Everybody Is Sick

[Kat]

I'm searching the word "Sick" and finding a lot of people sick on Wednesday and Thursday, August 3rd and 4th.

Wednesday Mr. & Mrs. Borden were sick, from Tuesday night. Lizzie said she was sick in the night as well.

Bridget was sick on Thursday morning and vomited.

There was the unknown person who was sick who Lizzie says sent a note to have Abby come.

The farm man was sick according to Lizzie.

Lurana Harrington was sick as well.

Mrs. Emery said there was a member of her family sick at her house (E.S.) and Mrs. Churchill's mother said there was a sick baby at their house. (W.S.)
I never really noticed this before

And Lizzie asked if the police really needed to search her room as it would make her sick...

[john]

Kat brings up a very interesting point.
To be "sick" is a childhood excuse, perhaps childish.
All of the the "sick" comments are ex post facto except Mrs. Borden's going to Dr. Bowen.
Couple that with what I thought was Mr. Borden's unnecessarily harsh response to his visit to the Borden House.
If someone wanted to poision someone quickly, cyanide (to clean sealskin) would surely do it. If they wanted to just make someone sickly then arsenic (readily available even now) would make them sick more first.
If Lizzie had been truly "sick" too why wouldn't she join with Abby and ask for Dr. Bowen's help?
What if Lizzie poisioned her parents in order to make Dr. Bowen visit their house?
Lizzie could talk to Dr. Bowen easily, of course, by simply walking over to his house. Unless he was implicated in some way to something or to her, she'd want to avoid him. But, (sorry Allen that I began a sentence with a coordinating conjunction) if he came to her house it would be OK.
In general medical practice a Doctor will not leave a patient or a body unless it is in capable hands, meaning a nurse, a coronor, the police. This was as true in 1700 or 1892 as it is today. Yet Dr. Bowen left the dead Andrew Borden to send a spurious to the event telegram to Emma, leaving the body and his supposed distressed and actual patient in no one's hands. Very unDoctorlike.
I still can't believe Dr. Bowen was in anyway involved with the crime, but it does sound like he is trying to cover himself for some reason.

[theebmonique]

Lizzie could talk to Dr. Bowen easily, of course, by simply walking over to his house. Unless he was implicated in some way to something or to her, she'd want to avoid him. But, (sorry Allen that I began a sentence with a coordinating conjunction) if he came to her house it would be OK.
In general medical practice a Doctor will not leave a patient or a body unless it is in capable hands, meaning a nurse, a coronor, the police. This was as true in 1700 or 1892 as it is today. Yet Dr. Bowen left the dead Andrew Borden to send a spurious to the event telegram to Emma, leaving the body and his supposed distressed and actual patient in no one's hands. Very unDoctorlike.

John...you apologized to Allen for your usage of a coordinating conjunction. Here's some information on the usage of the cc that may be helpful.

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/ ... coconj.htm
Basic Coordinating Conjunctions
Introduction
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A coordinating conjunction is a word which joins together two clauses which are both equally important. This page will explain the most common coordinating conjunctions and how to use them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is a clause?
A clause is a unit which contains a subject and a verb. For example, "It was raining" is a clause; the subject is "it", and the verb is "was raining". Every sentence MUST contain at least one clause, but it may contain more than one. For example:

It was raining, so I took my umbrella.

This sentence contains two clauses, "It was raining" and "I took my umbrella". They are independent clauses because each one would be a good sentence on its own -- each one is a "complete thought".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Joining clauses together with conjunctions
Examine the example sentence one more time:

It was raining, so I took my umbrella.

The two clauses in the sentence are joined together with the word "so". This is a coordinating conjunction. It is used to join two independent clauses which are equally important. A coordinating conjunction usually comes in the middle of a sentence, and it usually follows a comma (unless both clauses are very short). These are the most important coordinating conjunctions:

Conjunction Function Example
and joins two similar ideas together He lives in Victoria, and he studies at UVic.
but joins two contrasting ideas John is Canadian, but Sally is English.
or joins two alternative ideas I could cook some supper, or we could order a pizza.
so shows that the second idea is the result of the first She was sick, so she went to the doctor.

These conjunctions are also used:
nor (joining two negative alternatives), for (meaning "because"), yet (meaning "but")
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using coordinating conjunctions
There are three things to remember when using coordinating conjunctions:

join independent clauses Each clause must be a "complete thought" which could be a sentence on its own.
put the conjunction in the middle (You may see some sentences starting with "but" or "and", but this is USUALLY wrong, so it's best to avoid it.)
use a comma (unless both clauses are very short)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you would like more information on this topic, try one of the pages below. When you are sure you understand clearly, you can click on "First exercise" to continue.
Conjunction / Clause Packet
Coordinating Conjunctions and their Commas
Coordinating Conjunctions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ELC Courses, UVic English Language Centre, 1998

Also, I was a bit confused with your use of the word 'spurious', so I looked it up. Here's what I found: (Is this how you meant it ?)

6 entries found for spurious.
spu·ri·ous ( P ) Pronunciation Key (spyr-s)
adj.
Lacking authenticity or validity in essence or origin; not genuine; false.
Of illegitimate birth.
Botany. Similar in appearance but unlike in structure or function. Used of plant parts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[From Late Latin spurius, from Latin, illegitimate, probably of Etruscan origin.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
spuri·ous·ly adv.
spuri·ous·ness n.
[Download or Buy Now]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
spu·ri·ous (spyr-s)
adj.
Similar in appearance or symptoms but unrelated in morphology or pathology; false.
Source: The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Main Entry: spu·ri·ous
Pronunciation: 'spyur-E-&s
Function: adjective
: simulating a symptom or condition without being pathologically or morphologically genuine <spurious labor pains> <spurious polycythemia> <the effusion of lymph, which gradually degenerates into this spurious bony deposit —Robert Chawner>
Source: Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
spurious
spurious was Word of the Day on February 11, 2003.
Source: Dictionary.com Word of the Day
spurious
adj 1: plausible but false; "specious reasoning"; "the spurious inferences from obsolescent notions of causality"- Ethel Albert [syn: specious] 2: born out of wedlock; "the dominions of both rulers passed away to their spurious or doubtful offspring"- E.A.Freeman [syn: bastard, bastardly, misbegot, misbegotten] 3: intended to deceive; "a spurious work of art" [syn: inauthentic, unauthentic]


Tracy...

[Kat]

I wonder what all these sick people were taking to make them better?

I was thinking of collecting *Dr. Bowen* stories.
Maybe we should do that here?

[theebmonique]

Would 'summer sickness' be something that would be a part of the Dr. Bowen stories ? I know it has been discussed here before. Is it how the people of Fall River, during the 1800's (?) described the 'illness' people would get from food they ate not being refridgerated properly...or enough ?


Tracy...

[Kat]

I'm wondering if the sick baby at Buffinton/Churchill was crossed with a sick family member at the Emerys in the newspapers? (Does that sound familiar to anyone?)

I think by this time Lurana was an invalid and she did die in 1898.

As for the rest, it might be bad food.
I read that usually people dying at the turn of the century were sick with consumption.

Wasn't the farm man sick enough to be retiring?

[Audrey]

It would be helpful if we knew what the term "sick" meant in those times...

I also wonder if this is a word that means different things in different areas...

In Iowa (heretofore to be referred to as the Upper Midwest) "sick" is used to generically refer to not being well.

[theebmonique]

That's whay I was thinking of 'summer sickness'. Was it a generic term for "not well" that had been used for quite a while ? Was it only used in the Fall River area ? Did it apply to more than just adults ?


Tracy...

[Allen]

That's whay I was thinking of 'summer sickness'. Was it a generic term for "not well" that had been used for quite a while ? Was it only used in the Fall River area ? Did it apply to more than just adults ?


Tracy...

Well if it meant they were ill from eating food that was not refrigerated well enough, then I would assume it would apply to whoever was old enough to eat the food? I would also think the term "sick" would apply the same then as it did today, as I have never read a usage for the word in that context that did not mean to be unwell or feel ill.

[Golaszewski]

I wonder what all these sick people were taking to make them better?

I was thinking of collecting *Dr. Bowen* stories.
Maybe we should do that here?

In that era, alcohol, opiates and cocaine were common remedies. For example, let's assume it was suspected that bad food was the cause of illness. A doctor couldn't prescribe antibiotics; penicillin wasn't available until the late 1920s. All a doctor could prescribe is something that would ease the symptoms, and hope that time would heal.

[theebmonique]

I have been 'googling', and 'archiving' for more info on summer sickness and it's causes/treatments...not finding much yet...will continue the search.


Tracy...

[Golaszewski]

I have been 'googling', and 'archiving' for more info on summer sickness and it's causes/treatments...not finding much yet...will continue the search.


Tracy...

According to a search of a medical database, I found that in that era "summer sickness" often was used to describe gastroenteritis.

http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/health-inf ... i-flu.html

Gastroenteritis often develops from food poisoning. In the 1890s, there were no refrigerators. This would explain why it would tend to happen more in the summer.

[theebmonique]

Thank you for the link Robert. I was of the mind-set that the lack of proper refrigeration was the culprit, as I think we have discussed it here before. I will check out your link. Hopefully it will mention specific treatments used for this malady at that time.


Tracy...

[Golaszewski]

Thank you for the link Robert. I was of the mind-set that the lack of proper refrigeration was the culprit, as I think we have discussed it here before. I will check out your link. Hopefully it will mention specific treatments used for this malady at that time.


Tracy...

Opium was a common treatment for gastroenteritis.

http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/academics/s ... 1850oh.htm

According to that source:

"THE DEATH OF ZACHARY TAYLOR

"On 4 July 1850, the President was subject to several hours of oratory in the broiling sun - part of the days celebration. Because of the heat he consumed an excessive amount of cucumber salad and iced milk. Washington was a city with open sewers swarming with flies in the Summer. The City had been built on a swamp and was extremely unhealthy in the hot summer months. The President came down with acute gastroenteritis. He would most probably have recovered if simply left to himself. Unfortunately, no President is ever left to himself.

"The physicians of the Capital descended upon the poor man. He never had a chance. They rallied around his bedside like the flies in the nearby swamp. Drugged with large doses of ipecac, calomel, opium, and quinine, and bled and blistered to boot, the poor man didn't have a chance. Taylor was given 40 grains of opium per dosing. Today doctors prescribe morphine in doses of 1/4 grain. One grain is 60 milligrams. The average aspirin dose is 5 grains (imagine 16 aspirin size pills of opium). The quinine was prescribed to stop the fever and sweating. After a few days of the finest medical care money could buy, the President gave up the ghost leaving the office to Millard Fillmore who quickly signed the compromise package into law."

While opiates work great to treat diarrhea, in the case of Zachary Taylor the doses given to him were "overkill".

[Kat]

Dr. Bowen told Abby to take castor oil with port wine to take away the taste (Inquest, 116)

Abby (and Lizzie) gave Andrew Garfield's Tea.
I think they had food poisoning, rather than heavy metal poisoning. Dr. Bowen thought so too.

What did the chronically ill take? Did they have aspirin?

Do you guys remember that the story of a sick family member at the Emery's occasioning the visit by Bowen which has always been suspect, dropped out of the papers in later recountings and in the witness statements we find a sick baby at Mrs. Churchill's, instead?
I think that was E. Porter telling that story about Bowen at the Emery's and is he the only one?

[Golaszewski]

What did the chronically ill take? Did they have aspirin?

Not at the time of the murders.

http://www.pbs.org/transistor/timeline/ ... etext.html

1899: aspirin first marketed

[Kat]

Thanks, I wasn't sure about that.

[Kat]

Here, Take This!

[Smudgeman]

Yummy! Sounds like Vitameganvegamin for sure. I think all of those old time remedies had drugs or alcohol in them. Cocaine and Opiates were the trend back then, they had no other substitute.

[Allen]

I found some information here about victorian medicine. I thought it was interesting.

http://www.geocities.com/victorianmedicine/entire.html

[Golaszewski]

And for an example about attitudes towards cocaine:

http://www.siracd.com/work_h_cocaine.shtml

The notion that Sherlock Holmes could have been a cocaine addict seems absurd. However even in A Study in Scarlet, the first work featuring Holmes, there were hints that Sherlock Holmes might have been using drugs.

" . . . for days on end he would lie upon the sofa in the sitting-room, hardly uttering a word or moving a muscle from morning to night. On these occasions I have noticed such a dreamy, vacant expression in his eyes, that I might have suspected him of being addicted to the use of some narcotic, had not the temperance and cleanliness of his whole life forbidden such a notion."

Later it became quite clear that Sherlock Holmes was indeed using drugs. The Sign of Four opens with an alarming scene:

Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel-piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. Finally he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction.

A little later in the story Holmes states,

"It is cocaine," he said, "a seven-per-cent solution. Would you care to try it?"

Today we understand the horribly addictive qualities of cocaine. However these stories were written in the late 1880s. At that time cocaine was a new drug. It was used as a local anesthetic and as a nerve tonic. Cocaine or cocaine derivatives were used in throat lozenges, gargles, wines, sherries and ports. It was thought to be perfectly harmless.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had his fictional world's greatest consulting detective a cocaine user. There was no stigma associated with cocaine use.

[john]

Thanks for your help on coordinating conjunctions theebmonique. love the way you google.
on a less important topic, a question for kat:
what reason did Dr. bowen give for leaving the borden home directly after finding andrew's body?
it seems to me that he said he was leaving and lizzie gave him the request to send the telegram to emma (which could have been the paper he burned up later that had the name emma on it, and also might have had mire instructions from lizzie.)
now if Dr. bowen really appeared at morse' neice house shortly after the murders and neither lizzie or dr. bowen mentioned that in testimony, there are two liars or two people telling less than the truth.

[Kat]

What is the argument of Wednesday? (From the other topic about the bedrooms)

It does kind of seem odd that Bowen left so quickly. He did maintain that he was pretty sure there was an officer there before he left, but he sounded unsure of that.
Why would he wish to leave so hastily?
In his inquest testimony he said his thought was to go get some officers but he didn't.

and (I 117):
"It struck me like a flash to see if there was anything left in the room. Then I went right back again, and told them that their father was dead."
--Anything left in the room?
And "their" father? There was no "their" then.

[john]

There's a quote I can use.
"There was no 'their' then."
Was there thusly no their then thence thou thinkest thou thought there was a their rather than a then?
"Thence," said Dr. Thebury Bowen.

[Allen]

And "their" father? There was no "their" then.

There was no their then, Emma was not there. There was only Lizzie, so no "their".

[john]

But if there was no "their," "then," was there a there thence? Or was it therefore thinly thought of and thinkably thorough? What I mean is was it thorough? Was the thought thencly thenly, or was it thinkingly thrilling?
"Mr., thank you, Doctor Bowen, did you ever take Lizzie to a theme park or to a theatre, or to a theosophy group meeting?"
"Objection, your honor," says Robinson. "The thereabouts of Miss. Lizzie and Dr. Bowen are perhaps thick, but have not been thoroughly thought out."
"Threefold thence," says the judge.
Who is the mysterious third person?
"May I rephrase that your honor?"
"Were your thoughts thorough, thence you thrived though you throttled the throaty throbbing you thought might be thrombosis?"
"Then," answers Dr. Bowen.
If only his name was Thurmond.

[Angel]

Maybe Dr. Bowen wasn't involved in the murder, but perhaps felt really worried because he knew Lizzie's general mental condition and/or was giving her drugs to calm her, and felt he could have stopped her from becoming violent if he had intervened more. If he was scared her real craziness would become public knowledge and he would be questioned about why he didn't do more to let others know what a threat she could be, he may have been shaken because his own reputation as a doctor would be at stake.

[john]

WOW! Whose could Mrs. Churchill's "sick baby" have been?

[john]

If that baby was Dr. Bowen and Lizzie's it would explain a lot of questions.
Secrets of the hood?

[john]

Larry L. of Tuscaloosa just won a free trip for three to Hawaii at the "Uncle John Killed Abbey" site! Have you been there? Win a trip!
Oops - Larry L. is from Schenectittie, and it's Larry M. M.

[Kat]

Maybe Dr. Bowen wasn't involved in the murder, but perhaps felt really worried because he knew Lizzie's general mental condition and/or was giving her drugs to calm her, and felt he could have stopped her from becoming violent if he had intervened more. If he was scared her real craziness would become public knowledge and he would be questioned about why he didn't do more to let others know what a threat she could be, he may have been shaken because his own reputation as a doctor would be at stake.

Do we know if there was such a strict doctor/patient privledge back then as now?
When questioning, the lawyer would say someone need not answer the question (Emma) about any lawyer question, tho the question was asked just the same.
But when Dr. Bowen was asked it seems expected that he tell things about his patient. Could he have demurred, and not talked about his care of Lizzie?

[Susan]

It sounds as though there was a strict doctor/patient confidentiality even back then. The American Medical Association was founded in 1847 and they created a Code of Medical Ethics to be followed by physicians. The Code was not considered law, but, it was viewed as a standard of conduct which define the essentials of honorable behavior for the physician.

From the 1847 Code of Medical Ethics, page 99:

ART. IV.-Of the duties of physicians in regard to Consultations

7. All discussions in consultation should be held in secret and confidential. Neither by words or manner should any of the parties to a consultation assert or insinuate, that any part of the treatment pursued did not receive his assent. The responsibility must be equally divided between the medical attendants, -they must equally share the credit or success as well as the blame of failure.

Here is a link to the pdf of the 1847 book:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/upload/mm/369/1847code.pdf


From time immemorial, patient privacy and confidentiality have been ethical concepts that, up until now, were fundamental to all physicians and to the patient-doctor relationship.

The Oath of Hippocrates, in fact, states: "Whatever, in connection with my professional practice or not in connection with it, I may see or hear in the lives of men, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret. While I continue to keep this oath unviolated, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the art, respected by all men at all times, but should I trespass and violate this oath, may the reverse be my lot."

From this site:
http://www.sx.tc/sx67-98.html

[Kat]

Thanks Susan.
So why did Bowen talk, why did they ask him anything, and why did he continue through trial to talk. At first it might be because of the chaos?

[Susan]

You're welcome, Kat. Well, I don't know if this is any kind of answer, but, there is a code for conduct for the medical profession dealing with coroners and courts.

From the Code of Medical Ethics, page 105, Chapter-111

OF THE DUTIES OF THE PROFESSION TO THE PUBLIC, AND OF THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE PUBLIC TO THE PROFESSION.

ART. I-Duties of the profession to the public.

#2. Medical men should also always be ready, when called on by the legally constituted authorities, to enlighten coroners' inquests and courts of justice, on subjects strictly medical, -such as involve questions relating to sanity, legitimacy, murder by poisons or other violent means, and in regard to the various other subjects embraced in the science of Medical Jurisprudence. But in these cases, and especially where they are required to make a post-mortem examination, it is just, in consequence of the time, labour (sic) and skill required, and the responsibility and risk they incur, that the public should award them a proper honorarium.

So, Dr. Bowen may have felt compelled to talk as it was outlined as part of his duties. I think that the first amendment that came about to this Code was in 1900, so, Dr. Bowen was operating under the same general Code of 1847 in 1892. It really is an interesting document, well worth perusing.

[Kat]

Thanks again.
But that doesn't address a live patient supposedly peripheral to the case. I could see why Bowen would and could be asked questions as to evidence of death- a dead person, I don't think has any rights.
Not that Lizzie as female had rights, but Lizzie as patient should have, shouldn't she?

[Allen]

If they are trying to establish the patient’s state of mind during testimony, can doctor patient privilege be waived?

[Nokatay]

Getting back to sickness, the first thing that came to mind on such a hot day is bad water. Fecal coliform bacteria is often found in water supplies during hot spells. The warmer temperatures allow the bacteria to grow more readily. Infected individuals may experience some gastrointestinal distress such as diarrhea or gastroenteritis. Water from a municipal system could easily be contaminated, but ground water from a well would be less likely to be contaminated, although fertilization of trees and gardens could spread the bacteria. I've read somewhere, here, that supposed "Lizzie went into the basement and used the tap there." It never said "the pump in the basement." So municipal water was probably used.

This is my first postulation here, and I am new to the Borden history, so don't beat me up too bad on this one...yet. LOL.

[FairhavenGuy]

The Borden's had municipal water. It came from Watuppa Pond.

Their old well was no longer used, but I imagine that it would have been contaminated worse than the city supply. It was close to a barn and Andrew tended to toss his slop pail directly into the back yard, too.

Many wells in cities and towns and even on farms were often contaminated by their close proximity to barns and animal waste.

[Kat]

Some ponds could become contaminated by being too close to a graveyard leaching arsenic.

I think of the illness as something simple like that too, Nokatay.
Or from eating the pears without a proper washing- tho Bridget did not eat any, and Morse did... Maybe it wasn't the pears...

Oh maybe it was the ice...
Or the SALAD! Yea, the salad
I'm joking.

Did they use ice in their drinks?