CONCENTRATED RAYS OF THE SUN 
(SOLAR CAUTERY) 
AS A REMEDIAL AGENT. 
BV 
O. V. THAYER, M. D.. 
San Francisco. 
READ BEFORE THE SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY MEDICAL 
SOCIETY, APRIL II, 1893. 
REPRINT FROM 
Pacific Medical Journal 
JULY, 1893. 
V/. A. WOODWARD & CO., PRINTERS, 12 SUTTER ST. Concentrated Rays of the Sun (Solar 
Cautery) as a Remedial Agent. 
By 0. V. THAYER, M.D., San Francisco. 
[Read before the San Francisco County Medical Society, April 11, 1893.] 
Many years ago I commenced a series of experiments in the 
treatment of diseases of the skin and its appendages, and have 
continued them from time to time up to the present. My first 
experiments were with the use of heated needles which I had 
seen used by the late Professor Valentine Mott, M. D., of New 
York City, while a student at the medical department of the 
University of New York. The heated needles were applied for 
the destruction of erectile tumors and other morbid growths. 
For some time I continued the use of the needles whenever I 
could find a patient willing to submit to this delicate treatment. 
Many were the wails sent on high and sometimes sent to the 
regions below as the victims squirmed under the torture of this 
method of treatment. This was attended with only partial suc- 
cess at first. But with more experience in the use of the needles 
and selecting my patients with more care and better judgment 
the treatment proved more successful and satisfactory. 
Medicated Needles.-My next experiments were with needles 
dipped before using into acids, alkalies and astringents, then 
thrust into the morbid tissues. I treated many cases of nsevi or, 
more properly, capillary aneurism, in this way, using liquor 
ferri persulphatis, carbolic acid, etc. The needles were pushed 
through and through the vascular tissues. Inflammation fol- 
lowed, adhesion of the walls of the minute vessels supervened 
and the circulation was cut off, leaving the surface a more natu- 
ral color. It was necessary to repeat these operations in order 
to produce a permanent cure. This treatment was attended with 
considerable pain and nervousness, consequently it became un- 
popular, especially among its victims. 
Endermic Injections.-My next step was the use of the ender- 
mic syringe by which the medicated fluid was introduced 2 
Solar Cautery. 
directly into the morbid tissues, in the quantity desired. Many 
cases were treated in this way, resulting in few permanent cures. 
The injected fluid generally destroyed the vitality of tissues, cut- 
ting off nutrition and sloughing followed. After cicatrization 
an unsightly scar remained to remind the surgeon, as well as the 
patient, ever afterwards that the treatment was unsuccessful and 
far from satisfactory. There was also more or less danger 
attending the partial coagulation of the blood in the vessels. 
Coagula might be detached and enter the general circulation, 
resulting in embolism and death. When I realized the number 
of operations of this character I am more than surprised that no 
accident followed this treatment. 
Croton Oil.-I also tested the value of croton oil in the treat- 
ment of birthmarks and other discolorations of the skin. I 
used an instrument invented by a German physician, consisting 
of a cylinder holding the oil, at the bottom of which was a porous 
membrane pierced with some twenty fine short needles; these 
were connected with a spring. By applying the instrument to 
the part to be operated upon and pressing the spring the 
needles entered the skin carrying with them more or less oil. A 
vesicular eruption followed, adhesive inflammation intervened 
obliterating the capillary vessels, leaving the skin a more natu- 
ralcolor. If necessary the application could be repeated until 
the cure was complete. Carbolic acid can be used in the same 
manner and purpose. I also used in my experiments ethylate 
of sodium and potassium for the removal of discoloration of the 
skin. The part is lightly covered with the ethylate which soon 
changes the skin to a dark brown color, after which a crust is 
formed. Within a few days this will loosen and come off, leav- 
ing the skin much lighter in color. The application can be re- 
peated until the skin resumes its natural color. I have tried 
the freezing process; the skin is frozen, then with a scalpel 
the part is cut in parallel and oblique lines the sixteenth of 
an inch apart; press immediately upon the cut surface white 
thick blotting paper to absorb any blood that may ooze out. 
The object in view is to cut across the small vessels and destroy 
them; this treatment was attended with more or less success. 
It has required much time, patience and perseverence in test- 
ing the value of these several remedial agents and great pains 
were taken in securing suitable cases for treatment. Great care 
and much caution was needed in the applications to avoid, if Solar Cautery. 
3 
possible, any permanent injury. These experiments have not 
proved altogether satisfactory, although many cases were 
treated successfully. Still I am compelled to acknowledge 
numerous partial or complete failures. More or less trouble 
was experienced in getting patients to submit to the treatment, 
especially women and children and the more timid of the sterner 
sex. The old adage, "A burnt child dreads the fire," deprived 
me of the opportunity of repeating the operation which was 
absolutely necessary to success. On the whole, however, much 
valuable knowledge has been obtained which can be utilized in 
future practice. 
We now come to the most important and instructive portion of 
this paper. The application of the concentrated rays of the sun 
(solar cautery) in the treatment of the following diseases, to wit: 
capillary aneurisms, varicose veins, indolent, chancroidal and 
rodent ulcers, epithelial cancers, birth, India ink and powder 
marks, bleeding vessels and surfaces, hemorrhoidal and erectile 
tumors, morbid growths, such as warts, moles, small wens and 
all diseases of the skin of a parasitic nature. 
Many years since I commenced4the use of the concentrated 
sun's rays (using a common sun-glass) in the treatment of dis- 
eases of the skin and its appendages. I was lead to the use of 
this treatment by the merest accident. My first experiments 
were directed to the removal of moles and warts and were 
crowned with perfect success. I soon realized the necessity of 
obtaining larger and more perfect lenses, which I obtained in 
New York City. I then widened the field of operations, working 
carefully and cautiously, and watching every step of the pro- 
cess that no permanent injury might result from the use of so 
positive a remedy. 
During this time I searched the medical literature of this and 
the old world for some notice or hint that the concentrated rays 
of the sun had been utilized in surgical practice, but in vain. 
Soon after the War of the Rebellion I came across a short 
article in the London Lancet in which the use of the sun's rays 
as a cautery was noticed. A surgeon whose name I have for- 
gotten succeeded in removing a wine-mark from the face of a 
lady and had also succeeded in destroying a malignant growth 
with the same remedy. The wound had healed readily and up 
to the time the article was published there had been no symp- 
toms of the disease returning. This renewed my confidence 4 
Solar Cautery. 
and zeal. I continued the treatment whenever an opportunity 
presented itself. Success attended a large majority of the cases 
operated upon. 
One drawback to this treatment, especially in the Eastern 
States, where I resided many years before coming to this 
coast, is the uncertainty of sunny days. For more than six 
months of the year sunny days are the exception. I have been 
compelled to keep patients waiting for more than two weeks for 
a bright sunny day, as we could not operate in any other. What 
a contrast to this sunny clime. " Old Sol," with his bright, 
effulgent face, is ever smiling upon his creatures, imparting life 
and energy to all animated nature. During a practice of more 
than a quarter of a century I have found no caustic or cautery 
to compare with solar heat in its beneficial results. Unlike 
other caustics it can be applied with perfect safety upon the most 
delicate tissues and is at all times under the control of the opera- 
tor. It has other advantages-the system receives this treat- 
ment kindly. The irritation and inflammation following its 
application is surprisingly slight and of short duration. An- 
other point in its favor, the pain subsides immediately upon the 
removal of the lens. I have burned the skin of nearly the 
whole of one side of the face at one sitting, destroying the 
cuticle; within five minutes the burned surface would be free of 
pain. There is a curative power in the chemical rays of the 
sun yet unexplained. I avoid blistering, carrying the burning 
beyond this point, carbonizing the tissue. 
In the treatment of morbid or malignant growths, we destroy 
most fully the morbid products. Upon this depends the suc- 
cess of the operation. The morbid tissue having less vitality 
than the normal, succumbs to the cautery before the natural 
structures adjoining are injured. This enables us to attack 
boldly the malignant or morbid growths without any fear of in- 
jury to the healthy tissues surrounding them. 
In the primary treatment of chancre, or chancroid, this treat- 
ment stands unrivaled. Within the space of two minutes the 
infectious chancroid, or the true Huntarian chancre, is deprived 
of its contagion and changed to a simple ulcer. Hemorrhoidal 
tumors, when external to the sphincter, are bodily destroyed, 
and the part heals without unpleasant symptoms. Indolent 
ulcers of long standing take on new life after the application of 
solar heat. In the course of a few days healthy granulations Solar Cautery. 
5 
appear, which continue to a favorable termination, especially 
when the general health is looked after. Granular surfaces, 
which are inclined to bleed from the slightest touch, are changed 
to a healthy state. Hemorrhages from small arterial or veinous 
vessels are checked almost instantly with the solar cautery. 
Diseases of the skin of a parasitic nature are treated with 
marked success. Cases that have withstood the repeated at- 
tacks of the usually prescribed remedies, have succumbed to 
one or more applications of solar heat. I believe that the pus- 
tules of small pox can be aborted, and pitting prevented with 
this agent. What seems surprisingly strange to me, is the fact 
that a remedy of so much curative power and value, and one so 
easily utilized, should have remained unknown to the medical 
profession so long. From the time I first tested the virtues of 
solar heat, as a remedial agent, up to the present, I have kept 
back nothing of value from the profession, have been willing 
and ready at all times to impart any knowledge acquired, and 
have urged my professional brethren to use this agent in their 
practice. I am sorry to confess, however, that the liberality on 
my part has not at all times been met by a fraternal response. 
I have been misrepresented and even accused of quackery. 
But we must not forget the fact that many of the new discov- 
eries in surgery and therapeutics, on being introduced to the 
notice of the profession, have been traduced and criticised and 
their virtues misrepresented by a class of critics found in every 
department of social life. Even Jenner, whose name stands on 
the pages of history as a bright, effulgent star, and whose mem- 
ory will be revered and honored by generations yet unborn, suf- 
fered the most positive opposition and criticism before public 
sentiment gave him credit, and acknowledged the great benefits 
accruing from vaccination in destroying the predisposition to 
small pox. 
I will close by noticing a few cases out of many treated suc- 
cessfully by the solar cautery. Case I. Mr. M. C., of Peta- 
luma, Sonoma county, aged some 50 years, came under my care 
for treatment of an ulcer of the neck, just below the angle of 
the lower jaw. It dipped down under the edge of the sterno 
cleido mastoid muscle, immediately over the carotid artery. 
The ulcer measured one and a half inches in diameter, circular 
in form, and presented a dark crust superficially, cracked and 
furrowed. The floor was depressed below the raised margin of 6 
Solar Cautery. 
the ulcer. The sinuous raised molding which surrounded the 
ulcer, was of a cartilaginous hardness of a faint pink color. A. 
part of this rim was being broken up by ulceration, with symp 
toms of malignancy, bleeding upon the slightest touch. Still 
in most respects a characteristic rodent ulcer. The history of 
the case was a remarkable one. Twenty-four years previous to 
this consultation he was kicked by a young colt, producing the 
wound upon the neck, since which time he had failed in his 
efforts to heal the injured surface. I commenced the treatment 
of this case by concentrating the rays of the sun through a large 
and powerful lens, destroying the raised margin to a level with 
the healthy skin and also cauterized most thoroughly the floor 
of the ulcer; the slough came away the fifth day, the wound 
exhibited to all external appearance a healthy ulcer, granula- 
tions soon appeared and healing commenced and continued with 
few interruptions. When it became necessary I repeated the 
operation until every vestige of the morbid material was des- 
stroyed. The wound healed in a few weeks, leaving a very slight 
cicatrix. 
Case II. Miss B., of this city, aged 20 years, consulted me as 
to the removal of a port wine colored mark situated upon the 
entire left side of the chin, commencing at the median line of 
the lower lip, extending to the angle of the mouth, down to the 
lower edge of the jaw bone. She came into my office thickly 
veiled. It required no little coaxing on my part to get her con- 
sent to uncover her face, that the mark could be seen. She re- 
marked that " she always wore a veil outside of her immediate 
family." She readily consented to an operation for the removal 
of the discoloration, as she had suffered great mortification and 
mental distress, especially since budding into womanhood. 
With a powerful lens of a focal diameter of four lines, I cauter- 
ized the whole discoloration at one sitting, and applied to the 
part a dressing of zinc ointment, as a protection from the air. 
The burned crust came off in one week, leaving the skin much 
lighter in color. Two weeks later I repeated the operation, and 
then waited the final results of the treatment. Two months from 
the first operation scarcely a trace of the mark could be noticed. 
I lost sight of this young lady for some eighteen months, then 
met her one evening at a small party, at a mutual friend's, but did 
not recognize her. As I was about to leave she accosted me 
and said in a whisper, " Doctor, have you forgotten your old Solar Cautery. 
7 
patient ? " After looking her in the face a moment, I answered 
by asking, " Are you the young lady from whose face I removed 
a mark?" She replied, "I am," and signaled me not to ex- 
pose her. I noticed, however, that the treatment had proved a 
perfect success. 
Case III. A lady with a daughter of 16 years, residents of 
this city, called at my office to consult me about the daughter, 
who had upon the left side of the face, two inches below the 
eye and near the nose, a small tumor, the size of a walnut, on 
the surface of which was an ulcer, which was subject to frequent 
bleedings The commencement of this tumor dated back some 
three years. Its growth was slow but continuous. The mother 
informed me that she had consulted some twenty physicians and 
surgeons, only one of whom advised its removal. The advice 
generally given was, "Let it alone, don't molest it." Upon 
examination it proved to be a very fine specimen of epithelial 
cancer. The consent of the patient was readily given for its re- 
moval by the solar cautery. She was brought under the influ- 
ence of an anesthetic, the cautery was applied and the morbid 
growth was destroyed in some four minutes. Five days after- 
wards the slough came off, a simple ulcer remaining, which 
under suitable dressing was healed in a very short time, there 
remaining a small cicatrix as the only evidence of the previous 
disease. Eight years have elapsed and there has been no re- 
turn. I have been happily surprised to find, in nearly all of the 
operations with the solar cautery, after the healing of the wound, 
so slight a cicatrix, much less than other modes of treatment, 
not even the cutting of the knife excepted. 
Case IV. India ink mark. Mr. B. and wife called for ad- 
vice; the latter had upon the outside of the leg below the knee, 
two large Roman letters, produced with India ink. I noticed 
that the husband was more than anxious for their removal. 
There was a little romance connected with this case, as I learned 
afterwards. The young lady while residing in a seafaring town, 
had a lover-a sailor boy. After their engagement he took the 
liberty to print upon her limb the initials of his name. As ever, 
true love rarely runs smoothly at all times, the lovers became 
estranged, and the present husband became her Benedick. 
These large beautiful Roman letters seen upon the limb of his 
wife, was a constant reminder that he was not her first love. 
The solar cautery was brought to bear, however, upon these 8 
Solar Cautery. 
ghostly letters, as he conceived them, and they were soon oblit- 
erated, leaving no trace of their former self. 
Case V. Mrs. B., aged some 40 years, of Petaluma, Cal., 
came under my care some nine years ago, for the treatment of a 
disease of the right breast, mostly confined to the nipples and 
the tissues surrounding it. The nipple had receded more than 
an inch into the body of the gland, leaving an aperture the 
diameter of which was equal to that of my index finger. It was 
lined with a granular membrane secreting pus. The adjoining 
structures were hardened and the skin of a dark red color. The 
patient informed me that the disease commenced some fifteen 
years since, with an ulcerated nipple. During these long years 
of suffering she had been unable to get any permanent relief 
from the physicians she consulted. I commenced the treatment 
of this case by placing her in a position to apply the concen- 
trated rays of the sun, directly to the aperture left by the reced- 
ing nipple, using a lens of a focus of two lines. With this I most 
thoroughly cauterized and destroyed the granular membrane as 
well as a small layer of the parts adjoining. The burned mate- 
rial came away within a few days, leaving the surfaces in a sat- 
isfactory condition. With treatment to improve the general 
health and the use of suitable dressings, I was enabled in a few 
weeks to produce a permanent cure. There has been no return 
of the disease. 
I selected these few cases from a list of many others that were 
successfully treated with the solar cautery. You will notice that 
each differs in material points from the others. I did this to 
show that the concentrated rays of the sun could be utilized in 
the treatment of a large class of surgical diseases.