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Miscellany

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Parent Issue
Day
14
Month
August
Year
1847
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The fullowing account of llie origin of : the Water Cure system was furnished tlio J Plirenologica! Journal by A. J. Colvin, of i Albany, formerly a palient at Grafenberg. Vincent Pnessnitz was tho youngesl j of six chililren, and was boni on ibe 4tb day of October, 1799, at Giafonberg, the faniüy reside rice, trhich has since become so celebrated by bis dicoveries. Ahlio' ot'ien sligmatizcd ns an unlettered pensant, and of ignoble pareutage, vet his was a respectable lunded proprieor. In virtue ol' the laws, wheieby the real pi'operty deseends to the youngest son, Priessnitz, on the death of his lalher, in 1833, Lecame possessed of the fam!y es ates and residence. IIo received the rudi.nents of education at the Catho! lic school in ihe neighbonng village of Freiw.aldau, and was as well ustrucled as the majoMly farmers' soiis in our own country. iJis motlior lost her life I in the year 1321, on il. e same field wheie hiinsel:", not iiinny years bcfore, had received an injurv, the cure of which had coutributed gieally to exlend his reputation, and lay tbe foundation of his future sstem. His only brotber, and the eldest born, is a distinguished Calhoiic priest, anJ is iioiï at ihe head of :he pricipal I calhedral in one of ihe neighboring I vinces. At the nge of thirteen,Priessnitz sprained his wjjst, which caused much pain and inflammation ; he instinctively applied it lo the pump. Finding tlmt the water cooled the part, and assunged the pain, but unable to keep it constantly there, it occurred to liim to appjy in Umsciií.ag, or wet bafidage. He applied one accordingly, which he re-wet as &l as it dried. He fuund that this was entirely successful in removing the inilammation and relieving the pain, but that it nluceda rnsh ; and ns this was a phenomenon new to hh youthfnl n)ind as ynacco unta ble, it led to much reflection. Was it favorable or the reversa, that such a consequence should flow from such a cause t Cöirid t be that his blood wos impure 1 He persevoredin the application, and tbe wrist speediljr regained its strength. - Shortly after, being in the woods, he crnshed his thumb. lic again resorted to the Uinschlag, and with like success ; but ngain the rush made its appearance. He thought his blood must be bad, yet he could not decide without further evidence. The success which hadatiesdcd the application of the wet bandage in his own person, filled his mind with dolight. Me was impatient lo sre it tried upon others. Whei'ever, therefore", he heard of a ueishbor who had received an injury, or had enlarged or swollen joints or parts,'or was afllicted with pain, he urgod, and gfnerally prevailed upon him, to u.se the wet bandage : bul he remarked tnat the rash did not uniformly appear ; and in such cases the process of heuling was repid, while in those wherein it did appear, the eure was more obstinate. This convinced him, that in one the Wood was healthy, while n another it was mixed with peccant matter, and that water possessed the property of extrncting that matter. In cases of chronic ulcers, and whcre there was no inflammation, it occurred to him to cover the wet bandage with a -Jry one, for tbc purpose ofcreating hea!, ora return of inllammatory aclion, without which, he discovered a cure could not bc effected. In the sixteen'th year of his agr, the accident occurred lo which I havealluded, nearly depriving him of hfe, and the world of the embryo system. Pnessnitz was engaged in driving a young horse, with a load of hay, down the mountain. It becarne necossary to cog the wheels, to prevent the too rapid descent of the cari. He was standing before the horse, holding him by the head, while others were performíng tho work of chaining ; the horse got frightened, and rushed duwn the ■liill. Unwilling toallow liim to destroy himself, Priessnitz heidon, and was dragged down betweon hls feet. Wliüe in tliis position, three of his teeth, two of thcm front teeth, vvere broken, and hisarmsand body severely bruised bv the horse' s hoofs. He could hold out no.longer ; tlie cait passed over his body, crushing thrceof his ríb. Ho vvas t-iken up senseless, and while ín this state, t' e surgeon of Freiwaldau being summoned, probed his nronñds, and pronounced them incurable. With a return of consciousness, Priessnitz bethought himself ot'his never-failing resource. lie toro oíl" the bandnges of the surgeon, and applied.the wet bandage. ílow gratified, and how oot!,:ng the applicatton! The lion was subdued, the pain allevinted, and ho feit pursuaded that he sliould get vvell. He replaced the broken ribs by pressing his abdomen against the winduw-sill witli all his strength, and inflating thc lungs so as toswell out !he chest. He then reapplied :he Umschlag, and finally recovjered, although to thisday he bears in his sk'.e a deep impressof the wheel by whicii he received the injury. Tlxvaccidenf, as is usual in countrv place?, created quite an excitement, but the curefargrealer. The simplicity of the mean., and that a mere stripling liad evinced such boldness and fortitude, were matters of astonishment. The reputalion of the Urnschlag was not only increased, it was established. From this period, the mind of Priessnitz was direcled townrd :he curativa power of cold water. He felt that he liad eníered upon a mighty field of diseovery, and he was resolved to know the extetit ofit. He now bogan to use the SpóHge in connection wilh the Umschlag, and with snch marvelous success, that the peasants believed him a wiz.ard ; to test which, he frequenlly found, in the morning, a broom-stick placed acr'osa the 1 ■sill. This creduility, natura!, perhaps, to j theignorant, who are prone to attribute ■ to superiurtura] power every occurrence which passes their cornprehension, encouraged h!m in his experiments. W'hat was he to do where disease was general, not ocal ! Tho Umschlag and Spongo were foniid insufíicient. Why not envelope the whole body ? lie was transponed with the idea ; rtnd the Leintucii, or wet sheet packing sprung into existence. Of all hisdiscoveries, this may be estcemed the most important, considered wilh reference to the extent nnd variety of dispase-! in which it is employed ; and would alone have embalmed his memorv in the recollections of a grateful posterity. The oíd and the young, the feeble and the strong, an alike submittodto its soothing and revivifying iníluence. - Priessnitz was elated ! And well he might be, fur he had made a discoverv which entilled him to the homage oí' the world. But he did not slop here. Finding some local chronic affections resistingas well the Leintuch as the Umschlag, he conceived the dea of' pnrtial baths, for a long time continued, lo produce pertubation and re-action deep beneath thef%urface. Henck tuk foundation of head. EYE, ARM, S1TZ, LEG AND FOOT BATHtf. - Slill, there was a class of these cases so obstinate as to resist this uniled treatment. Whatwasto be done? Was there no way in which the water could be here made effective ? He hnd cxperienced the potency of fulling water. Whv miglit t not be the agent which hp desired 1 - ITeorected atoice, inone of the benutiful dells of the moimtain, a Douche, and the ohjfci was atlained ! The Switzex, packing in the vvoolen blanket, was snggested by observing ihat porspiration frequently relieved pain, and was efficacious in many discases, and n?, unlike the vapor and hol. baths, it did not accelerate the circulatíon and debilítate the system ; and as sweating in it, ifter a proper time, would volunlnrilv terminate, he did not hesitale to give it i the preference over all other knowri modes of promoting perspiralion,and atlopt it in praclice. The patients who were obliged, occasionally to remain in it somc time, on comlairiing of a sensation of fiiintnes', he relieved by opening the windows, and washing the face. The relief I thus aiïbrded induced him to sponge the body, and no ill consequonces fullówing, he directed the vvhole persoi. to le immeivseil. líente he was leJlo the VVannen 13 ad, or plunge bath, There was stil 1 a class, such as apoplexy, par.ilysis, tetanus, IocU-jaiv, hydrophobia, nanity, poisoning, iSrc, and some caaos of deiermined coldsnilaiiiiiiations, and fevers, to which none of Ihe treatment yet devised, e.xcept in some stages, perlinps, the Leinlucli, was ulapled. Here was a trial for ilie new ystem. Could it be overeóme, fhe.triumph was complete. In all the cases ed, a speedy cure was hopefl for, in lhe judgment of Pr!essnitz,lf a mnrked change could be produced. f lis genius did nol deserí hiin n this extremity. fio ciesigned ABGEsciiREcTES.or tepid sha'low bat h, tu meet the emergeney. Conlainihg but a few inches of water, of a temperature of from 60 deg. to 70 deg. F., the patiënt could be kept in t, exposeí! to active friction, until the object sought for was eíTecled (nnd he hns been known to keep a patiënt in for nine hoursj. And here we have the chef d'teuvrc of Priessnitz's discoveries. It is his favorite resource in Ihesa and in all cses of extremity ; and it is not too múch to say, ilmt wilhout it man y of its rnost splendid ochievements must have been unrecorded. The Abreibung, or dripping wet sliret, was i; imicli-'.wtor addition to bis practice, and was söggested by washing with hands and a towel. It is tised, generally, as preparatory to olher nnd stronger i inent, although it is, in soma instances, continuad to the termirwtion of tlio cre.

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Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News