Postby Andrew MacLean » Sat 28 Jan 2006 1:07 pm
jay
In the remote villages of Scotland, people used to make a poultice of mould and moss to cover wounds. They had found over the centuries that this mixture seemed to prevent the wound becoming infected.
City folk scoffed at this superstition. The Latin pagani means "country dweller", so the superstition was derided as "Pagan", it was not sophisticated, not scientific and therefore not to be taken seriously.
Then a Scottish Scientist called Alexander Fleming, who had himself grown up in the Scottish countryside isolated a substance he called Penicillin. He found that where mould had grown in a petrie dish, no bacterial could live.
Thus was born the age of the antibiotic, and an ancient wisdom was given a scientific explanation.
I think that, in the modern world, researchers may be less willing than they once were to deride the observations of ordinary folk. Louise is right: if it works, it works. the job of the scientist is to find out why, not to dismiss the original observation!
Andrew
Andrew MacLean
. For the past 7 years it has been undercontrol, so instead of going to the Belfy I went to the doctor.
