One night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury

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‘One night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury': Syphilis and ‘Syphilophobes’ in Early Modern England

Dec22 by The Chirurgeon's Apprentice

Skeleton (c. 18th century) showing signs of advance syphilis.

Before the discovery of penicillin in 1928, syphilis was an incurable disease. Its symptoms were as terrifying as they were unrelenting. Those who suffered from it long enough could expect to develop unsightly skin ulcers, paralysis, gradual blindness, dementia and ‘saddle nose‘, a grotesque deformity which occurs when the bridge of the nose caves into the face.

The seventeenth century was particularly rife with syphilis. Because of its prevalence, both physicians and surgeons treated syphilitic patients. Many treatments involved the use of mercury, hence giving rise to the saying: ‘One night with Venus, a lifetime with Mercury’. Mercury could be administered in the form of calomel (mercury chloride), an ointment, a steam bath or pill. Unfortunately, the side effects could be as painful and terrifying as the disease itself. Many patients who underwent mercury treatments suffered from extensive tooth loss, ulcerations and neurological damage. In many cases, people died from significant mercury poisoning.

Given the nature of syphilis, as well as its therapeutic alternative, it is not a surprise that many people developed a phobia of the disease. ‘Syphilophobes’ feature frequently in seventeenth-century medical literature. Richard Wiseman, a surgeon from the period, writes: ‘These men will strangely imagine all the pains and other Symptoms they have read of, or have heard other men talk of. Many of these hypochondriack have come to [me]. They commonly went away…unsatisified, nor could they quiet their minds till they found some undertake that would comply with them’. [1]

When a surgeon or physician failed to provide the desired diagnosis, syphilophobes often turned to quacks, who frequently traded on the fears of their patients. Quacks promised quick and immediate cures for the syphilophobes’ imaginary symptoms. Wiseman naturally expressed his scepticism: these patients ‘were never the better, the imagination in which the Disease was seated remaining still uncured; whereupon presuming they were not in hands skilful enough, they have gone to others and so forwards, till they have ruined both their Bodies and Purses’. [2]

Today, syphilophobes are few and far between thanks to the wonders of penicillin; however, there are people who still suffer from a general fear of venereal diseases. Cypridophobia is named after the Greek island, Cyprus, where legend has it the Goddess, Venus, was born. Although it is rare, those who suffer from it can at least rest assured that ‘one night with Venus’ does not lead to a ‘lifetime with Mercury’ in this day and age.

1. Richard Wiseman, Eight Chirurgicall Treatises (1676).
2. Ibid.

Mercury Conspiracy

In 1777 John Trumbull painted a dramatic painting called, “The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton.”  General George Washington appears in the center of the action with another man close behind him, Dr. Benjamin Rush.

Wikipedia describes the death of General Mercer:

“In spite of medical efforts by Dr. Benjamin Rush, General Hugh Mercer was mortally wounded and died nine agonizing days later on January 12, 1777.” 

Isn’t this an odd sentence? 

Shouldn’t it read as follows:

Mercer was mortally wounded and died nine agonizing days later on January 12, 1777, in spite of medical efforts by Benjamin Rush.  Isn’t this a little closer to reality?

But what if the real reality is as follows?

Mercer was wounded, and because of the medical efforts of Dr. Benjamin Rush, he died nine agonizing days later on January 12, 1777.

Who is Dr. Benjamin Rush?  He is the father of the Heroic age of Medicine.  There are hospitals named after Dr. Rush.  He educated over 3000 medical students.  Oh, and he was a firm believer of blood letting and the use of mercury, and mercury based calomel right up unto the end of his own life.

He had his own Calomel product too, “Dr. Rush’s Thunderbolts,” aka “Dr. Rush’s Thunder Clappers.”  To make his “Thunder Clappers,” Dr. Benjamin Rush concocted a mixture of calomel, chlorine, jalap and mercury to create a proprietary purgative.

Here are the facts:

1777: Dr. Benjamin Rush kills General Hugh Mercer with his Calomel, and blood letting 9 days after Mercer is wounded at the Battle of Princeton.

1780–1850:  Educated professional physicians aggressively practice "heroic medicine," including bloodletting, intestinal purging (calomel), vomiting (tartar emetic), profuse sweating (diaphoretics) and blistering, stressing already weakened bodies.  Physicians originally treated diseases like syphilis with salves made from mercury.  While well intentioned, and often well accepted by the medical community, these treatments were actually harmful to the patient.

1799: Dr. Benjamin Rush kills George Washington, the father of our country, with bloodletting and calomel pills.  Yes, Washington was sick, he woke up in the middle of the night suffering from a sore throat, possibly strep throat.

1804: Dr Benjamin Rush sends Lewis and Clark on their expedition with his  Thunderbolt Calomel pills.  Historians have been able to tell the exact route Lewis and Clark took because of the mercury poisoning in the ground.

1826: Dental Amalgam appears upon the scene.

1840: The American Society of Dental Surgeons denounced the use of amalgams due to concerns about mercury poisoning. Members of the society were required to pledge to avoid the mercury amalgam fillings.  The other tow options were to place gold fillings, which were quite expensive, or pull the tooth.  Since the populace wanted to keep their teeth, and amalgams were cheaper, faster and easier to place than gold materials, many dentists continued using amalgams.

1847:  The American Medical Association is founded by the medical doctors old boy network to stop an influx of alternative medicines, and the speaking out against the use of mercury and Calomel.

1853: The United States Surgeon General, Walter Hammond, is court marshaled for forbidding the use of Calomel on wounded soldiers.  He was railroaded out of office on trumped up charges because he dared to stand up to the AMA.

1856:  The American Society of Dental Surgeons is disbanded; controversy over the use of dental amalgam led to its demise.

1859: The pro-mercury amalgam faction in America formed its own dental society, first called the National Dental Association; it was later re-named the American Dental Association (ADA).

Here are some additional facts:

Mercury and Plutonium are the most deadly metals on the planet.

Mercury is toxic in ANY form.

The mercury in your shiny silver fillings threatens your well being 24/7, unleashing tiny amounts of poison into your body every second of every hour of every day.

The American Medical Association will give you lots of medicines to treat the symptoms of your disease(s).  However, try to find one single study anywhere sanctioned by the AMA or the ADA that studies the dangers of mercury poisoning.  Let me know if you do.

If this isn’t a conspiracy, I don’t know what is.