THE BRITTLE MAN

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 879, 16 August 1910, Page 4

THE BRITTLE MAN

PROGRESS OF THE DISEASE ARRESTED. After having undergone treatment at more than fifty general hospitals in London and the provinces in the past ten j’ears, Allan Rushbrook, the “brittle man,’’ of Swainthorpe, Norfolk, has at last succeeded in obtaining some relief from his mysterious ailment at the Homoepathic Hos pital, in Great Ormond street. Most of Rushbrook’s muscles, as previously described, have gradually turned to a stone-like hardness, the only ones retaining any freedom of movement being certain muscles of the left arm and lower jaw. Recently in bis ward at the hospital, where he has been since April, the brittle man explained his conversion to homoeopathy. “I have only had two doses of medicine,’’ he said, “but 1 am much better than when I came. I have had no pain for the past fortnight, and a hard spot on my leg which was just beginning to get bony when I came in has entirely disappeared under treatment. Then he wagged his head from side to side to show the increased flexibility of his neck muscles. “When I first came,” he continued, “ the muscles on the left side of my neck were immovable and stone-like ; now they are quite soft and movable, though they still give a click when I turn suddenly.” The only medicine the brittle man has taken during his stay at the Homoeopathic Hospital is a few drops of a tincture of arbor vitre greatly diluted with water. The first dose was given early in May, the second a month later. In view of the marked improvement in the symptoms and the apparent stoppage of the progress of the disease, hopes of a permanent benefit are held out to the patient by the physicians in charge.