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Victorian doctor tried acid bath to treat


Still Waters

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A Victorian doctor killed a workhouse boy after allowing him to be treated in an acid bath for scabies, according to newly released National Archive files detailing the hardships of 19th Century life.

Thomas S Fletcher, a surgeon at the Bromsgrove Workhouse, Worcs, was investigated for negligence after his young patient, Henry Cartwright, died in 1842.

The young pauper, whose details were not recorded, died after being immersed in a solution of “sulphuret of potassium”, or potassium sulphate, in a bid to cure “The Itch”, the colloquial term for scabies.

He had joined the workhouse three months previously with his mother, who could not afford to support the family.

According to records of the incident, the surgeon, one of the area's most respected medical practitioners, failed to supervise a nurse, Sarah Chambers, who placed the young boy in the acid bath.

The acid was used at the time to treat skin infections but was to be only administered in small dosages.

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Daym ... I just have the image of a badly burnt body in my head now :blink:

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A very good way to dispose of a kill, however, I prefer quicklime! :lol:

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