John Kent

“ What but the most consummate impudence can allow a man to assert that he has cured a genuine cancer, when that very man does not know the nature of cancer, or point out what is, or what is not, a malignant disease?
Having thus described the nature and symptoms of cancer; and having adverted to the effect of medicine upon this disease, I shall make some remarks on the treatment of the same. I have stated there is no specific remedy known for this disease; and that those who pretend to such specific are imposters of the most dangerous description; such men will boast of "great discoveries;" ”

“ It is from this difficulty of cure that so many remedies have been proposed in scrofula; and yet the same difficulty continues, plainly shewing that the greater part of these nostra are mere deceptions, imposing upon the sufferer, both in mind and pocket. Hence the proposers of these fictitious remedies become more bold and impudent than ever; nothing is too barefaced for them to publish; not even that they can extract carious bone without any other aid than "the power of their medicines,"—than which nothing can be more impudently false. ”

“ The disease does not always return to the part where the former tumour was taken away, but more frequently in the neighbourhood, and sometimes at a considerable distance. Upon a relapse, the disease in those I saw was more violent, and made a much quicker progress than it did in others on whom no operation had been performed."—I believe the whole medical profession are of the same opinion; in fact, those gentlemen are candid enough to acknowledge that cancer is a disease over which their art has no control. ”

“ In process of time the part ulcerates, a discharge of fetid ichorous matter issues from it; sometimes it bleeds freely, and there is a burning pain in the part. The ulcer becomes of considerable size, and assumes a frightful aspect. The patient becomes dejected in his spirits, his countenance is sallow and woe worn, his appetite fails, his days and nights are full of sorrow and pain, the disease still progresses, till, finally, death comes to the aid of the unhappy sufferer, and closes the scene of anguish and misery. ”

“ It is so intractable and malignant in its nature that it is generally considered an incurable disease; and not without reason, as notwithstanding the great increase of knowledge amongst that valuable portion of the community, the medical profession, yet it baffles all their efforts to subdue it, and sets at defiance all the triumphs of science. ”

“ This disease may attack any part of the human body; but in general commences in the glandular structures, such as the glands in the arm-pits, in the neck, &c.; it often also attacks the joints, as the knee, the elbow, the hip, the wrist, the ankle, and likewise the fingers and toes. Too often it does not confine its ravages to the external parts, but it attacks the vital parts; when it affects the lungs it is called consumption, and I wish this to be particularly understood, that consumption is neither more nor less than scrofula of the lungs. ”

“ A young lady belonging to one of the most respectable families in the vicinity of Stanton, had suffered for some time from scrofulous disease of the left hand; and as her parents were in affluent circumstances, no expense was spared in procuring the best surgical advice in the kingdom; this, however, was to no effect, and she was placed under the care of J. Kent, under whose treatment twenty-five pieces of bone were extracted from the diseased part; and although her health had become much impaired, she speedily improved, and ultimately a perfect cure took place. ”

“ I have not resorted to those artificial props which some men are in the habit of employing because the cases themselves are too lame to stand alone; I allude to the practice of soliciting the attestations of the patients, and decoying the simple, the ignorant, well-intentioned, but deceived neighbours, to add their signatures to cases of which they know nothing, and of which the details are a series of bombast, falsehood, ignorance, and humbug. ”

“ By attending to the symptoms they might then attack the disease before it becomes fully developed, when it "often produces the most miserable objects of human wretchedness;" and when it frequently becomes impossible to say, "Thus far shalt thou go, and no further."
CANCER, ITS NATURE AND SYMPTOMS.
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Cancer is, unfortunately, one of those desperate diseases to which the human frame is liable, and more to be dreaded than any other, inasmuch as it is insidious in its approach, and destructive to the greatest degree when it is perfectly developed. ”

“ When from blows, bruises, sprains, or other causes, the joints of the elbows, wrists, ankles, knees, fingers or toes, become affected, the disease proceeds in the same slow manner, frequently destroying the ligaments or tendons; the matter insinuating itself between the bones till they become carious, and ultimately destroyed. What is commonly termed white swelling is of this description; it may continue for a great length of time, and yet the patient may recover, excepting a stiffness or contraction of the affected joint. ”

“ These deceptions, however, find their proper level, and they then rapidly sink into oblivion. The botanical medicines and applications which I have had the honour to bring before the public as remedies for scrofula have stood the test of twenty-six years' experience; during which period many hundreds of cures have been effected solely by their agency. They still maintain their unrivalled efficacy; scrofula has yielded its stubbornness and its malignity to their powers in a vast variety of instances, and they may be fairly considered as established in the opinion of the public. ”

“ There are many of the cases which I have related to which I could have obtained the signatures of clergymen, Members of Parliament, magistrates, and other persons high in rank and station in life, without saying a word about overseers, churchwardens, and parishioners, the signatures of whom might be obtained at all times; but, established as my practice is, I would scorn to importune those gentlemen, and impertinently to place their names before the public in a position which every sensible man must declare to be that of extreme negligence, ignorance, or unbecoming officiousness. ”

“ I may also remark that in Scrofulous constitutions there is frequently a thickness of the upper lip, or swelling of the lower part of the nose; the eyes are also peculiarly liable to attacks of scrofula, in which case the light is remarkably offensive to those organs. The skin and muscles are loose and flabby; and the mental powers of children so affected are often prematurely displayed. ”

“ I have said that the patients' spirits are usually dejected in this disease, and I wish this to be particularly noticed, as it points out how cautious a medical man ought to be in stating positively to the sufferer the real nature of his complaint. The mind is so depressed by the disease, that the simple communication of the fact to the patient often produces such a shock to the feelings as he rarely recovers from ”

“ It may cause the long bones to become fragile, so that the patient may have a fractured limb from a very slight cause, or it may convert bone into a dense carcinomatous structure; but exfoliation will never take place. Then as to the occurrence of confirmed cancer in the mouth and throat, I have no hesitation in stating that it rarely if ever occurs, and that if it ever did, it was a perfectly incurable disease ”

“ Edmund's, aged about nine years, had been afflicted for upwards of five years with a violent scorbutic humour on the head and behind the ears; and both the eyes were so much affected with scrofulous inflammation, that she could not bear the light upon them, and the discharge and irritation rendered her situation quite miserable. After the best advice had been procured in vain, she was perfectly cured by J. Kent in a very short period of time; and, although two years have elapsed, she has had no return of the complaint. ”

“ It most usually attacks the female breast, the lips, particularly the lower one, the tongue, the skin, and the glandular parts about the neck and arm-pits; the stomach, the liver, the lungs, and the brain, may also become affected with this terrible malady. Sometimes it commences without any ostensible cause, and the attention of the patient is frequently directed to the case by mere accident; at other times, blows, bruises, or continued pressure upon a part, may often be traced as the exciting cause. ”

“ In the sick head-ache, the speedy relief they give is wonderful; and they are particularly calculated to strengthen the digestive organs. They promote the powers of digestion, create appetite, disperse flatulence in the stomach and bowels, and in a little time remove all the painful effects of crudities, indigestion, and habitual costiveness. ”

“ When it attacks the glands of the mesentery, the belly becomes large and hard, while the legs and arms waste; the patient is voracious, yet his food fails in affording sufficient nourishment, and he gradually loses his strength and dies. ”

“ This disease rarely occurs in young subjects. An eminent surgeon states, that in the course of nearly forty years' extensive practice, he has seen but two instances of its occurring under 30 years of age; most usually it commences at the age of between forty and fifty years. Like many other diseases it is frequently hereditary, many members of the same family having become the subjects of cancer. ”

“ It may be readily supposed, that from the long career of success which I have had in the treatment of scrofulous diseases, some impudent individuals should have attempted to imitate my mode of proceeding, and to foist themselves and their spurious remedies upon the public ”

“ This disease cannot be propagated by contact or contagion; it exists in individuals in whom there is a peculiarity of constitution which predisposes them to its attacks; and this brings me to the consideration of one of the most important causes of the disease, namely, an hereditary taint. ”

“ The proprietors offer them in full confidence that they will generally answer the purpose for which they are intended, and be found an excellent remedy in all obstructions of the bowels and disorders of the stomach, arising either from a redundancy of bile, or a deficiency of that important secretion ”

“ In this case it is seen how prone Scrofula is to attack the bones, which in many instances it completely destroys; here a large piece of bone was removed before the parts got well, but this bone was not removed simply "by the power of the Medicines alone," as some persons would impudently and ignorantly assert, but nature, a little mechanical assistance, and the aid of suitable Medicines and Applications, all contributed to remove this extensive exfoliation of the tibia, or large bone of the leg. ”

“ JOHN GOODING, Gent., Brook Street, Ipswich, now about 70 years of age, had a severe attack of scrofula on the right thigh; he was brought over from Ipswich to Stanton, when J. Kent found the thigh swollen to an enormous size, attended with considerable inflammation, and with a large quantity of matter formed between the muscles and integuments. The pain was excruciating, and his health had declined extremely ”