Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Cancer

CANCER, a round, though unequal, and, at first, indolent tumor, generally situated in glandular parts, such as the breasts, armpits, &c. When this tumor grows large, is of a livid, blackish, or leaden hue, and attended with excruciating pain, it is called an occult cancer; but, when it becomes a sore, or ulcer, discharging a very fetid, ichorous matter, it is then an open, or ulcerated cancer. The latter species is by far the most dangerous, and has, by the most judicious practitioners of all ages, been considered as incurable by any internal remedies: the occult cancer, however, has sometimes, especially before it had attained a considerable size, been cured by external applications, of which we shall give a short account.

The causes of this formidable disease are not distinctly ascertained; though its origin is supposed to depend chiefly on a scrophulous predisposition of the body; which, if increased by depressing and debilitating passions of every description, as well as the cessation of periodical and salutary fluxes of blood, frequently produces that fatal malady.

The peculiar acrimony of the fluids which, by its stimulus, often changes a scrophulous ulcer into a true cancer, is of a very diversified nature; and thence arise the various forms and characteristics of this complaint, as well as the numerous difficulties with which the cure of it is attended. Hemlock and arsenic, used internally, and applied externally, have indeed, in a few instances, been attended with success; but it is, on the other hand, very doubtful whether these, or any other medicine, have ever cured a real cancer. Hence it is generally believed, that extirpation by the knife is the only certain remedy. Lately, however, a physician has appeared in the metropolis, who confidently maintains that he has discovered a method of curing a disease, which has hitherto baffled the ingenuity and skill of the most able and experienced practitioners. Although we have promised (see note to pp. 107 and 108 of our work) to analyze his medicines, and thus to ascertain whether they contain arsenic, yet having had no opportunity of performing the experiment, we are obliged to delay the farther account of that discovery, whether real or pretended, till we arrive at the article Scirrhus.—To compensate, in some degree, for this apparent defect, we shall communicate the latest and most important information on this subject, received from the Continent.

In cancers of the face, Dr. Handel has lately, and with uncommon success, prescribed the application of the expressed juice of the Carduus tomentosus, L. the woolly-headed thistle, or friars crown. This simple remedy was formerly in great repute, and strongly recommended by Borell, Stahl, Timmermann, and other continental physicians. Dr. Handel ordered his patients to anoint the parts affected, with the fresh juice, six or eight times every day; and he found, that, in the course of a fortnight, it checked the progress of the most malignant cancer. The editor of this work has, in one instance only, observed a similar happy effect, though there always appeared to be great alleviation of pain, and an abatement of the fetid smell, emitted from cancerous ulcerations, when this liniment was duly administered. For this purpose, he made use of a soft feather, but previously added to the juice about the eighth part of rectified spirit of wine, in order to precipitate the feculent particles, and also with a view to preserve it longer in a sweet state.—Dr. Handel farther asserts, that by the application of this juice, after the necessary internal remedies had been used, he has cured the itch, scald heads in children, the thrush, violent inflammation of the eyes, inveterate ulcers of the legs, &c; especially in those constitutions which had been reduced by the use of mercurial medicines.—Notwithstanding these favourable accounts, we doubt whether a confirmed cancer will always yield to such superficial treatment; nay, it is admitted by all those foreign practitioners, that the juice of the woolly-headed thistle was of service only when applied to cancerous ulcers in the face, and produced no relief whatever, where the female breast was afflicted with that loathsome disorder. In such cases, unfortunately, all remedies hitherto discovered have been found ineffectual, unless they were applied in the earliest stage of the cancerous tumor. Thus it is affirmed by Bromfield, Collignon, Cullen, Theden, Unzer, and many other medical men of eminence, that the timely use of the belladonna, or deadly nightshade, has often dispersed glandular indurations, and large tumors of this description; but, as the internal administration of this virulent plant cannot safely be intrusted to those who are unacquainted with its nature, and the constitution of the human body, we shall only remark that it may, with equal advantage, be employed externally. For this purpose, the leaves of the deadly nightshade should be boiled in milk, to form a decoction sufficiently strong, and with which the part affected must be frequently fomented.

Another method of procuring relief in this painful complaint, has been discovered by Bassiano Carminati, an ingenious Italian, who first observed the benefit derived from the application of the gastric liquor of living animals to putrid and cancerous ulcers. Several other physicians on the Continent, and especially J. V. H. Köhler, have lately, by the test of experience, confirmed the truth of this observation. It is, therefore, much to be regretted, that this animal fluid cannot be easily procured in sufficient quantities, to produce so desirable an effect. For the gratification of our readers, we shall extract the following curious particulars from Köhler's treatise on chirurgical subjects, published at Leipzig, in 1796. From granivorous animals, such as cows, oxen, calves, &c. he obtained a quantity of gastric juice, but it was not in a pure state, and always mixed with alimentary matter; on the contrary, that of carnivorous animals, for instance, dogs, cats, and especially birds of prey, though in smaller proportion, was much purer. Among the latter class, the liquor extracted from the stomach of a large species of raven, which he terms in German, "Golkraben," he found to be the most efficacious. But each of these voracious creatures devoured twelve ounces of solid meat in twenty-four hours, as their usual allowance. They ought, however, to receive no food for twelve hours before, and after, the extraction of their gastric juice; an operation which is performed in the manner as follows: The neck of the bird must be stretched, till no folds or wrinkles are observed in it; an assistant then introduces into its throat a small tube, made of horn or bone, which has three longitudinal incisions, and two small holes near the top: through the latter a piece of tape ih passed, the projecting ends of which are fastened across a little stick, in order to prevent the creature from swallowing the tube. Into this apparatus is introduced a proportionate piece of a moist, but well expressed sponge, by means of a whalebone rod, to which it is firmly tied, and then thrust down so far as to reach the stomach of the bird. An expert operator will easily ascertain the length to which he may safely proceed. After having thus fixed the apparatus, each raven is locked up in a different cage, or partition, made of boards, where it cannot easily disengage itself from this incumbrance. The liquor procured by carefully expressing the sponge, ought to be immediately applied; for, after having stood twenty-four hours, it becomes so corrupt that worms are bred in it; though, in its sweet state, it possesses neither odour nor taste. It is, however, difficult to obtain a sufficient quantity of this juice for effecting a complete cure of a cancer, as eight ravens afford only one ounce of it in twenty-four hours. Nevertheless, as the efficacy of this simple, though expensive, remedy, especially in eradicating the most virulent cancers of the face, is well attested by several respectable practitioners, we thought it our duty to insert the preceding account.