be a want of warm alcohol for the purpose of pouring on
the rags. If the parts of the body on which the patient is obliged to lie
are also burnt, the rags, dipped in warm alcohol, should be applied to them
at the commencement, and a layer of water-proof cloth spread underneath;
these parts can subsequently be wetted from above without being removed. If
the greater part of the body is burnt, the first application must only
consist of warm brandy, in order to spare the first shock to the patient,
which is the worst, the second wetting should be performed with stronger
alcohol, and afterwards the very strongest alcohol may be used. And as this
operation must be continued uninterruptedly during the night, the precaution
must be used of keeping the candle (or lantern) at a good distance,
otherwise the warm spirituous vapour rising from the skin might readily
catch fire, and prove destructive to the patient.
PAGE 645
If the burn has been effected with gunpowder, the small black particles
should not be picked out of the skin before all traces of the pain of the
burn are permanently removed.
==============
Dave Hartley
www.Mr-Notebook.com
www.localcomputermart.com/dave
Seattle, WA 425.820.7443
Asheville, NC 828.285.0240
Boenninghausen "Lesser Writings" seems to have sworn by Ars Caust., Carbo-v.
Hering - "Guiding Symptoms" -- see Petroleum .. action on tissues, skin
excerpt from Lesser Writings of S. Hahnemann, by-way-of Encyclopedia
Homopathica
Thousands of over hasty advocates of the pernicious employment of cold water
in serious burns, must hold their peace before the expressed convictions of
that most upright of practical physicians, Thomas Sydenham, who despising
the prejudiced opinion that has prevailed universally from Galen's time till
now, morbi contrariis curentur (therefore cold water for burns), and
influenced by his convictions and by truth alone, thus expresses himself: 1
As an application in burns, alcohol bears the bell from all other remedies
that have ever been discovered, for it effects a most rapid cure. Lint
dipped in alcohol and applied, immediately after the injury, to any part of
the body that shall have been scalded with hot water or singed by gunpowder,
will do this, provided that as long as the pain lasts the spirit be renewed;
after that, only twice a-day will suffice." Let him who can prove this to be
false come forward!
PAGE 642
Or, who can contradict one of the best and most enlightened practical
surgeons of our time, Benjamin Bell, when from his extensive experience he
alleges: 2 "One of the best applications to every burn of this kind is
strong brandy, or any other ardent spirit; it seems to induce a momentary
additional pain, but this soon subsides and is succeeded by an agreeable
soothing sensation. It proves most effectual when the parts can be kept
immersed in it; but where this cannot be done, they should be kept
constantly moist with pieces of old linen soaked in spirits."
Kentish, who, as a practitioner in Newcastle, had to treat the workmen who
were often fearfully burnt in the coal pits, considers very carefully in his
book 3 all the claims preferred in favour of cold water and all other
cooling remedies for burns, and he finds as the result of all his
experience, contrary to the great prejudice he felt in favour of these long
used things, that under their use no single person who had got a severe burn
on a great part of his body ever recovered, but that all were cured who were
treated by the speediest possible application and frequent renewal of hot
turpentine.
PAGE 643
But no proof for the truth of this can be so strong as that which is
afforded by comparative experiments performed simultaneously on one and the
same body. In my former paper I cited the case of a lady who got both her
arms burnt, one of which was treated by Bell with cold water, but the other
was kept covered with oil of turpentine; in the first the pains persisted
for a much longer time and a much greater period was required for the cure
than in the last, which was treated with the volatile oil.
Another experiment of not less convincing character is related by John
Anderson. 1 A lady scalded her face and right arm with boiling grease; the
face was very red, very much scalded, and the seat of violent pains; the arm
she had plunged into a jug full of cold water. In the course of a few
minutes oil of turpentine was applied to the face. For her arm she desired
to continue the use of the cold water for some hours, because it had
formerly been of service to her in burns (she could not say whether those
had been more severe or less so than the present one). In the course of
seven hours her face looked much better and was relieved. In the meantime
she had often renewed the cold water for the arm, but whenever she withdrew
it she complained of much pain, and in truth the inflammation in it had
increased. The following morning I found that she had suffered great pain in
the arm during the night; the inflammation had extended above the elbow,
several large blisters had risen, and thick eschars had formed on the arm
and hand. The face on the contrary was completely free from pain, had no
blisters, and only a little of the epidermis had become detached. The arm
had to be dressed for a fortnight with emollient remedies before it was
cured."
Who can read these honest observations of illustrious men without being
satisfied of the much superior healing power of the application of
spirituous fluids to that of cold water, which affords a delusive
alleviation, but delays the cure?
I shall not, therefore, adduce my own very extensive experience to the same
effect. Were I even to add a hundred such comparative observations, could
they prove more plainly, strongly, and convincingly than is done by these
two cases, that (warm) spirituous fluids possess an inestimable advantage
over the transiently alleviating cold water in the case of severe burns?
PAGE 644
How instructing and consoling, then, for mankind is the truth that is to be
deduced from these facts: that for serious and for the most severe injuries
from burning, though cold water is very hurtful for them, spirituous
applications (warm alcohol or oil of turpentine) are highly beneficial and
capable of saving many lives.
These proofs will serve to guide the great numbers of mankind who require
help, to the only effectual method, to the only health bringing (sanative)
remedy, without which, in the case of extensive burns (that is where the
greater part of the surface of the body has been scalded or burnt), delivery
from death and recovery is perfectly impossible, and has never been
witnessed.
This one single, and, as I have imagined, not unworthy object of my essay,
was evidently not perceived by Professor Dzondi, as is proved by his violent
letters to me; he only perceives in my remarks an attack upon his opinion.
It is a matter of very little interest to me to find that cold water which
has already been recommended ninety-nine times by others for burns, from a
predilection in favour of this palliative whose effects are so injurious, is
now served up to us again for the hundredth time, and I should feel ashamed
to make use of a Journal so useful in promoting the happiness of the people
as this is, for the purposes of merely personal recrimination and
discussion. Moreover, as in the article I allude to I advised him to
convince himself of the truth of my assertions by an experiment upon
himself, my object was thereby to inform every one of the conditions
necessary to be observed in order to constitute a really convincing pure
experiment of this kind.
I avail myself of this opportunity to expose the disadvantage of cold water
(and other ordinary palliatives) in the treatment of serious burns, and call
the attention of the public to the only effectual remedies, warm spirituous
fluids, in order that they may avail themselves of them in the hour of need.
This is not any mere idea of my own, but it has been clearly proved and
irrefragably demonstrated by the observations of the most honourable and
illustrious men of our profession (Sydenham, Heister, B. Bell, J. Hunter,
Kentish), and especially by the convincing comparative experiments of Bell
and Anderson.
I shall only observe further, that the burnt parts must be kept moistened
uninterruptedly with the warm spirituous fluid, e. g. warm alcohol, for
which end the linen rags soaked in it should first be simply laid upon the
injured parts, and then, in order to prevent evaporation, and to keep all
warm, covered with pieces of woollen cloth or sheepskin. If a very large
portion of the surface of the body is burnt, then some one will be obliged
to devote himself entirely and constantly to the external care of the
patient, removing the pieces of cloth or skin one by one, and pouring with a
spoon warm alcohol (or oil of turpentine) over the linen rags upon the skin
(without removing them), then as soon as they are dry, covering up the part
and going on to others, so that when the last part has been moistened and
covered up, it is time to commence again with the first part, which, in the
case of such a volatile fluid as warm alcohol, has in the meantime generally
become dry. This process must be continued day and night unremittingly, for
which purpose the person engaged in performing it must be changed every two
hours for a fresh one. The chief benefit, especially in severe and very
serious injuries from burns, depends on what is done within the first
twenty-four hours, or in the worst cases, the first forty-eight hours, that
is, until all trace of the pain of the burn is permanently removed. A basin
should be at hand containing very hot water, which should be frequently
renewed, in which some vessels full of alcohol should stand, of which the
attendant takes out the warmest for the purpose of wetting the rags, whilst
the rest stand in the basin in order to remain sufficiently warm, so that
there never shall be a want of warm alcohol for the purpose of pouring on
the rags. If the parts of the body on which the patient is obliged to lie
are also burnt, the rags, dipped in warm alcohol, should be applied to them
at the commencement, and a layer of water-proof cloth spread underneath;
these parts can subsequently be wetted from above without being removed. If
the greater part of the body is burnt, the first application must only
consist of warm brandy, in order to spare the first shock to the patient,
which is the worst, the second wetting should be performed with stronger
alcohol, and afterwards the very strongest alcohol may be used. And as this
operation must be continued uninterruptedly during the night, the precaution
must be used of keeping the candle (or lantern) at a good distance,
otherwise the warm spirituous vapour rising from the skin might readily
catch fire, and prove destructive to the patient.
PAGE 645
If the burn has been effected with gunpowder, the small black particles
should not be picked out of the skin before all traces of the pain of the
burn are permanently removed.
==============
Dave Hartley
www.Mr-Notebook.com
www.localcomputermart.com/dave
Seattle, WA 425.820.7443
Asheville, NC 828.285.0240