“My argument is that supportive care is what made a difference,” Barnes said. “Food, drink, clean clothing, clean bedding, rest, and nursing care. As for medicine, most of the medical textbooks were prescribing aggressive depletion like bloodletting and purging. But they also got a treatment of gentle tonics, which included quinine and wine or brandy to stimulate the body. Sometimes there was morphine for pain relief or to help them sleep.”