96

WILDBAD.

CHAFT. VI.

20 years, the on]y son of wealtliy parents, and of a scro- phulous Constitution, was suffering of an affection of the spinal marrow, in consequence of habits of self-indulgence. In vain he had tricd a cold water eure, and as a last hopc, came to Wildbad, where he arrived in a pitiable state; —Amaurosis of both eyes, complete paralysis of the lower extremities and a great weakness of the upper ones; so much so, that he could not turn in his bed from one side lo the other without assistance, frequent vomitings, involuntary evacuations, alternating with constipation, daily returning fainting tits, that oflen lasted longer than half an hour at a time, and were attended with convulsions,— these were the Symptoms of his case. The first few baths the patient supported well, then, liowevcr he becamc redu- ced to almost a minimum of strength; the fainting fits retur- ned several times every day, lasting longer every time. He could not digest the lightest food, and offen vomited three or four times a day, without having taken any. Chicken- broth, champaign, and naphtha, were almost the only food he could bear. After eight weeks, during which time he had taken twenty-four baths, he left Wildbad, despairing of recovery. — Shortly after his arrival at home, however, without the application of any other remedies, his state be- gan to mend, and he rccovered so fast, that after the lapse of a few months he could walk again. In 1845 he returned to Wildbad a gay young man, who could takc walks of an hour’s duration without feeling exhausted ; he would eat of everything with the greatest appetite, and bore exceedingly well a four week’s course of bathing. Blind however he was still, and will remain so to the end of his life.

The virtue Wildbad possesses, of removing foreign sub- stances and bone-splinters from the body, has long been known, and instances of it recordcd by Gesner and J. J. Moser.