Ellen G. White’s Use of Remedial Agencies
269
On one occasion a physician came to me in great distress. He had
been called to attend a young woman who was dangerously ill. She
had contracted fever while on the campground, and was taken to our
school building near Melbourne, Australia. But she became so much
worse that it was feared she could not live. The physician, Dr. Merritt
Kellogg, came to me and said, “Sister White, have you any light for
me on this case? If relief cannot be given our sister, she can live but
a few hours.” I replied, “Send to a blacksmith’s shop, and get some
pulverized charcoal; make a poultice of it, and lay it over her stomach
and sides.” The doctor hastened away to follow out my instructions.
Soon he returned, saying, “Relief came in less than half an hour after
the application of the poultices. She is now having the first natural
sleep she has had for days.”
I have ordered the same treatment for others who were suffering
great pain, and it has brought relief and been the means of saving
life. My mother had told me that snake bites and the sting of reptiles
and poisonous insects could often be rendered harmless by the use of
charcoal poultices. When working on the land at Avondale, Australia,
the workmen would often bruise their hands and limbs, and this in
many cases resulted in such severe inflammation that the worker would
have to leave his work for some time. One came to me one day in this
condition, with his hand tied in a sling. He was much troubled over
the circumstance; for his help was needed in clearing the land I said to
him, “Go to the place where you have been burning the timber, and
get me some charcoal from the eucalyptus tree, pulverize it, and I will
dress your hand.” This was done, and the next morning he reported
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that the pain was gone. Soon he was ready to return to his work.
I write these things that you may know that the Lord has not left
us without the use of simple remedies which, when used, will not
leave the system in the weakened condition in which the use of drugs
so often leaves it. We need well-trained nurses who can understand
how to use the simple remedies that nature provides for restoration to
health, and who can teach those who are ignorant of the laws of health
how to use these simple but effective cures.
He who created men and women has an interest in those who
suffer. He has directed in the establishment of our sanitariums and
in the building up of schools close to our sanitariums, that they may
become efficient mediums in training men and women for the work