ON July 27th, 1933, Mr. O. R. W., a motor mechanic, and his wife, who live at Lenton, Nottingham, came to me and told me that their little son, the only child, a right boy, nine years old, was in a terrible condition, that he was getting worse and that they were afraid that he would become a permanent invalid. They had come to London without the boy, and could not even show me a photo. They told me that the body had been treated at various hospitals, that he suffered from an ever increasing curvature of the spine combined with increasing paralysis, that numerous treatment had been tried without the slight benefit and that apparently the case was quite hopeless.
Instead of making a futile personal examination which had been done probably very well by number of doctors and surgeons, I enquired about the past history of the boy, what started the trouble, or what incident preceded it, such as a fall, injury, fright, illness, etc. It appeared that he was a perfectly healthy, strong and normal body, who, however, had had a heavy fall downstairs as a baby.
Four mouths before the parents came to me, the boy had been in the country and had amused himself jumping over deep ditches. As the trouble began next day, I came to the conclusion that thee trouble was either nervous or muscular, or both nervous and muscular, that during one of those jumps muscles might have become badly strained involving strain of nerves, or that might have been injury to the spinal cord through concussion.
Probably nothing was ascertainable by the usual methods of diagnosis, which, though impressive, are often quite futile. One may discover invisible factors by a little thought, but not by using so-called scientific instruments.
Among the best remedies for injuries and shock is Arnica, and for injury caused by strain of muscles Rhus toxicodendron occupies a high place. For injuries to nerves and to the spinal cord Hypericum is extremely useful. I resolved upon giving the boy these three medicines; and sent them to the mother with the following latter:-.
“DEAR MRS. W., Your boy is nine years old, and it appears that in March o f this years, about five months ago, he jumped over a ditch and next day he started holding himself crookedly. Since then the trouble has steadily got worse.
His left side is becoming more and more weak and deformed, he has been treated by doctors and has been kept at hospitals, put apparently treatment has done no good, and you have been told that the boy suffers from lateral scoliosis, in plain English curvature of the spine. You have also been told that it might be infantile paralysis. As a baby he had a heavy fall downstairs, but that has probably nothing to do with the present complaint. I hand you herewith three boxes of medicine:-
Arnica 3x (old injury) (1);
Rhus tox. 3x (old injury) (2);
Hypericum (nerves) 3 night and morning.
Give the boy three Hypericum pilules first and last thing, and give him three times a day, in between, either three Arnica pilules (1) or three Rhus tox. (2). Please change every three days from one medicine to the other and observe carefully whether the Rhus tox. or the Arnica medicine suits him best.
“Further, I would like you to get some unrefined cod liver oil, the refined which the chemist has in stock is not much use for the purpose, and rub with it the boys left side. Rub along the spine downward, and rub arms and legs upward from the hands to the shoulder, and from the toes to the hips. Of course you must study his comfort and must be guided by his sense of wellbeing in massaging him.
You should not only rub the oil into his limbs and back, but should try squeezing, pinching, slapping, and other ways to improve circulation, being guided all the time by the boys feeling of comfort. I hope that in a weeks time there will be distinct improvement in him. Of course you carefully look after his bowels and diet”.
This letter of directions was written on July 27th. Treatment was begun a few days later. On August 15th I received the first report from the mother, who wrote:-.
“First of all I must thank you your kind interest in Tonys case. You will be pleased to hear there is a decided improvement in his condition, and he is much straighter. I think the Hypericum and Arnica pilules have been most effective. Will you please send another supply ?”.
On September 5th father, Mr. W., reported:-“Our son Tony has improved wonderfully, and we are delighted with his progress. He is much straighter and at time seems quite normal. He is having his massage as per your instructions and plenty of rest. Will you please send a further supply of Hypericum and Arnica for Tony ? He is very lively and active and appears to be perfectly well in himself”.
On September 14th the father wrote:-:Tony appears to be getting better and every day, thanks to you.”b According to the latest reports the boy is perfectly well. The united resources of medicine and surgery which are to be found at the great hospitals had been unavailing in stemming, and still less in curing, the progressive curvature of the spine and paralysis of the youngster, although the specialists consulted had every opportunity of examining the case.
Medical are strictly forbidden to give advice to patients whom they have not see non the assumption that adequate treatment can be given only on the basis of a careful personal examination. A homoeopathic layman, who had not seen the boy and who had not received five years or more of medical training, used a little vision and a few homoeopathic remedies, and produced a perfect cure in a few weeks after the great specialists had failed and had declared the case to be incurable. J.E.B.
Complete Alphabetical Index for the years 1933 will be contained in our next issue.
James Ellis Barker wrote a very large number of books, both under the name James Ellis Barker and under his real German name Otto Julius Eltzbacher, The Truth about Homœopathy; Rough Notes on Remedies with William Murray; Chronic Constipation; The Story of My Eyes; Miracles Of Healing and How They are Done; Good Health and Happiness; New Lives for Old: How to Cure the Incurable; My Testament of Healing; Cancer, the Surgeon and the Researcher; Cancer, how it is Caused, how it Can be Prevented with a foreward by William Arbuthnot Lane; Cancer and the Black Man etc.