St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-06-08
the nEArneM CHINESE.


THE HEATHeN CHINESE.
xAsy Are Fan OF sapsrssitisss sd LAks -
Be UambaGgoa.
The Chinese are full OF supersai'
lions, and many Of them firmly %
ieve that the foreigners make medf
cines out of human beings. The mas.
sacre at Tien-Tsin In 1870. In which
twenty foreigners we're killed. and
among them q number Of French nuns.
was caused BY the report that the sis
ters were killing childrsn to get their
hearts and eyes for medical purposes.
and tho trouble in Corea last spring
was caused by the circulation Of the
stories that the missionaries were
grinding up children's bones 70
make medicine This report was
started by the Chinese. and
the latest attempt Of the kind
I find to-day here at Shanghai It ap-
pears in q tri-monthly illustrated mag
azine which the Chinese publish and
which sells for five cents . copy. This
contains full description Of how the
foreigners make their medicine, with
Rhastly illustrations Of the severed
trunks and the cut-up limbs Of human
beings In one cut men 10 American
clothes arc bending over great furnaces
in which the heads and legs Of men
are boiling. and beside which
great baskets and tubs OF cut-up
humans lie. The men are stirring the
steaming mass and the picture makes
one think Of the witches caldron in
macbeth. In another cut Il shown
the machinery for the bringing up Of
the bones aud flesh. A dozen old skel-
etons lie upon the ho0r. and man
with shovel puts the ehastly mass
upon the scales for weighing. In an
other room the medicine Is packed up
to be sent away. and young ladies in
American dress with waterfalls and
French heels arc busy at It I asked
the manager Of the magazine whether
hc believed In such stun. and he re-
piled that he did not know and asked
II it was not really truA
The Chinese themselves do not be-
lievc in dissection. and there 10 Nc
body-snatching here. They believe
that the heart is the seat Of thought
that the soul exists in the liver. and
that the gall bladder II the seat OF
courage. For this reason tho ga0
bladders of tigers are eaten by soldiers
to inspire them with courage. The
Chinese doctor ranks no higher than
the ordinary skilled workman. He
gets from fifteen or twenty cents .
visit and he often takes pa
tients on oundition that he will
cure them within . certain time Or
no pay. He never sees his female
patieats except behind . screen. and
he does not pay 4 second visit unless
invited. His pay Is called golden
thanks" and tho orthodox way Of
sending it 70 him ID wrapped In red
paper. The dentists look upon pulled
teeth as trophies. and they 70 about
with necklaces Of decayed teeth about
their neclks or with them strung upoa
strings and tied to stic1a Toothacho
Is supposed TO como from . worm in the
tooth. and there arc . set Of female
doctors who make . business Of extract
ing these worma When the nerve -
exposed they take this out and call il
tho worm, and when not they uss .
sleight Of hand By which they make
their patients belisve certain wor1s.
which they show them. came from
their teeth. have heard persoas toll
Of Cinnamon who claimed to have had
ten worms taken from their mouths In
. single day. and I saw woman act-
uaIly at work upon . patient In the
street here China = a. full of super
stition as the West India islandA and
the people like 70 Be humbusged quite
as we'll here a. We do In America