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METALS—THE NOBLER.
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only
no case of true Asiatic cholera occurred, but not even a sporadic case
of such a nature ; not one of the operatives was affected even by a
slighter gastric disturbance of the epidemic character."
Even
one workman, through having his garments dusty with Copper, served
thereby to protect the other members of his family at home. " Every
soldier, then, and every sailor, should be ordered to wear by day, and
by night, when quartered in a district liable to cholera epidemics, a
thin plate of Copper, over the front of the abdomen, next the skin,
securely fastened there ; or. if more convenient, across the loins
behind." In Pettigrew's Medical Superstitions it is shown how a
like curative virtue may have underlain former remedial nostrums which
are now regarded as senseless, and exploded.
During
the prevalence of cholera in Austria, Germany, and Italy, a certain
amulet was superstitiously worn (at the pit of the stomach, in close
contact with the skin). Dr. Walker tells us one of these was sent to
him from Hungary; and it was found to consist merely of a circular
piece of Copper, two and a half inches in diameter, and without having
any characters inscribed upon it. These amulets were adopted pretty
generally in Naples, Recently, again, in confirmation of the still
wider curative action of metallic Copper, Dr. Clapton, of St. Thomas's
Hospital, has publicly noticed that workers in Copper, though having
frequently to complain of constant lassitude, with giddiness, whilst
they are of sallow aspect, and dyspeptic, nevertheless show a
remarkable rapidity of healing when anyhow wounded; and remain, without
a single exception, free from cholera, even during the worst epidemics.
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