Category Archives: Strange cures

1847: Wash maternal bosoms in a young man’s urine

Henri Jouan (1821-1907) was a French naval officer. As a young man, Jouan spent years sailing around Asia, the Pacific and North America. He later rose to the rank of captain, before retiring in 1884.

Four years after leaving the navy, Jouan penned a letter to US army captain John Bourke, detailing some of the strange cultural practices and medical treatments he had encountered, both at home and abroad. Among them was an Indian habit of rubbing a cow’s genitals, then one’s face, for luck:

“During a stay of three months in Bombay, I saw frequently cows wandering in the streets and Hindu devotees bowing, and lifting up the tails of the cows, rubbing the wombs of the aforesaid [cows] with the right hand and afterwards rubbing their own faces with it.”

No less bizarre was a remedy for toothache from his native Brittany:

“In our province when somebody in the peasantry has a cheek swollen by the effects of toothache, a very good remedy is to apply upon the swollen cheek (as a poultice) freshly expelled cow dung, or even human dung, just expelled and still smoking, which is considered much more efficient.”

Another Jouan encountered while in the port city of Cherbourg:

“In 1847, I was then 26 years old… once an old woman in Cherbourg came to me with a washing pan and asked me to piss into it. She told me that the urine of a stout, healthy young man was required to wash the bosoms of a young woman who had just delivered a child.”

Source: Letter from Captain Henri Jouan to Captain John G. Bourke, July 29th 1888. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1891: The foreskin: an “evil genie” that will land you in jail

Peter Remondino (1846-1926) arrived in the United States from Italy in the 1850s and was raised in rural Minnesota. He later studied medicine in Philadelphia and served as a doctor during the American Civil War.

In the 1870s, Dr Remondino relocated to California and became one of San Diego’s most prominent and sought after physicians. Though best known for his specialisation in respiratory illnesses, Remondino was also a vocal advocate for circumcision. His central argument was that the foreskin was a redundant organ. When man was a hunter-gatherer, the foreskin:

“..provided him with a sheath, wherein he carried his procreative organ safely out of harm’s way during wild steeplechases through thorny briars and bramble… This leathery pouch also protected him from the many leeches, small aquatic lizards or other animals that infested the marshes or rivers… or served as a protection from the bites of ants or other vermin…”

But now, Remondino argues, the foreskin is nothing but trouble, exerting:

“…a malign influence in the most distant and apparently unconnected manner. Like some of the evil genies or sprites in the Arabian tales it can reach from afar the object of its malignity, striking him down unawares in the most unaccountable manner; making him a victim to all manner of ills, sufferings, and tribulations… and other conditions, calculated to weaken him physically, mentally and morally… to land him perchance in the jail, or even in a lunatic asylum.”

It goes without saying that Dr Remondino recommended circumcision to treat or circumvent a number of ailments, including masturbation, nocturnal emissions, bedwetting, venereal diseases, timidity and insecurity, even cancer. Remindino also called for the “wholesale circumcision of the Negro race”, a measure he claimed would curtail the interest of black men in white women, reducing a great deal of racial tension and a “great number of lynchings”.

Source: Dr Peter Remondino, History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the President, Philadelphia, 1891; “Questions of the Day: Negro rapes” in National Popular Review, v.4, January 1894. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1779: James Woodforde treats a fever with gin and a pond

The diaries of Anglican clergyman James Woodforde are one of the 18th century’s best known primary sources. Woodforde, a parson in Weston, just outside Norfolk, penned regular entries in his diary for more than 44 years.

Unlike similar documents, Woodforde’s diaries contain nothing scandalous, saucy or incriminating. He never married nor entertained the thought, choosing instead to live with his niece. Most of Woodforde’s entries are concerned with the goings-on in his parish, such as births, deaths and marriages, visitors to the rectory, and the lavish meals he attended with other clergymen. He also made regular observations about the weather, mentioning after one cold night that all the chamberpots in his house had frozen.

Woodforde also mentioned whenever someone close to him was unwell. When his niece Nancy fell ill with a fever, the parson consulted his doctor and was given a complicated procedure involving emetics, warm water, rhubarb, laudanum, bark and powders. But when his servant boy developed the same symptoms, Parson Woodforde’s approach was much simpler:

“My boy Jack had another touch of the ague about noon. I gave him a dram of gin at the beginning… and pushed him headlong into one of my ponds and ordered him to bed immediately… he was better after it…”

Source: James Woodforde, The Diary of a Country Parson 1758-1802, May 22nd 1779, March 13th 1784. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1796: Rhode Islanders ward off disease with corpse-burning

In February 1796, Stephen Staples, a farmer in north-eastern Rhode Island, lobbied the Cumberland town council for permission to exhume the body of his daughter, who died sometime in the previous year:

“[Staples] prayed that he might have liberty granted unto him to dig up the body of his daughter, Abigail Staples, late of Cumberland… in order to try an experiment on Livina Chace, wife of Stephen Chace… sister to the said Abigail… which being duly considered it is voted and resolved that the said Stephen Staples have liberty to dig up the body of the said Abigail, deceased, and after trying the experiment as aforesaid that he bury the body of the said Abigail in a decent manner.”

The ‘experiment’ Staples had in mind involved burning his daughter’s body in the presence of Livina Chace and other family members, so they might stand in and inhale the smoke. This ritual was intended to drive off vampiristic spirits, thus sparing family members from whatever illness had claimed the deceased.

Extant sources reveal at least nine cases of corpse exhumation and burning in Rhode Island and Connecticut in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Probably the best known example was carried out by Captain Levi Young, who settled in Rhode Island after his discharge from the army.

Young became a successful farmer while his wife Anna bore him eight children in the space of 15 years. In the winter of 1827 Young’s eldest daughter Nancy became seriously ill with consumption. She deteriorated over several weeks and died in April, aged 19. Shortly after Nancy’s death other members of Young’s family, including his second child, Almira, developed similar symptoms.

On advice from elderly locals, Young exhumed Nancy’s body and burned it – while his surviving family members stood in the billowing smoke.

Source: Cumberland Town Council minutes, February 8th 1796. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1544: Thomas Phaer’s remedies for poor bladder control

Thomas Phaer (also spelled Phaire) was an English physician of the Tudor period. Phaer studied law at Oxford and became an attorney and a Member of Parliament. He also had a lucrative sideline in medical advice and treatments. In 1544, Phaer published The Boke of Chyldren, believed to be the first specialist text on paediatrics.

In this extract, Phaer offers advice on how to deal with bed-wetting and incontinence:

“Old men and children are often times annoyed when their urine issueth out, either in their sleep or waking against their will, having no power to restraint it when it cometh. [To mitigate this] they must avoid all fat meats till the virtue of retention be restored again, and to use these powders in their meats and drinks: Take the windpipe of a cock and pluck it, then burn it to powder and use it twice or thrice a day. The stones [testicles] of a hedgehog, powdered, is of the same virtue. [So is] the claws of a goat, made into powder, drunk or eaten in pottage.”

Source: Thomas Phaer, The Boke of Chlydren (1544). Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1780: For a long life, inhale the breath of virgins

Philip Thicknesse (1719-92) was a writer for London’s Gentleman’s Magazine, known for his esoteric and eccentric views. Thicknesse served as an officer in private colonial armies, before retiring to Bath and making his living as an author and raconteur. He was three times married and twice widowed.

In 1780, Thicknesse published The Valetudinarians Bath Guide, a handbook for longevity, health and happiness. In it, he suggested a possible secret to longevity was:

“..partaking the breath of young virgins, or what is perhaps the same thing, by partaking the breath of youthful persons.”

He attempted to justify this theory by citing several examples of teachers who had lived to very old age. A schoolmaster named Claudius Hermippus, Thicknesse claims, lived to the age of 115 years and five days because he was:

“..a tutor or director of a college of young virgins, where there might be a constant and quick succession of female children, from the age of five to 13. Doctors Busby, Friend, Nicholls and many learned men who have been at the head of great schools have all lived to a considerable age.”

Source: Philip Thicknesse, The Valetudinarians Bath Guide, or the Means of Obtaining Long Life and Health, London, 1780. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1889: Bowen’s pubic hair-pulling anti-masturbation device

In the late 19th century, the United States was gripped by anti-masturbation hysteria. Fuelled by the writings of Tissot, Kellogg and others, scores of American physicians warned that “self-pollution” was an avenue to physical infirmity, mental illness and even death.

This hysteria gave rise to numerous cures and treatments, as well as several inventions. Between 1856 and 1918, the United States Patent and Trademark Office approved 35 patent applications for anti-masturbation devices. As might be anticipated, the majority of these were intended for male use.

Several were based on the chastity belt principle, encasing the genitals or hands and rendering them untouchable. A lockable belt and apron device, designed by Thomas Thomas (1907, patent 852638), prevented the wearer from sleeping on his or her back and touching their groin. Henry A. Wood (1910, patent 973330) submitted a patent for ‘night mittens’ that prevented any dextrous use of the hands and fingers. There were also three patented alarm systems, designed to wake the wearer or the parents in the event of an erection.

Perhaps the most elaborate patent was granted to Frank Orth (1893, patent 494437). Orth’s device connected a pair of rubber underpants, an electric pump and a water cistern. In the event of arousal or self manipulation, this machine pumped cold water around the genitals to lower their temperature.

Frank Orth, 1893

The most bizarre contraptions, however, used pain and discomfort as a disincentive to arousal or self pleasure. Albert V. Todd (1903, patent 742814) submitted two designs: one delivered a mild electrical shock to the erectile penis, the other employed a series of spikes.

Todd, 1903

Harry F. Bowen’s machine (1918, patent 1266393) also delivered electric shocks.

Bowen, 1918

More simple in its design was a “surgical appliance” suggested by James H. Bowen (1889, patent 397106). Bowen’s device consisted of a lockable metal penis cap connected to small cables that were clamped to strands of pubic hair. In the event of an erection the cables would stretch taut and pull the pubic hair, causing the wearer considerable pain.

James Bowen, 1889

Source: US Patent and Trademark Office database, patent numbers as listed. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1559: Fainting Belgian brought round with smoking horse dung

Writing in 1559, the Dutch physician Levinus Lemnius claimed that those who lived constantly among the foulest smells were weakened and nauseated by perfumes and other sweet scents. He offered an example of this olfactory reversal:

“Those are made to empty jakes [toilets] and make clean sinks… these men reject all sweet smells as offensive unto them.”

Lemnius also wrote that these people, when overcome by sweet smells, could be brought back into a state of sensibility by waving contrasting smells – such as bitumen or burnt goat’s hair – under their noses:

“A certain countryman at Antwerp was an example of this, who when he came into a shop of sweet smells [a perfumery] he began to faint, but one presently clapped some fresh smoking warm horse dung to his nose, and fetched [roused] him again.”

The Scottish writer Tobias Smollett repeated the principle in 1769 when he wrote that:

“A citizen of Edinburgh stops his nose when he passes by the shop of a perfumer.”

Source: Levinus Lemnius, The Secret Miracles of Nature, Book II, 1559; Tobias Smollett, The History and Adventures of an Atom, 1769. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1869: Cure opium addiction with liquor, morphine and marijuana

The Pharmacy Act, passed by the British parliament in 1868, placed restrictions on the manufacture and sale of deadly poisons and dangerous drugs. One of the main targets of this legislation was opium addiction.

Imported opium poppies were cheap and readily available, making it a profitable product for chemists, pharmaceutical companies and backyard operators. The easy availability of opium also turned thousands of Britons into addicts. Opium-related deaths numbered between 140 and 200 each year. This figure included dozens of babies and infants, who were regularly doped with over-the-counter syrups, cordials and teething gels laced with opium.

In 1869, Doctor Joyce of Rolvenden wrote to The Lancet, remarking that the withdrawal of opium from the open market was causing its own problems among his opium-eating patients:

“The sudden withdrawal of the drug [has] caused overwhelming sickness, complete prostration of body and mind, severe rigours, great loathing of food, an utter inability to sleep, constant purging…”

According to the doctor these withdrawal symptoms are difficult to treat, however he has achieved some good results by prescribing:

“..a liberal supply of brandy, the use of suppositories of morphine and the cautious exhibition of Indian hemp [marijuana].”

Source: Letter from Dr Joyce to The Lancet, vol.1, January 1869. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.

1892: Dr Morris: “Nature is trying to abolish the clitoris”

Robert T. Morris was an American physician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Morris had a busy practice on Madison Avenue and was considered an expert on sexual, reproductive and gynaecological matters.

Like many doctors of his era, Morris was an advocate of clitoridectomy, a surgical procedure to remove the clitoris as a treatment for masturbation, hysteria and female depression. He considered the clitoris a redundant organ that caused more trouble than its worth:

“The clitoris is a little electric button which [when pressed] rings up the whole nervous system… a very common factor in invalidism in young women.”

Morris also made the extraordinary claim that the clitoris was dying out, at least in white women. While still pronounced in primates and African-American females, “in about 80 per cent of all Aryan American women” the organ was concealed by genital folds; as a consequence it was undeveloped and too easily aroused or irritated. From this Morris concluded that:

“Nature is trying to abolish the clitoris as civilisation advances. The degenerative process… is characteristic of the civilised type of homo sapiens.”

Source: Dr Robert T Morris, writing in Transactions of the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, vol. 5, 1892. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.