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....The coach might refer to these sources for his healing remidies. They are a bit dated and there is no documentation of how well these worked, but what the hell, give it a try!
<snip>
'Curing' wounds and preventing bleeding
In Sir William Hope's abridged version of The Compleat Horseman: or, Perfect Farrier (1711), by the French author Jacques de Solleysel, a list of rules was laid down that were to be followed for 'curing wounds' <17>. These included probing the wound, preferably with a silver probe; keeping down proud flesh; arresting bleeding; washing with warm wine or urine or the water from a smith's forge; preventing the horse from licking the wound and shaving the hair from around the wound. One of his ointments, 'The Hermit's', comprised birthwort, Paul's betony, sage, sanicle, roots of marshmallows and comfrey, all boiled with a pint of cream. In cases of gangrene he recommended 'early scarification of the part to the quick, with a fleam'. To arrest haemorrhage from a wound he advised 'Powder of Sympathy' (prepared from Roman Vitriol), tying off the vessel or using a hot iron.
The Dictionarium Rusticum, Urbanicum & Botanicum <18> of 1717 proposed some instructions for the treatment of gunshot wounds that involved ascertaining whether the bullet was still inside. This was followed by dropping some varnish into the bottom of the wound and then applying a 'charge' comprised of 'Bole Armoniack', 'Linseed-Oil', 'Bean-flowers', 'Eggs, shells and all', 'Turpentine' and 'Vinegar'.
For an ointment 'which is good to heal any Wound', ER Gent <19> in his The Experience'd Farrier' ... (1720), favoured a mixture of 'Rosemary, Wound-wort, red Sage, Mugwort, Comfrey, Rue and Southernwood' boiled with 'May-Butter' and 'Sheep's-Suet'.
Six years later, in The Farrier's and Horseman's Dictionary <20> a distinction was recognised between simple and complicated wounds that involved broken or dislocated bones. Simple wounds involved flesh and were not generally considered dangerous; however, internal wounds often proved 'mortal' as they affected organs such as the bladder, lungs, heart, guts and stomach. Greasy ointments were not advisable as they tended 'to make the flesh grow too fast'. William Gibson <21> in his The Farrier's New Guide (1738) supported this claim and for cases of haemorrhage gives the ingredients of 'Colebatch's Styptick Powder' which includes iron filings, spirits of salt and 'Saccharum Saturni'.
In his Gentleman's Farriery <22> (1764), John Bartlet refers to La Fosse, farrier to the King of France, who had had success using puff-balls to stop bleeding, a method used about 160 years previously by the German surgeon Felix Wurtz on humans. Bartlet's recommendations were applauded by John Wood <23> in his A New Compendious Treatise of Farriery (1752) and for a soothing ointment for irritating wounds he advised:
'Take Half a Pound of Leaf-tobacco, and boil it in a Quart of Red Wine to a Pint. Then strain off the Liquor, and add to it Half a Pound of Tobacco finely Powdered, a Pound of Hogs-lard, a Quarter of a Pound of Rosin, four Ounces of Bees-Wax, and two Ounces of the Roots of Round-Birthwort in Powder. Make these Ingredients into an Ointment.'
The use of blue vitriol to stop vessels from bleeding was advocated by James Towmshend <24> in The Royal Farrier (~1771). For wounds in horses' feet (eg those caused by a nail), he washed the wound with oil of turpentine, then poured in melted pitch and tar and filled up the foot with bran moistened with oil of turpentine. If this proved unsuccessful he opened the wound and dressed it with tincture of myrrh <25>. The same substance was favoured by Ephraim Blaine <26> (1831), who, for cases of profuse bleeding, promoted the use of a paste to be put in the wound that consisted of blue vitriol, fresh nettles, wheaten flour, wine vinegar and oil of vitriol, all held in place with strong bandages.
Henry Bracken <27> in Farriery Improved (1756), makes the following interesting statement regarding wound healing:
'And our Fore-fathers, not considering the reason of Things so well as we do now, imagined fresh or green Wounds were cured by Sympathy, and became so far infatuated, as to dress the Instrument, or at least lap up in clean Linen the Tool with which the Wound was given, and by keeping such Instrument locked up, and the Wound from the Air, thought it healed in a short time.'
For a scar or 'cicatrix' on the cornea of the eye <28>, Bracken favoured finely powdered glass mixed with honey and fresh butter; he compared its action to that of a joiner smoothing his work with a 'Fifth skin'. Some 250 years later the practice remains of 'freshening up' the edges of corneal ulcers to stimulate healing.
The concept of drainage from an infected wound was clearly understood by Osmer <29> who, in his A Treatise on the Diseases and Lameness of Horses (1766), opined:
'In all wounds, where matter lies lower than the orifice of the wound, and cannot flow out, it produces fistulous cavities in the parts ... Now it is always necessary to go to the bottom of such (where the parts will admit of incision) otherwise no cure can be expected.'
In his A Treatise on Cattle (1776), John Mills <30> relies on the observations of Samuel Sharpe, surgeon and author of Treatise on the Operations of Surgery, for his section on wounds, believing animals to be similar to man. He recommended a dry lint dressing with 'a pledget of ointment on tow' renewed every day and bandaged, but for small wounds, the less dressing the better. Here we have a suggestion that air is beneficial for wound healing.
William Merrick <31> in The Classical Farrier (1788), advised that wounds which penetrated to the bone should not be treated with ointments, but only with lint dipped in honey of roses mixed with myrrh and aloes. For inflamed wounds requiring a mild poultice, William Taplin <32>, in his Gentleman's Stable Directory (1791), proposed a mixture of bread, barley meal, Goulard's vegeto mineral water (extract of Saturn, camphorated spirits of wine with rain or river water) and lard. The use of 'tents', made from a wad of tow (wool, hemp or flax) and dipped in a dressing, were used to keep wounds open but the dressing in. One such dressing, favoured by Samuel Drinkwater <33> (1797) in Every Man His Own Farrier, included black and yellow basilicon, horse turpentine and spirit of turpentine. John Lawrence <34> (1798), commenting on the treatment of ulcers, said that they: 'must be brought to the state of a wholesome wound, and to discharge a good white and thick matter, previous to any attempt at healing', and he recommended a mixture of oak bark and ceruse powder.
<end of snip>
I hope my HMO doesn't get wind of this!
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