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Article: Instruments of intervention in early American medicine.(Cover Story)
- Article from:
- The Magazine Antiques
- Article date:
- July 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Brant Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the winter of 1818 Mary Way (1769-1833), a painter of portrait miniatures, was working in New York City and going blind,(1) She was being treated by an orthodox physician and thus endured "the usual routine of bleeding, blistering, &c."(2) In December she described the pain of the blistering that was part of the treatment:
My neck is now broiling and smarting with blisters, and literally speaking I have my part in the lake that burns with fires and brimstone, for I can compare it to nothing else.(3)
Blistering was produced by a harsh irritant placed on the skin - most likely cantharides, or powdered Spanish flies - causing a second-degree burn.(4) The ...