Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1856-08-09


my. We can not suppose they are without
opportunities of thus acquiring knowledge. for
we read that after a criminal is executed il is
not uncommon for his body to be hacked in
pieces by the young nobility. iha, they may
Try the temper and edge of their sword blades.
But superstition is in the way. To come into
contact with death is deemed pollution. With
out such examinations. j, is obvious that the
knowledge Of the physician and surgeon must
be but imperfect at best.
There are, however, in Japan, original med
ieAl works constantly appearing. and iransla-
iions are also made Of all such AS ihey eau OBJ
tain in the Dutch language, which they best
understand. The European medical gentlemen
who have come in contact with their profess
ional brethren ofJapan report favorably ofihem:
and DR. Siebold speaks with high praise Of the
zeal with which the native physicians throneed
around him, from all parts Of the empire, seek
lng 10 enlarge the stores Of their Knowledge
lie bears testimony aso to their intelligence.
as evinced by the questions they asked. Acu-
puncture and mora burning are both used in
Japan, and are native inventions. They have
an original treaties on the first, and the proper
cases for its use. Their drugs are mostly ami
NAL and vegetable they are too little acquaint-
ed with chemistry 10 venture upon mineral rem
edies. They study medical botany, however,
with great attention, and their remedies are
said 10 be generally eificacious. Some OF their
medicinal preparations are very remarkable.
producing most singular effects. Ofihese there
is one spoken Of by Tiisnch, who saw its sp-
Mi aud Ia.
OF the officers Of our own expedition we have
heard Of this preparation, OF which, we believe
they have brought home specimens Titsingh
thus writes "lnstead Of lnclosng the bodies
Of the dead in coflins Of length and breadth
proportionaie to the stature and bulk Of the de-
ceased. they place the body in tub three feet
high, two feet and a half IN diameter at the top
and two feet at bottom. 1t is difficult 10 con-
ceive how the body Of grown person can be
compressed into so small space, when the
limbs, rendered rigid by death, can not be bent
in any way. The japanese to whom made
this observation, told me that they produced the
resul, by means Of particular powder called
DosiG, which they introduce into the cars, nos
uils, and mouth Of the deceased, after which
the limbs, all at once, acquire astonishing fex-
ibili'y. As they Promised to perform the ex-
pertinent in my presence, ] could not do other
wise than suspend my judgement, les, should
condemn, as an absurd fiction, fact " hich, in-
deed, surpasses our conceptions, but may yet
be susceptible Of a plausible explanation, es-
peeially by galyanism, the recently discovered
effects of which also appeared at fret TO exceed
the bounds Of eredoliy. The experiment ac-
cordingly took place in the moath Of October,
1888, when the cold was pretty severe. A
young Duiehman having died in our factory at
Dezma, ! directed the physician 10 cause the
body to be washed aud left all night exposed 10
the air, on a table placed near an open window
in order that IL might become completely stuff
Next morning several japanese, some Of the
officers Of our factory, and myself, went to ex-
anime the corpse, which was as hard as piece
Of wood. One Of the interpreters, lamcd Zen
by, drew from his bosom sdRfoek, or pocket
book, and took out of it an oblong paper, filled
with coarse powder resembling sand. He
put pinch into the ears, another pinch into
the noslrils, and third into the mouth and
presently, whether from the effect Of this drug
or Of some trick which could not detect, the
arms, which had been crossed over the breast,
dropped OF themselves, aud in less than twenty
minutes, by the watch, the body recovered all
lis fexibility.
81 attributed this phenomenon to the action
Of some subtle poison, but was assured that the
DosiG powder, so faE from being poisonous
was most excellent nedic;ne in chld-bearing,
for diseases Of the eyes, and for other maladies.
An infusion Of this powder, taken even 10 per-
feet health, is said TO have virtues which cause
It to be in great request among the japanese of
all closes. 1t cheers the spirits and refreshes
the body. 1t is carefully tied up in white
cloth and dried, afer being used, as ii will serve
great number Of times before losing its yir-
tues"
ASTRONOMY. this science they have made
very considerable proficiency. They under
stand the use Of European instruments, and have
caused many Of Them to be very successfully
initiated by native workmen. Meylan says he
saw good telescopes, chronomelors, and haro-
meters, made by japanese mechanics. They
calculate eclipses accurately. and yearly altman
acs arc prepared in the Jeddo and Doiri COL
leges. Lalande's treaiises and other astrono-
mical works have been translated form Dutch
into japanese, and are studied with great ar
dor. They have in their division Of time a
cycle of sixty years, calculated ont Of their 20
diac, which, like ours, has twelve signs, diff
fering from ours in their names only. But this
is not the place to consider infinitely their as
Economical system. We can not leave it, how
ever, withou, the remark that, on acomparison
of il with that of The Muscas, an ancient. semi
civilized, and now extinct race, that once iu-
hahiIed The plains Of Boeota, in New Granada,
the resemblances were so striking that they pro-
duced on our mind conviction that the asron-
omieal systems Of the two people were snhslan-
ially the same.
CANADIAN SLANG-WHANG.