Morning journal and courier., 1883-01-09
Corean Medical Science.


 Medicine seems to be the only branch of science in which the modern Corsans have made progress. Their system is borrowed from China and for centuries their medical literature and many of their choicest drugs | have been imported from the middle king dom. Almost the only surgery known is | chirn, acupunctare or the introduction of | more, into the tissues of the body, to restore | the equilibrium of health. This art, which | is not yet altogether abandoned in Europe, 1 but which has been left behind in the prog ress of science, is largely resorted to with great success and several treatises on the science and practice, which have been com posed by native physicians, are still in use. Ipen.c chak, an ancient worthy, is the father of Corean medicine. For the instruction of medical students, models of the human body made of iron wire are set up, and the parts safely vulnerable to the needle are shown, and illustrations of the operation given. The comparative excellence of this method of healing is proved by it's general use, both In l Japan and China. The French missionaries | in Corea bear witness to many instances of prompt relief in serious cases of treatment. Smallpox is common, and vaccination, in- | troduced from China, is now in vogue, the point of application being not on the arm or leg, but, as among the Chinese, on the nose.
 The best physicians are of course in the | ble instances rural physicians, by long obser vation and practice, excel in the use of origi- | nal remedies and in treatment of local dis | eases. The immense majority, however, are | said to be mere charlatans without study or conscience, who employ each special drug, ! and often only one, frequently prescribing | for persons whom they have not seen, and | for diseases they have not examined. Anyone acquainted with the Chinese prac- l tice and materia medica knows what fantas- I tic methods and ridiculous substances are | made use of, and what mysterious compounds are concocted to awe the ignorant. All kinds | of vermin, and many parts of animal bodies, l as well as strange products of the mineral l and vegetable kingdom, are laid under trl- | bute. Among remedies in use are sa-chlup, or serpent wine. To make this, they catch l a snake that has swallowed toad, drown and leave him to macerate in the wine when at the point of fermentation. Numerous l other accepted recipes require reptiles and such nauseating trash. For varioloid, the remedy is chuiei-mi, or the blood from pigs tail, applied when very cold. Other reme- dies, hardly proper to mention, are in com mon use and medical faith. Hot.air baths or ovens are often eficaciously used. disease that 1ages in Corea is gravel, or calculus evidently arising from the use of the drink ing water. The native physicians employ in such cases potion which is said to dissolve | the stone without a surgical operation. The formula of the remedy is secretly guarded.
 M. Ferreol, French missionary, after long and terrible sufferings, was thus relieved in a few hours by native physician.
 The general rule is to give all doses in po- tion. Often 20 or 30 species of plants are
 boiled together, and the medicinal powder dissolved in the decoction. To the resultant compound name more or less cabalistic is
 given, and the patient then drinks 1t off
 with more or less faith. The shortest road,
 however, to the sick Corean's heart Is by 1 alIo xa1 o,o1 k1O& her a
 diet which the doctor may order will work
 wonders. In this prescription the natives
 have great faith.
 The common cure all is ginseng root, which
 is used in powder, potion, pill or mixed with
 other medicines What quinine is to Amerl-
 ca, ginseng is to the Turanian world. It is
 regarded as ''the first tonic of the universe" " And the best specimens will in times of scarcity command the almost fabulous price of $1O, 900 pound. It is hard to understand the reason for the great reputation of this root, since western physicians attach slight
 value to it. It is probable that superstition
 has much to do with the matter, since the Asiatic sees in its shape close resemblance to the human body, and it IS believed to be specially created to relieve the ills of man. Science, however, ascribes it's slight inhu- l ence upon the constitution of Europeans to the wide difference in food, habits and tem- perament.
 1 Even more eficacious than ginseng is harts
 horn-by which we mean, not ammonia wa
 ter, but the literal thing. Tho virtue of
 buek-horn Is supposed to vary according to
 the region whence procured, or the part of
 the animal whence taken. The best is ex-
 ported from the northeastern provinces of
 China. Medical hair splitters even set a
 varying value upon the horn, according as it
 comes from various districts in the same pro
 vince. According to their theory, the deer
 ought to be killed at once when shot, and
 before the carcass stifens Otherwise the
 virtue will exhale. The animal must then be suspended head downward, that all the
 virtue may pass by gravity into the horns,
 which, when taken out, dried carefully
 over slow fire. To make dose, few
 horn scrapings are mixed with the juice of certain plants, and administered. The French
 missionaries testify to the excellent results of
 the internal application of hartshorn The
 Corean Christians once said to 8 missionary,
 'When one has drunk of it, the steepest
 mountains seem to be plain, and one can
 make the tour of the kingdom without fati
 gue."