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the US constitution might have been signed in a haze of marijuana smoke...

GWGW

George Washington probably died from pneumonia, age 67. The only treatment for anything in those days was to bleed the patient. As far as a cure is concerned, we’re still in the dark ages with some modern illuminations.

 

We have ventilators. We find compounds such as hydroxychloroquine that could work or may not work. Some are addictive and many patient are suing pharmaceuticals for opiate addiction… We need to do “a lot of” testing… Some stuff was known to be beneficial or detrimental to health — all by trial and error. The list of poisons is long. Some mushrooms are said to be contributing to our general well-being, while others are fatal or can send us with the hallucinogenic pixies. 



George was not of general good health. His false teeth were famous for bothering him. Made of various material from ivory to bone and metal, they gave him trouble: “they are both uneasy in the mouth and bulge my lips out" and that the teeth "have, by degrees, worked loose”, despite having been made by the best of the best dentists... 

When Washington was inaugurated President in 1789, only one real tooth remained in his mouth. Dr. John Greenwood, a former soldier in the Revolution, and a pioneer in American dentistry — fashioned an advanced set of dentures carved out of hippopotamus ivory and used gold wire springs and brass screws to also hold human teeth. Greenwood even left a hole in the dentures to accommodate Washington's single tooth as he believed a dentist should "never extract a tooth… when there is a possibility of saving it.”

Washington lost this tooth eventually and he gave it to Greenwood who cherished it in a special case.

George did not like slavery nor did he like big business, but he liked hemp, whiskey and tobacco — as income generators, of course. One can imagine the “fathers” in a room full of smoke, tobacco and marijuana, with a few shots of whiskey on the table, and a few quills, writing in cursive and signing “just kidding”… 

As nearly 100,000 people have died from the Covid19 in the USA, one wonders about the improvements of medicine since George Washington days. It is believed that George had survived smallpox but had made him infertile. His only descendants were his stepson and step daughter after he married a 26 year-old widow with two kids. His stepdaughter died in his arms, from an epileptic fit. 

He was for emancipation but “the time was not right” during his lifetime — though he made sure in his will that when his wife died, hers and his slaves would be emancipated. 

Nowadays, the world is ruled by The Donald. Here the contrast is striking. George Washington bought land in bulk to resell to small enterprising individuals, in order to foster diversity, rather than sell it to monopolising big business. 

This is why kiddies, it is important to look after your own teeth… Brush, floss and toothpick...

Endeth history lesson for today 21 May 2020...
Gl.

struggling with the mouth...

It could be an illusion, but Gus believes that the artist, Gilbert Stuart Williamstown, in the above portrait of George Washington, struggled to paint the mouth. It seems the colours have gone muddy from various efforts in either trying to disguise the protruding lips or the clinching of teeth — unless George always had a five o'clock shadow... Who knows, it could be some later retouching by a restorer...

 

and it could have been something else...

 

Since Washington’s death in 1799, medical practitioners have tried to ascertain what killed the former President so quickly. At the time, Washington’s doctors considered four possible reasons for his demise, and the consensus was cynanche trachealis, also known as the croup, an inflammation of the glottis, larynx, or upper part of the trachea that obstructed Washington’s airway.

But over the years, different theories emerged. In 1917, one doctor theorized that Washington died from diphtheria, and a decade later, another theory arose that Washington suffered from “septic sore throat, probably of streptococcic origin, associated with acute edema of the larynx.”

But in recent years, a different theory emerged. Dr. Howard Markel, writing for PBS.com in 2014, summarized the findings, citing research from Dr. David Morens in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“In the 215 years since Washington died, several retrospective diagnoses have been offered ranging from croup, quinsy, Ludwig’s angina, Vincent’s angina, diphtheria, and streptococcal throat infection to acute pneumonia. But Dr. Morens’s suggestion of acute bacterial epiglottitis seems most likely,” said Markel.

Not everyone agrees with that theory, with inflammatory quinsy, or a peritonsillar abscess, as another possible killer.

“However none of these diagnoses quite fit the description of Washington’s terminal illness but on the other hand acute epiglottitis does explain all of his symptoms and his demise. His illness is a classic ‘textbook’ case of acute epiglottitis,” wrote Dr. White McKenzie Wallenborn, for the University of Virginia back in 1997.

Another debate has centered on the massive bloodletting and the ignored suggestion of a tracheotomy as possible main contributors to Washington’s death. Morens said back in 1999 that the bloodletting likely didn’t kill a man of Washington’s size, and the little-used tracheotomy was only occasionally successful.

“The truth of the matter is that they did the best they could, against a pathologically implacable foe, using now antiquated and discredited theories of medical practice,” Markel said.

 

Read more:

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-mysterious-death-of-george-washington

 

And it could have been a "Covid99" (a coronavirus of 1799), who knows, having given him double pneumonia... as well as diphteria, as well as the weird medical treatment, altogether... The doctors did not have hydroxylchloroquine then... though it might have killed him as well... or he might have had a septic shock due to his dentures being crap, after catching a cold... and being of poor health in general...