the malignant disease i this case, but it will be remembered that there was a period of ill-health dating from twelve months before the appearance of the tumour. This was carcinosis was in this instance another form of vaccinosis, but the vaccinal element was present. That was why, when there was evidence that the forward march was showing signs of arrest, I interpolated a course of thuja. the Thuja antidoted the vaccinal element, and allowed the more deeply curative remedy to get to work again. On another occasion I gave variolinum.
The special indication for that was the intense backache, but the vaccinal element in the case was the general indication; and again Thuja effectively remedied it.
The next case I have to relate I will give by way of contrast, for a particular purpose. The late Dr. Cooper once took me to see a case of cancer of the stomach in a young man whom he was treating. The patient had undergone an operation but the tumour could not be removed. the patient was apparently making good progress, when he suddenly collapsed and died Dr. Cooper told me that he then learned for the first time that a short-circuiting operation had been performed, and he them gave it as his opinion that any interference with the lumen of the interference with the lumen of the intestinal tract, though it might give relief and even prolong life for a time, was fatal to permanent cure. The subjoined case is an eloquent commentary on this axiom. CASE IX.-Sarcoma of Small Intestine.
Lieutenant H., aged 27, of the Indian Army, was invalided home early in 1907 for what was supposed to be appendicitis.
He had been perfectly well up to November 1906. Her had a splendid family history. Had been vaccinated twice, the last time in 1903, when it “took”. He was inoculated for typhoid in 1900. On April 21, 1907, he was operated on by Mr. Watson Cheyne, who found a sarcomatous tumour which could not be removed. Mr.Cheyne performed enterostomy, making a new passage for the faeces, and thereby relieving the condition which most seriously threatened the patient’s life.
The physician who attended the case with Mr. Cheyne kindly gave me the following details on October 2, 1907: “Mr. H. came from India with an abdominal tumour, for which Mr. Watson Cheyne operated. the condition seems to be a sarcoma
growing the wall of the small intestine, and with an extensive glandular infection. A short circuit was made between the small intestine and the transverse colon. this has acted quite well and there has been but little gastro-intestinal disturbance. He has slight flatulence, and occasionally passes a small amount of blood per rectum.
“The tumour varies, but is considerably larger than it was at first. He has had injections of Coley’s fluid mxv twice a week, and this has definitely retarded the progress of the growth. He has, however, become more and more cachectic, especially during the last few weeks.”
When I first heard of the patient he was living at Richmond, and was under the care of local medical men. As they had told the patient’s father that thee was no hope for him,. the father that there was no. hope for him, the father called on me to ask it I thought Homoeopathy could to anything. I said I thought that was very possible, but I should like to see the patient before saying anything definite. In the end he was brought to London and put under me care.
When I first saw Mr. H. I received a shock-I did not expect to find things so far advanced. He was dreadfully emaciated and cachectic, as described in the letter quoted above. But I, nevertheless, took him in hand, and under Ornithogalum in unit doses, and late Natrum cacodylicum in 1/4 gr. doses three times a day, he held his own. Then came an attack of Indian fever, which Ipecac. 30 successfully dealt with. Before coming under my care he had been under the influence of Tinct. opii.,, and I did not cut this off altogether, but very small doses sufficed to relieve pain when present.
On October 8th it was noted that he had had much pain in the body, and a dose of Ornith was given.
October 15th-Has been feeling weaker daily., to-day, after a two hours’ sleep, he had violent pain. Was unable to take any lunch.
Diarrhoea set in, and he passed much blood. Very depressed this week.
Rx Red. bro. 6, globules iv, in powder; twenty-four of these, one every four hours. October 17th-Had had some bleeding at stool this morning, but not much. Pain not nearly son acute.
Repeat.
October 21st-No more bleeding.
This patient recently passed away-over five months after I took him in hand.
He developed intolerance of the cacodylate, and at the desire of his friends and with my concurrence he was put on Violent-leaf treatment, internal and external, but a very severe diarrhoea developed, which was with great difficulty controlled. In fact, it never was completely controlled till the end. Either with the stool or separately from it, there was a purulent discharge, and at times clots.
On January 10th there was an extreme amount of pain, and clots passed with discharge., Rad. bro. 6 was given in single dose. After this there was less pain and no clots. In February the diarrhoea continued uncontrolled. I followed the Radium with Rhus ven. 3x every two hours, and for the first time for many weeks the diarrhoea stopped, showing, as I thought, a complementary action on the part of Rhus ven. and Radium. The improvement unfortunately proved only temporary, and the inevitable happened. But there is this much to be said, during the five months that he was under homoeopathic treatment the pain he endured was nothing to be compared to what he had previously.
This case is of interest in connection with a note which I saw in the Homoeopathic Recorder of June 1907, to this effect: ” DR. Pixley, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, says that Radium 6x trit. has a strong action on cancer, especially on bleeding cancer; it dries it up and alleviates the pain.
I think this is very likely, and the steady cure, with the same remedy, of nose-bleeding in another patient of mine, a young lady with a cancerous family history, gives further support to this.
A question arises in regard to this case-Why did Mr. H. contract cancer? I cannot trace the smallest sign of heredity in-house case. As I have already remarked, I have known in several instances cancer to develop after ordinary blood- poisoning (from sewer gas, for example). WAs there anything of that kind in this case? The only thing that I would discover was the anti-typhoid inoculation. I merely throw this out as a suggestion, and whether it be the fact or not, it was the chief seat of action of the typhoid poison that the Disease attached.
My next case is also one in which an operation had been performed. In this case4, as in the first, the condition was one which could not be interfered with after the exploration had been made. the evidence as to position and connections of the growth is not as definite as might be wished, but the surgeon expressed a very decided opinion as to its malignancy and probably rapid termination. The history of the case is a very extraordinary one.
CASE X-Intestinal Tumour Cyst of Breast.
Miss D., 55, dark, stout, of large build, consulted me, May 17th, 1904. She had been operated on in the previous November by a well-known surgeon, Mr.–, the evidence of which was a longitudinal scar over the region of the gall-bladder. The operation was practically exploratory. It was undertaken on the supposition that there were probably gall-stones, but that was found not to be the case. The surgeon found many adhesions involving the gall bladder, and a lump on the transverse colon which he pronounced to be undoubtedly malignant cancer,” giving the patient a year and a half to live. This verdict he somewhat modified subsequently. The nurse who had charge of the case saw ” a lump on the colon just below the stomach.” That is all the information I could glean about the morbid anatomy of the condition.
The patient comes of a very gouty family. She had been vaccinated three times, the last time ten years before I saw her, and it took her a long time to get over it.
At the age of 4 her troubles began with neuralgia in the left eye. I came in attacks which lasted ten days and nights. In the attacks which lasted ten days and nights. In the attacks of pain in eye twisted in its socket and the eyelid dropped. The ptosis would last six weeks and then pass away, and the eye would become straight. At 11 the attacks became more painful. At 18, Adolph Weber tried electricity, and then put her on Mercury and Iodine, which undermined her strength. Morphia injections had to be constantly resorted to in the attacks. At the age of 28 she had a bad fall. At 35 she had violent inflammation of the liver capsule, resulting in adhesions. When she was about 40 she came under Dr. Burnett’s care, and Dr. Burnett performed one of his miracles. He was the only one of innumerable medical men who had been able to do anything for the neuralgia. At this time she used to have “dreadful irritation” in the abdomen-internal itching coming on at 5 A.M. By means of Thuja and other remedies Dr. Burnett threw out the irritation to the skin and kept it out for two years. All this time she was covered with eczema, with the result that in all other ways she was immensely relieved. The neuralgia entirely left her, but the left eye had become permanently deflected outwards and was useless for accurate vision, though the ptosis had passed away. the periods had ceased at the age of 45. Up to that time from the age of 28, when she had the fall, she had had terrible internal pains after each period.
