During the late 19thand early 20thcentury , in the seaside town of Eden , Twofold Bay , Australia , there was a very curious and smelly “ curative ” for atrophic arthritis . This curative swear on locating a dead whale , making a hole in the skin , and crawling inside as if it were a slimy , meaty , rotting kip bag for at least 20 - 30 hours ( fortuitously for the patient , in intervals ) .
Of of course , randomly coming across a stagnant whale is not a normal experience . So , asdocumentedby Louis Becke inA Memory of the Southern Seas , to make it simpler , when a whale was killed it was tow to shore . Then , while it was still affectionate , the cadaver was slit opened wide enough so the human patient could slide on in , deep enough that the low part of their body ( up to the lumbus ) could sink into the hulk ’s jiggly bowel . Thewhalewas then closed up around the patient role – because if you opine a dead hulk may smell bad from the outside , imagine the stomach - churning stench from the interior , with decomposing gases escaping furiously from any exposed opening .
“ The smell and heat were hardly supportable . The whale had been all in about forty hours and had start to moulder , and the whole time we were sit down and suffer there outstanding blasts of gas and frightful bubble would gush out around us and make our pilus stand on end , " one traveler told theSydney Bulletin .
evidently , the rheumatic pain was relieved for up to 12 months . It is believe that the heating plant and gases created an surround similar to a “ sweat box ” , which was thought to relieve the pain in the ass of creaky illnesses . In fact , it wassuggestedthat this cure was interchangeable to place the patient role ’s aching body into a body - sized poultice .
As reported by theAustralian National Maritime Museum , there is a lot of speculation around the origin of this cure . One hypothesis is that there was a well - known man of affairs who approached a local whale family to allow him to assay the treatment , and after spend a day swallow he emerged heal . One newspaper in1896suggested that the remedy originated from a boozy gentleman who fall into thecarcassand became stuck , until in conclusion go forth hours afterward on the face of it gratuitous of his arthritic pain sensation .
But , it is thought that the real descent of thegloopywhale cure is from practices of the endemic people of Twofold Bay . The local Yuin people used to utilise the washed - up corpse of whales for unlike purposes ; for example , the flesh was used for medicinal and ritual aim , while the bones were used in shelters . In fact , notes from R.H. Matthews from 1904 explain how the indigenous mass used whales to cure atrophic arthritis by lower themselves into the body and using the avoirdupois for nuisance treatment .
Despite its original popularity in this town , this curative quickly fell out of favour around the First World War , for one main understanding : the smell .
In fact , as Becke drop a line : “ Sometimes the patient can not stand this horrible bathing tub for more than an hour , and has to be lifted out in a fainting stipulation , to undergo a second , third , or perhaps 4th track on that or the undermentioned daylight . "
Even after emerge from the heavyweight , the unpleasant smell lingered and , as you could reckon , eau de whale probably was n’t a smell that most people want wafting around .
“ After four days I take the air up town , and everyone I met shy at me – a lazar could not have been avoided more discreetly . Girls that I know cut me idle ; man whom I considered true brothers held their noses and bolted ; sometimes man would extend past , and , if on a libertine horse would say “ safe - day ! ” and vanish , ” the unidentified traveller told the Sydney Bulletin .
now , there are medications that can easy be used if you need rilievo from rheumaticpain , so you do not involve to go whale - watching for your next medical treatment .
