Sep 15, 2023 07:19 PM
https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/...lackbeard/
EXCERPT: ... Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, ran aground in May of 1718 at Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, shortly after the Charleston harbor blockade. The pirate chief disbanded the flotilla, and escaped with only a handful of men, transferring his most valuable loot to a smaller ship called Adventure, on which he made his getaway. Blackbeard was killed in battle just a year later, almost to the day.
The wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge was miraculously rediscovered in 1996 off the coast of North Carolina, and archaeologists have been studying it ever since. They've excavated about 60% of the site and retrieved numerous artifacts, among them a treasure trove of medical equipment that ship doctors used on Blackbeard's injured and diseased crew.
Many of these instruments were brutal by today's medical standards. These include a metal urethral syringe used to inject mercury to treat naughty pirates of syphilis. The use of mercury often causes severe side effects such as tooth loss, kidney damage, and even death. Despite these risks, mercury remained a popular treatment for syphilis until the discovery of penicillin in the 20th century.
"Because his passion for piracy, I think he cared very much about keeping it going, and to keep it going, he had to have a healthy, functioning crew," Linda Carnes-McNaughton, an archeologist working on the project told The Washington Post.
[...] The doctors must have employed all sorts of gadgets, including a "clyster pump," an enema device used to treat severe dehydration by pumping fluid into the rectum. Other interesting devices found among the Queen Anne’s Revenge wreck include a bloodletting instrument called a porringer, cast brass mortar and pestle for grinding medications, and galley pots likely used to store balms, salves, and other healing potions. A silver needle and the remains of scissors would have likely been handy during surgeries... (MORE - missing details, images)
Queen Anne's Revenge shipwreck discovery ... https://youtu.be/E6VlqaDRRgY
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/E6VlqaDRRgY
EXCERPT: ... Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, ran aground in May of 1718 at Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, shortly after the Charleston harbor blockade. The pirate chief disbanded the flotilla, and escaped with only a handful of men, transferring his most valuable loot to a smaller ship called Adventure, on which he made his getaway. Blackbeard was killed in battle just a year later, almost to the day.
The wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge was miraculously rediscovered in 1996 off the coast of North Carolina, and archaeologists have been studying it ever since. They've excavated about 60% of the site and retrieved numerous artifacts, among them a treasure trove of medical equipment that ship doctors used on Blackbeard's injured and diseased crew.
Many of these instruments were brutal by today's medical standards. These include a metal urethral syringe used to inject mercury to treat naughty pirates of syphilis. The use of mercury often causes severe side effects such as tooth loss, kidney damage, and even death. Despite these risks, mercury remained a popular treatment for syphilis until the discovery of penicillin in the 20th century.
"Because his passion for piracy, I think he cared very much about keeping it going, and to keep it going, he had to have a healthy, functioning crew," Linda Carnes-McNaughton, an archeologist working on the project told The Washington Post.
[...] The doctors must have employed all sorts of gadgets, including a "clyster pump," an enema device used to treat severe dehydration by pumping fluid into the rectum. Other interesting devices found among the Queen Anne’s Revenge wreck include a bloodletting instrument called a porringer, cast brass mortar and pestle for grinding medications, and galley pots likely used to store balms, salves, and other healing potions. A silver needle and the remains of scissors would have likely been handy during surgeries... (MORE - missing details, images)
Queen Anne's Revenge shipwreck discovery ... https://youtu.be/E6VlqaDRRgY