Hydrotherapia, or, The water cure : being a practical view of the cure in all its bearings, exhibiting the great utility of water as a preservative of health and remedy for disease, founded on observations and experience made at Grafenberg. To which is added a description of Grafenberg, and the system there, as practised by Vincent Priessnitz ... Together with a short sketch of the history of the water-cure from the remotest antiquity, and remarks on sea bathing / By Thomas Smethurst.

  • Smethurst, Thomas, 1804 or 1805-
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hydrotherapia, or, The water cure : being a practical view of the cure in all its bearings, exhibiting the great utility of water as a preservative of health and remedy for disease, founded on observations and experience made at Grafenberg. To which is added a description of Grafenberg, and the system there, as practised by Vincent Priessnitz ... Together with a short sketch of the history of the water-cure from the remotest antiquity, and remarks on sea bathing / By Thomas Smethurst. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    from his horse, which had taken fright, and came in contact with the ground upon his elbow. Intense inflammation and pain ensued; his numerous medical attendants all concurred in the opinion that amputation was the only chance of saving his life, which they con- sidered was endangered by the accident. He declined the operation, but desired them to use their best means, without removing the limb. They accordingly continued to treat him for nine months; in the mean time several pieces of bone exfoliated from the elbow-joint. At this period he determined on being conveyed to Grafenberg, with the arm swollen to three times its natural size, the agony being intense. ‘Two months of the treatment relieved him from all pain, and the arm was reduced to its normal size. He is also able to make a slight use of the hand of the diseased arm. This gentleman remained at Grafenberg at the time of my departure. Priessnitz says that he will recover the proper use of the limb, but that it will require a year or two to accomplish this. Case 21. Nervous Affection. I witnessed another remarkable case in the person of a Prussian lady of some distinction. She told me that she had been seriously indisposed, and suffered a variety of pains, particularly about the region of the heart, for more than twelve months previous to her sojourn at Grafenberg, brought on through the death of an attached