The Washington times., 1936-02-01
Health
An Historical
Error
BIZ LOGAN CLENDENING, N. b

ny LOOAN CLkNDENACNOS W. u
I enjoyed the movie Of The
Tale of Two Cities" the other
night, and noticed that the pro-
ducers took the trouble to insure
the historical accuracy of the pro-
duction by calling attention to the
photography. I feel it my duty.
therefore, to point out that in
spite of these asseverationS, there
is little point in the production
that is quite puzzling to a medical
historian.
Almost at the end, when Sidney
Carton visits the cell of Charles
Darnay in order to substitute him.
self so that he can make the
supreme sacrifice on the guillotiRa
to insure Lucy's happiness, he
naturally has to get Darnay into
a state of Inconsistencies in
order that he may be removed
from the prison. To do this, he
gets behind him, saturates a hand.
kerchief with some sort Of a
liquid, which he puts over Dar'
nays mouth.
What Anesthetic Used?
Now, the historical question
that I want to ask is, Whist was
the liquid or vapor which he used?
To make my point clear, let me
point out that the days Of the
guillotine were in 1893. The first
vapor, or any other substance ex'
cept drugs taken by mouth, which
would produce Inconsistencies,
was nitrous oxide, as first used by
Humphrey Davy in 1899.
The first use of ether was in
1842 by Crawford Long Of Geor.
gia, and the first use Of chloro-
form was in 1347 by DR.. James
Y. Simpson of Edinburgh.
No other general aneSthetic
was produced for half a century.
And 1t is really too bad that Car
ton went to his death without re.
vealing to the world that secret
Of anesthesia by a vapor or
liquid.
To do the producers justice,
the scene is taken directly from
Dickens novel and Dickens made
the same historical blunder. It
Is curious that he should have
done so. The novel was written
in 1859, and he must have re.
membered very well the sensation
that occurred IL or Is years be-
fore, when aneSthetic agents
were generally introduced.
Acne
So many people have written
concerning the treatment for
acne which was suggested in this
column some time ago, that it is
impossible to answer all QueS-
tions individually. The following
questions are the ones most often
asked:
/. What is the form of treat
ment? The use of q substance
known as Antuitrin IS" given
hypodermically. 2 C. C. every
other day. Antuitrin IS" is a
product which is obtainable at q
pharmacy. 1t should be admins
tered under the direction Of Q
physician.
2. What physicians give this
treatment? Any physician who
is capable of giving a hypodermiO
injection can give it. For Itera-
ture on the subject, physicians
are referred to the New Eng.
land Medical Journal" June ~.
1885.
3. How m any treatments ar0
necessary? This depends on indi.
vidual idioySncrasy; no definite
answer can be given which covers
all cases. Experience has heen
that treatments are required over
a period ranging from three to
nine weekS-five to "a treatments.
4. Are the results permanent?
The treatment has not been
carried on long enough to deter
mine whether results are perma-
nent or not. The report states
that the cases which were treated
were selected because of the sever.
ity of their acne which had, in
each instance, been resistant to the
various forms of treatment pre-.
viously employed. Half of this
group had good results; 33 per
cent had fair results, and the rest
showed slight improvement. The
criterion for good results is that
the acne practically disappears as
an active process.
EDITORS NOTE: Six pamphlets
by DR.. Clendening can now be OBJ
tained by sending 10 cents in coin.
for each, and a self lf-addreSSed en-
velope stamped with a three-cent
stamp, to DR.. Logan Clendening,
in care of this paper. The pam.
phletS are: Indigestion and Con.
Stipation," Reducing and Gain.
ing" Infant Feeding" "InStruc.
tions for the Treatment Of Dia.
betes," Feminine Hygiene" and
THE Care Of the Hair and Skin"