The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-07-13

between the latter should be as strictly followed
between the former.
Hawaiian Medical Instruction.
Or the outside of to-day's paper--on the first
page-will he found, printed in full, a valuable
document, the Report of the OF the
Hawaiian Evangelical Association, last month, on
t..e subject of the Medical Instruction of the
IIawaiians. The report is very ably drawn, by
gentlemen cmincntly qualified to discuss the sub
iect, being each of them members of the medical
profession, and intimately acquainted with the
native Hawaiian character and necessities.
Too much weight cannot be attached to the
importance Of the subject under discussion, and
the Committee have rather under than over
rated that Importance. Religious teachers
philantlropists in every sense of the word-have
been laboring for over forty years for the tenn
poril A. well rs the spiritual welfare Of the Ha-
waiians, only to STE them ut this late day fading
away into extinction.
We have frequently discussed ut length in these
columns some of the principal causes which have
led to this deplorable condition of the native race.
Incontinencc, inf,nticide. intcmperance, and lat
terly but not least, the pernioious practices of
the native kahunas, or doctors, to which allusion
is made in the :cport. These are the yeriest
charlatans in existence. Their operations are
generally carried on secretly, and the foreign
husband of Il matis" woman NAV never know the
means by which his wife is brought to death by
a process of maltreatment-or no treatment at
all-while he pays a heavy bill for Il physicians
visits, and for drugs which, as soon rs his back
is turned. are thrown away. The natives motto
is invariably Throw Qoreigners) physic to the
dogs In former days this was not so much the
case as now. Thea the American Missionaries
were all in the habit of keeping dispensaries,
which were supplied by the Board in Boston at a
large annual expense of money. The custom was
To supply the natives with simple remedies, gra-
~tuitously to the poor,.and at cost prices to those
who were able to Fay. Much suffering was thus
allcyiated among the people, and from the fact
that many of the Missionaries had received more
or less of II medical education, there was scarcely
any danger of mai practice. Subsequently the
Government forbade this practice, and undertook
to supply the medicines, and ultimately, exag-
gcrated stories, set On foot by prejudiced and in
tcrested parties, resulted i'll the interdiction, by
statute, of any one prescribing even n dose of
pills or salts unless he Were a regularly licensed
physician. 80 FIR was this idea carried that it
was even attempted in the Legislature to limit
the sale of :. patent medicines, such as Davis
Iainkillcr, and Jayne's preparations, to the
regular NJ. DIS. Ii was an cndcavOr, by the
help of Government, To create n personal monop-
oily for the benefit ID somebody or other, but in
spite of the strong influence brought to bear,
there was too much Common sense in both the
Legislature and the Privy Council, each of which
,-,.o ..,...:,.l- ,.,l,aI q, -, c,x,r - -. ,l,o
20 procure it's adoption. But yet, in the face of
the increasing mortality among the people in the
districts, it is now unlawful for any one
who has not obtained a license to give away Il
dose of salts, castor ell or Jayne's pills.
But there are two Riclmonds in the field.
There arc two classes of regular practitioners.
One is composed of foreigners, educated in the
schools and colleges of foreign countries. and, rs
a general thing. Us skillful men in their profess
sion rs can be fomh elsewhere. We have had
quncks here in former years, but few or none lat
terly. Within the last ten years, owing, as we
are of opinion, to the increased density of the
population of IicIolulu, and To the want of
proper sewerage, there has been much more dis
ease than formerly, and much IDore frequently n
demand for the drtor. Where is the agent of
the Board of Health?
Next comes Richmond Number Two, and al
though it is the youngest, it is, however, the
most vigorous of tie two medical schools, and has
more practitioners and far more patients than the
first. This Is the native Hawaiian school of
doctors-na;iye to the manor born. When the
Islands were first discovered by Europeans. the
or doctors, had even more power than
the real chiefs of the country. They protested,
and were believed o possess, by the chiefs AZ well
as people, the mysterious power of 0naana, or
to death. The highest chief of the land
Jared not speak sherwise than kindly TO his
for fear o, the anger of the gods. Let
the chief be ever 81 much engaged in business or
amusement. if the kahuna made his appearance,
al was at once dropped and the most respectful
attention paid to hm. Even the most intelligent
IF the old time chefs were undo this influence.
is said of KuaIini, or Governor Adams. of
that on ore occasion he remarked to a
when a noted kahuna had just gone
,ut-s. 'fraid of that fellow"
But while the practices of these doctors were
made up of idolatrcus mummeries there can be
10 question but that some of them possessed no
knowledge of he medicinal virtues of roots
nd herbs. and som, degree of skill in the treat
ncnt Of diseases Of he simpler sort. Now, how