Connecticut western news., 1909-04-01
BEES ID BE ON
 THE HOSPITAL STAFF
A NEW CURE FOR RHEUMATISM
The Sting of a Bee is Said to Relieve
 the Sutferings of People Afflicted, With This AiIment-How it is Done.

With This AiIment-How it is Done.
 Contact with the business end of n bee, as a cure for rheumatism, is an old wrinkle among the farmers in Connec- ticut. says the Pittsfield Journal. but new one at Roosevelt Hospital, New York, where it is now being tried. In two weeks the cases under treatment will probably indicate whether or not bees should be regularly added to the hospital force.
 The experiment. was proposed by Dr. Arthur w. Swann, son of Mrs. John Swann, of Stockbridge. He is a mem Der of the Roosevelt hospital staff.
 Winter drove into his wards some bad cases of rheumatism of the gouty species One man who had it in acute form could not sleep, and opiates gave him only temporary relief besides dersnging him otherwise.
 There were three chronic cases in vel advanced stages, one of them being sc, l far advanced and involving so many of the joints that the patient was praoti- cally ossified. None of these cases would yield to the usual treatment.
 Now the man with the acute case has, returned home, ready to go to business again, one of the chronic cases has also, left the hospital so much relieved thSE he thinks he may resume light work. and the other two cases show daily imr provement.
 When Dr. Swdnn had treated these, cases long enough to decide that the usual remedies would not rench them ! he reported his conclusions to the head doctors of the staff and proposed the bee treatment He said that, when he was boy up in Winsted, Conn, the country people believe that bees cured rheums-. tism. He had often seen them apply bees to rheumatic joints with apparently good results.
 The patients declared themselves will ing to be stung by bees or anything slss, that would ease their miseries. So Dr.. 1 Sw nm wrote to his mother, who resides at Winsted, asking her to ship to him until further notice 100 bees each week. The first shipment arrived two weeks ago.
 l Dr. Swann put a bee in a tumbler and tipped the tumbler upside down against the afflicted joint. The first experiment. was with the man who had rheumatism in acute form and couldn't sleep. Dr Swann put the tumbler over the patients. shoulder joint, which had been giving the worst pain. As soon as the tumbler- was in place Dr. Swann stirred up the ! bee.
 True to its instinct, the bee lost it's temper and stuck its stinger where it would do the most harm. Then Dr. Swann removed the tumbler, for after one service with its stinger life has mo- further charm for bee.
 The patient moved the joint little and said he thought he felt better An other bee was applied in the same fash ion. It also left its sting and died. This time the patient was sure the treatment worked well. Dr. Swann suggested that unless the patient objected he would | like to try thlrd bee. That suited the patient and the same programme was followed with bee number three.
 For the next trlplet of bees Dr. Swanu decided that the "ossifed" man should be the subject. After three bees had done their deadliest he surprised him self by struggling his shoulders. Moth Ing like that had happened to him for SO long that he asked the doctor to let set of bees tackle his knee pans.
 When the second block of three had ragged themselves to their death the pa- tient was left to himself for a while. Then the cure was tried on the other two chronic cases.
 Soreness and inflammation appeared over the joints which the bees had at tackled; but on the second day all the patients felt that they had been benefitedi and were ready for the visits of npprg bees. The "ossifisd" man declared he had been able to turn himself in bed the night before for the first time in weeks. He wanted moro than the usual allow ancs of bees, and Dr. Swann increasedl his dose to ten. After week the acute patient and one of the chronic cases felt, we'll enough to quit the hospital Treat msnt still continues with the ossified and the other patient. Indeed the ossiiiod man has ceased to be ossified, for he now gets out of bed unaided, throws out his knees, kicks his legs about and says that the dearest wish of his life just now is to have more bees put on him,