Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1871-09-28
SuDerstItiOns In Medicines,

The following instances have been
selected, and we. e met with chiefly in the
rural districts of Ems land aud Scotland,
where ignorance was the rule, and medi-
cal science rare. In some cases, however,
doctors of eminent social position were
known to resort to practices that would
now disgrace the commonest quack. Sir
Theodore de Mayence was phyaician to
James l.. Charles I. and Chlares' II yet
he prescribed adders, bats, whelps, earth
worms, hogs grease, stays marrow and
the thigh.bones of oxen; also, pulverized
human bones. His celebrated gout pow.
ders contained raspings of an unburied
human skull.
A book published in 1714, called "A
Collection of Above Three Hundred Re
ceipts in Cookery, Physick, and Surgery"
and purporting to be written by parsons of
great knowledge and long experience, has
the following prescriptions, among Others
equally puerile and disgusting: IAN al.
most infallible drink for weak children: i:
Put an ounce of rhubarb and three hun
dred live wood-bugs into six quarts of
small ale, and drink, spring ard jail, no
other drink" Here ia q "P0Nder for
Consumption: Take twelve dozen of the
smallest grigs (eels) you can Ct, wipe
them very clean. and bake them In we'll
glazed pan all night" etc. Also, An ex-
Take peck of large shell snails, lay them
on a hot hearth before the fire, let them
lie till they have done Kissing and splitting,
then wipe them from the froth and break
them in q mortar; add quart of earth
worms, slit and secured clear" etc.
The cruelty practised in the preparing
of these revolving prescriptions is an nother
sickening feature of these superstiti!ons.
In 1850, one William Ellis published q
book, in which is found the following
cure for the Kings Evil: "A girl at Cad
desden, having the evil In her feet in her
infancy, at eleven years old lost one of
her toes by it, and was so bad she could
hardly walk. A beggar woman, coming
to the door and hearing of it, said that If
they would cut off the hind leg and the
fore leg, on the contrary side of that Of
q toad, and she wear them IN silken bag
about her neck. 1t would certainly cure
her; but it was to be observed that on the
toad's losing her legs it was to be turned
loose abroad, and, as it pined, wasted, snd
died, the distemper would likewise waste
and die, which happened accordingly, for
the girl was entirely cured by it, never
having had the evil afterwards" In some
parts Of Scotland, even at the present day,
they collect quantity of common garden
worms, tie them in q cloth bag, and then
expose them to q slow fire, by which they
are gradually roasted alive; their deccm-
posed remains are then applied, as salve,
10 the stomach of children infected with
worms.
In Lancashire and some of the adjacent
counties the following was considered q
cure for warts: "Steal piece Of meat
from butchers shop or from his tray,
and having we'll rubbed the affected parts
With the stolen meat. bury the latter in
some secluded spot. If the whole be done
without detection, the warts will disappear
IS the meat decays" To cure sty on the
eyelid, "get the tail of black cat, on the
first night of the new moon, and, after
pulling from it one hair, rub the tip nine
times on the pustule." But the cures for
wnooping cough are perhaps the most
singular. In Cheshire ride upon bear
was considered an infallible remedy for it.
Most persons, even in the present day, will
believe this, especially in the neighbor-
hood of the Rocky Mountains. The
remedy would probably cure not only the
whooping cough but every other disease
the person trying it might be sfflicted
Wlbll III IAC SOuA'ACo VI ANOAAOIh, AClCOS"
ter, and Northampton, the custom was to
give fried mice to the patient in the morn.
ing, fasting; three the first morning, then
wait three mornings, and then give the
patient three more; as soon as he had
swallowed nine the cure was worked, and
the cough would leave him. The right
fore foot of a hare worn constantly
in the pocket was considered an effec.
tual charm against rheumatism. Ano.
thcr one against cramp consisted
in wearing about the person the bone Of
sheep popular y known as the cramp- bone
or patclla; it was to be worn rs near tho
skin as possible during the day, and at
night it was to be pl.ced under the pillow.
In the " Gospelle Of Diseases" printed by
Wynkyn de Worde, it IS stated that IF q
woman have the small pox, it behoveth
that her husband buy her black lamb Of
the same yesr, and afterwsm bind her in
the skin, and then let him make his pill
grimage and offt ring to St. Aldegonde, and
for truth she shall heal" A story is told
of Yorkshire nurse who cured ch,ld Of
the tn, ush by holding frog in its mouth,
that the creature might imvibe the disease
and leave Its own health in exchan This
same ingenious person Lad occasional at
acks of cramp, which she cured by swal.
lowing spide ers; she kept a supply of these
insects in pillbox, and swallowed one
whenever she felt an attack coming on.
She cured the whooping-cough by obtain
ing piebald horse, rsing the child to it
wrapped in blanket, and passing it thrice
under the animals body. If this failed,
she maze the patient wear hairy cater
pillar In bag round it's neck. These are
a few of the superstitions of "the old
county," but the list is by no means ex.
hausted.-Philadelphia Ledger.