The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-05-18 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRITISH PRESS

BURNED ALUM •
'USED *WITH GREAT SUCCESS 114 THE CURE OF
VARIOUS BAD WOUNDS.
Mr. EnlTOlt-s-I beg leave to communicate to the
public, through your paper, several of many sur-
sprising cures, which I have had the good fortune to
perform, and to witness, of very bad wounds, chiefly
with pulverised burned alum. Also a few hints and
conjeftures, which have occurred to my very humble
imagination, from observations a&ually made in the
West Indies, and in this climate, upon the comm •n
treatment of wounds, particularly relating to the
frequent injudicious and dangerous use of bad salves,
poisonous escharoties, &c.; which, it is humbly con-
ceived, might be found not unworthy the serious at-
tention of the most enlightened part of that pro-
fession, to whose province these matters peculiarly
appertain, especially at this period.
The first experiment which I made with burned
alum, in the cure of wounds, was about twelve
years since in the West Indies, upon a horse that
hid accidentally broken from the strings, as they
were letting him down from a ship, which had con-
veyed a cargo from America, and swam ashore
am sag some very craggy and sharp rocks ; by
whisk one of its fore legs was so badly cut and lace-
rated, that it was apprehended he would never be-
come sound, wherefore, he was offered to sale, al-
though a very fine shaped young horse, at a very
small sum, which I gale upon rather an idle specu-
atino. The wound; when I made the purchase,
looked very unfavourably, it being some days after
the accident ; however, I washed it very clean, and
poultioed it for a day or two, until I found a sup-
puration completely formed, when I again washed
the wound well with lute-warm milk and water
(•he milk being fresh frosts a good healthy c0t...),
wiped it quite dry with clean soft lint, then lightiy
covered the wound over with some burned alum, and
bound it up with bandage, enough to keep the air
as well from the injured part as possible; which
process, remembering to see the linen clean every
day, was repeated daily for about ten days. \'ben,
to the astonishment of those who had seen the horse
soon after 0-- ar-ident, the wound was perfealy
well, and the horse soon afterwards became a very
valuable one.
I have since used and recommended the same
application for vanorri wounds, even to ulcerated
sores that for many years have wholly based the
s:.ill of eminent surgeons, likewise to cankers ;
2114 have unifoimly found it perfealy efficacious. I
will briefly specify two cases, which, I trust, in ad-
dition to the one above detailed, will suffice at least
to induce some further experiments by the faculty,
which I ferveotly, and with confident expeaation,
hope may prove highly beneficial to the community
at large.
About eight months ago, the wife of a respeaable
tradesman complained to me of extreme pain from a
Cad wound in the foot, occasioned nearly nine years
since by the bursting of a blood vessel. She inform-
ed me :;Iso of her having been, at different periods,
under the care of gentlemen of the faculty of great
repute, and of others whose praCtice had rendered
them some degree cf fame; that, after being repeat-
edly confined to bed frr tnany weeks together, and
&dieting excrutiatinr tortures, it had been several
times apparently' be.,:ed ; and that, notwithstanding,
st continued very tender afterwards, and broke out
again, sometimes of its own accord, and at others,
from the most trifling bruise. I persuaded her to
try the burned alum, as before mentioned, except
the poultice, which most thoroughly accomplished
the desired objea in less than a fortnight; nor has
it since been attended with any of those painful 'ca-
utious, which continually disturbed her after the
wound was thought to have been healed by the
surgeons, &c.
Likewise, I have a very fine and valuable spaniel.
without exrption the strongest and heaviest of that
(lass of animal that I have ever beheld, which had
a large canker about two years since at the bottom
of one of his fore feet, supposed to have been formed
from an injury sustained in hunting, during the
precediag winter. I administered the burned alum,
fee (as to the hope), keeping the foot constantly
tied up, by means of a collar fastened about the
neck; and also, in less than a fortnight, had the
satifalition to find my dog entirely cured. The ani-
mal, not being confined, was for a long while after•
war]. constantly running about, and generally fol-
lowed me in walking or riding a good deal every
day; he soon afterwards ran behind a post chaise,
in which I was, above thirty miles upon a dry flinty
road, in a very short time (the post-boys making
goon spied en the road); he was very hardly hunted
all toe following shooting season, in the early part
of it, in a (hay country ; nor was he idle this last
season ; yet that foot has never appeared, under
such severe trials, in the slightest degree sore or
tender, since the surprising cure before recited.
Nor have I ever known a single instance of a wound
breaking out again, or indicating any disposition to
it, after being healed with burned a;tn ; aithough I
bare made earnest enquiries upon that point._
How often does it not unfortunately happen, that
some of our first Leaurers and Students of Anato-
my lose their lives, merely from an accidental slight
gut, upon perhaps only one of the fingers, by the
instrument employed in dis.scainv, bon ,g impreg-
nated with putrid flesh, irons the body which was
the subjea of study ? Therefore, 1 presume, it re-
quires no force of rhetoric, beyond this mel.incholy
truth, most forcibly to demonstrate the imminent
danger, and most egregious absurdity, of using ei-
ther stale or had undtuous matter, in salves, or any
poisonous drugs, as escharotics, under an expeta-
lion of therewith healing wounds; for, if the hog's
lard, which, I believe., constitutes the base of all
salves and ointments, or any other grease, be not
in the highest state of perfettion, when used, we
may then very reasonably conclude that salve to be
mast highly injurious to any wound. I am credibly
told, that, at the moment of the little, but dire in-
eisioci, being made, several of these unfortunate
leatarers and Students have exclaimed, in horrible
4espair, tt I'm gone! I'm dead !" Anil 'hese wo-
fel presages have soon been verified. it; despite of
greatest abilities of which the profession could
boa-t ; for they have not been able to find, in the
whose Al,teria Aled to, a remedy for the we*, tilos
communicated, of the putrid body tinder disseaion.
Yet, I ant strongly inclined to believe, that half a
p .und of the same flesh roasted, and seasoned with
any rich, palatable sauce, might have beers eaten

by those poor sufferers (not having encountered the
fa'al cut upon the finger), or any Amateurs of high
things, provided they were unacquainted that the
fish set before them was human, without any fur-
ther inconvenience, than from eating so much veni-
son, or other game, when it, in fashionable phrase,
would be called, but "just properly high ;" i. r.
not quite making an wholly intolerable stench.
(To be continued.)

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, MA V IG.

Arrived the Hiram, Hero, Islander, and the Rialto
transports, under convoy of a cutter, from Jersey.
Sailed the Lnilymion frigate to the westward ;
and the rfeasfa friate, with a convoy for the Downs.
Dropped d'wn to St. Helen's, His Majesty's ships
Isis, Pallas, Rattier, and the Harpy.—Wind westerly.
PLYMOUTH, MAY 15.
Came in the nirporich sloop of war, from off the
coast of Portugal.
Sailed the Insolent gun-brig for Hplifaz.
FALMOUTH, MAY

Arrived the Dolphin, Capt. Mobill, and Mary,
Capt. Hargel, from Gibraltar. These two vessels
came under convoy of His Majesty's ship Avenger.
The fleet i r Al were 3b sail, which separated yester-
day, off Scilly, fcr Ireland, Brist-)1, and Liverpool.
The remainder are now off the harbour, beating to
the eastward. They came through the Gut a-head
and in sight of the Fa ench and Spanish fleets, which
did not attempt to molest them, but went into Ca-
diz. It was reported at Vinares, that on the 10th
tilt. Admiral Lord Nelson, with his fleet, were off
Barcelona ; that he sent a flag of truce on shore, and
then proceeded for Toulon, not knowing the fleet
were out of the Streights.
Also arrived the Swedish ship St:cn•dn Flaggan,
Captain Schartan, from Vinares, with wine, &c.
for orders. Yesterday, about ten leagues N.N.E.
off Ushant, saw the fleet tinder Lord Gardner, con-
sisting of ten sail of the line.
Sailed the Diana Packet, St. Aubyn, for Lisbon.
The West India fleet will sail to-morrow at day-
light, if the wind continues fair. Wind E.

DEAL, MAY IG.

Came down from Sheerness, the efreher and
Bruiser gun-brigs, with supernumeraries, which are
put on board the Utrecht ruard-ship. The Anlisr
and Bruiser have since sailed for the French coast.
—Wind S. \V.

Arrived, the Humsee armed ship, with a convoy
from Falmouth, which are sailed for the river.
A-rived, the RaiNur, Speedy, Alert, Devartation,
Lamer, and several other ships of war, from a
cruise off the French coast.