EARTH IN THE TREATMENT OF WOUNDS.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 542, 8 July 1869, Page 4

EARTH IN THE TREATMENT OF WOUNDS.

An eminent American doctor has forwarded to the Philadelphia Evening Post the following interesting account of cerbain experiments in the application of dry earth as a means of curing wounds :— On Monday last, being in Philadelphia, I was invited to attend the morning dressing of the earth-treated wounds. This is what 1 saw :— First : Two patients suffering from serious varicose ulcers, after prolonged suffering, and with little relief from the usual treatment, have ceased to be offensive to their wavdmates ; they find their sores daily growing smaller ; all pain and inflamation have left them, and they feel the certainty of an early cure. Second : A railroad brakeman, whose hand was, a year and a half atjo, crushed between the coupling heads of two cars, and who has never been free from pain, and seldom from intense pain ; whose hand from the wrist to the knuckles was a festering mass of carious bones and inflamed flesh, and whose system had been so reduced that he could not have survived the amputation which alone can entirely relieve him, is now happy in freedom from pain. His flesh wound has fallen on a healthy character, and his health is fast returning. He even hopes to save his hand, but the long-continued decay of the bone makes this impossible. Third : Another brakeman, suffering from a precisely similar injury, is in no respect less serious, but received within a few days, was immediately treated with dry earth. Its constant application has entirely prevented inflammation, and a healthy healing of the flesh and kuitting of the bone will soon return him to his duties with two useful hands. Fourth : A farm laborer, on Friday last, had three of his fingers nearly torn by a horse-power hay-cutter. Since the first application of the dry earth (a few hours after the accident) he has been free from pain, and he will save his hand. Fifth : On Saturday last, a laborer, engaged in breaking up condemned shells, exploded one that was charged. The powder burned his face and arms, and (seriously) one of his knees, which was struck by a fragment of the iron that completely shattered the kneepan. .His burns and the fracture were immediately dressed with dry earth, and the freedom from pain and the absence of inflammation have been as marked in his case as in others. Without this dressing the knee joint must inevitable have become involved, and the leg must have been lost. Now, the wound is evidently healing, and (although it is too early to speak positively) there is every reason to hope that the only result of the injury will be a stiff knee. Sixth : Within a few days a woman was brought to the hospital with her neck and a large part of her body very severely and dangerously burned. That she could escape long weeks of agony was beyond hope. Yet on Mouday her eye was clear and calm, and her voice was strong, and when the doctor asked her how she felt she said she felt a great deal better, and that she had no pain. Seventh : Last Wednesday an entire breast was removed for cancer, and the wound was dressed with dry earth. It is now healing rapidly. There has been no inflammation and no suppuration and this woman too— calm and happylooking, with a healthy color and steady voice — spoke far more than her cheerful words in thankfulness of her relief.