Some remarkable stories about cures of cancer have lately attracted
much attention. It is stated that a sister of the Earl of Romney, who had been given up for cancer of the throat, was cured by an application of a liquid made from fresh green violet leaves macerated in water, and applied as a poultice to the throat. The remedy was tried in consequence of a legend current in some parts of the country that violet leaves furnish a cure for cancer. It is also asserted that the Röntgen ray will cure cancer, one American doctor affirming that he has tried it in fifty cases and never failed in one. There is no a priori reason against either remedy, the cause of the terrible disease being still not ascertained, but there is always the doubt whether the cases reported cured were cases of malig- nant tumour. Experiments are now, however, being tried, especially with the violet leaves, so numerous that certainty one way or other must soon be attained.
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