In the Green Witch arc, Sebastian presents a rather interesting book to Sieglinde when she requests to have something to read. The book is called The Family Physician, and it is in fact replicating a real medicinal work of the Victorian era.
The Family Physician: A Manual Of Domestic Medicine was published in London, England, by Cassell & Company in the year 1883. It is one of many books of this kind as at the time family manuals of medicine were becoming more and more popular. Of course, books were still rather expensive to print and were majorly available to the rich.
As many were living in estates outside of the city centers and some traveled abroad, physicians were not always readily available. With that, more and more rich Victorians would rather have a book of medicinal remedies at home to "replace" a visit from a doctor.
The book Sebastian is showing in the arc is one of the later editions by the physicians of the London hospitals. The special edition Family Physician featured in the manga consists of four volumes and includes a diverse list of treatments for many types of illnesses.
Now, Yana does include two supposed remedies used in that book but only one of them is found on the pages: opium tincture. Laudanum was prescribed for various illnesses. As for the bacon, it is a real medical practice of the Victorian era but one recorded in The Successful Housekeeper (1888), not in this manual.
Sebastian has previously stated that he would get familiar with the medicinal treatment options of the time to assist Ciel with his health problems. We can safely assume that this handbook manual is used by him rather often to help young Lord during his various instances of sickness.
This book consists of multiple categories of illnesses that would take a long time to cover fully, but here are those that Ciel canonically either goes through or is likely to go through due to his known chronic condition (asthma):
Night Terrors
Asthma
Cold
Cough
Fever
The sort of treatment that Sebastian would put Ciel through, were he to truly follow the book, is bizarre.
Do not follow these instructions. They are highly outdated and do not follow any medical requirements. Herbs, plants, and chemicals mentioned in this post are highly toxic and should not be ingested or inhaled.
Night Terrors
Night terrors are recognized by Victorians as recurrent and relatively safe, as they are "rarely precursors of fits or epilepsy", though they may be hard to handle, especially in younger children.
In case that a Victorian child was suffering from nightmares, or night terrors as they equated the two, physicians recommended rhubarb and soda also known as Gregory's powder. Combined with a light and digestible meal, this mixture, which is currently regarded as a laxative, was to ensure that the sleep of the child is undisturbed through the night.
Asthma
During the Victorian era, asthma was not recognized as an obstructive disease of lungs, but rather as a neurological condition. Physicians of the time were seemingly very well-aware that asthma was a difficult and longterm condition even if they did not precisely understand its nature; sometimes referring to it as psychosomatic.
Within the treatments that Ciel would have realistically gotten were he, as a Victorian child, to have the kind of asthma attacks that he has had in the manga are:
I. Tobacco, which was believed to relieve paroxysms - sudden asthma attacks.
The book Sebastian has provided us with says that tobacco would be especially beneficial for non-smokers who have not established tolerance to cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. Even though individuals who used this method would grow "pallid" and "damp with prespiration" after the process, their asthma attack would be "prevented".
It is possible to assume that with the repeated, consistent smoking pattern Victorian asthmatics tried to balance out their breathing rhythm.
II. Lobelia inflata, also known as puke weed, is another type of tobacco recommended for asthma, though this time it is to be consumed by ingestion in a form of a tincture mixed with water. It was believed that this tobacco helped with asthma "related to indigestion".
The book does state that its authors are unsure whether the plant is very effective as some patients have fallen sick after the use; which is no surprise to the modern reader as lobelia inflata has been discovered to be a toxic plant.
III. Stramonium, also known as thorn-apple, is a kind of medicine recommended by the Victorian physicians when smoking tobacco was not enough.
The leaves of the plant, which is highly toxic due to multiple alkaloids within it, would be crushed and smoked. Smoking stramonium before sleep for prophylactic reasons or at the beginning of an asthma attack was generally considered an effective treatment that worked "like magic".
IV. Cigares de Joy, "anti-asthma" cigarettes created by a Frenchman, are highly regarded by the authors of the book.
Like many other medicinal treatments of the Victorian era, they were, of course, bad for your health as they contained stramonium and arsenic.
V. Coffee is probably the only non-toxic method of treating asthma that Victorian doctors suggest.
However, even with coffee one can't hope to have much satisfaction from the treatment: it is to be given very hot, black (pure cafe noir), without any milk, and on an empty stomach in small quantities. Bigger dosages are advised against while taking coffee with a meal is cosidered to be a cause of asthma attacks.
VI. Nitre-papers are, practically, papers with potassium nitrate.
The papers were meant to be burned so the fumes fill the room.
The chemical compound of nitre-papers is an irritant and causes damage to the lungs, though Victorian doctors describe multiple cases of children and adults alike "peacefully" falling asleep around ten minutes into the paper burning. The latter is probably no surprise as potassium nitrate fumes have an adverse effect on the human body, causing nausea and dizziness.
VII. Nitrite of amyl is one more nitric chemical compound that is recommended by the Victorian doctors to inhale in order to treat asthma.
Now, this chemical is highly toxic in all forms and especially so in direct inhalation and ingestion; it can cause blindness, brain damage, lung scarring, and death.
VIII. Chloroform is yet another questionable way of managing asthma in the Victorian era.
While the authors of the book can be given credit for mentioning that overdoing chloroform is never the aim, and even provide a story of a man who died doing so, they do still praise the method greatly. According to the manual, chloroform is to be applied in a few drops on a handkerchief one can press to the nose and inhale through.
It is rather clear here that Victorians truly did see asthma as a disturbance within the nervous system and provided methods of sedating the patient.
IX. Ipecacuanha, an imported plant native to Brazil, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, and Colombia, is a remedy that the authors seem rather perplexed about. They do recommend it as an effective method of asthma treatment but they do not specify how it is to be applied.
We are left wondering how exactly Victorians used this plant. Ipecacuanha, or ipecac as it is known within the medical field now, is highly toxic in all its forms and is especially dangerous to ingest. Brain damage and organ failure are only some side effects of ignoring safety precautions.
X. Potassium iodide is a medication recommended for ingesting directly in the amount of two tablespoons three times a day. Praised for postponing or even fully stopping asthma attacks, this medicinal treatment was highly regarded by the Victorian doctors.
It is worth mentioning that potassium iodide has adverse side effects and is an allergen for many people. However, it is a recognized medical supplement that should be taken only, if ever, upon doctor's prescription.
Cold
Victorians recognized that cold was a rather complicated condition as it could either be a simple cold of a precursor to other, more serious, diseases: bronchitis, pneumonia, quinsy, consumption (tuberculosis), pleurisy, rheumatism, neuralgia, and more.
Doctors seemed to believe that the main cause of a common cold was dampness rather than anything else: a damp bed, a damp seat, a damp house or room, a damp robe, and more. Bathing for a prolonged amount of time was discouraged as it "caused colds".
The physiological nature of a cold was that it was seen as an inflammation of a mucuous membrane within the air-passages.
Victorians recommended that one who has caught a cold should stay quiet and not talk much, not eat too much food though drink plenty of water. The most jarring thing is, they recommend - within the book in Sebastian's possession - that colds are to be immediately treated with an aconite tincture. Needless to say, aconite is toxic in all forms and causes nausea and dizziness, vomiting, heart and lung problems, as well as death.
Out of safery reasons, we will abstain from providing any sort of recipes here. Aside from aconite, or when aconite was simply not enough, Victorian doctors suggest the following remedies:
Camphor
Phosphorus
Belladonna
Bryony
Nux vomica
Ipecacuanha
Bismuth
Arsenic
All of these ingredients are highly toxic and their effect on the human body greatly varies. Regardless, these should not be taken in absolutely any form.
Cough
Victorians recognize multiple varieties of a cough and state that there's no universal panacea for all of them. Still, they do recommend a few home remedies that are mixtures made of rather unusual components.
One suggests mixing a Paregoric elixir, which is a highly toxic substance containing deadly hydrogen cyanide, with oxymel, cascarilla, and chloric ether. Another proposes a method to treat dry cough: mixing morphia, hydrogen cyanide, and chloric ether together before ingestion.
Other cold treatments include:
Aconite [☠]
Alum [☠]
Asafoetida [!]
Belladonna [☠]
Chamomile oil
Chloroform [☠]
Coltsfoot [!]
Drosera
Gelsemium [!]
Ipecacuanha [☠]
Nitric acid [☠]
Sulphur [!]
Tartar emetic [☠]
☠ - toxic, deadly! - unsafe, may cause health problems for some people
Fever
The last condition that we can see Ciel canonically go through is a fever, which he seems to catch during the events of the Book of Circus arc. Now, treatment of a simple fever in Victorian times was rather unique as the doctors suggested using aconite or belladonna tincture to reduce the fever.
If it happened so that a patient's fever has not gone down after a long while, arsenic mixture is used. If nothing else helped and the fever is accompanied by shooting pain, highly toxic bryony is applied.
Thankfully, during the cases of remittent fever lasting for many days none of these mixtures were applied. Instead, the patient would be given ice to suck, cold water to drink, or some lemonade. Vomiting was to be calmed down with application of chloroform or ipecacuanha. Quinine, which has many dangerous side effects, would also be given. The most the patient would get aside from such dangerous medicine is nutritious meals and a lot of water.
Overall, it seems like using The Family Physician for treatment of many conditions that boys like Ciel would go through in real life Britain would cause more disadvantages than benefits for the patient. Over-reliance on toxic stimulants and deadly chemical substances could not possibly be good for anyone whose health was compromised.
Edits of the manga pages are made by us.
Please, do not use them.
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On August 1st we venerate Ancestor Henrietta Lacks on her 103rd birthday 🎉
Sister Henrietta is known throughout the world as, "The Mother Of Modern Medicine", being the biological source of the HeLa cells - 1st immortalized human cell line, which has been central to cancer research studies & methods. Billions of her cells are presently used in biomedical research development around the world, notably in the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines, mapping the human genome, HIV/AIDS & cancer treatments, testing human cells against zero gravity in space, other vaccine research, & undoubtedly much more.
Today, however, venerate the woman behind the medical atrocities that it took to achieve such a feight.
Born Roanoke, VA, a young Henrietta grew up working on a tobacco farm with her father, her 9 siblings, & extended relatives on their land in Clover, VA - where their ancestors had worked as slaves. She'd lost her to complications of child birth when she was just 4yrs old. Due to his lack of patience, her father divided his children to be raised among different relatives accordingly. Henrietta was to be raised by her grandfather, who had already taken in her First-Cousin, David "Day" Lacks - who she later married. Henrietta continued her schooling until the 6th grade. On a hopeful prayer, they left Clover, VA for Turner Station, MD to escape the impoverished life that came with tobacco farming. There, they settled down to start their family.
While pregnant with her 5th child, Henrietta discovered a painful knot inside her that persisted through atypical bleeding post-childbirth, among other symptoms. Finally, she sought medical treatment. Prior to this, she & her family would lay flowers at the local Jesus statue, recite prayers & rub his feet for good luck. Henrietta kept her diagnosis to herself so as to not worry her family; she was determined to overcome her medical condition on her own.
While receiving treatment at a segregated ward in John Hopkins University, doctors took a tissue sample of her tumor for medical research without her knowledge or consent. This was an everyday practice at most medical institutions of the time. Unfortunately, Sister Henrietta did not survive her treatment. She was later buried at the Lacks Family Cemetery in Clover, Va.
Following her death, the medical research scientists from John Hopkins University coerced her husband to consenting to have an autopsy conducted on her remains; they claimed doing so would provide beneficial health information to his children. This allowed them to lawfully collect tissue samples from all of Henrietta 's organs. As of 2020, the cells from these tissue samples that were collected on that day & prior are THE most widely used in biomedical research labs around the world.
For all her pain, suffering, & desecration (of which the latter continues presently), may Sister Henrietta be forever elevated in peace, healing, & light in the spiritual as her physical essence has become immortalized in the physical.
We pour libations💧& give her 💐 today as we celebrate her for her love of family, community, & faith.
Offering suggestions: prayers toward her elevation, libations of water, catholic prayers, & a Catholic Bible.
‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️
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During the mid-14th century, a pandemic of bubonic plague swept across Europe and central Asia. It was known as The Black Death, or the Plague or the G. It wiped out around 30% - 60% of the world’s population at the time, killing an estimated 75 – 200 million people, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.
It's believed that the pandemic began in central Asia, and was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, spread by fleas. However, it then took a secondary form and was spread by person-to-person contact.
The Black Death was then brought over to Europe by merchants and traders that were infected. In 1343, it appeared in Crimea and then spread to Europe via trading routes. It was said to be most deadly between the years of 1347 and 1351 when cities and towns in Europe were hit especially hard.
Among the many symptoms of the deadly plague were sudden fever, chills, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes. In the most severe cases, the lymph nodes would turn black and then burst, spreading bacteria into the bloodstream which caused septicemia. Death occurred within three to five days.
The disease spread like wildfire due to dense populations, poor hygiene and sanitation practice and the close proximity of humans and animals. Moreover, doctors and scientists at the time did not have the means or method to properly understand the disease meaning that treatment was ineffective.
Since 30 – 60% of the population was eradicated by the disease, it had a profound impact of the landscape of both Europe and Asia, socially, economically, and politically. There was a massive shortage of labor which resulted in increasing wages and improved working conditions. It also led to advances in medical knowledge and practice, which included the introduction of quarantine measures.
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