Part 2

“A woman had suffered for several days with wandering Rheumatic pains, which continued daily to encrease in violence; there were however at all times fixed pains in the shoulder and in the right arm, which acquired such a degree of intensity by intervals, that the patient could not refrain from crying out. She was in this state when she came to consult me: finding, however, neither alteration in the pulse, nor encrease of heat, nor redness of the skin, nor tension, nor swelling in the part affected, I considered the case to be simple Rheumatalgia, and passed the needle to the middle of the arm, between the fibres of the Triceps Brachialis muscle; the place designated by the patient as the seat of the pain. The pain was driven into the fore arm, and the second puncture caused it to descend into the hand, and a third being made in this part, caused it totally to disappear, and the patient said with delight and astonishment, she was cured; and was so satisfied with this treatment, that she spoke of it to every body. I have not since seen her, although I requested her (and she promised) to return in the event of a relapse.” But the most remarkable case which has occurred to exemplify the triumphant effects of acupuncturation, was that of a girl of 24 years of age. She was naturally healthy and robust, and had enjoyed good health till she was 15 years old, at which time the signs of puberty were manifested. At this period the system became much disturbed, menstruation was established with difficulty, and continued with irregularity; she lost her cheerfulness, and symptoms of the nervous temperament became predominant.--Various nervous symptoms now evinced themselves, and amongst others an obstinate vomiting occurred, which subsided only during very short intervals. She continued in this state for two years[5]. From this time she gradually got worse, and in addition to the habitual vomiting which she had endured from the age of 16, she suffered extremely from violent general convulsions. Some medicines were now given which relieved the sickness, and the use of the cold bath suspended the convulsions. After the treatment had been continued two months, she was visited by Dr. Haime, (to whose description of this interesting case, I am indebted for these particulars,) who found her labouring under partial convulsions, with a disposition to vomit occasionally. The means which had been before employed were still continued, but the symptoms became more aggravated, but were a little subdued by blood-letting from the saphena vein. The convulsions were almost wholly removed, at least had become only partial; the spasmodic efforts being concentrated on the diaphragm and stomach; but a nervous hiccup supervened which acquired such a degree of intensity, that the unhappy patient experienced no intervals of ease. All the known anti-spasmodic remedies were now tried during the space of six months without any benefit. Blisters to the pit of the stomach afforded no sort of relief, and the cold bath gave but a short and temporary alleviation. Scarifications followed by the application of a cupping glass were made on the side of the Dorsal Vertebræ, and the situations corresponding to the pillars of the Diaphragm, which suspended the symptoms but for a few days: relief was only partially obtained by the cautery, and the hiccup returned with its original force accompanied with such a convulsive affection of the stomach, that this organ appeared to act like a pair of bellows, alternately receiving and expelling large quantities of air. At length when the hiccup ceased, it was replaced by partial convulsions or some other symptoms, and vice versa.

Seeing the want of success of all attempts to cure this obstinate disease, and reduced to the necessity of remaining a mere spectator of its dreadful effects, Dr. Haime consulted every book which he conceived might give him some information by which some other curative measure might be suggested; but his researches were totally unsatisfactory, until he met with Dr. Berlioz’s observations upon Acupuncturation, when, not less struck with the curious facts which Dr. Berlioz relates, than with the efficacy which it was reported to possess in nervous diseases, he resolved to try it as a sort of forlorn hope, upon his present patient: he accordingly proposed it to her, and readily obtained her consent to its performance. He communicated his intention to Doctor Bretonneau, Physician to the general hospital, who had seen the case with him, and had often spoken of it; and in his presence he performed the operation for the first time. A needle was introduced perpendicularly at the centre of the Epigastrium, and the two physicians soon became convinced of the astonishing promptitude of the remedy; for the instrument had hardly passed to the depth of a few lines, when the symptoms vanished as it were by enchantment. The operation not appearing to be painful to the patient, the introduction of the needle was continued to half its length, in depth from twelve to fifteen lines, where it was suffered to remain for five minutes. The result was a perfect calmness, and a total suspension of the hiccup for three days, when the same symptoms returning, the needle again was had recourse to, and with the same efficacious effect as at first; and the operation was performed again and again, at longer or shorter intervals, according as the symptoms re-appeared, and always with the same advantages. Dr. Bretonneau became convinced of its efficacy by himself performing it several times. The treatment of the case was thus continued, selecting the part for the introduction of the needle, according to the situation of the symptoms which each operation was intended to alleviate; and Dr. Haime asserts, it never once failed of success; for the convulsive motions of the head, the instrument was passed into the muscles of the neck; into the masseter muscle, to relieve constant gaping; and into the fore arm when these muscles were affected; and thus, by pursuing the disease as it were, the convulsive disposition was entirely removed, and the patient restored to health.

For the fidelity with which I have reported this case, I refer the reader to Dr. Haime’s own record in the 13th volume of the “Journal Universel des Sciences Medicales,” and should further evidence of the efficacy of this remedy be necessary from other authority, I have but to mention the experience of Dr. Demours of Paris, who has recently confirmed[6] the report of Messrs. Berlioz and Haime. He dwells with particular force upon its good effects in Ophthalmia, for which he directs five or six needles to be passed between the fibres of the supraspinatus muscle. His method of performing the operation I shall presently notice when describing this part of my subject. The following cases which have occurred in my own practice, I shall now lay before my readers, and I doubt not but I shall make it appear that the beneficial effects of the remedy employed, are sufficiently flattering to deserve the esteem I hold it in, and to justify me in bringing the subject into general notice.

CASE I.

GEORGE MC’LAUGHLAN, about 30 years of age, a Bricklayer by employment, came to my house in November last, supporting himself by a stick in one hand, and resting the other against the wall, as he proceeded. The body was bent at nearly right angles with the thighs, and his countenance indicated acute suffering. He had been attacked, he said, three days before, with darting excruciating pains in the loins and hips; every motion of the body produced an acute spasmodic pain, resembling an electric shock; and the attempt to raise the body to an upright position was attended by such insupportable agony, as obliged him to continue in this state of flexion rather than encounter it by altering his position. There was no more constitutional disturbance than was to be expected from three days and nights of constant pain; the pulse was a little quickened, and the tongue white, but I attributed this derangement to the irritation set up by the pain and loss of rest. I directed him to place himself across a chair for support during the operation, and I immediately introduced a needle of an inch and a half in length into the lumbar mass on the right side of the spine; in two minutes time I observed that he seemed to rest the weight of his body more on his limbs, and in the next instant, without any enquiry being made, he observed, that he felt his limbs stronger from the “pain having left his hips.” He next plainly indicated that the disease was lessened, by raising his body; from which he only desisted, by being desired to remain at rest, through fear of the needle being broken. The instrument having remained in its place about six minutes, the patient declared he felt no pain, and could, if he were permitted, raise himself upright; it was then withdrawn; the man arose, adjusted his dress, expressed his astonishment and delight at the sudden removal of his disease, and having made the most grateful acknowledgements, left the house with a facility as though he had never been afflicted. The relief was no doubt permanent, as he did not return, which he would most probably have done, had he suffered a relapse.

CASE II.

WILLIAM MORGAN, a young man in the employment of a timber merchant, felt a violent pain suddenly attack the loins whilst in the act of lifting a very heavy piece of mahogany. The weight fell from his hands, and he found he was incapable of raising himself. He was immediately cupped and blistered on the part; but two days had passed and he was still labouring under considerable pain, augmented violently by every motion of the body. On the third day the operation of Acupuncturation[7] was performed upon the part of the loins pointed out as the seat of the injury, which, as in the former case, dissipated the pains in five or six minutes, and restored the motions of the back. He returned, however, the next day, with the same symptoms as at first, but in a mitigated degree. A needle was now passed to the depth of an inch on each side of the spine, which, as I expected, terminated the disease in a few minutes, and it was with pleasure that I understood the next morning, that the man had gone to his usual employment.

This case illustrates the observations of the French physicians before cited, as to the efficacy of the remedy in injuries of this description: it is true that in my own practice it is a solitary example; but so decisive was the benefit derived from it, that the case proves a powerful corroboration of both Mr. Berlioz’s theory and practice.

CASE III.

ELIZABETH JACKS, a married woman, aged 44 years, was admitted into one of the public hospitals of London, in the year 1817, for an enlarged Bursa situated under the Rectus Femoris muscle. Soon after her admission she was attacked with violent pains in the limbs, which continued to affect her with greater or less violence, till the month of October, 1820, when a severe rheumatic state of the back of the head and of the loins supervened; the one preventing flexion of the neck, the other of the back. Her digestion continued unimpaired, the pulse about its natural standard, without hardness or acceleration. Her nights were passed without sleep, and every motion of the body was performed with pain and reluctance. In this state she applied to me, and I gave her antimonials combined with opium, keeping the bowels open with gentle aperients. Under this treatment, she was in some degree relieved, but as she laboured under the impression that nothing could be done to eradicate the disease, she discontinued it after a short time, but in a few days afterwards (Nov. 4th,) Mr. Carpue was requested to see her; he prescribed ten grains of Dover’s powder, to be taken every night at bed time: this dose she took twice without any benefit. The pains had now entirely left the parts they at first occupied, and had fixed on the intercostal muscles above and below the seventh and eighth ribs on each side of the chest; whence, to avoid the insupportable anguish occasioned by the action of these muscles in the process of respiration, this function was (or at least appeared to be) wholly supported by the Diaphragm, the abdominal muscles, and the large external muscles of the neck, chest and back. No other force but that of pressure upon the situation corresponding with the interstices of the ribs gave any uneasiness, but on these parts, the slightest pressure produced intolerable pain: this plainly proved that the disease affected the intercostal muscles alone. Peritonœal inflammation ensued, and the suffering which this occasioned, banished for the time, all attention to the original disease; but no sooner was this removed, (which was effected by the most active means) than the patient found that she was still the victim of an unrelenting malady, which had now pursued her upwards of three years. Acupuncturation now recurred to me as a probable mean of relieving her from her sufferings. I accordingly introduced a needle between the sixth and seventh ribs, and another between the seventh and eighth of the right side; in two minutes the patient became sensible of relief, and in two or three minutes more, that side of the chest was emancipated from the disease.

The same operation was now performed on the other side, though the good effect was not equally extensive on this as on the right; yet the patient respired now with so much comparative freedom and ease, that she exclaimed, she should “soon be quite well.”--The following day but one, there was a little augmentation of the pain on both sides of the chest, but a single needle introduced into each part, entirely removed it. No return of pain after this time visited the right side, but the left, still continued to be attacked; until at length the third introduction of the needle, dissipated it permanently, and the patient has since remained free from the disorder. The needles in every instance were suffered to remain in the part about five or six minutes.

CASE IV.

HANNAH HOWARD (a female servant in my house) aged 25 years, became in September last the subject of Rheumatalgia. The shoulders, arms, back and hips, were the parts selected by the disease for its wandering peregrinations. Antimonials, Opium, Guaiacum, Hyosciamus, &c. relieved her occasionally, but at the end of three months, metastasis to the heart suddenly took place. I was called hastily to her at this time; she had fainted, and when recovered from the syncope, complained of violent pain about the region of the heart, which she informed me had troubled her more or less for several hours. Her pulse was hard, and beat somewhat about 106 in a minute; but from its extreme irregularity, it could not be measured with exactness; nor if it might, would it have been found, I believe, to have preserved an uniformity within any two given periods; as both its intermissions and its actions of rapid velocity were produced at uncertain and variable intervals. Copious bleeding, blistering, cupping, with the use of digitalis and colchicum, at length removed the disease; and in three weeks she was able to leave London, to try the effect of country air in restoring her health and strength. She returned to town after a short time, perfectly recovered; and continued so, until an exposure to wet brought on another attack of rheumatalgia; which, after variously shifting its seat for several days, now fixed itself on the left side. The remedies which had formerly been of service, were now taken without relief; and the colchicum[8] (which in most cases of rheumatism will be found, after bleeding, more valuable than any other article of the materia medica) was totally inert. The pain had now acquired such a degree of violence, that the slightest motion of the body gave the most exquisite agony; and so intense was this state of suffering, that the patient could not be urged to speak in a tone loud enough to be conveniently heard, through the fear of exciting an exacerbation of pain, which even such slight motions occasioned. I now had recourse to acupuncturation; having introduced a needle through the integuments covering the interstice of the 8th and 9th ribs, at the part corresponding to the junction, with their cartilaginous epiphises. I continued to press it gently forward, by rolling it freely between my fingers. When it had penetrated to about two thirds, its whole depth (an inch) I enquired if she experienced either pain from the puncture, or relief from the disease; she replied, “she scarcely felt the instrument, but that her rheumatism had suddenly abated of its violence;” and to my surprise, this reply was expressed in her natural tone of voice. She added, “that she could now speak and breathe freely,” so that I now found her former taciturnity, which I had attributed to moroseness, was banished. I continued the introduction of the needle, and in a few minutes the disease was dislodged, and fled to the back of the chest, near the angle of the ribs. The motions of the shoulder were now restored to their utmost freedom, and I withdrew the needle, and inserted it into the part which had become the seat of the pain, about two inches from the spinal column. The disease soon began to dissipate itself totally; the patient said she was free from uneasiness, and could make a deep inspiration without pain. The instrument having been retained in its place five or six minutes, was withdrawn; the chest had regained its full liberty of action, and the utmost variety of flexion of the body could be used, not the slightest inconvenience ensuing. The next day, however, the pain again visited the anterior part of the chest, and I again had recourse to the needle. The operation was completely successful; for excepting a slight darting pain, which occasionally troubled her for a few days afterwards, no symptoms of the disorder remained, and she continues at this time to attend to the duties of her station in my family.

Whilst occupied with the preceding pages, I received the following communication from my friend, Mr. Jukes; which I subjoin as the strongest corroborative evidence of the efficacy of the practice under our consideration.

“Great Peter-Street, Westminster, February 27, 1821.

MY DEAR SIR,

In compliance with your request, I send you an account of the effect of Acupuncturation on our friend Mr.Scott.[9] I received an urgent message on the morning of the 18th inst. from that gentleman, requesting I would visit him instantly. I found him in bed; and, with a countenance expressive of much anguish, he informed me, that for three days he had been suffering severely from pain in the loins, which he attributed to leaving a warm room during one of the late foggy nights. Within the last 12 hours it had acquired such a degree of violence that even respiration was insupportable, except the body were fixed in such positions as permitted the least possible motion. An attempt to resume the erect posture, produced violent spasmodic action of the muscles of the back, which appeared to be communicated by sympathy to those of the abdomen and chest, impeding respiration with a convulsive effort; nor could any motion of the body be made without producing this distressing effect. Neither fever nor general derangement was present; the secreting organs of the body properly performing their function, proved the external locality of the disease. In this state of things, Acupuncturation presented itself to us as likely to afford relief, and it was therefore immediately resorted to.

“I applied an exhausted cupping glass upon the integuments, opposite to the second lumbar Vertebra, and midway between this bone and the edge of the Latissimus Dorsi muscle, which was the part referred to as the most concentrated spot of the disease. As soon as a needle had penetrated to the depth of an inch, a sensation arose, apparently from the point of the instrument, which the patient described as resembling that which is produced by the passage of the electric aura, when elicited to a metallic point, diffusing itself at first to some distance around the part, and then extending itself up the side to the Axilla. This sensation continued to be felt for the space of a minute, when a violent pain struck into the right iliac region, immediately above, and corresponding with the line of, the Crista of the Ilium. No pain was now felt in the back, except a dull aching of about two inches in breadth on the right side of the spine, extending from the lower part of the neck to the Sacrum; corresponding with the situation and course of the Longissimus Dorsi Muscle. The pain above the hip now began to subside and in the space of three minutes from its commencement, had ceased altogether.

“The uneasiness along the course of the spine still remaining, a needle was introduced about an inch from one of the upper Dorsal Vertebræ, and another in a corresponding situation to one of the lower Lumbar Vertebræ. The pain in the right side was in a few minutes entirely dissipated, and the patient arose, declaring, that, excepting a slight degree of uneasiness on the posterior part of the chest, near the angles of the inferior ribs, he was completely relieved from the disease. He, however, requested I would pass a needle in this last situation; on effecting which the pain soon left its last refuge, and the patient dressed himself, and left his house in the most perfect health. 1 have this day seen him, and he assures me that he has not experienced any return of the affection.

“I should have stated that the sensation, described as resembling somewhat an electrical effect, was experienced from two of the needles only; the first and the last of those which were introduced.

“I send you the history of this case without any comment upon the mysterious nature of this extraordinary operation; yet I am convinced there is something more in it than has been hitherto explained. I have, it is true, some notions (not however fixed) as to its nature; but I would not at present venture to detail them, lest the embers of animal magnetism might be rekindled in the discussion, and the operation from being associated with an exploded theory, sink into undeserved and premature oblivion, from preconceived prejudice.

I am, dear Sir,

Your faithful friend,

EDWARD JUKES.”

Conceiving that the foregoing cases will be as satisfactory as a larger number would, I shall not trouble my readers with a more minute detail.

I could certainly add many others to the list; but to minds open to conviction and truth, no stronger impression would be made by multiplying examples; whilst the sceptical, would “not be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

The OPERATION of ACUPUNCTURATION DESCRIBED.

The first step necessary to the performance of this operation, is the selection of a proper apparatus. It is not requisite, however, that our needles be either of gold or silver, as those of the Japonese are; although it is true that the flexibility of these metals prevents the risque of their breaking; but I have not heard of, or seen, any instance of such an accident with the steel needle, which is the material employed in European practice. It may however be left to the discretion of the surgeon, whether he uses the former or not; it is only of consequence, that the extremity should be finely pointed, and preserved so.