The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-25 00:00:00

THE TILEATIII.ENT OF CHOLERA•

We are told that Dr. Rubini, of Naples, cured 592 cases
of cholera, and bad ao deaths among his patients, by the
use of saturated spirits of camphor, of equal parts by
weight, of camphor and spirits, and to the power thus ob-
tained he attributes his success in the treatment of the
disease. The ordinary spirits of camphor consists of ono
part by weight of camphor to nine parts of spirits of
wine, while the homoeopathic preparation is made by
mixing ono of camphor to five of the spirits of wine. The
quantity of camphor which water will take up is small,
and to obtain the " saturated spirits of camphor of Rubini,"
it is necessary to distil spirits of wino, and get rid of so
much of its waters as will bring it to GO degrees overproof,
in which condition it will dissolve and hold in solution
its own weight of camphor.
With this "saturated spirits of
.camphor " Dr. Rubini
treated in Naples 592 cases of Asoiatic cholera, without the
loss of a single patient. Of thosth,s,9l2tocyasaiesProor-whoeurosoc,uaretudi
in the Royal Alms-house,
NG in the 3d Swiss Rewil.mnienint of Wolff. That the 377
public institutions
• treated by Dr. Rubi. i
.in these
ed the evidence of the following cases
esall genuine cases of Asiatic cholera, and some "terribly
• " and that all recover ,
with their official seals attached,
distinguishedsevee
Generale Govornatoro Ricci ;
sufficiently, attests :
Il
Maggiore Commandant? Nicola Forni ; Il Capitano Com-
mandant? Carlo Sodero Generale Commandant() Fileppo
Rued, Colonel Eduardo V.rolff. The method of cure is as
follows:—"
When a man is seized with cholera ho should
at once," y s Rubini, "lie down, be well wrapped in
blankets, and take every five minutes four drops of the
saturated sstincture of camphor. In very severe cases the
;i ssaought to beincreased from five to 20 drops every five
;;;;„-,tes: In the case of a man of advanced age, accustomed
t'',-isike wine and spirits, whore the drug given in drops
has no effect, give a small coffee spoonful every five
minutes, and in a very shert time the coveted reaction
will occur. Ordinarily, in two, three, or four hours, abun-
dant perspiration will come out, and then cure will follow."
o The preventive method," writes Dr. Rubini, "is this :
—Let those who are in good health, while living in ac-
cordance with their usual habits, take every day five drops
of the saturated spirits of camphor upon a small lump of
sugar (water must never be used as a medium or the
camphor. will become solid, and its curative pi.' opertiea
cease), mid repeat the dose three or four times a day.
Spices, aromatics, herbs, coffee, tea, and spirituous liquois
should be avoided."
lkre, then, we have as strong, a prim fuck case made
out as can well be conceived iu favour of the preventibility
and curability of the Asiatic cholera, and that by a remedy
which is at once pertable and inexpensive, and which all
sections of the medical profession have heretofore employed,
and can, therefore, raise no objection to employifig again
in increased potency.
On this subject Dr. Drury, in his recent work,*ovhich
we had occasion to notice a short time since, makes thae
following valuable remarks :—" As Dr. Quin, hadwhoofhis
very large per centage of recoveries, treated
itshomthe
same
cases-with camphor only, but did not meet
the somewhat
marked success, it is necessary
for
Dr. Rubini's
to look
different results in the fact already stated, thatotent.„
Bearing
cases wore treated from the very
on this subject, it is well toc°p7amosencoen record what
Hahnemann wrote in 1831:--" It as members of a family
alone that can most certainly and mutually cure each other
with camphor spirit, because they are able instantaneously to
ald those taken ill."

* Cholera, Diarrhmi, Dysentery. Published by Headland
and ,Co., IloniceJpstbie Chemists, 15, Princes-Arcot,
Ha.novet:6quare, London; 1866.