A clergyman’s son, thirteen years of age, was carried into my consulting room on June 12, 1899.
Rather pale, big for his age well-grown, but his right knee had long been the seat of strumous disease. The knee three- fourths anchylosed, and at its side a sore place, whence came oozing matter from the diseased joint.
Leading surgeons, seeing no hope of a cure other than by operation, recommended resection, which was about to be performed. Patient had been troubled thus for a number of years, and all concerned were more than willing that an operations should put an end to the wretched thing.
At the end of four months, all the time under Bacill. 30, in infrequent doses, all discharge ceased, and in ten months from commencing the treatment, the knee was quite healed, and the lad in every respect in capital condition.
Movements are now being used to see if the amount of motion of the joint can be increased, which seems probable.
My point is, that the disease was of the constitution and from the centre to the outside, in which manner it was also cured.
Having now dwelt in a general manner on nature’s ways in chronic disease, how she works from the within towards the outside, and that time is of the essence of these workings, I will now proceed to my task and give some examples of cases of enlarged tonsils cured by medicines; they are not hear say cases, but such as I have seen and cured myself.
ENLARGED TONSILS.
Cecil, aet. eight, was brought to me by his mother on May 20, 1897, for enormously enlarged tonsils, pains in stomach after food, snoring at night, with restless sleep, dull and stupid. He was nearly three years under me, and then discharged in excellent health. After one month under Thuja 30, my note is “vast improvement.” The improvement continued under Bacillinum. “He sleeps quietly and works better at school.”
He came to me a few times in 1898 and in 1899, and when his mother brought him to me for my final inspection, I had the great satisfaction of observing a fine healthy lad, with tonsils long since restored to their normal size and functions. The body has lost his stupid look and takes a good position at his school.
ENLARGED TONSILS AND ENURESIS CURED BY MEDICINES.
Whether the tonsils stand in any relationship of a peculiar nature with the root of the bladder or testicles has not been demonstrated.
Professor James used to teach that the ovaries and the tonsils have vital connections, and we know of the behaviour of the parotid glands and the testicles in cases of mumps. The parotid glands and the tonsils are certainly pretty near physiological relations as well as neighbours anatomically.
A lad of sixteen was brought to me on January 12, 1897, suffering from “he wets his bed sometimes, and his tonsils are enormous,” the right one being the larger. Many of his lymphatic glands are indurated, and he also suffers somewhat from eczema. He was discharged cured at the end of 1899, though his enuresis had long been well before them, and also his tonsils, but the eczema persisted till then, and in fact there are traces of it still.
He had a number of remedies, Luet. C. and Thuja 30 did perhaps the most good. Where a case is of deep-going constitutional nature, it can only be cured by a series of remedies; and when the thing is cured, it is further of only historic interest. It is very difficult to say exactly how much of the curing was done by each separate medicine; so here.
ENLARGED TONSILS AND ADENOID GROWTHS-SOMNAMBULISM.
Master X., ten years of age, was brought to me by his mother on October 19, 1899. He had been operated on for adenoids two years ago, but with no benefit. He has a chronic discharge from right ear, of which he is deaf; is stupid, cannot learn his lessons; sleeps very restlessly, and is often found walking in his sleep, causing much alarm and anxiety.
Rx Thuja 30.
Nov. 16.-He is better, and his schoolmaster reports him a little less stupid.
To continue with the Thuja 30. walking is very bad; the right ear runs very much; his violent out-bursts less frequent. Rx Luet. C.
Feb. 8.-The improvement in his powers of learning is reported by his schoolmaster to me personally as wonderful; no longer walks in his sleep.
Rx. Rep.
March 17.-The improvement is increasingly manifest; tonsils nearly normal.
Rx Rep.
April 12.-The improved condition is more than maintained. I recommend his mother to keep him under my observation at certain intervals till the cure is consolidated.
I think it may fairly be conceded that the cure of an individual’s enlarged tonsils by scientific medicinal treatment is incomparably better that merely ablating them.
Be it noted that not only the boy’s tonsils were cured but the boy himself; he became mentally much more active and efficient, his sleep improved, his somnambulism was cured.
Be it also noted that a child with enlarged tonsils is in bad health otherwise; the tonsils are not ill of themselves, but from the organism.
DEAFNESS FROM ENLARGED TONSILS.
The deafness from enlarged tonsils is often due not only to the obstruction of enlarged tonsils, but to the quality of the lining membrane of the Eustachian tubes, and adenoids in the naso-pharynx, so that the mechanical removal of the tonsils bodily, together with the adenoids, is often of no avail in these cases of deafness, nor does it suffice when the mucosa of the pharynx is hypertrophied.
Thus a boy of ten years of age was brought to me on September I, 1889. He had been deaf for five years. His tonsils were removed by operation, but his deafness was in nowise improved. The boy was anaemic, readily took cold, and had ophthalmia.
After Morbill. 30 there was some improvement in his hearing, then followed Scarl. 30 for a few weeks, and on November 25 I wrote in my notes of the case-
“Hearing quite well; he is altogether different; his teeth are very soft.”
Rx Calcarea fluorica, 3 trit., tales xxiv. One dry on the tongue at bedtime.
Long afterwards, on Jan 22, 1898, he was reported as hearing quite well. It seems to me it is vain to expect to change the vital state of the tissues of the body by cutting bits off; at most we can expect only such amelioration as may accrue from the removal of obstacles to normal processes. In the foregoing case the deafness was not due to the obstructing tonsils, and hence their removal had, as to the hearing, no good result. As the quality of the removed tonsils was certainly of the same nature as that of the linings of the pharynx and Eustachian tube, it must follow that most probably the remedies that cured the deafness would also have cured the tonsils of that which caused their enlargement.
ENLARGED TONSILS.
In the month of December 1896, a chubby little boy of seven years of age was brought to me for enlarged tonsils. His father had years before been a sufferer from fistula in ano, for which he was assured by eminent London surgeons and specialists there was absolutely no cure without operation, one going so far as to say that “any man who tells you he can sure fistula by medicines is a liar.” I assured this gentleman that medicines given with much patience would most probably cure his fistula. He put himself under me, and I cured his fistula with medicines.
Now he is told the same story about his son’s tonsils, which I entirely deny, and maintain that enlarged tonsils can be cured by medicines alone. This lad was under my care till the end of 1897, when his tonsils were, in his parent’s opinion, quite well.
Patient was thus a year under the influence of remedies. First he had Tuberculinum test. C.; then a month under Thuja 30, then for two or three months under Tuberculinum test. C., and finally Bacillinum 30 finished the cure.
I purpose going a little further into the uses of the large number of known homoeopathic remedies for enlarged tonsils. There are a good many of them, and many thousands of cases of enlarged tonsils have been cured by homoeopathic remedies; but the ignorant prejudice of mankind has pretty well laughed the thesis- that enlarged tonsils can be cured by medicines-out of life; so much so, that it is not thought quite the proper thing even in homoeopathic ranks to admit that large tonsils can be lessened by gentle remedies. Just as I get to this point I happen to see the subject of the following case of
ENLARGED TONSILS-ADENOID GROWTHS-BACKWARD DEVELOPMENT.
A thin, puny boy, eleven-and-a half years of age, was brought to me on November 17, 1898, his father telling me that the patient was in a very unsatisfactory state; was thin, listless, apathetic, could not learn his lessons-his school- master saying the boy was stupid and incapable of learning. His tonsils very large, bulging out under his jaw; naso-pharynx half filled with adenoids. No one could get an answer from him.
I have seen him every month, and now, after sixteen months’ treatment, his tonsils and adenoids are much improved; patient has captured a good position in his school, is much praised by his master, and his father tells me now delighted he is to see the progress in every way.
Burnett was one of the first to speak about vaccination triggering illness. This was discussed in his book, Vaccinosis, published in 1884. He introduced the remedy Bacillinum. He authored twenty books, including the much loved "Fifty Reason for Being a Homeopath." He was the editor of The Homoeopathic World.