3 ms·

Here is an image of the tool: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EyiqN6UXMAAZbrM?format=jpg&name=small https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EyiqN6UXMAAZbrM?format=jpg&name=...

by lqet 4y ago

Here is an image of the tool: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EyiqN6UXMAAZbrM?format=jpg&name=small https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EyiqN6UXMAAZbrM?format=jpg&name=... I must admit it's pretty clever.

rob74 4y ago
Not only that, but crucially (quote from Wikipedia): "Over a period of several days, John Bradmore, the royal physician, treated the wound with honey to act as an antiseptic, crafted a tool to screw into the embedded arrowhead (bodkin point) and thus extract it without doing further damage, and flushed the wound with alcohol." Despite the clever tool, if the wound had gotten infected, the then-prince would have probably died. So the knowledge of what to use to disinfect wounds already existed, but apparently wasn't undisputed until much later...
- eru 4y ago
  > So the knowledge of what to use to disinfect wounds already existed, but apparently wasn't undisputed until much later... Not sure he had the right theory, though? He might have used honey 'by accident'?
  - _0ffh 4y ago
    Even if the theory was probably still lacking, a solid empirical basis would still be infinitely preferable to none at all.
    - eru 4y ago
      Yes, but I don't know whether he had a solid empirical basis? Compare https://idlewords.com/2010/03/scott_and_scurvy.htm https://idlewords.com/2010/03/scott_and_scurvy.htm a store about how the cure to scurvy was found and lost and found again.
- kevinmchugh 4y ago
  There's certainly other examples of inventions preceding understanding. Pasteurization was invented many times, Louis Pasteur was the last inventor, and the only one who understood germ theory. Citrus rations to prevent scurvy predate the discovery of vitamins. I want to say I've heard of wounds being treated with honey in translations of Greek myths, but I couldn't swear to that.
  - bumby 4y ago
    I've heard of wound remedies written in Old English (the type that even English speakers need a translation for) that were shown to work remarkably well as an antiseptic. This might be the right reference: https://scitechdaily.com/medieval-medicine-remedy-found-in-9th-century-balds-leechbook-could-provide-new-treatment-for-modern-day-infections/ https://scitechdaily.com/medieval-medicine-remedy-found-in-9...
david422 4y ago
That is ingenious and terrifying.

by lqet 4y ago

Here is an image of the tool: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EyiqN6UXMAAZbrM?format=jpg&name=small https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EyiqN6UXMAAZbrM?format=jpg&name=... I must admit it's pretty clever.

rob74 4y ago

Not only that, but crucially (quote from Wikipedia): "Over a period of several days, John Bradmore, the royal physician, treated the wound with honey to act as an antiseptic, crafted a tool to screw into the embedded arrowhead (bodkin point) and thus extract it without doing further damage, and flushed the wound with alcohol." Despite the clever tool, if the wound had gotten infected, the then-prince would have probably died. So the knowledge of what to use to disinfect wounds already existed, but apparently wasn't undisputed until much later...

eru 4y ago
> So the knowledge of what to use to disinfect wounds already existed, but apparently wasn't undisputed until much later... Not sure he had the right theory, though? He might have used honey 'by accident'?
- _0ffh 4y ago
  Even if the theory was probably still lacking, a solid empirical basis would still be infinitely preferable to none at all.
  - eru 4y ago
    Yes, but I don't know whether he had a solid empirical basis? Compare https://idlewords.com/2010/03/scott_and_scurvy.htm https://idlewords.com/2010/03/scott_and_scurvy.htm a store about how the cure to scurvy was found and lost and found again.
kevinmchugh 4y ago
There's certainly other examples of inventions preceding understanding. Pasteurization was invented many times, Louis Pasteur was the last inventor, and the only one who understood germ theory. Citrus rations to prevent scurvy predate the discovery of vitamins. I want to say I've heard of wounds being treated with honey in translations of Greek myths, but I couldn't swear to that.
- bumby 4y ago
  I've heard of wound remedies written in Old English (the type that even English speakers need a translation for) that were shown to work remarkably well as an antiseptic. This might be the right reference: https://scitechdaily.com/medieval-medicine-remedy-found-in-9th-century-balds-leechbook-could-provide-new-treatment-for-modern-day-infections/ https://scitechdaily.com/medieval-medicine-remedy-found-in-9...

david422 4y ago

That is ingenious and terrifying.