Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1896-12-04
HERBS AS MEDICINE.
ryaaitions Regarding Their Fo-
&ens7 In Diseases
tanbtfy PfastitiShsrs Who wsse Es'
ssfieneed N tns tss Of NAtuss's 1s@-
cd,ss for Human His - Some
Estfssfdinary PotioaG.

1,uring.Gouid has contributed 70 the
Sunday Magazine curious paper en-
titled Country Remedies" from when
we learn that in spite OF the revolution
which has taken place in the materiA
mediea Of the British pharmacopeis IN
modern times in favor OF mineral meo-
icincs and other more powerful drugs,
village ..wisc men" and women stiu
..cull simplesr here and there, and even
continue to inspire neighbors with faith
in their power Of healing by divers
superstitious practices. Nor is the coun'
try peoples confidence in the village
bcrbalist, in Mr.. Gould's opinion. alto
-.cthcr misplaced. The old race OF these
irregular practitioners were, he Pc
lieves, endowed with very considerable
and wholesome experiences, and they
v.erc the repositories of traditions re-
rarding the properties Of certain herbs
p, the treatment of certain maladies
s,l,ich were sometimes far from being
tacrc fanciful. 1t is noteworthy that to
this day many of our field and wood
nlants derive their names from the pop
ular belief in their virtues as specifics
for certain complaints. -
Mr.. Gould gives remarkable &C.
count of one Of the last remaining
wise women" who has long been
!,aown to him. Judging from certain
Indications, she belongs to the west
.ountry. Her recipe for sprnin will
lardly, we fear, receive respectful con-
liberation. 1t is as follows: Two
ounces oil Of turpentine, two ditto
suil,owes, two ditto carthworms, two
ditto nerve, two ditto oppidillidock, two
alto Spanish feas." Mr.. Gould Opines
nat the turpentine, the opodeldoc and
Tie Spanish flies mot fleas) are the
valuable part of this remarkable pre-
cription. "Suillowes" is supposed to
stand for squills, which is not OF much
use as an external application.
OF the potency of 'carthworms" 1t is
more difficult to judge, but Mr.. Gould
assures us that it is precisely this de-
coction Of wriggling worms which i'm
presses the west country rustic into
the conviction that the remedy must be
something very wonderful, and the oil
of nerves strikes him IS reasonable.
Ills nerves arc suffering; therefore he
must decoct the nerves of bullocks ia
supply what he lackA The rationale
Of the thing seems- not unlike that Of
the "oil OF crowbars" which Mr.
Punch's hairdrcsser recommended tc
the customer whose hair was getting
rather weak" When Mr.. Gould's chill
dren had the whooping cough hi'
coachman's wife entrcated Mrs. Goult
to let her doctor them. She brought
little silk bags to DO tied round thu
sufferers necks, each containing som'
hair cut from the cross on a donkey
back. This she had learned to bcliev'
was sovereign against whooping cough
For remedies of THE class Mr.. Goul'
has no apology to offer; nor has he any
thing to say for the 'charms" an
.cabalistic formula which are still i
some favor in the country-som
samples which he cites certainly do no
shy much for enlightenment in the Yves
of England. Fits, when they are ''tel
rible bad" are, in the belief Of soms
only to be cured by wearing silvc
ring, manufactured from coins whic
have come out of seven parishc:
Gold, it appears, is not efficacious. MI
Gould knows parish in which TIL
parish clerk draws-or did till lately
q revenue for the cure of children wit
fits. This is what he does, or did: II
takes the little sufferer up to the churc
tower, holds it out at each Of the angl
pinnaeles and pronounccs certai
words. What the words are Mr.. Goul
has not learned. Profitable trade s.
crcts arc apt to be jealousy guarde'
but he knows that for these mysterior
practices the parish clerk receives q
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