Jack the Ripper Tech

[sdreid]

I had never realized, but apparently in 1888 a rudimentary form of cardiac defibrillation was apparently in use, along with nitroglycerine pills for heart disease.

The Melbourne Argus of March 5th, 1888, carried an article about the death of Frederick Federci, a popular opera singer, due to a heart attack while on stage.

"Dr. Willmott, on his arrival, saw at once the seriousness of Mr. Federici's condition, and having detected a slight beating of his heart, applied restoratives, principally the galvanic battery, at first mildly and then with increasing force, and whilst these were in progress the patient died.

[...]

Dr. Willmott had been attending Mr. Federici almost since his arrival in this colony for affection of the heart, and prescribed for him nitro-glycerine pills, which is the most potent treatment for that ailment."

Apparently it didn't work but, hey, you have to start somewhere.

[sdreid]

I think the biggest medical breakthrough of Jack's time was probably general anesthesia which made internal surgery practical.

[sdreid]

Before that, something like an appendicitis was often a death sentence.

[GUT]

I think the biggest medical breakthrough of Jack's time was probably general anesthesia which made internal surgery practical.

I am inclined to agree with that proposition

[Cogidubnus]

Hi Stan

Apparently it didn't work but, hey, you have to start somewhere.

But the nitroglycerine tablets did, and I can recall, as late as the 1960s, my grandmother slipping them, (pale blue-coated they were) under her tongue if she felt her angina was about to play up...nowdays of course it's a glyceryl trinitrate spray...same principle though...

All the best

Dave

[Ginger]

nowdays of course it's a glyceryl trinitrate spray...same principle though...

Glyceryl trinitrate is the proper name for nitroglycerine.

[Cogidubnus]

Yes but sprayed (twice) under the tongue rather than a tablet - far quicker acting...

[sdreid]

Although air/pellet guns had been around for more than 300 years, 1888 is generally considered as the year that the first successful BB gun went on the market.

[Rosella]

Apparently it didn't work but, hey, you have to start somewhere.

In spite of the useless pills Frederici has been haunting that theatre ever since. He's been seen by many people and if he appears it's regarded as a good omen for a hit show.

[sdreid]

There were a few preventative vaccinations available in 1888, most notably smallpox, but the only disease I can think of that could be "cured' was rabies. There were antiseptics but no antibiotics; not even sulfa.

[sdreid]

There were a few preventative vaccinations available in 1888, most notably smallpox, but the only disease I can think of that could be "cured' was rabies. There were antiseptics but no antibiotics; not even sulfa.

And rabies only in that narrow window.

[sdreid]

The only treatment for serious infection was often surgical removal.

[GUT]

The only treatment for serious infection was often surgical removal.

Or death.

The [today] trivial things that took life is amazing.

[Ginger]

The [today] trivial things that took life is amazing.

At the age of 13, I had an infection in my chest cavity (doctors had no idea how that happened) that would almost certainly have killed me without antibiotics. Had I been born a few decades earlier, or in some backward part of the world, I'd not have lived into my teens.

[sdreid]

The only treatment for serious infection was often surgical removal.

And, that "treatment" was mostly when the infection was in a limb.