St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-22
POPULAR CRAZES.

POPULAR CRAZES.
Dri..hi,.g CaIt2s BJood-The Mud Baths,
Smut B0tTts, and Blue Glass Cures.
From the Providence Telegram.
popular crazes,' did you ask about" was
the answer a well-lnown physical made to
a question propounded by telegram re-
porter. ''There are many kinds of peculiar
craZcs, and some Of the methods people take
to keep free from disease, or rather try to-,
are simply absurd. Take, for instance, the
man who goes the year round with a pair Of
sea beans tied about his neck as preventive
to diseases ola contagious nature Some
wear beans, some corn, some horse-chest-
nuts, and others plain piece Of ribbon, all
of which are mere cases of superstition.
There are many who, when suffering from q
cold, will wrap a wet sock, which they have
worn during the day, about their necks, and
retire for the night. Others wear dry sock,
and still others a piece of cloth saturated
with lamp-oil. In the country it is stand
ard remedy to wear piece of salt pork about
ones neck when suffering from sore throat
This, by the way, is good remedy, Some
inhale the smoke from burning cherry wood,
and others the smoke from oak chips in an
open fire. place, as a cure for a cold in the
head and nostrils. There are great many
persons who believe that when one gets a
thorough drenching with rain, or receives
wet feet that they should not hasten to their
homes and put on dry clothes, but instead
should let the wet clothing dry upon them, as
by so doing they believe they will never take
acold.
''The hot water cure which amounts to a
craze i'll points in the East where no break
fast is considered complete without the adj
dition of cup Of hot water to rinse and
stimulate the stomach, is the latest of long
list of odd cures. 1t is believed by q great
many that to take drink of this kind before
each meal, or even single drink on arising
each morning, will cure the worst possible
cas- of dyspepsia. Speaking of odd cures
and fashions, a few Of them may be recoun-
ted. Less than ten years ago Parisia
physician Of some note prescribed for pa
tent suffering from pulmonary complaint
cup of fresh cGlf's blood after breakfast,
another at noon, and one just before supper.
The queer remedy proved efIicacous. The
patient improved under it rapidly, and final
ly became well and hearty person. A state
ment of the case was read by the meIcurial,
eXcitable and curiosity-loving Parisians, and
started an interest i'll the blood-cure that in a
very short time spread among all classes and
became a yeritable craze. Every person in
any way t'Oubled with weak lungs became a
convert. The slaughter-houses in the SUI
burbs of Paris were thronged every morning
with crowds made up of all ranks, who actu
ally fought TO procure blood of the the dying
animals. There were delicate women and
men, old and young, who came, some in
their carriages, attended by their servants,
and some feebly crept along alone. The
most delicately organized persons and the
coarsest were on a common level, and it APP
pears that the uninviting looking fluid was
served impartialiy by brawny-handed butch
ers. The great majority of the patients
manifested no repugnauce to drinking the
fluid and with great many taste for twas
developed that ran into a craving. 1t acted
much like rum on many, and even fowls
were killed by some who were unable to get
blood at the siaughter-houses. The demand
was great, and at some places the blood was
sold at high prices, each slaughter-house hay
ing large run of customers who would
reach the pen where the killing was going
on as early as a. m. Meanwhile q hot dis
cussion went on in medical circles over the
merits of the cure. Many celebrated physi-
clans were dragged into argument and were
taken to see cured patients. The burden of
professional opinion was against the cure,
pronouncing it nonsenscal and positively
injurious rather than helpful. The craze
reached its limit in a few weeks, to the grief
of the butchers, who had reaped golden
harvest.
''lhe mud found at a certain spa in Ger
many, few years ago, was discovered sud-
denly to possess remarkable medical pro-
perties. 1t was an intensely black, pasty,
thick, odoriferous mud, but thousands of
persons fastened from all parts of Europe
to battle in it was simply to be buried in it
for an hour or two, and then to spend sew
eral hours in d tub of water to get rid of the
"reminiscences. The bath is described as be-
ing pleasant and its curative effects, in
cases of rheumatism, govt and other diseases
are we'll attested. The mud was analysed,
and was found to possess active properties,
magnetic and chemical. The mud baths
have had their day, and are now visited by
only few travelling inValids, whom the re-
medy does not brighten. Similar to the mud
bath is the sand bath, of which Joaquin Mill
or relates tragic story. A party of explorers
were crossing the sandy deserts, carrying six
of their comrades, i'll of peculiar disease.
The sandbath was proposed to them. They
all assented, and were buried in the sand,
their heads alone being left above ground.
In this position they were left, chatting with
each other, their comrades having retired for
the light in a tent close by, and not the
least noise was heard. In the morning they
were Mortified to find that wolves had visited
the camp and eaten off each sick mans head
level with the ground.
1.-THE blue-glass cure is too fresh in the
public mind to need more than passing
mention. OF the thousands and hundreds
of thousands of early believers that the
healthgiving and strengthing principles of
the sunlight might belargely increased by
passing raps through blue-glass, there are
thousands yet remaining.
''The sun-bath cure, the fsh-oil cure for
consumption; the severely simple diet cure
for all kinds of ailments; the celery cure for
nervousness, and many others were the be
ginning more or less, Of a craze. The best
principle of each is now included in every
wise physician's array of medicines. There
have been cnres for corpulence that found
armies of followers, as was attested in By
ron's time, when every man who laid claim
to be considered a man of fashion was thin
and pale, in marked contrast to the we'll
rounded, comfortable looking, modern
young man,
Ho1c IacO Generals SMOKE.
General Sherman smokes unite as con-