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Chinese Theories Regarding Dropsy

Because we draw our sustenance from Nature, if there is anything wrong with our bodies we must look for relief to Nature's way of healing. If any of the five vital organs; viz., the heart, the liver, the spleen, lungs and kidneys, fail to function properly, a dropsical condition may ensue. Chinese investigations show that there are four different kinds of dropsy: (1) Air Dropsy; (2) Blood Dropsy; (3) Water Dropsy; (4) Dropsy caused by poisonous congestion. If the case is one of Water Dropsy, pressure on the flesh leaves a depression; if Air Dropsy, the flesh rebounds quickly. The Chinese do not draw water in case of dropsy, for ever time a sufferer is tapped, he gets weaker. Because all kinds of dropsy are accompanied by more or less air and water, each compound of herbs for dropsy of any sort contains herbs to expel the air and water. According to the old Chinese theories, certain symptoms indicate that dropsy is incurable. Among these are: The swelling of the palms to such an extent that the lines can no longer be traced; Diarrhoea that does not reduce the swelling, but is accompanied by the swelling of the lips, the darkening of the teeth, the protruding of the navel, the swelling of both legs, and the formation over both knees of a substance hard like wood. If, after Diarrhoea has set in, the stomach is still swollen and blue veins become prominent in the stom- -(94)ach, the case is incurable. In difficult and incurable cases, a man swells from the legs up, while the swelling in a woman begins in the upper part of the body and extends down to the lower limbs. The Fong Wan Herbalist has, however, succeeded in some cases where many of these symptoms were present.

The most notable case was that of Mr. M. G. Souza, in which several of the symptoms mentioned above were present. Mr. Souza was in a dying condition. Five doctors had been called to attend him, but all had pronounced his case incurable. Mr. Souza had a wife and six young children, all of whom wept piteously at the thought of losing him. His cousin, Mr. John Souza, came to Fong Wan's office and begged that he go with him to see the dying man. Moved by sympathy, Fong Wan went. Although he saw what a terrible condition Mr. M. G. Souza was in, he gave him a cup of his herb tea. That same evening he went to see one of his old herbalist friends and asked what he thought about the case. The old man expressed the same opinion as had the doctors, and enumerated the symptoms of incurability. But Mr. Souza did not die. He drank the Fong Wan Herbs for several weeks. About three months later he went back to his work at the Union Iron Works and was able to continue with it. His testimonial, which was handed to Fong Wan by Miss Souza, his daughter, appears in these pages.

TESTIMONIALS ::