The Effect of Magnetic Fields on Wound Healing

The Effect of Magnetic Fields on Wound Healing
Experimental Study and Review of the Literature

Steven L. Henry, MD, Matthew J. Concannon, MD, and Gloria J. Yee, MD
Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Missouri Hospital & Clinics, Columbia, MO
Published July 25, 2008

Objective: Magnets are purported to aid wound healing despite a paucity of scientific evidence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of static magnetic fields on cutaneous wound healing in an animal model. The  literature was reviewed to explore the historical and scientific basis of magnet therapy and to define its current role in the evidence-based practice of plastic surgery. Methods: Standardized wounds were created on the backs of 33 Sprague-Dawley rats, which were divided into 3 groups with either a 23 gauss magnet (group 1), a sham magnet (group 2), or nothing (group 3) positioned over the wound. The rate of wound closure by secondary intention was compared between the groups. Literature review was conducted through searches of PubMed and Ovid databases for articles pertinent to magnets and wound healing. Results: Wounds in the magnet group healed in an average of 15.3 days, significantly faster than those in either the sham group (20.9 days, P = .006) or control group (20.3 days, P < .0001). There was no statistically significant difference between the sham and control groups (P = .45).

Conclusions: An externally applied, low-power, static magnetic field increases the rate of secondary healing. Review of the literature reveals conflicting evidence regarding the use of magnetic energy to aid the healing of bone, tendon, and skin. Level I studies are lacking and difficult to execute but are needed to define conclusively the role of magnets in clinical practice.

Throughout history physicians have sought techniques to facilitate wound healing. From salves and potions to hyperbaric oxygen chambers, the means by which physicians have attempted to manipulate the wound healing process have been innumerable and, despite the claims of their proponents, oftentimes ineffectual.1,2

One popular yet controversial modality is magnet therapy. Particularly in alternative medicine circles, magnets have been touted to promote the wound healing process with claims of decreased pain, accelerated healing time, and increased scar strength. However, these claims have little support in the scientific literature3,4 and the use of magnetic field energy for medical treatment remains limited.

In this study we sought to investigate scientifically the effect of an externally applied, low-power, static magnetic field on the rate of wound healing in a rat model. We also reviewed the literature to explore the historical and scientific basis of magnet therapy and to define its current role in evidence-based medicine as it pertains to plastic surgeons.

METHODS

Standardized wounds were created on the backs of 33 Sprague-Dawley rats. These wounds measured 1.5 × 1.5 cm and were produced under sterile conditions by excising skin, subcutaneous tissue, and panniculus carnosus. After achieving hemostasis, the wounds were covered with an occlusive dressing. The animals were then equally divided into 3 groups. In group 1,a23 gauss magnet measuring 2 × 2 cm was placed over the wound directly on top of the occlusive dressing (Fig 1) (This magnetic strength was chosen to be commensurate with commercially available products marketed for “medical” use). In group 2, a piece of leather of the same dimensions was likewise placed over the wound to serve as a sham magnet. In group 3, nothing was placed on the wound (other than the occlusive dressing).

Figure 1. A 23 gauss magnet measuring 2 × 2 cm was placed over the wound on the back of Sprague-Dawley rats, directly on top of the occlusive dressing.

The wounds were allowed to heal by secondary intention and the time to complete closure was recorded for each animal. The t test was used to compare the mean healing rates of each group.

In the review of the literature, searches of PubMed and Ovid databases were performed. Articles pertaining to magnets and wound healing particularly with regard to bone, skin, and tendon were perused.

RESULTS

The mean time to wound closure in the group treated with magnets was 15.3 ± 2.8 days compared with 20.9 ± 2.5 days for the sham magnet group and 20.3 ± 1.6 days for the  control group (Fig 2). This represents a 27% reduction in healing time relative to the sham group and a 25% reduction relative to the control group. Both comparisons were highly statistically significant (P = .006 vs sham group and P < .0001 vs control group). There was no statistically significant difference between the sham and control groups (P = .45).

Figure 2. Graph comparing the mean time to wound closure in the group treated with magnets to those treated with sham magnets or nothing.

DISCUSSION

The results of this study suggest that exposure to a static magnetic field increases the rate of cutaneous wound healing by secondary intention and provide further testimony to the notion that magnetic fields can influence the physiology of the human body. However, as the following discussion reveals, the precise mechanism and clinical applicability of this effect are still poorly defined.

The earliest reported use of magnetic therapy to aid wound healing dates to the 1600s, when electrically charged gold leaf was applied to smallpox lesions in an attempt to prevent scarring.1 Throughout the following centuries magnetic energy was propounded as a treatment for innumerable ailments and conditions, usually without substantiation of any kind. Today, however, at least 1 application, the promotion of bone healing has garnered strong scientific support and widespread clinical acceptance. The genesis of this application began in the 1950s, when Fukuda and Yasuda in Japan described the piezoelectric effect of bone, in which an electrical potential is produced as a response to mechanical stress.5 Subsequent investigations elucidated the numerous actions of electromagnetic energy on bone including effects on cellular calcium and calcification,6,7 collagen and proteoglycans,8,9 and angiogenesis.10 Clinical investigations proved the benefit of electromagnetic therapy in the treatment of delayed unions,11−14 difficult fractures,15 and osteotomies.16,17 The electrical current and electromagnetic field produced by a bone stimulator is a common application of this concept.

Although there is ample experimental and clinical evidence supporting the use of magnetic fields to aid bone healing, its application for soft tissue healing, including skin and tendons, is still ambiguous. Promising research along these lines was first produced in the 1960s by Becker. Studying amphibians, he described the presence of an electromagnetic skin circuit, alterations which accompanied limb regeneration.18 Borgens et al confirmed that this current is essential for amphibian limb regeneration and that its reversal induces limb degeneration.19,20 In a study involving limb amputations in frogs, a species that does not naturally produce this current and that is normally incapable of limb regeneration, induction of this current stimulated the regeneration of a rudimentary limb that included cartilage, nerve, and skin tissues.20 These skin circuits have been identified in humans and are similar in magnitude to those demonstrated in amphibians.21 Given this fact, it is plausible that external magnetic therapy could influence soft tissue healing in humans as well.

Several laboratory studies support this theory and most implicate a vascular mechanism of action. For example, Tepper et al applied pulsed electromagnetic energy to endothelial cell cultures and demonstrated a marked increase in proliferation and tubulization. They also reported a substantial increase in the expression of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2), a potent stimulator of angiogenesis, and showed that anti-FGF-2 antibodies inhibited the effects of the electromagnetic energy.22 This upregulation of FGF-2 in endothelial cells exposed to pulsed electromagnetic fields was recently confirmed by Callaghan et al.23 Roland et al used pulsed magnetic energy to stimulate neovascularization in a rat model.24 Weber et al demonstrated increased survival of rat groin composite flaps supported by an arterial loop, again showing that pulsed magnetic fields promote neovascularization.25

Less consistent results have been reported in investigations of the direct effect of magnetic energy on cutaneous blood flow. Miura and Okada showed that the arterioles of frogs’ webs dilate in response to pulsed electromagnetic radiation. This effect was shown to be independent of heat and was postulated to involve the modulation of calcium balance in vascular smooth muscle cells.26 Gmitrov et al observed increased blood flow when a static magnetic field of 2500 gauss was applied to rabbit ears,27 whereas Smith et al noted significant arteriolar vasodilatation when pulsed electromagnetic energy was applied to the cremaster muscle of rats.28 However, in a series of studies Ichioka et al demonstrated decreased cutaneous blood flow and temperature in rats exposed to an 8 tesla (80,000 gauss) superconducting magnet,29−31 whereas Mayrovitz and Groseclose found that a 4000 gauss static magnet reduced perfusion in the fingers of human volunteers.32 Several investigators have employed a rat model similar to ours to examine the effect of magnetic fields on cutaneous wound healing, yet have produced conflicting results. Leaper et al studied the effect of 400 gauss magnetic foil (a static field) applied over wounds. They found no influence on wound healing rate, collagen content, or tensile strength.33 Patino et al demonstrated faster healing in wounds treated intermittently with pulsed electromagnetic fields of 200 gauss.34 Similar benefits were found by Callaghan et al in diabetic mice.23 Strauch et al observed accelerated healing and higher tensile strength in rat wounds exposed to pulsed electromagnetic fields.35 On the other hand, Milgram et al found that pulsed magnetic energy did not have a significantly beneficial effect on the rate of wound healing in a rat model.36

The data regarding magnet therapy for tendon healing are even more ambiguous. Greenbough applied pulsed electromagnetic fields to repaired flexor tendons in rabbits and found no benefit in terms of tensile strength or adhesion formation,37 whereas Robotti et al. showed that pulsed electromagnetic fields decrease tensile strength and increase adhesions after tendon repair in chickens.38 These studies are in stark contrast to that of Strauch et al who recently demonstrated a 69% increase in tensile strength in repaired Achilles tendons in rats. They emphasized the importance of using a pulsed magnetic field of low amplitude (0.1 gauss) designed to maximize the effect on calcium ions, which, in theory, enhances the calcium-dependent activation of growth factors.39 Interestingly, our protocol employed a static magnetic field (23 gauss) that was relatively weak compared with those used in many of the aforementioned studies, yet our results indicate a relatively profound effect. Other examples of seemingly contradictory results abound in the literature, many of them presented in this discussion. Most modern investigators believe that pulsed magnetic energy is more effective than static but as seen above both successes and failures have been observed with both modalities. From a practical perspective, the ease of use and affordability of a small static magnet is appealing compared with a relatively cumbersome and expensive pulsed magnetic field generator.

Review of the magnet literature is frustrating not only for the contradictory results of the in vitro and animal studies but also for the lack of well-designed, well-executed clinical trials in humans. Unfortunately, a truly randomized trial, with perfectly matched cohorts, is almost impossible to achieve in the setting of wounds, particularly those involving bone, tendon, and/or skin. Level I evidence regarding the use of magnets, at least as it pertains to plastic surgery, is therefore likely to remain elusive.

CONCLUSION

The application of a low-power, static magnetic field over an excisional wound appears to increase the rate of healing by secondary intention. Review of the literature reveals substantial evidence demonstrating a beneficial effect of magnetic therapy on bone healing but mixed results on tendon and skin healing. Recent laboratory and animal studies point to a vascular, and possibly a calcium-based, mechanism of action. Level I studies are lacking and difficult to execute but are necessary to define conclusively the role of magnets in clinical practice.

REFERENCES

1. Robertson KR. Digby’s receipts. Ann Med Hist. 1925;7:216–9.
2. Carley PJ, Wainapel SF. Electrotherapy for acceleration of wound healing: low intensity direct current. Arch
Phys Med Rehabil. 1985;66:443–6.
3. Szor JK, Topp R. Use of magnet therapy to heal an abdominal wound: a case study. Ostomy Wound Manage.
1998;44:24–9.
4. Man D, Man B, Plosker H. The influence of permanent magnetic field therapy on wound healing in suction
lipectomy patients: a double-blind study. Plast Reconstr Surg. 1999;104:2261–6222.
5. Fukuda E, Yasuda I. On the piezoelectric effect of bone. J Phys Soc Jpn. 1957;10:1158.
6. Bassett CA, Chokshi HR, Hernandez E, et al. The effect of pulsing electromagnetic fields on cellular calcium
and calcification of nonunions. In: Brighton CT, Black J, Pollack SR, eds. Electrical Properties of Bone and
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16. Fredericks DC, Nepola JV, Baker JT, Abbott J, Simon B. Effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields on bone
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17. Inoue N, Ohnishi I, Chen D, Deitz LW, Schwardt JD, Chao EY. Effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields
(PEMF) on late-phase osteotomy gap healing in a canine tibial model. J Orthop Res. 2002;20:1106–
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19. Borgens RB, Vanable, Jr JW, Jaffe LF. Bioelectricity and regeneration: large currents leave the stumps of
regenerating newt limbs. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1977;74:4528–32.
20. Borgens RB, Vanable Jr JW, Jaffe LF. Bioelectricity and regeneration: initiation of frog limb regeneration
by minute currents. J Exp Zool. 1977;200:403–16.
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22. Tepper OM, Callaghan MJ, Chang EI, et al. Electromagnetic fields increase in vitro and in vivo angiogenesis
through endothelial release of FGF-2. FASEB J. 2004;18:1231–3.
23. Callaghan MJ, Chang EI, Seiser N, et al. Pulsed electromagnetic fields accelerate normal and diabetic wound
healing by increasing endogenous FGF-2 release. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2008;121:130–41.
24. Roland D, Ferder M, Kothuru R, Faierman T, Strauch B. Effects of pulsed magnetic energy on a microsurgically
transferred vessel. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2000;105:1371–4.
25. Weber RV, Navarro A, Wu JK, Yu HL, Strauch B. Pulsed magnetic fields applied to a transferred arterial
loop support the rat groin composite flap. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2004;114:1185–9.
26. Miura M, Okada J. Non-thermal vasodilatation by radiofrequency burst-type electromagnetic field radiation
in the frog. J Physiol. 1991;435:257–73.
27. Gmitrov J, Ohkubo C, Okano H. Effect of 0.25 T static magnetic field on microcirculation in rabbits.
Bioelectromagnetics. 2002;23:224–9.
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Res. 2004;22:80–4.
29. Ichioka S, Iwasaka M, Shibata M, Harii K, Kamiya A, Ueno S. Biological effects of static magnetic fields
on the microcirculatory blood flow in vivo: a preliminary report. Med Biol Eng Comput. 1998;36:91–5.
30. Ichioka S, Minegishi M, Iwasaka M, et al. High-intensity static magnetic fields modulate skin microcirculation
and temperature in vivo. Bioelectromagnetics. 2000;21:183–8.
31. Ichioka S, Minegishi M, Iwasaka M, et al. Skin temperature changes induced by strong static magnetic field
exposure. Bioelectromagnetics. 2003;24:380–6.
32. Mayrovitz HN, Groseclose EE. Effects of static magnetic field of either polarity on skin microcirculation.
Microvasc Res. 2005;69:24–7.
33. Leaper DJ, Foster ME, Brennan SS, Davies PW. An experimental study of the influence of magnetic fields
on soft-tissue wound healing. J Trauma. 1985;25:1083–4.
34. Patino O, Grana D, Bolgiani A, et al. Pulsed electromagnetic fields in experimental cutaneous wound healing
in rats. J Burn Care Rehabil. 1996;17:528–31.
35. Strauch B, Patel MK, Navarro JA, Berdichevsky M, Yu HL, Pilla AA. Pulsed magnetic fields accelerate
cutaneous wound healing in rats. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2007;120:425–30.
36. Milgram J, Shahar R, Levin-Harrus T, Kass P. The effect of short, high intensity magnetic field pulses on
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The Field of the Cloth of Gold

Reprint from the Royal Collection Trust Website

The meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I, known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold, took place between 7 to 24 June 1520 in a valley subsequently called the Val d’Or, near Guisnes to the south of Calais. The [...] Read more →

Shooting in Wet Weather

 

Reprint from The Sportsman’s Cabinet and Town and Country Magazine, Vol I. Dec. 1832, Pg. 94-95

To the Editor of the Cabinet.

SIR,

Possessing that anxious feeling so common among shooters on the near approach of the 12th of August, I honestly confess I was not able [...] Read more →

The Age of Chivalry

KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS

On the decline of the Roman power, about five centuries after Christ, the countries of Northern Europe were left almost destitute of a national government. Numerous chiefs, more or less powerful, held local sway, as far as each could enforce his dominion, and occasionally those [...] Read more →

Cup of Tea? To be or not to be

Twinings London – photo by Elisa.rolle

Is the tea in your cup genuine?

The fact is, had one been living in the early 19th Century, one might occasionally encounter a counterfeit cup of tea. Food adulterations to include added poisonings and suspect substitutions were a common problem in Europe at [...] Read more →

The Racing Knockabout Gosling

The Racing Knockabout Gosling.

Gosling was the winning yacht of 1897 in one of the best racing classes now existing in this country, the Roston knockabout class. The origin of this class dates back about six years, when Carl, a small keel cutter, was built for C. H. [...] Read more →

The Fowling Piece – Part I

THE FOWLING PIECE, from the Shooter’s Guide by B. Thomas – 1811.

I AM perfectly aware that a large volume might be written on this subject; but, as my intention is to give only such information and instruction as is necessary for the sportsman, I shall forbear introducing any extraneous [...] Read more →

The Public Attitude Towards Speculation

Reprint from The Pitfalls of Speculation by Thomas Gibson 1906 Ed.

THE PUBLIC ATTITUDE TOWARD SPECULATION

THE public attitude toward speculation is generally hostile. Even those who venture frequently are prone to speak discouragingly of speculative possibilities, and to point warningly to the fact that an [...] Read more →

Coffee & Cigarettes

Aw, the good old days, meet in the coffee shop with a few friends, click open the Zippo, inhale a glorious nosegay of lighter fluid, fresh roasted coffee and a Marlboro cigarette….

A Meta-analysis of Coffee Drinking, Cigarette Smoking, and the Risk of Parkinson’s Disease

We conducted a [...] Read more →

The American Museum in Britain – From Florida to Bath

Hernando de Soto (c1496-1542) Spanish explorer and his men torturing natives of Florida in his determination to find gold. Hand-coloured engraving. John Judkyn Memorial Collection, Freshford Manor, Bath

The print above depicts Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his band of conquistadors torturing Florida natives in order to extract information on where [...] Read more →

Sir Joshua Reynolds – Notes from Rome

“The Leda, in the Colonna palace, by Correggio, is dead-coloured white and black, with ultramarine in the shadow ; and over that is scumbled, thinly and smooth, a warmer tint,—I believe caput mortuum. The lights are mellow ; the shadows blueish, but mellow. The picture is painted on panel, in [...] Read more →

The Apparatus of the Stock Market

Sucker

The components of any given market place include both physical structures set up to accommodate trading, and participants to include buyers, sellers, brokers, agents, barkers, pushers, auctioneers, agencies, and propaganda outlets, and banking or transaction exchange facilities.

Markets are generally set up by sellers as it is in their [...] Read more →

List of the 60 Franklin Library Signed Limited Editions

The following highly collectible Franklin Library Signed Editions were published between 1977 and 1982. They are all fully leather bound with beautiful covers and contain gorgeous and rich silk moire endpapers. Signatures are protected by unattached tissue inserts.

The values listed are average prices that were sought by [...] Read more →

Gout Remedies

Jan Verkolje Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first person to describe gout or uric acid crystals 1679.

For one suffering gout, the following vitamins, herbs, and extracts may be worth looking into:

Vitamin C Folic Acid – Folic Acid is a B vitamin and is also known as B9 – [Known food [...] Read more →

Here’s Many a Year to You

” Here’s many a year to you ! Sportsmen who’ve ridden life straight. Here’s all good cheer to you ! Luck to you early and late.

Here’s to the best of you ! You with the blood and the nerve. Here’s to the rest of you ! What of a weak moment’s swerve ? [...] Read more →

Chronological Catalog of Recorded Lunar Events

In July of 1968, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA), published NASA Technical Report TR R-277 titled Chronological Catalog of Recorded Lunar Events.

The catalog begins with the first entry dated November 26th, 1540 at ∼05h 00m:

Feature: Region of Calippus2 Description: Starlike appearance on dark side Observer: Observers at Worms Reference: [...] Read more →

Furniture Polishing Cream

Furniture Polishing Cream.

Animal oil soap…………………….1 onuce Solution of potassium hydroxide…. .5 ounces Beeswax……………………………1 pound Oil of turpentine…………………..3 pints Water, enough to make……………..5 pints

Dissolve the soap in the lye with the aid of heat; add this solution all at once to the warm solution of the wax in the oil. Beat [...] Read more →

Valentine Poetry from the Cotswold Explorer

 

There is nothing more delightful than a great poetry reading to warm ones heart on a cold winter night fireside. Today is one of the coldest Valentine’s days on record, thus, nothing could be better than listening to the resonant voice of Robin Shuckbrugh, The Cotswold [...] Read more →

U.S. Plant Variety Protection Act – Full Text

WIPO HQ Geneva

UNITED STATES PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION ACT

TITLE I – PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION OFFICE Chapter Section 1. Organization and Publications . 1 2. Legal Provisions as to the Plant Variety Protection Office . 21 3. Plant Variety Protection Fees . 31

CHAPTER 1.-ORGANIZATION AND PUBLICATIONS Section [...] Read more →

Platform of the American Institute of Banking in 1919

Resolution adapted at the New Orleans Convention of the American Institute of Banking, October 9, 1919:

“Ours is an educational association organized for the benefit of the banking fraternity of the country and within our membership may be found on an equal basis both employees and employers; [...] Read more →

Harry Houdini Investigates the Spirit World

The magician delighted in exposing spiritualists as con men and frauds.

By EDMUND WILSON June 24, 1925

Houdini is a short strong stocky man with small feet and a very large head. Seen from the stage, his figure, with its short legs and its pugilist’s proportions, is less impressive than at close [...] Read more →

The Shirk – An Old but Familiar Phenomena

STORE MANAGEMENT—THE SHIRK.

THE shirk is a well-known specimen of the genus homo. His habitat is offices, stores, business establishments of all kinds. His habits are familiar to us, but a few words on the subject will not be amiss. The shirk usually displays activity when the boss is around, [...] Read more →

Mocking Bird Food

Mocking Bird Food.

Hemp seed……….2 pounds Rape seed………. .1 pound Crackers………….1 pound Rice…………….1/4 pound Corn meal………1/4 pound Lard oil…………1/4 pound

 

Home Top of Pg. Read more →

Classic Restoration of a Spring Tied Upholstered Chair

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This video by AT Restoration is the best hands on video I have run across on the basics of classic upholstery. Watch a master at work. Simply amazing.

Tools:

Round needles: https://amzn.to/2S9IhrP Double pointed hand needle: https://amzn.to/3bDmWPp Hand tools: https://amzn.to/2Rytirc Staple gun (for beginner): https://amzn.to/2JZs3x1 Compressor [...] Read more →

Why Beauty Matters – Sir Roger Scruton

Roger Scruton – Why Beauty Matters (2009) from Mirza Akdeniz on Vimeo.

Click here for another site on which to view this video.

Sadly, Sir Roger Scruton passed away a few days ago—January 12th, 2020. Heaven has gained a great philosopher.

Home Top of [...] Read more →

Beef Jerky

BEEF JERKY

Preparation.

Slice 5 pounds lean beef (flank steak or similar cut) into strips 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, 1 to 2 inches wide, and 4 to 12 inches long. Cut with grain of meat; remove the fat. Lay out in a single layer on a smooth clean surface (use [...] Read more →

Christmas Pudding with Dickens

Traditional British Christmas Pudding Recipe by Pen Vogler from the Charles Dickens Museum

Ingredients

85 grams all purpose flour pinch of salt 170 grams Beef Suet 140 grams brown sugar tsp. mixed spice, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, &c 170 grams bread crumbs 170 grams raisins 170 grams currants 55 grams cut mixed peel Gram to [...] Read more →

The Real Time Piece Gentleman and the Digital Watch Vault

Paul Thorpe, Brighton, U.K.

The YouTube watch collecting world is rather tight-knit and small, but growing, as watches became a highly coveted commodity during the recent world-wide pandemic and fueled an explosion of online watch channels.

There is one name many know, The Time Piece Gentleman. This name for me [...] Read more →

Banana Propagation

Banana Propagation

Reprinted from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA.org)

The traditional means of obtaining banana planting material (“seed”) is to acquire suckers from one’s own banana garden, from a neighbor, or from a more distant source. This method served to spread common varieties around the world and to multiply them [...] Read more →

Gold and Economic Freedom

by Alan Greenspan, 1967

An almost hysterical antagonism toward the gold standard is one issue which unites statists of all persuasions. They seem to sense-perhaps more clearly and subtly than many consistent defenders of laissez-faire — that gold and economic freedom are inseparable, that the gold standard is an instrument [...] Read more →

Chinese Duck Cooking – A Few Recipes

Chen Lin, Water fowl, in Cahill, James. Ge jiang shan se (Hills Beyond a River: Chinese Painting of the Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368, Taiwan edition). Taipei: Shitou chubanshe fen youxian gongsi, 1994. pl. 4:13, p. 180. Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. scroll, light colors on paper, 35.7 x 47.5 cm

 

Seeds for Rootstocks of Fruit and Nut Trees

Citrus Fruit Culture

THE PRINCIPAL fruit and nut trees grown commercially in the United States (except figs, tung, and filberts) are grown as varieties or clonal lines propagated on rootstocks.

Almost all the rootstocks are grown from seed. The resulting seedlings then are either budded or grafted with propagating wood [...] Read more →

The Cremation of Sam McGee

Robert W. Service (b.1874, d.1958)

 

There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night [...] Read more →

Chinese 9 Course Dinner

The following recipes form the most popular items in a nine-course dinner program:

BIRD’S NEST SOUP

Soak one pound bird’s nest in cold water overnight. Drain the cold water and cook in boiling water. Drain again. Do this twice. Clean the bird’s nest. Be sure [...] Read more →

Books of Use to the International Art Collector

Hebborn Piranesi

Before meeting with an untimely death at the hand of an unknown assassin in Rome on January 11th, 1996, master forger Eric Hebborn put down on paper a wealth of knowledge about the art of forgery. In a book published posthumously in 1997, titled The Art Forger’s Handbook, Hebborn suggests [...] Read more →

The Late Rev. H.M. Scarth

H. M. Scarth, Rector of Wrington

By the death of Mr. Scarth on the 5th of April, at Tangier, where he had gone for his health’s sake, the familiar form of an old and much valued Member of the Institute has passed away. Harry Mengden Scarth was bron at Staindrop in Durham, [...] Read more →

The Character of a Happy Life

How happy is he born and taught. That serveth not another’s will; Whose armour is his honest thought, And simple truth his utmost skill

Whose passions not his masters are; Whose soul is still prepared for death, Untied unto the world by care Of public fame or private breath;

Who envies none that chance [...] Read more →

Tuna Record

TROF. C. F. HOLDFER AND HIS 183LBS. TUNA, WITH BOATMAN JIM GARDNER.

July 2, 1898. Forest and Stream Pg. 11

The Tuna Record.

Avalon. Santa Catalina Island. Southern California, June 16.—Editor Forest and Stream: Several years ago the writer in articles on the “Game Fishes of the Pacific Slope,” in [...] Read more →

Indian Mode of Hunting – Beaver

Jul. 30, 1898 Forest and Stream Pg. 87

Indian Mode of Hunting.

I.—Beaver.

Wa-sa-Kejic came over to the post early one October, and said his boy had cut his foot, and that he had no one to steer his canoe on a proposed beaver hunt. Now [...] Read more →

Copper Kills Covid-19 and the Sun is Your Friend

The element copper effectively kills viruses and bacteria.

Therefore it would reason and I will assert and not only assert but lay claim to the patents for copper mesh stints to be inserted in the arteries of patients presenting with severe cases of Covid-19 with a slow release dosage of [...] Read more →

Producing and Harvesting Tobacco Seed

THE FIRST step in producing a satisfactory crop of tobacco is to use good seed that is true to type. The grower often can save his own seed to advantage, if he wants to.

Before topping is done, he should go over the tobacco field carefully to pick [...] Read more →

Horn Measurement

Jul. 23, 1898 Forest and Stream, Pg. 65

Horn Measurements.

Editor Forest and Stream: “Record head.” How shamefully this term is being abused, especially in the past three years; or since the giant moose from Alaska made his appearance in public and placed all former records (so far as [...] Read more →

Blackberry Wine

BLACKBERRY WINE

5 gallons of blackberries 5 pound bag of sugar

Fill a pair of empty five gallon buckets half way with hot soapy water and a ¼ cup of vinegar. Wash thoroughly and rinse.

Fill one bucket with two and one half gallons of blackberries and crush with [...] Read more →

British Craftsmanship is Alive and Well

The Queen Elizabeth Trust, or QEST, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of British craftsmanship through the funding of scholarships and educational endeavours to include apprenticeships, trade schools, and traditional university classwork. The work of QEST is instrumental in keeping alive age old arts and crafts such as masonry, glassblowing, shoemaking, [...] Read more →

Country House Christmas Pudding

Country House Christmas Pudding

Ingredients

1 cup Christian Bros Brandy ½ cup Myer’s Dark Rum ½ cup Jim Beam Whiskey 1 cup currants 1 cup sultana raisins 1 cup pitted prunes finely chopped 1 med. apple peeled and grated ½ cup chopped dried apricots ½ cup candied orange peel finely chopped 1 ¼ cup [...] Read more →

How to Distinguish Fishes

 

Sept. 3, 1898. Forest and Stream Pg. 188-189

How to Distinguish Fishes.

BY FRED MATHER. The average angler knows by sight all the fish which he captures, but ask him to describe one and he is puzzled, and will get off on the color of the fish, which is [...] Read more →

Abingdon, Berkshire in the Year of 1880

St.Helen’s on the Thames, photo by Momit

 

From a Dictionary of the Thames from Oxford to the Nore. 1880 by Charles Dickens

Abingdon, Berkshire, on the right bank, from London 103 3/4miles, from Oxford 7 3/4 miles. A station on the Great Western Railway, from Paddington 60 miles. The time occupied [...] Read more →

Of Decorated Furniture

DECORATED or “sumptuous” furniture is not merely furniture that is expensive to buy, but that which has been elaborated with much thought, knowledge, and skill. Such furniture cannot be cheap, certainly, but the real cost of it is sometimes borne by the artist who produces rather than by the man who may [...] Read more →