_THE TESTIMONY OF THE PUBLIC—continued._
“All these are good, and these we must allow,
And these are everywhere in practise now.”
_Taylor the Water-Poet._
The case related by Dr. Smiles is interesting to every Bone-setter,
as well as to the public at large, for it drew attention to the fact
that there existed a number of “specialists” who had made bone-setting
and sprains their study, who had inherited the experience of their
predecessors, and who, though not recognised by the “schools,” or
enrolled under the various acts for the registration of medical
practitioners, had done a vast amount of good and had alleviated
a great deal of pain which had baffled the _skill_ of the regular
surgeons.
Dr. William Chambers, in the _Journal_ which bears his name, had
drawn attention to the case of Mr. George Moore, in a review of Dr.
Smiles’ book, which seems to have excited the indignation of several
surgeons, who “called in question the accuracy of the story.” To these
the editor, presumably Dr. Chambers himself, replies by quoting the
testimony of a number of correspondents who had favoured him with
their experiences. Dr. Chambers refers those who doubt the statement
about Mr. George Moore, to Dr. Smiles himself, whom he truly says “is
not given to romancing.” “We have,” he continues,[3] “ourselves,
however, known some curious instances of illiterate men who, by a sort
of natural tact, were eminently successful as bone-setters.” One of
these instances was that of a drummer in a militia regiment as long
ago as 1812, who, when discharged at the peace of 1815, set up as a
bone-setter, and made a living by his profession. Not long since, there
died an eminent bone-setter on Spey-side, to whom persons suffering
from dislocations flocked from all quarters. It seems ridiculous
to pooh-pooh instances of this kind. A wiser policy would consist
in finding out what were the special modes of operation of these
bone-setters, and taking a hint from them.
While one correspondent has favoured us with his doubts on the subject
of unprofessional bone-setting, others have written to verify cases
such as that recorded by George Moore’s biographer. One of these
communications is as follows: ‘In 1865, I had met with a severe
accident on board a ship coming home from India, and among other
injuries the middle finger of my right hand was much injured. There
were two or three doctors among the passengers besides the ship’s
surgeon, and they all agreed that it was merely a severe bruise. I
thought little of it, hoping it would soon get right; but when six
weeks had passed and the finger was still quite powerless, I consulted
an excellent general practitioner in England, who said the joint was
enlarged, and recommended an application of iodine, which took off the
skin, but had no other effect. Two other surgeons—one of them a man
of considerable repute—were consulted, but with no better result; and
eventually I was persuaded to go to a bone-setter in Liverpool. The
moment he felt the finger he said “It’s dislocated.” The treatment
was very simple. The finger was enveloped in a bag of bran and kept
constantly wet for a fortnight, and then it was set. The operator gave
it a violent wrench. I heard a crack like that made when one pulls
one’s finger-joints sharply; and from that moment I had the full use of
my finger, which until then was absolutely powerless. The fee, as far
as I remember, was ten shillings, certainly not more.
“The case which led me to consult this bone-setter was much more
remarkable. Among the passengers on board the same ship was an Indian
civilian who had been severely mauled by a tiger, in trying to save a
fellow-sportsman’s life, and had quite lost the use of one arm. He was
on his way home to see if anything could be done to restore it; and his
disappointment was great when, after some months’ treatment by one of
the greatest of London surgeons, there was hardly any improvement, and
no hope was held out of more than a very partial cure. While down in
Wales, he heard of the bone-setter above mentioned, who was a native of
the Principality, and determined to try his powers. In a few months, by
simple treatment and the wonderful power of manipulation which this man
possessed, the use of the arm was entirely restored, and has ever since
remained so.”’
The gentleman above alluded to was undoubtedly Mr. Evan Thomas, of
Crosshall Street, Liverpool, whose reputation and skill enabled him
to realise a handsome competence. The record of his cures, and the
instances in which he has given relief when regular surgeons have
failed, would fill a volume. A well-known actor on the London stage has
furnished several instances which fell under his personal knowledge.
Mr. Evan Thomas is now represented by a relative (a son I believe) who
has taken out a diploma as a surgeon, and is therefore a “bone-setter”
according to Act of Parliament.
The writer of the above anecdotes expressly points out that he does
not for a moment wish to disparage the skill and care shewn by the
regularly qualified surgeons in ordinary and in many extraordinary
cases. They are with few exceptions, upright and generous men, and
their kindness and tenderness seem specially developed by the pain
which they so often have to inflict; but there are cases—more
frequent, I believe, than is commonly supposed—where something more
than training and practise is needed; and there are a few men (and
women too) who seem intuitively to possess this something—a gift of
touch which tells them when a joint, or it may be a muscle or tendon,
is not in its right place, and enables them to put it right.
“It is this which I think the medical profession and the public
generally should recognise, instead of speaking of these bone-setters,
as is often done, as quacks, and their cures as fables, or at best
happy accidents. In some cases the possessors of this gift have taken
the necessary diploma which permits them to practise; in others they
have not the means or education which would enable them to do so; or
perhaps they have only discovered their gift comparatively late in
life, when they have settled down to other professions.” “Surely,” the
Editor remarks, “some means could be devised by which this gift, when
it is discovered in an individual, can be utilised for the benefit of
suffering humanity without the ordinary diploma, and yet with some
check which would prevent imposture. The first step is the recognition
that such a gift does exist; and then let it be the subject of
intelligent inquiry.”
The next instance given in the _Journal_ before referred (pp. 712)
is contributed by a well-known clergyman of Northamptonshire, and is
a voluntary and unlooked for testimonial to the author. He writes as
follows:—“Some twelve years since, when returning from a visit to a
friend on a bitterly cold December evening, I unluckily slipped upon
a sheet of ice on the foot-path, and fell with my leg bent completely
under me. The pain was intense, and for a quarter of an hour I was
unable to raise myself up. Fortunately, I was not far from home, and
managed to crawl to my own door. For two or three subsequent days I
endured excruciating agony, and consulted my usual medical men in
the town of ——, who pronounced my injury to be a violent sprain of
the muscles of the knee, and after tightly bandaging the joint, they
recommended entire rest for some days. For six weeks I hardly moved
out-of-doors, and was quite unable, without assistance, to put on my
stockings and boots.
“One day a neighbour suggested my seeing a celebrated bone-setter
who pays a weekly visit to this neighbourhood. I eagerly adopted
the suggestion, and by the aid of two sticks, attended by a friend,
I contrived to get into and out of the train, and reached the
bone-setter’s residence in due course. He first directed me to undress,
and placed a chair to rest my leg upon. After manipulating the limb,
he pressed my leg with such force that I fainted away, and when I
recovered my senses, the perspiration was literally streaming down my
face. I asked for some brandy, which he produced out of a cupboard
close by, remarking: ‘I always keep my physic here.’
“For some ten minutes afterwards I felt very faint and in great pain;
and without noticing his movements, he again suddenly pressed my leg,
causing me to faint away a second time; and when I came to, I found my
friend at my side whom I had left up-stairs, and who, startled by my
screams, had hastened down to see what was the matter.
“The bone-setter then said: “Get up and walk; your knee was dislocated,
but you are now all right.” To my inexpressible joy I found my knee
replaced, and was able to walk as well as ever, and which for six weeks
I had been unable to do without the assistance of two sticks. For ten
years my leg was so well and strong, that I never needed the services
of the bone-setter. Unfortunately, about two years since, in pulling
off my boot I again dislocated the same knee, but in moving suddenly
in my chair to reach a book, the joint returned into the socket, like
the sharp report of a pistol. It has once since been out, but I have
managed to replace the joint myself; but I occasionally go to the
bone-setter to have the limb tightly plastered and bandaged, and over
the bandage I always wear an elastic knee-cap.
“A neighbour of mine had a bad fall out hunting about two years ago,
and injured his shoulder, and for several weeks was unable to raise his
arm, and like myself, put himself under the charge of his usual medical
attendant. As the injury did not seem to abate, I advised him to go
to this same bone-setter, which he did, and in a very short period he
quite recovered the use of the limb, and is now able to drive and ride
as well as ever; the remedy he was ordered to adopt was hard friction,
night and morning, with rum and neat’s-foot oil.
“I will mention an anecdote told me by this bone-setter. A poor
servant-girl who had been an in-patient of a neighbouring infirmary for
seventeen weeks, and had been discharged as incurable, consulted the
bone-setter, who discovered her ankle to be dislocated. With a violent
twist he replaced it, and she gladly left behind her, in his house, the
two crutches she had used for upwards of four months!
“Although it seems almost incredible that regularly qualified surgeons
do not understand the art of bone-setting, or adopt their somewhat
rough usage, I believe they really dare not do so for fear of being
accused of rude treatment, by ladies or persons of sensitive feelings.
I believe the knack of bone-setting to be hereditary; at any rate it is
so in the case of my bone-setter (which is literally true), who is of
the third generation in this style of treatment.”
The following is a case related by Dr. Wharton Hood, in his work on
“Bone-setting:”—
“A gentleman, whom I will call Mr. A——, when sitting on a stool
at his office, hastily descended it to welcome a friend. As soon as
his feet reached the ground he turned his body without moving them,
and in so doing he twisted or wrenched his left knee. He immediately
felt considerable pain in the joint, which lasted for an hour or two,
but decreased as the day wore on, and he continued to move about as
occasion required. In the night he was aroused by increased pain,
and found the joint much swollen. Mr. A—— was the brother of the
professor of midwifery at one of the principal medical schools in
London, and he had the best surgical advice that London could afford.
He was ordered to rest the limb and to apply heat and moisture. In
this way he obtained some diminution of the pain, but the swelling
continued. He at last sent for Mr. Hutton, who at once declared that
the knee was “out,” and proposed to replace it. An appointment for
this purpose was made, but in the meantime the patient had again seen
eminent surgeons, and he wrote to prevent Mr. Hutton from coming. Two
years of uninterrupted surgical treatment passed without improvement,
and then Mr. A—— sent for Mr. Hutton again. On this the second visit
I accompanied him, and what I witnessed,” says Dr. Hood, “made a great
impression on my mind. We found the knee-joint enveloped in strapping;
and when this was removed, the joint was seen to be much swollen,
the skin shining and discoloured. The joint was immovable, and very
painful on the inner side. Mr. Hutton at once placed his thumb on a
point over the lower edge of the inner condyle of the femur, and the
patient shrank from the pressure and complained of great pain. He (Mr.
Hutton) made no further examination of the limb, but said: “What did I
tell you two years ago?” Mr. A—— replied: “You said my knee was out.”
“And I tell you so now,” was the rejoinder. “Can you put it in?” said
Mr. A——. “I can.” ‘Then be good enough to do so,’ said Mr. A——,
holding out his limb. Mr. Hutton. however, declined to operate for a
week; ordered the joint to be enveloped in linseed poultices and rubbed
with neat’s-foot oil, made an appointment, and took his leave. During
the dialogue I had carefully examined the limb, and satisfied myself
that there was no dislocation, and had arrived at the conclusion that
rest, and not movement, was the treatment required. At the expiration
of the week I went again to the house, and Mr. Hutton arrived shortly
afterwards. “How’s the knee?” was his inquiry. “It feels easier.” “Been
able to move it?” “No.” “Give it to me.” The leg was stretched out, and
Mr. Hutton stood in front of the patient, who hesitated, and lowered
his limb. “You are quite sure it is out, and you can put it right?”
There was a pause, and then: “Give me your leg, I say.” The patient
obeyed reluctantly, and slowly raised it to within Mr. Hutton’s reach.
He grasped it with both hands, round the calf, with the extended thumb
of the left hand pressing on the painful spot on the inner side of the
knee, and held the foot firmly by grasping the heel between his own
knees. The patient was told to sit steadily in his chair, and at that
moment I think he would have given a good deal to have regained control
over his limb. Mr. Hutton inclined his knees towards his right, thus
aiding in the movement of rotation which he impressed upon the leg with
his hands. He maintained firm pressure with his thumb on the painful
spot, and suddenly flexed the knee. The patient cried out with pain.
Mr. Hutton lowered the limb, and told him to stand up. He did so, and
at once declared he could move the leg better, and that the previously
painful spot was free from pain. He was ordered to take gentle daily
exercise, and his recovery was rapid and complete. In a few days
he returned to business, and from that time until his death, which
occurred three years afterwards, his knee remained perfectly well.”
Another case was that of the Honourable Spencer Ponsonby, who is
suffered to tell his own story. “On November 26th, 1864, in running
across the garden at Croxteth, near Liverpool, I felt and heard
something crack in the calf of my left leg. It was so painful that I
rolled over like a shot rabbit, and could scarcely reach the house, a
few yards off. I at once put my leg up to the knee in a pail of hot
water, and boiled it for an hour. Next day, being no better, I sent
for a medical man in the neighbourhood, who told me I had snapped a
muscle, and must keep quiet for a few days. He rubbed in a strong
liniment, there being no sign of inflammation; and put on a strong
leather plaster. In a couple of days I was able to hobble; but being
telegraphed to London, and going into an empty house, I knocked my toe
against a tack in the floor, and hurt myself worse than ever. From
this time (December 2nd) to the beginning of May, I was attended by
Mr. A—— and Mr. B—— in consultation, who agreed in saying that the
“stocking of the calf was split” (gastrocnemius, I think they called
it) and treated me accordingly. Occasionally my leg got better; but the
slightest exertion produced pain and weakness.
“On the 2nd of May, Mr. C—— undertook me. He agreed as to the injury,
but thought that, constitutionally, I was out of order, and gave me
some iron, &c., without effect. My leg was also fixed in an iron
machine to relieve the muscles of the calf from the weight of the leg.
Another eminent surgeon came in consultation on June 26. He agreed in
Mr. C——’s treatment, and in the cause of the lameness; as did Dr.
D——, who was consulted as to my going to Wildbad.
“_August 14._—As I did not improve, Mr. C—— put my leg into a
gum-plaster for a month. I then went yachting, so as to obtain perfect
repose for that time. My health, which had been getting bad, was
improved by the sea-air, but my leg was no better. The surgeon on board
the yacht, Dr. E——, also examined me, and agreed as to the cause of
the lameness, but said: ‘An old woman may cure you, but no doctor will.’
“On September 7 the gum-plaster was removed, and galvanism was then
tried for about three weeks. At the end of this time I went on a yacht
voyage for four months, and, during the whole of this period had
sea-water douches. All this time I had been either on crutches or two
sticks. My health was much improved by the sea-voyage, but my leg was
the same as before, and had shrunk to about half its proper size.
“_April 5._—Mr. F—— began his system to cure my leg. His idea
was, that the muscles were separated, but that if brought together
continuously, they would rejoin. I wore a high-heeled boot during the
day, and during the night my heel was fixed so that it was kept in the
same position. No good arose from this treatment; and consequently,
after a month’s trial, I went to Mr. Hutton, who, on seeing my high
heel, said: ‘What do you wear that machine for? Do you want to lame
yourself?’ I was proceeding to tell him the opinion of the various
surgeons on my case, when he said: ‘Don’t bother me about anatomy; I
know nothing about it; but I tell you your ankle is out, and that I can
put it in again.’
“After a few weeks, during which he had been to the North, and
could not therefore undertake my case, I returned to him on June
27, telling him that I had in the meantime consulted surgeons who
had assured me that, whatever else might ail me, my ankle was most
assuredly ‘all right,’ but that I would notwithstanding submit to
his treatment. He again examined me most carefully, beginning at the
ankle round bone, and he then put his thumb on to a place which hurt
me a good deal, and produced a sensation of a sharp prick of a pin. He
proceeded to operate upon me, and after a time there was a distinct
report, and from that moment the pain was gone. Mr. Hutton desired me
to walk moderately, but to take no violent exercise for a long time,
and to use a good deal of cold water. From that moment my leg gradually
got better. I was able to walk out shooting quietly in September, and
on the 14th October, having missed a train, walked home fifteen miles
along the high-road. In the following year I resumed cricket, tennis,
and other strong exercise, and have continued them ever since.
In page 103 to 109 of his work before quoted, Dr. W. Hood relates
the experience of his father in treating of sprained ankles, in a
manner similar to that practised by the bone-setter, and illustrates
the system by these two typical cases, which, though by no means
extraordinary in their treatment and cure, have been thought worthy of
publication by him. Mr. J—— sprained his left ankle eighteen weeks
before coming under treatment. For the first month he laid on a sofa;
at the end of that time he was able to get about on crutches, and when
he presented himself for treatment was compelled to use a couple of
sticks. At no time since the injury had he been able to walk farther
than two or three hundred yards without resting. He complained of pain
on the inner side of the foot, and stiffness and pain in the great
toe when he attempted to use his foot. He was operated upon for the
purpose of replacing the bone of the foot, and overcoming the stiffness
of the toe. He returned home by rail the same day, and, on alighting
at the station walked half-a-mile slowly to his house. His powers of
locomotion steadily improved, and four days after the operation he
walked three miles.
Mr. G—— came to Mr. H—— on the recommendation of Mr. J—— and
also was induced to do so from the benefit he saw that Mr. J—— had
derived from the treatment. In this case the ankle had been sprained
and bruised by a horse falling on him a year-and-a-half previous to his
visit to Mr. H——. Owing to the road along which he was riding having
been much cut up by cart wheels, his injury was much more severe than
would usually occur from this form of accident. When the horse fell
he was not thrown but went down with it; the injured foot touched the
ground, sinking into one of the ruts, when before he could withdraw it,
the animal rolled over, wrenching and bruising the limb most fearfully.
The foot was seen by Mr. H——, was still much swollen, and very stiff
in all parts. He was considered to have “five bones out” and the usual
manipulations were employed for their reduction. It required three
operations, at intervals of a week, before the stiffness of the foot
was removed, but at the end of three weeks he walked as well as he ever
did in his life. When he came he had his foot in a sling suspended from
his neck, so utterly useless was the limb.
The advantage of the employment of movement a few days after the
receipt of the injury is shown, he says, by the history of one of the
cases that he saw with Mr. Hutton:
J. F. (Stanmore) was thrown from a cart by the horse stumbling when
going down hill. He fell on his right shoulder and side of his head.
He remained stunned for about an hour; on coming to himself and trying
to raise with the assistance of the right arm, he found himself unable
to raise it, much less to bear any weight upon it. He succeeded with
great difficulty in getting into his cart (the horse it appears did
not fall completely and waited quietly at the side of the road) and
driving home. He suffered great pain all night, the arm being perfectly
useless, and the parts about the shoulder much swollen. He saw Mr.
H—— the following day and was directed by him to poultice and use
neat’s foot oil for a week. At the end of the week he was operated
upon. Increased pain followed the operation; it was not, however, in
the same spot, having shifted from the shoulder to the outer side of
the arm, near the insertion of the deltoid. No improvement in power
of movement occurred at the time; he could not raise his hand to his
head or bend his forearm. On his next visit, three days afterwards,
he said that the pain continued through the night, that he dropped
off to sleep towards morning, and when he awoke he found that it had
materially abated, and his sufferings had been comparatively slight
since. The swelling had diminished, but the motions of the joint were
not much freer.
At the expiration of a week from the time of the operation, he appeared
again; and he could then place his hand behind his head and also on
the opposite shoulder. “With the exception of a slight stiffness, he
considered his limb quite well.”
Yet two other cases from the same source:—
Mrs. J——, on rising from her chair one day in 1864 caught her heel
in her crinoline, and fell backwards upon her sacrum. She did not feel
much pain from the fall at the moment although she felt a good deal
shaken. At this period she had been six weeks pregnant. On the fifth
day from the date of the accident, having in the meantime, without any
definite cause of complaint, been “out of sorts,” she noticed a feeling
of stiffness and numbness extending over the whole of the body, but
more especially in the extremities. Shortly after this occurred she was
seized with convulsions of an epileptiform character. These convulsions
they recurred at varying intervals of sometimes three or four days,
and at other times of ten days or a fortnight, until her confinement.
After this event she was subject to them, but at longer intervals until
October, 1869. Their increased frequency about this time induced her to
consult Mr. Hutton, both she and her friends considering that, as she
had never had any affection of this description previous to her fall,
the blow on her back might fairly be looked upon as the cause of her
trouble. A very tender spot was complained of at the junction of the
last lumbar vertebra with the sacrum. The sensations which preceded
the commencement of the fit were referred to that spot and the opinion
given by Mr. Hutton was that a bone was “out” there. On the three or
four days preceding his visit she had many severe convulsions; she was
suffering from exhaustion consequent upon them and fully expected to be
obliged to remain in bed some days to recover herself. She describes
herself as suffering at the same time from head-ache and fullness; her
back was very painful; she was flushed in the face, very depressed in
spirits, her eyesight was dim and she was very faint.
When operated upon in the manner, hereafter to be described, she
felt “a sudden feeling of numbness of the brain,” this feeling
travelling upwards from the spot where the pressure was applied, and
then immediately following this a sensation which made her say “I am
all right.” In a minute or two she got into bed without assistance,
lay down on her left side—a position she had not been able to take
before—her color became natural, her head felt as if a weight had been
removed from it, the dimness of sight disappeared, and a difficulty of
raising the lids previously had gone. She remained in bed two hours,
and then was able to be dressed and go down stairs. She had no return
of the fits and had been quite free from them up to October, 1870.
The other case mentioned by Dr. Hood is given in the words of the
patient, who states—
“In July, 1859, I was playing in the garden with my children, when one
of them tossed a large indiarubber ball into the adjoining garden,
which was separated from my own by a stone wall about six feet high.
I procured a pair of steps and got over the wall; and coming back I
sat for a few minutes on the top of the wall, and then jumped down,
alighting upon the gravel walk. I felt no ill effects from the jump at
that time, but, awaking early nest morning I found my left leg very
stiff, and supposing this would pass off I went to business as usual;
but on walking I experienced pain on the inside of the knee joint,
which increased during the day, and at night I could scarcely walk.
“The next morning I sent for my medical man (Mr. A——) who after
examining the knee pronounced the injury to be external to the joint,
and I think he said some cartilage had been strained. He ordered me
to pump cold water on it, which I did for several days; but the pain
increased and the knee began to swell. Mr. A—— then ordered leeches
to be applied, and afterwards a large blister enveloping the knee.
After this the leg became very rigid at the joint, and flexed so
that the heel would not touch the ground, and I could only move from
one room to another by the help of crutches. After about two months’
confinement to the house my appetite failed and I became very unwell.
I then saw another surgeon (Mr. B——) who thought that there was
something forming in the joint, but that my general health was failing,
and that I ought to have change of air, so by his and Mr. A——’s
advice I went to the sea-side where I remained until November.
“Whilst there I applied sea-weed poultices, and bathed my knee in warm
sea water; but was soon obliged to discontinue this treatment as it
greatly irritated the joint, which became so tender and painful that
I could not bear the weight of the sheet upon it as I lay in bed. The
flesh of my thigh began to waste away at this time, and I lost
power in my left arm, thumb, and forefinger; so that for some time I
was unable to use a fork at meals. I called in a local practitioner
(Mr. C——) who gave me medicine; but as he said the pain in the knee
was of secondary importance, he did not prescribe for it. I took
exercise occasionally in an invalid chair, but, owing to the difficulty
of getting down stairs and the vibration of the chair itself, this did
me more harm than good.
“I returned home in November, and passed the winter with very little
improvement; and having purchased a very easy invalid carriage with
shafts for a donkey, went out when the weather permitted.
I continued to apply iodine and kept wet cloths constantly upon the
limb to keep down inflammation, and this treatment succeeded in a
measure, but only so long as I kept the leg at rest; for on making the
smallest attempt to use it the inflammation returned.
In the spring of 1860 it was thought advisable I should consult Sir
B. Brodie, and my medical man (Mr. A——) went with me to London; but
finding that Sir Benjamin was out of town he took me to Mr. D——,
who affected to treat the matter very lightly, and said that I was to
take a tonic, which he prescribed, and that as my health improved my
knee would get well. He also sent me to a surgical bandage maker, who
measured me for a knee cap which was to enable me to walk and take more
exercise than I had hitherto done.
This knee cap I was however unable to wear, until some months later,
when, the inflammation having subsided, I found it gave me some
support; but I was never able to wear it without much discomfort.
Up to October 1865 (a period of six years and a quarter) I used
crutches—sometimes two, at other times one crutch and a stout stick
and was never at ease, the knee always stone cold when in bed or
otherwise resting, and hot after exertion of any kind—the pain
becoming acute whenever I attempted to use the limb beyond just
crossing the room. During this period (six years) I spent a portion of
every summer at the seaside, and was withdrawn almost entirely from
business. At length after so long a course of treatment, I ceased to
seek further advice, believing what I was told, that the cause of all
my suffering was constitutional, and I settled down to the conclusion
that I should be a cripple for life and that this was unavoidable.
“In June, 1865, I was recommended by a friend to consult Mr. Hutton,
but when I had learned he was an irregular practitioner, I declined;
and it was not until October, when, owing to an accidental stumble
against the door-sill, I was in much pain again, that I acceded to the
earnest solicitations of my friends. I then wrote to him and made an
appointment. At the first interview he came to me in the waiting-room
and, looking me hard in the face, he said, ‘who sent you here?’ I told
him who it was that recommended me to him. He said, ‘Do you know that
I am not a regular surgeon?’ I answered, ‘Yes.’ ‘Well, then, what’s
the matter with you?’ I told him I was lame. ‘Are those your sticks?’
pointing to the crutches. ‘Yes.’ ‘Well, let me look at your leg.’ He
then instantly placed his thumb on the tender spot inside the knee,
causing me great pain. I said, ‘Yes, that is the place, and no other.’
‘Ah!’ he replied, ‘I thought so. That will do. How long have you been
lame?’ ‘Six years.’ ‘What treatment have you had?’ I told him, and
also that my lameness resulted from constitutional causes. He said,
‘Bah! If you had not had a pretty good constitution they would have
killed you.’ I told him that I had seen Mr. D——. ‘Well,’ he said,
‘You might as well have seen my cook. He can’t cure that knee.’ I asked
him what he thought was the matter with it. He said, ‘That knee is out;
I’ll stake my reputation upon it, and I can cure it.’ I was ordered to
apply linseed meal poultices for a week, and then go to him again, and
happily with the best results. I have never needed the use of crutches
since, and although it was some time before I gained much strength in
the leg, I am now able to walk as well as before the injury. I forgot
to mention that before leaving Mr. Hutton’s house I walked up a flight
of stairs and down again, a feat I had not accomplished for years.”
As a contribution to the patient’s point of view, and as a pendant
to some remarks made in the course of the preceding pages, Dr. Hood
thought it desirable to print a portion of the letter that accompanied
the narrative:—
“_May, 1871._
“MY DEAR SIR,—In my communication I have confined myself to a
relation of facts only, abstaining from all comment,
but I should now like to say that I think you are doing great
service to the public in bringing the subject of (so-called)
bone-setting prominently before the profession, so as to
induce them to give it a measure of attention, instead
of pooh-poohing it, as has been their almost invariable
practice hitherto. In my own case, after submitting to Mr.
Hutton’s manipulation, I was instantly relieved from that
pain, tension, and coldness in the joint that I had suffered
for six years, and was able to walk. This recovery, which
to myself and friends seemed little short of a miracle, was
thus accounted for by the faculty:—Mr. A—— (whose patient
I had been) on the subject being mentioned to him, laughed,
and said, with a significant shrug, ‘Yes, yes! a nervous
knee! we all know what nervous knees are! ay! ay!’ Mr. B——,
who, as a friend, had seen my knee frequently (though not
professionally) assured all who mentioned the case to him that
I might have walked twelve months earlier had I cared to do
so. Other medical men accounted for the manifest change in my
condition on one hypothesis and another, whilst all affected
to smile at my ignorance and delusion.
“Thus much as to the profession, but what were my own thoughts
and those of my friends and the public generally? I was like
the man spoken of in the Gospels, who had been blind, and now
could see I had been lame and in pain, but could now walk and
was at ease. I cared nothing for professional sneers as to
nervous or not nervous; and had the whole College of Surgeons
clearly demonstrated to their entire satisfaction that I could
not possibly have been benefitted by Mr. Hutton’s treatment,
my opinion would not have been shaken by it.
“Then as to the public: my case having been well known my
recovery was quickly noised abroad, and a number of people
in the neighbourhood who had suffered many things of many
physicians and were nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
sought Mr. Hutton’s advice, and were cured; and this has
happened in so many instances that public confidence in the
ability of the regular practitioner to deal with this class of
cases has been greatly shaken. I cannot better illustrate this
than by relating the following case:—
“One Thursday morning last autumn a man came to me, and, on
my inquiring his business, he told me he wanted my advice.
He was a laborer in a factory who in lifting a weight, had
twisted his knee which was much swollen and painful when he
walked. I asked him what advice he had had. He said he had
been under the doctors’ hands some time, but the leg was worse
and he was now ordered to lay up entirely for a month, and
was assured that unless he did so he would lose his leg. In
one hand he held a medical certificate to entitle him (being
unable to work) to go on his club; in the other he had a large
lump of dark paste, about the size of an egg, which he said
was a blister, and which he was ordered to apply to the joint
immediately and to rest at home until the doctor called on him
the next day. I examined his knee, and from the similarity
of his symptoms to those I had myself experienced, I felt
satisfied his was a case for Mr. Hutton and I told him so. He
immediately told me he had heard of my case and so many others
that _he would rather take my advice than the doctor’s_. I
explained to him that he could not follow the advice of both,
and if he decided on going to Mr. Hutton he must on no account
apply the blister. To this he assented. The doctor’s assistant
called on him the next day, and was very angry that he had not
done as he was ordered, and then left, threatening to return
with his master, who he said would make him put the blister
on whether he liked it or not. This threat however, was not
carried out, and on Monday morning he went to Mr. Hutton with
several other patients who were going up on a similar errand.
He did not return until the last train at night, and I learned
next morning that, after visiting Mr. Hutton, he walked
several miles to see a friend and then back to the railway
station; he rested the next day, and on Wednesday returned to
his work, and has been quite well ever since.
“The sentence in italics is one to which I desire to call
particular attention, since it gives expression to a feeling
of want of confidence in the profession, which I know to
be widely, though often secretly, entertained in this
neighborhood.
“Would it not, then, be to the interest of the profession to
examine into these cases and not obstinately to close their
eyes to facts, which, but for professional prejudice, would
not fail to see as clearly, and reason upon as logically as
common people do.
“I am, my dear sir,
“Yours very truly,
The publication of Dr. Wharton’s book, added to the published testimony
of so many patients, awakened the “faculty” to the knowledge that
after all there was something more than luck in the Bone-setter’s art.
The change of tone was however gradual, with occasional relapses
into the old line of thought, not by any means without misgiving.
When professional attention was publicly drawn to the subject many
instances came to light which showed that Bone-setters proceeded on
true scientific which were neglected by, if not unknown to the faculty
at large. As frequently happens the earliest instance of professional
adoption of the art of the “Bone-setter” occurred in America. After the
publication of Dr. Hood’s work. A correspondent of _Nature_[4] seeing
a review of the work wrote to describe an accident he met with, the
failure of the surgeons at New York to cure him, and his subsequent
cure by one he calls “a scientific Bone-setter” who, of course, was
not an “empiric,” though he adopted the practise of the Bone-setter’s
art. The correspondent in question, Mr. Joseph P. Thompson, who dates
from Berlin, May 22nd, states that more than _twenty_ years ago in the
city of New York, while swinging upon parallel bars in the gymnasium
fell backwards, and to save his head threw out his left arm, thus
catching the fall upon the palmar head of the radius, and as it proved
fracturing the head of the radius at the point of articulation with
the ulna. I sent for one of the most eminent surgeons (then professor
and surgeon) to a large hospital, but several hours elapsed before his
arrival, and by that time the swelling and inflammation of the elbow
had all the appearance of a sprain, and the fracture was not detected.
Some days afterwards the surgeon found out that there had been a
fracture, and that a false adhesion had begun. This was broken up, and
the arm set in splints, according to the approved method. After
the usual time the bandages were removed, but the forearm was incapable
of flexion, extension, or rotation. Every appliance was used to restore
it to its normal condition, such as lifting, friction, sponging, &c.,
but without effect. The arm became useless, and began to shrivel. It
was examined by the first surgeons in New York and other cities. Some
thought that the radius had adhered to the ulna, others that it was a
deposit of interosseous matter, but none could suggest a remedy. It
was some nine months after this, Mr Thompson goes on to say, that he
chanced to be in Philadelphia, and called upon Dr. Klea Barton, who,
though he had retired from practice, consented to look into the case.
After a careful examination he said, ‘If you will consent to suffer the
pain, (it was before the use of chloroform) I will agree to restore the
arm.’ He went on to say that pressure demonstrated a slight crepitation
at the joint, and also a slight elasticity; and this assured him
that the trouble was in the ligaments; that in consequence of the
long imprisonment of the arm in splints, while under inflammation,
a ligamentous adhesion had taken place, and the synovial fluid had
been absorbed. He then applied one hand firmly to the elbow, and the
other to the palmar end of the radius, and diverting my attention by
anecdote and wit, thus relaxing the resistance of the will to pain,
he gave a sudden wrench, there was a sound like the ripping of cotton
cloth, and the arm lay outstretched before me, quivering with pain,
but capable of motion. Mechanical appliances for a few weeks, so far
completed the restoration that I have ever since had about four-fifths
of its normal use and power.”
Here was evidently an instance of manipulation, which, if done by
a bone-setter, would be called empirical, but as it was performed
by a retired surgeon, it was “scientific.” If the benefit is the
same, why this difference of designation? Let the “faculty” reply in
person—“What in the captain is but a choleric word; in the soldier is
rank blasphemy.”