Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-10-06
CORNERING THE QUACKS.
BY Showing People How to Throw
Their NOstrums Overheard,

I ~O~N~hA~.NAANS RSAN1A0e
by Showing People How to Throw
Their NOstrums Overheard,
And Cure Themselves with Just
About the Same Certainty
and Intelligence.
No man who has ever thought for mo-
ment of the thousands of quack doctors,
and the thousands Of quack nostrums, that
flourish so exceedingly upOn this side OF
the Atlantic will require much argument to
convince him that even In America the fools
are by no means dead; while, II he will
| turn his eyes over the ocean and look at the
fearful and wonderful appliances that by the
common herd are regarded as sovereign
remedies, he will be equally certain that the
| last OF the transatlantic fools has not yet
commenced to emigrate. In spite Of the
boasted enlightenment OF the nineteenth
century, says writer In Appleton's Jour
nal, and in the face Of the signal advance
/ Of medical science, the number of super
stitious remedies still In use among the
common people-especialy those OF old
| country extraction-is surprisingly great.
A few of them will not be without interest.
GOOD NEWS FOB INDIANA.
Among the Oldest of the sovereign rem
dies" donated to the world by superstition,
is charm for the ague. 1t consists Of the
! following words, which are to be written on
paper, then solemnly read, and the paper
finally to be folded, knotted, and never
more opened:
"When Jesus saw ye cross, whereon His
body should be crucified, His body shook,
and ye Jewes asked Him had he the ague?
! He answered and said: whatsoever keep
eth this In mind or writing shall not be
troubled with fever or ague,' 80 Lord help
| Thy servant trusting in Thee"
| Fit were not for the fact that slight
exercise Of religious faith was here de-
manded, together with the possession OF
| sufficient educational qualifications 10 read
the words Of the charm, this remedy would
probably be Immediately hailed through
out the length and breadth OF HoOsierdom,
for it calls for very little work, and no ex-
| pense.
Another remedy for the same disease is
more tangible, if not quite so pleasant to
the palate. 1t Is nothing more nor less
than to take spider, the larger the better,
envelop It with coating Of dough or pre-
served fruit, and then swallow the bolus.
Its virtue Is said to be so great that the in
habitants Of the Emerald Isle are credited
with its use at the present day; as also Of
the following, which is said TO be quite as
certain IN its efiects-and l. no doubt is
to the insect, which Is put into q bottle,
that is then corked tight and buried. As
the insect dies, the disease viii leave the
patient, who viii soon entirely recover.
Such remedy is certainly preferable to
the one preceding il, or to eating a large
slice of bread, on which candle-snuff has
been spread with butter and molssses, q
popular prescription in some parts of Eng
land, and which Is made more effective If
the patient washes the mOrsels down with
water at the nearest church font.
DEATH TO RHEUMATISM.
The twin brother TO ague, rheumatism,
is equally readily disposed of according TO
infallible tradition. The remedies for it are
legion, from the wearing Of charm belts,
stolen chestnuts or potatoes, amber beads,
and what not, to bathing the affected part
with water from the church font; or carry
ing as amulets the foot of a rabbit, or a
piece of mountain ash. Few persons
wholly escape the disease; and it would be
amusing if the pockets of staid merchants,
'grave and reverend seignOrs," and the
"women who talk" as well as ''the women
who work." could be emptied, showing
that each has that little grain Of super
stition, which Is gratified by carrying the
charm, while c0mmon-sense is put aside
with, "Well it won't do any harm, If it
don't do any good"
HOW TO KNOCK BURNS RITING,
Burns and scalds are generally considered
to be tolerably uncomfortable things, but
if people only knew how easy it is to i'm
mediately get over all their evil consequent
ces and painful sensations, they would re-
gard all such accidents with renewed con-
tempt.
The Shetlsnders, to cure burn, breathe
on it three times, each time repeating:
Here comes 1 70 cure burnt sore;
IT the dead knew what the living endure
The burnt sore would burn no more"
In Oakney the following Is substituted:
ga dead wife out of the grave arose,
And through the sea she sWimmed,
Through the water wade to the cradle,
God save the bairn-burnt, sair,
Het fire, cool soon, in GODS NAME"
And the charm in Cornwall consists Of
.There were two angels came from the East
One brought fire, and the other frost.
Out firei In frosti
In the name OF the Father, the Son, and Holy
Ghost"
In Devonshire the verso has three angels
In II:
''There we're three angels came from the East
and West;
One brought fire, and another brought frost;
And the third it was the Holy Ghost,
Ont fire, in frost; in the name Of the Father,
o.. e fI,o IIa1x-
And this is also modified, In other parts
of her Majesty's realm, into:
Gan angel came from the North
And he brought cold and frost
An angel came from the South,
And he brought heat and fire;
The angel from the North
Put out the fire.
In the name of the Father, and
Of the Son, and Of the Holy Ghost.
CRAMPS AND FITS DEFIED.
For preventing cramps, various are the
suggestions. Tying a garter around the
left leg below the knee Is practiced every
where, and even improved on by boys, who
tie eel-skins aroslnd their limbs in orGer
that they may not be attacked while swim
ming. Rings dug out of old graves are In
various localities deemed infallible, while |
in others, placing shoes under the bed COW
ers, leaving the toes sticking ont, is the pre-
ventive, par excellence. Again, in some
places, shoes are put under the bed, soles |
upward, or both shoes and stockings are
laid crOsswise on the floor.
For fits, great faith is placed ia the cura-
tive properties Of rings, made from silver
coin, voluntarily given the afflicted person
by acquaintance of the opposite seq; ia
addition TO this, to go into church at mid
night, and walk around the communion Ia
Bile three times, is considered to be very
efficacious. So far from this practice being
a thing Of the past, the London Times, not
very many years ago, desert ed scene at
the door of country church, where
young woman sat holding out her hand,
mutely awaiting the voluntary alms-giving,
which was necessary to perfectth spell and
endow her ring with its healing virtues.
sTlNGIN6 REMEDIES.
Among the many antidotes for the pois-
onous stings of locusts, which so the round
of the newspapers, when those seventeen
yearly visitors make their appearance In this
country, none seems SO popularas that of
cutting chicken in two and binding the