1. What A Way To Go
Heraclitus the Philosopher’s long and interesting life came to a weird end, as a result of his affliction with dropsy, or edema – a painful accumulation of fluids beneath the skin and in the body’s cavities. However, it was not the illness that killed him, but the cure. Healers could offer him neither cure nor relief, so Heraclitus, the self-taught philosopher, sought to apply his self-teaching skills to medicine and heal himself.
He tried an innovative cure by covering himself in cow dung. Heraclitus theorized that the warmth of the manure would dry and draw out of him the “noxious damp humor”, or the fluids accumulated beneath his skin. Covering himself in cow manure, Heraclitus lay out in the sun to dry, only to be immobilized by the cow dung drying around him into a body cast. He was thus unable to shoo off a pack of dogs that came upon him, and ended up eating the philosopher alive.
________________
Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
All That is Interesting – The Strange, Surprising History of the Vibrator
Daily Beast, April 27th, 2012 – ‘Hysteria’ and the Long, Strange History of the Vibrator
Eyewitness to History – The Flagellants Attempt to Repel the Black Death, 1349
Found in Antiquity – The Five Strangest Deaths of the Philosophers
Gizmodo – “Blowing Smoke Up Your A**” Used to be Literal
Hayes, Joseph, Atlas Obscura – The Victorian Belief That a Train Ride Could Cause Instant Insanity
History Learning Site – Cures For the Black Death
Irish Times, September 12th, 2017 – Fake Smiles and False Teeth: A History of Dental Pain
Kakanomics, February 2nd, 2017 – The History of Drugs and War
Listverse – 10 Crazy Cures For the Black Death
Medical Daily, October 7th, 2016 – The Use of Poop in Medical Treatments Throughout History
Medieval History on Black Death – Medieval Medical Knowledge
Mental Floss – Early Trains Were Thought to Make Women’s Uteruses Fly Out
Providentia – Soldier’s Disease
