An experimental inquiry into the 'Schott treatment' of certain diseases of the heart at Bad Nauheim / by R.L. Bowles.

  • Bowles, Robert L. (Robert Leamon), 1834-1913.
Date:
[1896]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An experimental inquiry into the 'Schott treatment' of certain diseases of the heart at Bad Nauheim / by R.L. Bowles. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    AN EXPERIMENTAL INQUIRY INTO “THE SCHOTT TREATMENT” OF CERTAIN DISEASES OF THE HEART AT BAD NAUHEIM. By R. L. BOWLES, M.D., P.E.C.P. As long as tAventy-two years ago I sent to Nauheim, on the advice of Dr. Hermann Weber, a case of heart disease of the most unpromising kind, and the patient returned well and remained so for three years, when he died of acute pneumonia, in consequence of gross carelessness and indiscretion on his part in a cold December fog. This patient had been pre- viously confided to my care by Dr. Weber for cardiac and liver disease, with general anasarca and effusion into his serous cavities. The usual remedies availed him nothing. He was, as a last resource, treated Avith what, at that time, I had reason to haA^e confidence in as a diuretic—sour milk, and no other food; this, happily, acted so Avell both as food and medicine that at the end of some Aveeks all fluid had passed from every part except from the abdominal cavity. His general health improved and he could take exercise, but his abdomen did not decrease in size, although it had beeji tapped five times, and his heart remained, as one then ex- pected in such cases, a permanent menace to life. HoAvever, as I have said, he Avent to Nauheim in this condition and came away well. I resolved to visit and investigate the Nauheim treatment at the first opportunity, but preoccu- pation and circumstances prevented me, until I aa'iis again stirred, like many others, by more recent experiences. To make clear the attitude of mind in Avhich I approached the ([uestion, it is but right to say that I had good reasons to be convinced as long as five-and-thirty years ago that