Episode 81: Isn't It Too Much to Do? [1]
“What happened?”
The commotion in the amputation ward soon spread throughout the hospital. It was only natural. For some time now, the screams from that ward had been a nightmare for the entire hospital. This was a hospital that had never paid much attention to pain relief before, but because anesthesia had not been available, many surgeries simply were not performed. To make matters worse, some of the patients who braved surgery died from shock caused by pain, so the issue had never been properly raised. However, as anesthesia became more common and the number of patients rapidly increased, an unexpected problem arose. The director was a money-maker, as the saying went, so he could never give up the income from amputations. Because of that, everyone in the hospital had to endure those nightmares.
It felt like it was finally over.
“Ughhhh…”
“Huh…”
No, it wasn’t completely over. Now that I thought about it, aspirin, or rather, the aspirin I remembered, seemed to have controlled gastrointestinal issues to some extent. Almost everyone who took my medicine complained of heartburn, and many said it was only somewhat effective. But no one openly complained. Whatever it was, it was better than before. It wasn’t only the patients who felt that way. Anyone who came here could sense it. Liston, who came running in out of breath, felt the same.
“In Joseon… when someone is sick, they make a decoction of willow bark and give it to them. I wondered if that would work.”
Joseon… a name that would now be remembered forever as an advanced country in medicine. I looked at Liston almost blankly as he said it. Since they knew nothing about their own country, they naturally nodded. As far as I knew, no such tradition existed.
“That’s right. Joseon is such a great country. If I get the chance, I definitely want to go there.”
I did too. If I went, I would probably have to go separately…
If they go and everything is discovered, won’t they cut me in half and kill me? No, no. It was the same back then…
When I thought about it, I figured I could go with him since I didn’t have the ability to teach him Korean anyway. Joseon was almost like the end of the world at this point, and since there was no telling when I would ever be able to go, I decided to just talk about it.
“Anyway, it seems to be working.”
“Yes, it looks like it. It’s effective for patients who have had amputations. Even though I didn’t have a headache, I’m glad I came.”
Liston stopped talking to me and held his head. It seemed like he had a headache. I reflexively tried to give him the willow-bark water, which I had now decided to call salicylic acid, but before I knew it, he had turned away and was heading in another direction.
“Uh, where are you going?”
This man said he was sick, so why was he acting like that? When I asked, he turned to me with a face that seemed to say, What are you asking?
“Of course I’m going to see Thomas. You just have to wait.”
“No… didn’t you see that this has a pain-relieving effect?”
“Hmm? Isn’t it effective for amputees?”
“No, no. It works for all kinds of pain. Maybe not phantom pain, but… anyway, it works for other pains.”
“Oh, oh. And what about my headache?”
“Yes. But it seems you’ll feel sick if you take it on an empty stomach, so eat something first.”
“Huh? Does that have anything to do with feeling upset?”
“Ah.”
Ah! Didn’t he know that stomach acid came from the stomach and caused pain? I think he did. However, it seemed natural that he wouldn’t know the drug could stimulate gastric acid secretion or inhibit the protective action of the mucous membrane. I didn’t think they even realized food had a protective effect. It hadn’t been that long since the guideline for taking most medications changed from “thirty minutes after a meal” to “immediately after a meal,” right?
“Just… I think so.”
“Do they say something like that in Joseon?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Then I should follow that. Anyway, it’s amazing. I thought the British Empire was the best in the world at everything… but now I see there’s something to learn from Joseon in the field of medicine.”
Liston said that and drank the salicylic acid while munching on bread that looked really tasteless at first glance. He drank it as if it were coffee, and I thought it was amazing. No matter how many patients I saw improving, I couldn’t believe he could drink it right away like this. Indeed, the nineteenth century was overflowing with the spirit of experimentation.
“Oh… it really is getting better.”
“Even so, I told my father to go to Joseon if he gets the chance.”
Alfred mentioned his father to Liston, whose pain had eased and whose mood had improved. I glared at him without realizing it. Why did you tell your father? What if this spread?
“Oh, yes? When can he go?”
“He doesn’t have any plans to sail right now because of the condom business.”
“I see.”
Oh, thank goodness. Okay… I thought it would be best to delay it as much as possible. Wasn’t my reputation bound to spread quickly anyway? It seemed like I had been rushing, but I had already solved quite a few diseases. If this trend continued, there probably wouldn’t be any doctor who could compete with me in a few years.
“The amputation ward issue has been resolved, and our review raised one issue, so why don’t we call it a day and go on a picnic? I heard some good meat has arrived.”
“Meat?”
“Yes. Let’s take the servants with us.”
“You have servants?”
“Look. I’m rich now. Do you know how many amputations they perform in a day?”
“Ah.”
You made a lot of money cutting off other people’s limbs. I didn’t think it was much different from being a killer… Anyway, it was a good thing. Meat. From the way he talked, it sounded like he was going to eat barbecue. In British food, pure grilled meat was the best. The more these people did something to the food, the worse it tasted, strangely enough. It was always like that.
“Then when should we go?”
“Right away. You boys have nothing to do either, right?”
Alfred and Joseph Lister, who had been following Liston like shadows, looked at me and nodded. Asking whether we had anything to do sounded somewhat like an interrogation, but it was probably true. All right. Anyway, we rode in two carriages paid for by Liston, who had become rich. Our group rode in one carriage, and the people helping with the picnic rode in the other.
“Hey, hey!”
The carriage we rode left London at high speed and headed toward the countryside. The scenery was much better than I expected, even just outside London. Was it really okay to spread a mat and sit down anywhere? Of course, Liston, who had become rich, didn’t settle for just anywhere. We ended up at a small villa.
“This too… did you buy it?”
Me too… Let’s try it, cutting…
“Oh, no. I borrowed it. These days, I come here on weekends to read books and relax.”
“Ah.”
No, it wasn’t like that. This meant the path I would take was the righteous path, not the demonic path. I barely escaped qi deviation and looked around the villa. It might seem small for hosting a party, but if one person was staying there alone, it was very spacious. Even the backyard had a place to grill meat. There was firewood lying around, and the servants who came with us looked a little troubled.
“I… Professor?”
“Why?”
“Don’t you have any flint?”
“I see. Firestone. Hahahaha. You boys are quite old-fashioned.”
Wasn’t this the era of gas stoves? No torches? In the end, flint was still the best way to start a fire. That was my common sense too. I wondered if I now knew how to make a fire. But Liston was ridiculing the common sense of the times. I literally laughed out loud. Then he took something out of his pocket.
“This is called a match.”
“Matches? No, that’s a very expensive item… isn’t it?”
“Hahaha.”
Did they already have matches? Was it that kind of era?
Oh, now that I think about it, “The Little Match Girl” was a nineteenth-century story…
It seemed matches might exist. But they were expensive? I tilted my head at the servant’s words. At least in my era, matches were never expensive. Even in “The Little Match Girl,” they weren’t depicted as costly.
“It used to be like that. But not anymore. This is from Austria and is brand new. It’s a lot cheaper than you think. Even though it’s imported, it will be even cheaper once we start making it here.”
Ah, it had been difficult to make matches in the past, but now that science was advancing…
Profit.
Liston stopped talking and struck the match against the ground. At that moment, I witnessed a truly brilliant light. It was a fire so bright I forgot what I was going to say, but it also seemed terribly dangerous.
“Be careful. Once this fire starts, it won’t go out easily.”
“Yes?”
“It’s because they use white phosphorus. Why didn’t I think of this before? White phosphorus is cheap and highly flammable.”
White phosphorus… I think I’ve heard that somewhere before…
“The smoke is really white?”
“That’s why it’s called white phosphorus. Anyway, what happens if I just throw it away like this?”
And… I really thought the phrase “bursting into flames” applied here. The fire bloomed so violently that it was hard to believe it came from just one match.
“And…”
“Is it strange?”
“Yes, it’s very interesting. If more of this comes in, no more… I suppose we won’t need to use flint anymore?”
“Yes. No, it’s not like that. Would you like some? Here you go.”
“This precious thing… can I take it?”
“That’s because it’s not that expensive. Haha. But if you put it inside your pants and it rubs, it catches fire.”
“Yes, yes. Seeing this makes me think we need to handle it carefully.”
That unusual fire. That white smoke. Where had I seen it before? In the news…
War crime… white phosphorus…
Did these crazy people make matches out of something used in banned bombs?
Hey… God. After all, this wasn’t the Earth I lived on…? Right…?
I looked up at the sky, then remembered more about white phosphorus and shuddered. I ended up blocking my nose without realizing it.
White phosphorus. The only poisonous form among phosphorus compounds. As far as I knew, that smoke must have been harsh.
Wait… let’s stop. How do they make this?
It wouldn’t have fallen from the sky, right? Someone must have made it, but the people making it would inevitably become poisoned by white phosphorus. In the long run, their bones would melt, mostly the jaw. That meant dying a truly painful death. The only treatment was to remove the lower jaw, but no flap surgery would be possible at this time, so it was basically a death sentence.
This… this must be stopped…
As I watched the cool, brightly burning fire, I fell into a serious dilemma between the people I liked.
Footnote 1 — Translator’s Notes
Salicylic acid — A compound related to aspirin. Willow bark contains salicin, which the body can convert into salicylic acid-like substances.
Gastrointestinal issues — Stomach and intestinal side effects, such as heartburn, nausea, irritation, or bleeding.
Gastric acid — Acid produced in the stomach to help digest food.
Mucous membrane — Moist protective lining inside parts of the body, including the stomach and respiratory tract.
Phantom pain — Pain felt in a missing limb after amputation.
Flint / firestone — Hard stone used to create sparks for starting fires.
Match — Small fire-starting stick. Early matches could be dangerous because of unstable chemical ingredients.
White phosphorus — Highly flammable and toxic form of phosphorus used historically in early matches and later associated with incendiary weapons.
Phosphorus poisoning — Poisoning from phosphorus exposure. In match workers, chronic exposure could cause severe jawbone disease.
Phossy jaw — Severe jawbone necrosis caused by chronic white phosphorus exposure, historically seen in match factory workers.
Flap surgery — Tissue transfer surgery. The narrator notes that such reconstruction would not be practical in this era.
Qi deviation — Wuxia/xianxia concept referring to a dangerous loss of control during cultivation, used here jokingly when the narrator nearly thinks in a “demonic path” direction.