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of the Hindu writers. It is recommended by the earliest of these writers (Shusruta) for improving the voice, intellect and complexion, promoting the union of fractured bones, and helping to cure nearly all the ills that flesh is heir to. Its use is by no means confined to India; in Ireland it is taken as an infusion together with whiskey in colds and bronchitis, and farmers there and elsewhere, apply it as a poultice in anthrax, etc."

In the middle ages the hands were anointed with onion juice to prevent contagion in those exposed to infection.

The Greek physicians used onions in wine in catamenia. Remittent fever and asthma are said to have been cured by garlic, and it has also been claimed to be a bactericide against cholera.

As a disinfectant and germicide, Dr. Minchin, of London, says it is worthy the attention of bacteriologists, and he believes if applied as a poultice over the seat of inoculation, it will prevent the development of hydrophobia in a person bitten by a rabid dog.

In the Dutch West Indies it is customary to disinfect the sick room by the use of onions. Large onions are cut into slices and strewn on the floor, and every other day are swept up and burned. Here, too, garlic forms a staple article of diet at every meal. An English orchid hunter, known to the writer, states that having observed that the natives who used garlic continuously were immune to the bites of mosquitos, tried the experiment upon himself, and used it largely while in the jungle with the result that the mosquitos and other insects did not trouble him to any extent, and when bitten at rare intervals, he suffered no inconvenience from the bite.

The laying of a piece of onion on the

site of a wasp sting, or the bite of other poisonous insects, is said to allay the pain. A like application to the back of the neck is claimed to stop nosebleed.

The Chinese seem to have learned the value of the onion, for next to rice probably no other vegetable is more largely used.

Dr. H. R. Beale, of London, in a letter to the Lancet, (2) on the value of garlic as a remedy, says: "I have used it with success in bronchial conditions, notably in bronchitis of the finer tubes when the patient feels 'all stuffed up,' and where on auscultation there is heard a large number of sibilant rales; also in cases where there is much purulent expectoration much relief results from the use of this drug. The active principle, sulphide of allyl, is undoubtedly excreted into the respiratory passages, and may very possibly act as an antiseptic. In Allbut's System of Medicine, Dr. Ewart recommends garlic in the treatment of bronchiectasis." Dr. Beale gives 15 grain doses of the garlic bulb. chopped up and administered in cachets three or four times a day.

The onion as a remedy for pneumonia. Having shown that both garlic and the onion possess medicinal qualities which afford relief in bronchial and other affections, I desire to record a remarkable case which came under my own observation many years ago, where the life of the patient was no doubt saved by the use of onions. But before reciting the case I wish to state that in a medical journal not very long ago I saw a statement that in France pneumonia is now being treated by medical practitioners by the use of onion poultices. I regret very much having mislaid the reference. The article stated that the method employed was to chop up the

onions and mix them with meal, and then bake or fry them and place them in bags made of cheesecloth, applying them to the lungs at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes, keeping them as near as possible at the same temperature. Many cases were being cured by this treatment. I was especially pleased to read this statement because it confirmed me in the opinion I have held as to the value of the onion in pneumonia, since witnessing the case here recorded:

Case: The patient was a young girl who had ridden in an open sleigh all day in a temperature below zero, and had become thoroughly chilled, and was taken to bed with a case of double pneumonia. The physician, a most eminent practitioner of long experience and practice, did everything in his power to restore her, but while her life was prolonged several weeks by herculean efforts and careful nursing, she gradually failed until all hope was given up. Some idea may be had as to the efforts made to prolong life when I state that the street was covered with tanbark and the sidewalks with straw. Every door and window was battened, and not a shoe was worn in the house, so carefully was the patient guarded. She had been in a comatose condition for some time and the physician, stating that the patient was beyond hope, and would not live but a few hours, took his leave of the mother saying he would not return as there was nothing more he could do. The weeping family were gathered around the bed watching every breath thinking it would be the last, when an aged woman who had known the patient from her birth, entered the room weeping in sympathy with those gathered at the bed side. She pleaded with the mother for permission to try one more remedy she felt sure might even yet save

the life of the patient. Her request was refused, but at length the mother consented to send for the physician and ask his advice. He sent word back that while he felt sure that nothing would avail in the present almost moribund condition of his patient, still, if it would be any consolation to the family and gratify the old lady, he had no objection to their trying the remedy, the nature of which had been explained to him. As soon as the messenger returned with the doctor's reply, the old lady went to the kitchen where a hot wood fire was burning, and taking about a dozen large red onions she baked them in the hot ashes. She then made a large poultice which she placed over the entire chest, another poultice was made for each wrist, and one for each foot. The patient remained in a comatose condition as she had done for many hours. Within twenty minutes or so, she broke out in a profuse perspiration, and shortly after opened her eyes, gave a deep sigh, and then seemed to fall asleep again. She slept for several hours, and then woke up and recognized those about her, and seemed much improved. In short, from that time she continued to improve, and went right on to complete recovery, and is alive to-day. It is needless to say that onions have been a household remedy in that family ever since.

According to Census Bulletin No. 108, for the year 1909, pneumonia caused more deaths than any other disease except tuberculosis, and only seven less than that disease. The number of deaths increased from 61,259 in 1908, to 70,135 in 1909.

List of various remedies. The following list of remedies and methods of treatment is taken from the titles of books and journal articles on the treatment of pneumonia as appear in the Index Cata

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, Vol. VIII

Peroxide of hydrogen.

Phenic acid.

Phenols.

Pilocarpine.

Potassium of soda iodide.
Quinine.

Quinine inhalations.
Quinine and iron.
Restoratives.

Rib resection (operative).
Romer's Serum.

Salicylate of sodium.

Salicylic acid.

Serum.

Sodium formate.

Sparteine sulphate.

Sulphate of carbon. Strychnine.

Tartar emetic.

Tartrate of potash and antimony. Terebinthe emulsion.

Thermol.

Thiacol.

Todd's method.

Tracheal injections.

Traction plasters.

Transfusion of blood.

Transfusion of saline solution. Turpentine hypodermic injection. Vaccine.

Vapor of water.

Veratrin.

Veratrum viride.
Warm baths.

White oxide of antimony.

Garlic as a prophylactic and cure for pulmonary and general tuberculosis.

I now wish to direct attention to the use of garlic in the treatment of tuberculosis, for it is in this disease that the most real scientific investigation has been done.

Dr. Wm. C. Minchin, writing "on the value of garlic as a treatment for tuberculosis" (3) gives an account of his experiences with it in almost all forms of tuberculosis, and says "the results obtained from it are more encouraging than from any other treatment yet brought forward." After referring to the experiments of Dr. Cavazzini, mentioned below, he cites a

former paper of his published in 1902 (4), in which he gave some of his experiments with garlic in the treatment of t. b. in its various forms. After this publication he became aware that Dr. G. V. Poore, of University College Hospital, London, (5) had already, in 1897, recommended that garlic should be taken internally in pulmonary tuberculosis, and states that the fact of the discovery of its utility being made in three places so remote from each other and quite independently, is in itself good evidence of its virtues in this disease.

Dr. Minchin met with great success, he states, by applying the juice of the garlic through an inhaler; he also used it internally but with varying success. Later he discovered that garlic, when applied locally, is freely absorbed by the skin, and penetrates to the deeper tissues, and he had gratifying success from the application of poultices of freely pulped or pounded garlic over diseased areas. He now applies these three methods combined in pulmonary cases with much success. Garlic will blister in from four to twenty-four hours, according to the variety. It acts very successfully when applied to any tubercular lesion, such as a joint, a tubercular gland, etc. Cases of laryngeal tuberculosis yield rapidly to the application of garlic, either by gargle, spray, or internal administration, accompanied by a poultice or garlic

blister.

It is an excellent treatment for lupus, as it can be applied to any part. Where it can be borne, a blister of pulped garlic is the best and most rapid treatment, leaving it on three or four hours, and applying again after a few weeks; but lupus can be very efficiently treated by applying the fresh juice, but it does not act so rapidly. The allyl compounds, such as allylic alcohol, were shown by Dr. Koch to be strongly

antiseptic, and to have a remarkable power of inhibiting the growth of the bacillus anthracis, says Dr. Poore. "The farmers in England largely use garlic for the treatment of symptomatic anthrax or 'Black

, 1913

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would demonstrate a specific action in phthisical diseases," made additional experiments, and published a preliminary note (12) on the results of his experiments. He states: "The question is of such vital im

leg' in cattle. It is a very harmless sub-portance that, having obtained favorable stance, especially when diluted, in doses of the juice from half a drachm two or three times daily. Half an ounce to an ounce of the bulb may be taken daily in an infusion. with milk. It should never be injected hypodermically into the joints, etc., as its vescicating action sets up violent inflammation. It may, however, be applied externally over broken surfaces without danger, but no poultice should be allowed to remain over four hours on first application, after which it will be more easy to judge the length of time to leave other poultices, which must be applied at frequent intervals for several weeks to check the disease in the deeper tissues. The more severe the blister, the more rapid the cure."

Dr. Giulio Cavazzini, in 1901, (6) published a paper in which he claimed that he had obtained favorable results in cases of phthisis by means of garlic. His experience in the use of garlic in tuberculosis was confirmed by Dr. Piccini in 1901 (7). By Dr. L. Sacchi, in 1902 (8); by Dr. G. G. Deplano, in 1903 (9), who claimed to have cured pulmonary tuberculosis by use of garlic. Dr. B. Denti, in 1903, published a paper (10) "on the radical cure of pulmonary tuberculosis by garlic." In 1902 (11) Dr.. Cavazzini read a paper at the International Medical Congress at Rome on the use of garlic in the treatment of tuberculosis. In 1903, "thinking it "thinking it might be useful to see if garlic would also have a favorable effect on the course of other tubercular infections in animals, for experimentation, and, eventually, if it

results from the first researches, I think it is my duty to make them known immediately in order to provoke discussion, and to stimulate research by which, if my purely objective statements were confirmed, a therapeutic and civil problem, which is, perhaps, the greatest one of our age, would be solved." "About the end of June, 1903," he says, "I took eight guinea pigs, six of which had been submitted to a preventive treatment for a fortnight, each swallowing daily 0.06 grammes (one gr.) of garlic juice. After having dried and powdered expectorated mucus from tuberculous patients, I insufflated a small quantity of this material into the larynx of each guinea pig. The animals so treated were kept for two days in a room impregnated with the same powder.

Two guinea pigs were kept as controls throughout the experiment. Three of the remaining six were given the above mentioned quantity of garlic for a fortnight, and the other three were given a similar amount until the end of September. animals were killed the first week of October.

The

The results of the necropsies were that the abdominal organs and the lymphatic system of the two guinea pigs used for control were completely filled throughout with tuberculous formations in different stages of development. The microscopic examination of some tubercles proved the presence of Koch's bacillus. In the bodies of the three animals which had been treated with garlic for one month, I found from

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