Sal Hepatica Cures Blindness

When I was about 10 years old, my father owned a Plymouth Business Coupe. I am not sure what year model his was. I do know that it was an older car and was not our primary vehicle at that time. It did not have a backseat, only an area behind the front seat where you could store things. There was room back there for kids to ride squatted down, which I did on occasion.

One Saturday, my father and I took our 22 rifles and went down to my grandfather's house in the business coupe. I don't think we were going hunting per se, but we were going to go walking in the woods and took the rifles "just in case." When we got down to my grandfather's and picked him up, he sat in the passenger seat, my father drove and I stood on the running board since the guns occupied the space behind the seat. He drove us the couple of miles on to the location where we were going to walk in the woods. After some walking around we headed back to my grandfather's house, again with me standing on the running board. As we drove up into my grandfather's yard, I put my foot down to step off the running board a little before the car came to a complete stop. That was a big mistake. My foot caught and I was flipped heels over head onto the side of the drive and landed on the back of my head in between two big outcroppings of flint rock. I was knocked unconscious but I was not out. Instead, I jumped up and started running around unaware and dazed. I don't remember any of the running but was told of it later. When I regained consciousness, I was sitting in my grandfather’s bedroom in front of the fireplace and my father, grandfather and grandmother were all talking to me. I was totally blind.

After some discussion, they determined that I should be taken home and watched to see what happened. Later, I recall sitting at my place at our kitchen table. Somehow my parents had decided that what I needed was a dose of Sal Hepatica. They mixed it up and put it in front of me to drink. I did not like the taste and resisted drinking it but they insisted. Finally I was able to choke it down. Over the next couple of hours, I gradually began to be able to discern light and shadow and by later that evening my sight had completely returned. After that I have always said that Sal Hepatica cures blindness. Some folks say it doesn't but all I know is I was blind, I took Sal Hepatica, then I could see.

For years, I thought that Sal Hepatica was like Alka Seltzer and that my parents were giving it to me for my headache. Recently I discovered that it was in fact a laxative. Maybe they thought that all that was wrong with me was I was full of crap. From what I have heard from many of my acquaintances over the years, there have been several other times when a dose of Sal Hepatica might have been in order for what was wrong with me.