Gunpowder (Gun) = Kali-n. (75%) + Carb-v. (aus Alnus/15%) + S. (10%)/= Schwarzpulver

 

Negativ: Karbunkel/Infektionen/Sepsis.x/Wunden, die nicht heilen, Psoriasis (wenn bessere Simili versagen);

J.H. Clarke has been very kind to us by experimenting with and recording all its golden symptoms in ‘Gunpowder as a War Remedy.’ It is a remedy which never fails in keeping the infection at bay, usually in cases of boils, abscesses, carbuncles, furuncles etc. It corresponds to suppuration in a great number of forms. When indicated along

with the deep acting medicine, whether it is the streptococcus or the staphylococcus, they remain silent for long periods of time. J. H. Clarke has been very kind to us by experimenting with and recording all its golden symptoms in ‘Gunpowder as a War Remedy.’ It is a remedy which never fails in keeping the infection at bay, usually in

cases of boils, abscesses, carbuncles, furuncles etc. It corresponds to suppuration in a great number of forms. When indicated along with the deep acting medicine,

whether it is the streptococcus or the staphylococcus, they remain silent for long periods of time.

[Shirley J. Casey]

WildAgain Wildlife Rehabilitation]

Wildpfleger sehen häufig wilde Tiere in der Wildlife-Station, die mit einer großen Bandbreite an Wunden zu ihnen kommen. Es gibt viele Ursachen für diese Wunden: Angelhaken, Stacheldraht, Rasenmäher, Fallen, Äste, Katzen, Hunde, Kugeln oder Verletzungen durch andere wilde Tiere. Dazu zählen Abschürfungen, Schnittwunden, Stiche, Verstauchungen, andere Hautverletzungen, Verbrennungen, komplizierte Knochenbrüche und mehr. Einige der Wunden sind neu und noch frisch, andere sind älter. Einige der Wunden sind relativ sauber und es ist unwahrscheinlich, dass sie sich infizieren, wenn sie unbehandelt bleiben, andere können eine Infektion entwickeln.

Einige Tiere kommen mit schwerwiegenden Abszessen oder Sepsis. Die Wildpfleger arbeiten eng mit Tierärzten daran Wundversorgungsprotokolle zu etablieren.

Kleinere Wunden werden von den Wildpflegern in der Regel gründlich gereinigt und gespült.

Ernsthaftere Wunden müssen hingegen vom Tierarzt gereinigt und weiter versorgt, z.B. genäht oder operiert werden. Die Folgebehandlung kann Einweichen, Entfernung abgestorbenen Gewebes und andere Behandlungen beinhalten. Die Tierärzte können Antibiotika für Wunden verschreiben, insbesondere für die, die schwerwiegend oder bereits infiziert sind.

In den letzten Jahren wurden die Wildpfleger und Tierärzte gleichermaßen mit Problemen in Zusammenhang mit Antibiotika konfrontiert. Es war nicht unüblich, dass Wildtiere in antibiotischer Behandlung ihren Appetit verloren haben oder Magen-Darm-Probleme (Durchfall) bekamen. In vielen Fällen wurden die Antibiotika verschrieben, ohne dass zuvor eine Bakterienkultur angelegt wurde - die Wirksamkeit war daher beschränkt. Es wächst nun die Besorgnis über den Anstieg der Resistenzen in den Wildtierpopulationen. Ganzheitlich arbeitende Tierärzte haben zudem Bedenken bezüglich der Unterdrückung von Symptomen geäußert.

Zwar gibt es Fälle, in denen Antibiotika erforderlich sind, aber oben genannten und andere Bedenken haben die Wildpfleger veranlasst, nach alternativen Behandlungsmöglichkeiten zu suchen.

Vor einigen Jahren las die Autorin über das homöopathische Gunpowder in Morgan's Homöopathic Medicine: Erste Hilfe und Notfallmedizin und Sheppard's „The Magic of the Minimum Dosis“.

Nach der Lektüre von Dr. John Clarke's Monographie „Gunpowder as a War Remedy“ erörterte die Verfasserin dieses homöopathisches Arzneimittel mit einer kleinen Gruppe von Wildpflegern. Gunpowder war nicht gut in den homöopathischen Repertorien repräsentiert, aber Clarke und ein paar andere Homöopathen beschrieben das homöopathische Gunpowder als hochwirksam bei infizierten Wunden.

Never fails in keeping the infection at bay (boils, abscesses, carbuncles, furuncles etc.). It corresponds to suppuration in a great number of forms.

When indicated along with the deep acting medicine, whether it is the streptococcus or the staphylococcus, they remain silent for long periods of time.

[Sigrid Häse]

Das Schwarzpulver ist ein hochexplosives Mittel und homöopatisch eine Mischung von Opium und Thea. Es ist ein hervorragendes Schockmittel, wie Opium, besonders nach Zuständen von Sonnenstich, hat berstende Kopfschmerzen, wie Thea. Es verliert das Erin­nerungsvermögen in Bezug auf Örtlichkeiten, wie Opium, und hat Halluzinationen (Funken sehen, Lichtblitze), wie Thea.

Es ist Zündschnur und Pulverfass in einem, ein Möchtegern, der sich aber nur in seiner Phantasie traut. Bewährt hat sich das Mittel bei drohendem Apoplex und im Klimakterium, wenn uns hoher Blutdruck und Wallungen quälen, und uns das Blut zu Kopf steigt.

 [Clarke]

„Der hauptsächliche Wirkungsbereich von Schwarzpulver sind Fälle von septischen Vereiterungen oder, in anderen Worten, von Wunden, die mit Fäulniskeimen verunreinigt worden sind. ...

Schwarzpulver kann aber auch prophylaktisch angewendet werden.

Das heißt, es heilt nicht nur septische Vereiterungen, wenn sie vorhanden sind, sondern bietet dem Organismus ebenso Schutz gegen schädliche Keime, so dass es weniger wahrscheinlich ist, dass Wunden septisch werden, wenn jemand es eingenommen hat. ...“.

Der wichtige Punkt an Gunpowder ist, das es eine deutliche und klare Indikation hat, die kaum einer missdeuten kann: Blut - Vergiftung.

„Das Gift gelangt rasch ins Blut - Furunkel, Karbunkel, Ausschläge, Abszesse oder andere Erscheinungsformen zeigen sich und weisen unmissverständlich auf vergiftetes Blut hin. In all diesen Fällen wirkt Gunpowder als Gegengift.“

Diese Gruppe von Wildpflegern war insbesondere an Gunpowder interessiert, weil es prophylaktisch verwendet werden kann - zumindest nach Clarke. Viele sehr kleine Tiere, wie junge Vögel, Kaninchen und Eichhörnchen werden oft mit Wunden, die durch Tiere verursacht wurden, in die Station gebracht. Auch nach einer intensiven Wundreinigung und der Verwendung von Ledum, Hypericum und sogar Antibiotika infizierten sich trotzdem einige Wunden, insbesondere Wunden, die durch Katzen beigebracht wurden. In einigen Fällen infizierten sich auch Wunden, die mit Antibiotika behandelt wurden. Auf die Entwickelung von Symptomen bei einer Infektion zu warten, die auf Lachesis, Hepar sulfuris oder andere homöopathische Arzneien schließen lassen, bedeutet, dass die Infektion sich weiter etablieren kann und schwerer zu behandeln ist – insbesondere bei so kleinen oder jungen Tieren. Eine homöopathische Arznei, die direkt nach der Verwundung gegeben werden könnte, bevor eine Infektionen ernst geworden ist, war daher von höchstem Interesse.

„Beim Schwarzpulver, das für uns von Interesse ist, handelt es sich um das traditionelle Schwarzpulver, das hauptsächlich aus Schwefel, Kohle und Salpeter besteht. ...

Da Schwefel, Kohle und Salpeter drei wirksame Mittel sind, die in der Pharmazie und der Physik wohlbekannt sind, ist es nicht verwunderlich, dass eine Kombination aus den dreien ebenfalls eine Medizin mit hoher Wirkungskraft ist. Die Tatsache, dass Schwarzpulver ein Medikament für Kriegsverletzungen ist, entbehrt nicht einer gewissen Ironie, .

Clarke und Sheppard beschrieben, dass homöopathisches Gunpowder in niedrigen Potenzen genutzt und häufig wiederholt werden sollte. Allerdings wollten die Wildpfleger die Behandlung der Wildtiere auf ein Minimum reduzieren um Stress und Risiko zu minimieren. Zudem kommen Wildtiere häufig mit einer starken Lebenskraft und mit schweren, akuten Verletzungen, die eine sofortige Behandlung erfordern. Daher kam die Gruppe zu dem Resultat, dass höhere Potenzen angemessener sein könnten. Deshalb bestellten sie homöopathisches Gunpowder in den Potenzen C30 und C200 bei Natural Health Supply (Santa Fe, NM);

Zusammenfassung:

Zwei der oben genannten Fälle zeigen, wie homöopathisches Gunpowder zur Prophylaxe vor Infektionen eingesetzt wurde. In den beiden anderen Fällen wurde Gunpowder bei bereits infizierten Wunden eingesetzt, in einem davon gab es eine Verschlechterung nach Antibiotika-Gabe. Es gibt weitere Fälle, in denen die Wildpfleger homöopathisches Gunpowder eingesetzt haben. Z.B. den Pelikan mit der 14 Inch langen Risswunde an der Brust und dem Ziesel mit dem septischen Bein, welches nicht auf Antibiotika reagierte.

Man kann nicht sagen, dass homöopathisches Gunpowder bei allen Wunden angezeigt ist oder ein Ersatz für Antibiotika sei. Auch gibt es keine Garantie, dass der Einsatz von homöopathischem Gunpowder erfolgreich ist. Aber diese Fälle zeigen, dass homöopathisches Gunpowder und klassische homöopathische Verschreibungen weitere Optionen sind, die bei der Wundversorgung als Teil der Behandlung berücksichtigt werden sollten.

Obwohl Gunpowder in den Repertorien nicht gut repräsentiert ist und auch nicht für alle Wunden passt, scheint es bemerkenswert zu sein. Wie Lyle Morgen in Homeopathic Medicine - Erste Hilfe und Notfallmedizin, über homöopathisches Gunpowder sagt: „... ist (es) ein wertvolles, aber allzu oft ignoriertes Mittel.“ Diejenigen, die an diesen Fällen arbeiteten, können die segensreiche Wirkung von homöopathischem Gunpowder nicht ignorieren oder vergessen;

Repertorium:

Rektum: Fistel

Allgemeines: Abszesse, Eiterungen

Entzündung nach Operation/äußerlich/des Knochenmarks/der Lymphgefäße

Beschwerden während Genesung, Rekonvaleszenz nach septischem Fieber

Lebensmittelvergiftung

(Beschwerden durch) Sepsis

- Abszess. Akne. Bisse. Blutvergiftung. Efeuvergiftung. Furunkel. Karbunkel. Osteomyelitis. Schnittwunden, vergiftete Tonsillitis, septische. Vakzinose. Würmer.

The Homoeopathic World schreibt, Gun. würde verwendet, um bei der Herstellung die Körner einzuhüllen. In seiner Rohform ist es ein alteingeführtes Mittel in der Armee bei Gonorrhoe/Syphilis/allgemeine Störungen des Blutes (Furunkeln). Auch die Londoner Polizeikräfte kennen es als Mittel bei Furunkeln. "Kaufe Schießpulver für Sixpence und nimm soviel davon, als auf einem Sixpencestück Platz hat, 4 Tage lang nachts und morgens ein, und dann lasse es für die selbe Zeit weg, dann fahre damit fort, wenn nötig" ist eine der Verschreibungen für wiederkehrende Furunkel, die mich von den "Streitkräften" erreicht hat.

Canon Roland Upcher schilderte die Erfahrungen von Schäfern aus Norfolk und Suffolk, die Schießpulver auf ihr Brot und ihren Käse streuen, um eine Infektion zu verhindern, wenn sie mit Schafen zu tun haben, die von Fäule ["rot"] befallen sind.

Es gibt keine Prüfung von Gun, ich führte selbst ein Experiment mit der 2x durch, wie in meinem Artikel zu Kali-n. bereits erwähnt. Die Einnahme führte zu einem heftigen Anfall von Herpes der r. Augenbraue und r. Nasenseite und hinterließ dauerhafte Narben. Ich benutzte es fast ausschließlich in der 3x Trituration, die ich in Gaben von 0,26 - 0,52 g verschrieb, 3x o. 4x täglich, entweder in Pulver- o. Tablettenform. [Gunpowder as a War Remedy].

Indikationen für Gun. sind weit und klar und ohne feine Differenzierung der Symptome möglich. Die Liste der Krankheiten im Abschnitt Klinik wird ein ausreichender Führer sein, verbunden mit der breiten Indikation "Blutvergiftung".

Gun. entspricht vielerlei Formen von Eiterungen (septisch).

Canon Upcher veröffentlichte kürzlich Fälle von Hautausschlag, die fälschlicherweise für Krätze gehalten, die in Wirklichkeit durch den Umgang mit Efeu hervorgerufen wurden und mit Gun. C 3 geheilt wurden. In ländlichen Distrikten wird Kindern ein Aufguss von Schießpulver bei Würmern (Askariden) mit Erfolg gegeben.

 

Komplementär: Calen. Hep. Thuj.

 

Vergleich: Bar-c. Kali-n. Hell. Iod (Schusswunden). Kali-p. Silene capensis (= Melandrium undulatum = african dream. root/= gunpowderplant Caryophyllales.). Sil. Trinit.

Siehe: Carbon + Sulphur + Sprengstoffen + Etheogen + Anhang (Shirley Casey)

Opium [Schockmittel (durch Sonne)/Erinnerungsvermögenverlust vor Örtlichkeiten] Glonoinum Thea [berstende Kopfschmerz/Halluzinationen (Funken sehen, Lichtblitze)]

Opium (irritiert/kleinlich) Gun. (Schock) Thea (berstende Kopfschmerzen)

 

Unverträglich: ist nicht bekannt/gut abwechselnd mit indizierte Mitteln

 

Antidotiert: Gins. Hed. Prim.

 

Wirkung: destruktiv/psorisch/sycotisch/syphillitisch

 

Allerlei: Verlust von Erinnerungsvermögen in Bezug auf Örtlichkeiten, wie Opium, und hat Halluzinationen (Funken sehen, Lichtblitze), wie Thea. Es ist Zündschnur und Pulverfaß in einem, ein Möchtegern, der sich aber nur in seiner Phantasie traut. Bewährt hat sich das Mittel bei drohendem Apoplex und im Klimakterium, wenn uns hoher Blutdruck und Wallungen quälen, und uns das Blut zu Kopf steigt. Glonoinum möchte Bomben legen, um etwas zu verändern, greift dann aber doch lieber zu Silvesterknallern.

 

[John Henry Clarke, M.D.]

Chapter 1 : How Gunpowder Is To Be Taken.

So much interest has been evoked by an article of mine which appeared in the Homoeopathic World of January last, entitled " Gunpowder for Gunners," that I have thought well to write out a full account of Gunpowder in this somewhat novel aspect of its many utilities, which, so far as history tells, was undreamed of by its discoverer, the alchemist friar, Roger Bacon.

The Form In Which It May Be Taken.

In the first place it may be advisable to say a few words about the form in which the remedy may be taken. In the old days of black powder, gunpowder was recognised by our soldiers as a remedy for certain forms of suppuration, and by them it was taken crude in teaspoonful doses mixed in hot water.

It is also used crude by shepherds, as the Rector of Stradbroke has told us, sprinkled on bread and cheese, to cure and prevent wound-poisoning acquired in shearing and handling sheep.

But crude gunpowder is neither a convenient nor a pleasant remedy to take, though I have no authority for stating that it would not be efficacious.

The preparation I have most frequently used is the homoeopathic third decimal (3x) trituration, either prescribed in the form of powders or of compressed tablets.

For war purposes the last are the most convenient.

In this form I find gunpowder a most powerful and efficacious remedy.

The 3x trituration is what is called a " low attenuation " that is to say, it is not highly infinitesimal but it is sufficiently so to have lost all taste or smell of crude gunpowder, and to be in no sort of way explosive.

Dosage And Directions For Use.

The great sphere of action of gunpowder is in cases of septic suppuration or, in other words of wounds that have become poisoned with the germs of putrefaction.

My directions in such cases are as follows :

One tablet every two hours when there is fever.

Two tablets three or four times a day when the temperature is normal.

But Gunpowder may also be used as a prophylactic.

That is to say, it will not only cure septic suppuration when present, but it will afford such protection to the organism against harmful germs, that wounds will be

less likely to become septic in one who is under its influence.

For this purpose I recommend :

As a prophylactic one tablet to be taken once a day.

judging from analogy I should expect that this would also afford protection against other forms of blood-poisoning as well as against poisoned wounds.

One tablet of Gunpowder a day is no hardship or difficulty for anybody.

I should think it ought to prove effective against the infection of spotted fever, or cerebro-spinal meningitis.

If this disease actually appears in any locality, I should advise all who are quartered in that locality to take :

One tablet three times a day.

In the case of boils, carbuncles, and other skin affections, including eczema, abscesses, whether septic or non blood-poisoning from bites of insects, ptomaine poisoning from food that has been improperly preserved, I should prescribe :

One tablet every hour or two hours according to the urgency of the symptoms.

The same dosage would apply in the case of illness from any of the protective inoculations or vaccinations that are now in such vogue.

The portability of the remedy in this form is another recommendation in its favour.

An ounce bottle contains 160 tablets.

Thus, without perceptibly adding to the weight or bulk of his kit any soldier can carry with him as much as he is likely to need.

Any homoeopathic chemist will be able to supply the tablets.

My own chemists, Messrs. Epps, 60 Jermyn Street, S.W., have already sent out a quantity to the front.

Chapter II : The Constitution And Therapeutic Power Of Gunpowder

The Gunpowder with which we are concerned is the traditional Black Gunpowder, whose three cardinal constituents are sulphur, carbon, and nitre or saltpetre.

Modern smokeless gunpowder is of a different composition.

As sulphur, carbon, and saltpetre are three potent medicines well known to pharmacy and physic, it is not surprising that a combination of the three should also

be a medicine of great potency.

There is a certain piquancy in the fact that gunpowder is a remedy for the accidents of warfare ; but some instinct put into the minds of our soldiers of long ago

that gunpowder could cure as well as kill.

The Indians of North America and Canada have found in it a remedy for snake-bites.

The shepherds of East Anglia, as already mentioned, use it extensively in treating their flocks and themselves for wounds and blood-poisoning of many kinds, and for protecting themselves against wound infection.

In the second volume of my Dictionary of Materia Medica, published in 1902, I have referred to some uses of Gunpowder in my article on Saltpetre (" Kalium nitricum "), recording also some experiments made with it on myself.

But my knowledge of the power of Gunpowder over blood-poisoning I owe to a graphic article contributed to the Homoeopathic World in 1911 by the Rector of Stradbroke, Suffolk, the Rev. Roland Upcher, entitled " Notes on the Use of Gunpowder (Black)."

" For the last forty years," wrote Mr. Upcher, " I have known and observed from personal experiment the effects of Black Gunpowder as a remedy for various kinds of blood-poisoning.

The symptoms of poisoning which call for Black Gunpowder are almost invariably abscesses or boils or carbuncles, and frequently, though not always, exaggerated swelling of the poisoned limb, accompanied with discoloration of the skin, so that the arm from the tips of the fingers to the axillary glands is almost of a purple or black tint.

In such cases I have found Black Gunpowder, whether in large or small doses, acts like magic."

Mr. Upcher tells the story of how he came by the discovery.

" My father, a country rector in Norfolk, used to add to his light duties in a small parish the recreation of farming the glebe, and as there was a good lot of pasture, kept sheep.

He noticed that at the time of paring the sheeps' feet suffering from foot-rot, his shepherds were continually subjected to blood-poisoning, which was more or less (less, I fear !) successfully treated by local doctors.

But it generally ended in the said shepherd having to give up his work and turn his hand to something else.

However, at last there came a shepherd, who, year in and year out, never did get blood-poisoning ! "

This greatly astonished the rector, and he asked his shepherd how be accounted for the fact.

The latter invited his master to come and see him at his afternoon meal, or " fourses " as the Norfolk people call it.

He duly went, and found him sitting under a hedge eating bread and what looked like black cheese.

"Why, Harry," he exclaimed, " whatever are you eating ?

It looks like black cheese."

" No, master," was the reply, " that b'aint black cheese, but that is white cheese kivered with black gunpowder, and that's what keeps out the pison, that's what dew the trick - I never gets no pison."

In course of time this shepherd got promoted to a better position, and his successor soon got into trouble when the feet-paring season came round.

The shepherd's arm was swollen and almost black from finger-tips to armpit.

The Rector did not trouble the faculty this time, but undertook the case himself.

He mixed a dessertspoonful of gunpowder in half a tumbler of water, making a paste of it first, and gradually adding he water afterwards, and administered the whole in one dose !

Result : a brilliant and rapid cure.

From that time on the Rector's shepherds took gunpowder with their cheese, and blood-poisoning disappeared.

But the lesson did not stop there.

The Rector could not keep a good thing like that to himself, and as in duty bound, let his parish have the benefit of the discovery.

" Many a time," says his son, " have I been dosed, as a child, boy, and even young man, with the family patent medicine : boils, carbuncles, eruptions caused by suspected blood poisoning, one and all had to climb down to the Black GunPowder."

As with the family so with the parish-all conditions of men, women, and children, and even animals, were treated by the good Rector with the same remedy and the same success.

Rector ll., the present Mr. Upcher, used the homoeopathic preparation of Gunpowder - the one with which I experimented on myself.

This is at once more convenient and more pleasant than crude Gunpowder, and no less potent for curative purposes.

From my knowledge of the properties of sulphur, carbon, and saltpetre individually, I had no doubt whatever that the observations of the shepherds and their spiritual pastors were thoroughly sound.

The whole art of curative medicine may be said to lie in one thing - correctly reading indications.

When a case presents itself for treatment, there are generally a hundred remedies more or less applicable to the case.

In order to select the best of the bunch, it is essential to be able to read correctly the manifestations signs and symptoms of the patient.

It is very easy to make too much of one symptom and too little of another, and so miss the particular drug that is required.

Now the great point about Gunpowder is that it has a broad and clear indication that hardly anyone can miss - blood-poisoning.

Soldiers found it ; shepherds found it ; American Indians found it.

An ordinary cut or wound in a healthy person heals quickly.

But if a morbid virus is introduced, or if the person's blood is impure or of low vitality, the part swells, suppuration ensues, and the limb may be threatened.

Or if a limb is bitten by a poisonous snake, the same thing happens, only more rapidly, and the constitutional symptoms are more rapid, in development.

Or, poisonous matter of some kind may be introduced into the system by other ways - breathing foul air, drinking polluted water, or eating tainted food.

The poison quickly finds its way into the blood-boils, carbuncles, eruptions, abscesses, or other manifestations appear, showing unmistakably that the blood has been poisoned.

To all these conditions Gunpowder acts as an antidote.

It may be asked, In what way does it act ?

Does it exercise an antiseptic action and kill the germs ?

In a certain degree there is some such action.

Carbon and sulphur, with sulphur derivatives such as sulphurous acid, are very potent antiseptics and germ destroyers.

But the amount of these taken in the preparations used in my cases is quite insufficient to exert a direct germ-killing action.

But Gunpowder, in the homoeopathic attenuations, so acts on the blood as to render it antiseptic, or, more strictly speaking, to assist or increase its normal antiseptic action.

For the healthy living blood is a potent germ destroyer, and the reason why all persons do not succumb to infection when epidemics are abroad is that the blood of those who escape is equal to killing the germs which attack them.

It may be asked :

How can an infinitesimal amount of Gunpowder, or of anything else for that matter, effect this ?

To answer this fully one would need to explain the secret of life itself.

However, we know a good deal about life; and the phenomena connected with Radium are capable of throwing a little light on the subject.

Substances, when undergoing the process of graduated attenuation of the homoeopathic method, while losing their coarse physical properties, acquire others which are somewhat closely analogous to the properties of radium.

In this way : a substance which has been in contact with radium, through the action of the radium rays, becomes itself radiant.

So, the homoeopathically attenuated substances are raised to a higher pitch of vibration and become capable of conveying their vibrations to the persons who take them, just as radium can convey its vibrations to bodies in contact with it.

Be this as it may (and it must be confessed that all attempted " explanations " of the phenomena of life are at bottom unsatisfying), the fact remains that Gunpowder, taken in minute quantities, enables the blood to get rid of disease germs which the constituents of Gunpowder in substantial amounts would kill if added to the same in a test-tube.

Fortunately, it is facts and not explanations that we have to deal with.

Most explanations amount to little more than a re-statement of the problem in different terms, which are constantly changing.

But the facts remain the same always for our use and constant guidance.

I may be asked, What about antiseptics ? Are not they sufficient ?

Now, I have no sort of objection to antiseptics in themselves.

Antiseptic, or, rather, aseptic surgery, is a very great advance on older methods.

But the use of antiseptics is largely dependent on the germ-theory, and the germ-theory is only one side of the question.

The vital question is the other and, as I think, the larger side.

The cases in which it is impossible to keep or make wounds aseptic by external applications are innumerable.

Besides, it is quite possible to hinder healing by their use.

For in order to kill any germs present in a wound it may be necessary to apply an antiseptic in such strength as to lower the vitality of the injured part.

This explains why many wounds refuse to heal under the most careful antiseptic treatment.

It is for this reason that the practice of so acting on the blood as to increase its own vitality is infinitely superior.

For local dressings I prefer plain sterilised lint after cleansing with pure boiled water, or better still, with pure boiled water in which tincture of Calendula (the Common Marigold) or of Hamamelis (Witch Hazel) has been mixed in the proportion of a teaspoonful to the half-pint.

These are very useful adjuncts ; but the internal remedy is the main thing, and this will act in spite of all sorts of unfavourable conditions.

Mr. Roland Upcher began his experiments with Gunpowder itself, and then followed these with the lower homoeopathic preparations.

The 1 X trituration is equal to 0,1 in the decimal scale ; 2 X is 0,01, and 3 X is 0,001, or one thousandth part of the crude.

Mr. Upcher gives his reasons for believing in the therapeutic virtues of Gunpowder by a consideration of the individual properties of its constituents.

After remarking that Sulphur is a well-known remedy for boils, eruptions, itch, eczema, and suppressed impurities and eruptions ; that Carbon (Carbo vegetabilis) covers very similar ground ; that Saltpetre (Kali nitricum) has a powerful action on the skin, opening the pores ; he quotes the following passage from my Dictionary of Materia Medica, Vol. II., page 144 :

" A solution of saltpetre as an application was an old remedy for inveterate mange in cats. Saltpetre with carbon and sulphur forms Gunpowder.

A teaspoonful of this in hot water was a favourite remedy for gonorrhoea among soldiers in the days when black gunpowder was used.

In some experiments made by myself with Gunpowder 2 X severe herpes facialis involving right eyebrow and right side of the nose developed."

Mr. Upcher adds that from his experience of Gunpowder in the cure of herpes, he can verify the correctness of my experiment on myself.

In selecting Gunpowder 3x for my therapeutic work instead of lower attenuations I have perhaps been influenced by the experiment above alluded to.

I carry the marks of it to the present day, and I have no wish to repeat the experiment on anyone else.

Gunpowder 3 X has hitherto answered my expectations without causing any unpleasant by-results.

   

Chapter III : Examples Of The Curative Action Of Gunpowder.

In addition to the cases related by Mr. Upcher it may be of interest to record a few of my own.

First, I will give that of the gunner, whose case I related in the article already referred to.

It will be noticed that in this case I gave other remedies besides Gunpowder, but the progress of the case showed that the Gunpowder was the chief agent in the curative work.

H. J. S., 30 a non-commissioned artillery officer in an Indian regiment, who had been born in India of English parents, and had never before left it, presented himself to me on April 9th, 1913, in a fairly desperate condition.

He was a man of very powerful physique, but his flesh was hanging about him, and he was covered from head to foot with sores, some discharging, some having rupia-like crusts, coppercoloured stains marking the areas where sores or " boils " had previously been.

His story was as follows. About two years before he had had an outbreak of " boils," and six months later another attack.

At intervals of four or five months he had other attacks, ending up with the present one.

All attempts to cure him having failed, he was advised that the only thing for him was a voyage to England and a change of air.

H. J. S. was greatly valued by his superiors.

He was an instructor in athletics, a total abstainer, and an expert gunner.

In order that he might not lose his pay whilst absent from India, his officers had very kindly arranged for him a course of instruction at Woolwich.

He had been six weeks in England when he came to me.

So far from the change benefiting him, he had become steadily worse. He had had diarrhoea during the voyage home.

His digestion was bad and his sleep broken by the pains of his sores.

He had lost two stones in weight in four weeks ; altogether he had lost five stones.

The neck, trunk, extremities were all affected.

The inguinal glands were much swollen and painful.

On trying to get at the origin of the trouble, I ascertained that his previous health had been excellent.

But in 1894 he had been bitten in the finger by a squirrel and his finger had been bad for a long time afterwards. T

his showed a degree of susceptibility to blood-poisoning.

He had had attacks of fever, but almost always in association with the attacks of " boils."

The first attack occurred the end of November, 1911.

At the end of the previous October he had been vaccinated, for the second time in his life, and it "took well."

It did, indeed ! To me, the connection was obvious between the present state and the vaccination.

At the same time as my patient, a fellow soldier was also vaccinated, and he also soon afterwards became ill, in a somewhat similar way.

But this man was not temperate in his habits, and his illness was put down to alcohol by his medical officers.

This would not do for my patient, who was a life abstainer.

The only other hypothesis was syphilis.

The possibility of this he steadily denied, and his word was borne out by the Wassermann tests, which consistently gave negative results, though tried again and again.

My diagnosis was unhesitatingly - VACCINOSIS, secondary or tertiary.

This was confirmed by the fact that the sores were thickest and lasted longest on his right arm on the site of the vaccination scars.

The fact that his right arm was worse, was explained by his doctors as being due to over-exertion at cricket, bowling, etc .!

I ordered him Gunpowder 3x eight grains three times a day ; and Thuja 200 three doses in the week.

At the end of the week he was a changed man.

He had still plenty of sores, but they were healing, and the whole aspect of the man was different.

His appetite had improved to such an extent that some indigestion and diarrhoea had resulted from overindulgence.

His skin had improved altogether in appearance.

On April 24th his weight was 10 st 11 lbs.

He had then gained much, but I have no record of his weight when he first came to me.

On June 5th he was 11 st. 11 1/2 lbs. and on September 18th, 12 st. 6 1/2 lbs.

He had steadily improved all this time.

New swellings or " boils " occasionally appeared, and some sores with thickening on the hands, just below the wrists, especially the right, had proved particularly obstinate.

I now omitted Gunpowder and gave instead Silica 3x in eight-grain doses in the same way ; Thuja 200,             3x a week, being continued as before.

A rapid change took place.

A new outbreak of boils occurred, diarrhoea set in, with bitter taste and coated tongue and some fever.

The diarrhoea was worse after drinking milk.

The weight had gone down to 11 st 8 lbs., but the hands were much better.

Trombid. 200 soon cured the diarrhoea, and then I gave Gunpowder 3x eight grains every four hours alone; leaving off the Thuja

On October 16th he was very much better again in every way, his weight having gone up to 12 St. 2 1/2 lbs.

Soon after this, his time being expired, he left for India after successfully completing his course of instruction, in very good condition.

I gave him a good supply of Gunpowder to take home with him, and told him to let me know if he had any relapse.

As I have heard nothing since, I conclude he is now busy with his guns somewhere in the widespread area of the war.

Here are a few other cases of mine :

Poisoned Bite.

A lady, who had a very sensitive skin, was bitten by a gnat on the foot, resulting in swelling, inflammation and suppuration.

There was a ring of inflammation round the bite, constantly spreading and detaching the epidermis as it spread.

After the failure of several remedies, Gunpowder 3x eight grains three times a day rapidly cured.

Poisoned Cut.

A gentleman had a bad cut with a knife on the left index finger.

The wound refused to heal.

An inflammatory ring stripped off the epidermis and spread more and more.

Lachesis and other remedies failed to make any impression.

Gunpowder 3 X rapidly cured.

Sewer-Gas Poisoning.

A lady was very severely poisoned by sewergas.

There followed swelling of the right arm and axillary glands of the right side.

When she consulted me, three months after the accident, the right arm was almost fixed at the elbow-joint with swelling.

It threatened suppuration above and below.

The axillary glands were as large as a hen's egg.

Gunpowder 3x gradually resolved the trouble, and though the cure was interrupted by an attack of measles, the mobility of the arm was fully restored.

The following case shows that as earthquakes and war are placed in the same category of calamities, Gunpowder may prove of service in some of the ills caused by the one as well as the other.

Blood-Poisoning From Earthquake Dust.

In 1912 I had under my care a lady who had been in the great earthquake which wrought so much havoc in Jamaica some years before.

She asked me if I thought I could do anything for her little niece, aged 4, who lived in Jamaica and suffered from a skin trouble.

She was born soon after the earthquake, was a very tiny child, had always been nervous, and suffered, as many other children of the colony have done since the earthquake, from eruptions on the skin.

It was as if the earthquake had thrown up from the depths some new kind of irritant and poisonous dust.

The first symptoms were " prickly heat," with much itching.

Then sores appeared, forming blisters, the fluid of which had to be let out.

The parts affected were chiefly the ankles and the trunk.

Every mosquito bite made a poisoned wound.

This little patient was very languid, was nervous at night, and a restless sleeper.

These were the facts I elicited from her aunt.

I thought Gunpowder was the very thing for her, and on January 4th, 1912, I sent her a supply of powders of the 5 X.

In due course I received a report that within a week or commencing the remedy she was much better.

She slept better, the bowels acted better, and as for her appetite, whereas formerly she had to be coaxed to eat anything, now they could not give her enough.

The skin improved at the same time.

A second course of powders was sent on April 30 th as there had been a relapse of the eruption with fever.

From this time she steadily improved and got perfectly well.

I may append to these an Editorial note from the Homoeopathic World of June 1 st, relating the work of another observer :

Septic Inflammation Of Thumb.

" More Gunpowder cases continue to come to hand.

The latest is of a septic inflammation of the thumb in a nurse of 19.

It was vigorously treated surgically, and pus evacuated, but the inflammation continued, and the loss of a joint was contemplated until a short course of Gunpowder 3x achieved a satisfactory healing and scarring."

   

Chapter IV : Concluding Remarks.

I think it will be agreed that the evidence adduced above is sufficient to warrant my recommendation of Gunpowder as a remedy of almost universal applicability in wounds of war.

It has the additional advantage of being, in the form recommended, whilst powerful for good, as innocent of evil as brimstone and treacle, castor oil, or Gregory's powder.

In fact, it is a perfectly safe domestic remedy.

For that reason I have no hesitation in commending it to the notice of the public in general, civil as well as military.

In my opinion, if the use of it were universal throughout the army at the front there would be infinitely fewer septic wounds among our wounded, and those wounds which become septic would heal in a vastly shorter space of time.

It may be asked how I can be so certain, seeing that I hold no official position in the Army or Navy, and have no opportunity of putting the remedy personally to the test of practice on a large scale. In reply, let me say that in medicine, as in warfare, the chance of success very often lies in an intelligent anticipation of the enemy's intentions and capabilities.

An ounce of wisdom is often worth many tons of experience.

When cholera invaded Europe a little over a century ago the medical world was divided into two camps : the followers of Hahnemann on the one side, and all the rest on the other.

Before the epidemic arrived reports of cases of the disease were bought and published.

From the symptoms described Hahnemann was able to name the remedies that were likely to be called for.

Consequently, his party, who exercised intelligent anticipation of what was to come, were all ready for action when the invasion occurred.

The other party, who may be called the party of the " Wait-and-Sees," never were ready, and lost over 70 per cent. of their patients, whilst the homoeopaths saved over 70 per cent. of theirs.

In our Services, so far as I know, there are only Surgeon-captains, Surgeon-majors, Surgeon-colonels, and Surgeon-generals.

If there is such a person as a Physician-general I must confess I never heard of him.

But whilst surgery is paramount in war practice, and has reached a very high pitch of perfection, physicians' work is very necessary also, and I believe this branch of practice is not by any means so fully developed as he branch that belongs to mechanical surgery.

It is for this reason that I offer this contribution to the neglected branch, and I do not think any surgeon could object to such of his patients as might like to do so treating themselves to a few tablets of Gunpowder 3X.

DD.: Bar-c. Calc-s. Calen.  Hep. Pyrog. Sil. Sieg.

 

 

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