Silver and its Early Uses
Man’s use of silver as a disinfectant dates back to our earliest recorded history.
The Greeks and others used silver vessels for water and other liquids to keep them fresh.
The Egyptians used silver as a thin beaten paper-like product and wrapped it around wounds to avoid infection.
The Druids lined their drinking vessels with the metal for disinfecting and sanitizing water.
It was observed that those ancient families who ate from silver utensils rarely were sick and had few infections. This knowledge passed on to kings, emperors, sultans and their families and members of their royal courts. They ate from silver plates, drank from silver cups, used silver utensils and stored their food in silver containers.
Settlers in the Australian outback suspended silverware in the water tanks to retard spoilage.
Generations ago, pioneers trekking across the Wild West in the US faced many hardships. Keeping safe drinking water was one of them. Bacteria, algae, etc., found a fertile breeding ground in wooden casks, which were carried by the wagons. They placed silver coins in the casks to retard the growth of the spoilage organisms. They also placed silver coins in their milk to keep it fresh.
Wrapping wounds in silver foil was a common treatment around the late 1800’s early 1900’s to prevent infection.
Eventually, man learned to make silver nitrate and use it in wounds as an antibiotic. But silver nitrate is a silver salt and is caustic, and therefore burns tissue, much like iodine.
These early, unstable and crudely made silver solutions were sometimes injected directly into the body, taken orally or applied topically. Remarkably, there were no significant side effects.