The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-14
FoRMosAN PHARMACY.
CHmphOr and PcppermiW the Is
lands Products


From the New York Mail and Express
The genuine Formosan is a savage or
semi-savage of the Malay race. Thanks to
the pressure of the Chinese civilization, he
has been raised into a much higher condi-
ton than most of his brethren in that part
of the world, He may be compared partly
to the Indian upon our own reservations
and partly TO the dervish of the Soudan.
Though forever fighting the Chinese and
Hakkas, invaders of their beautiful island,
the Formosans nevertheless have gradu-
ally absorbed ideas and rudmentary in
situations from both of these races. The
Hakkas are a Monaghan race. who once
owned a large part of the Chinese empire,
but We're. conquered ages ago by the Chi
nese proper. There are still small COM
munities of them, which preserve a mild
autonomy in various districts of the mid
die kingdom, and more especially in Fo-
ken, which is the nearest territory to For
mosa.
During the present era they crossed the
channel 10 that island and settled there,
and to-day constitute a noticeable part of
the population They were lower than the
Chinese, and therefore nearer and closer
to the Formosans. For this reason, while
~ easy W hASAllS NltSi muse AlliilSS WHICH
the FOrmosans have acquired from the
Chinese, il is next to impossible to deter
mine those gained from the Hakkas. The
island itself, which is stll in large part
owned and occupied by the savages, is one
Of the grandest upon the earth. 1t Is about
200 miles long and so wide. and is crossed
by great mountain chain, whose two
highest peaks, Mount Morrison and Mount
Sylvan, tower up nearly l2,000 feet.
It's river llaVG n hot and favor
but are so fertile that the harvest season
never ends. The mountain country Is cool,
healthful and bracing. The saVages raise
but little from the soil but live by fishing
hunting and bartering the products of the
chase for the products of the agricultural
Hakkas and Chinese. They are a fine
looking people, and suggest our western
Indians. Some of them would pass mus
ter for Comanches or Navajocs. They have
a crude and curious pharmaceutical sys-
tenn of their own. Some of il is based upon
sound empirical principles, while other
parts are more or less ineXplcable. The
predominant tree of the island is the cam
phor tree, and for at least 1000 years the
wood, leaves, bark and gum have been an
article of export.
The savages themselves long ago found
out the virtues of this noble gift of nature.
They use small quantities of the crude
gum for gastric and enteric troubles. They
chew the leaves and swallow the juice for
fever. They macerate the leaves into a
rough poultice, which they apply to
wounds and sweliings. They burn the in
ner bark, which is rich in gum, in their
tents, partly, it is supposed. to expel the
insects, and partly, although unwittingly,
to destroy malarial germs. Many wear
amulets in some form, and In many of
these are balls of crude camphor.
Another medicinal herb is the pepper
mint. This is as much a panacea with
the savages, the Hakkas and Chinese as
with old housewives at home. 1t is prob
able that a knowledge of the virtues of this
plant was brought from the mainland,
where the Chinese have cultivated it, ac-
cording to their records, for at least four
thousand years At any rate, 1T is found
to-day upon the island, and it is used for
all kinds of ailments. There is a crude ex-
tract made by crushing the leaves in a
rough manner and boiling them in a pot
which may be compared with the pepper
mint tea formerly in vogue in rural dis
trlcts. There is also an oil obtained by
macerating leaves under water and al
lowing them to stand for long time I'M
til thin layer or film of oil is formed
upon the surface.
The leaves themselves are made into a
poultice and are also chewed and swal-
lowed by patients. Peppermint Is employ
as an antseptic in the treatment of
wounds, cuts sores and abrasions. Pepper
mint and camphor are combined to form
a remedy for choleraic troubles, and where
the savages are in constant contact with
the Chinese combination of peppermint
camphor and opium is found as remedy
for cholera and other dangerous disorders
This is very close approach to the ia
nous Sun" cholera mixture, which adds
to the three ingredients named equal parts
OF rhubarb and capsicum.
Another queer mixture which the medi-
cine men make cures an ailment that Is al
most unknown in these colder ATTITUDES 1t
is the malady produced upon legs or arms
by microbic organism which have entered
that part of the body through the raw
surfaces caused by eczema, hives, prickly
heat, or even scratches of the thorns and
vines of the jungle.
The treatment by the savage of these
disorders is quite ingenious. The medicine
man makes huge bowl of what may be
called aseptic paste, and which consists
so far as can be found out, of pure white
clay or Fuller's earth, or camphor OIL or
peppermint OIL of fresh honey one or
two eggs and the juices of several plants.
This Is applied to the wounded surface
I'm thick layer, ranging from a quarter
of an inch to a half an inch In thick
ness. 1t is held in place by putting leaves
around the arm or leg and holding these
in position with cloth tied with strings or
with tape.
The savage has found out that the pur-
est looking water may be very impure
and for medical treatment employs fresh
caught rain water, and when the patient
can afford 1t water obtained by melting
the ice and snow found high up upon the
mountains.
They use no word to express this act of
purity or freedom from contamination ex-
cepting that the freshly gathered rain wa
ter or the melted snow is called 'medi-
cine" and is kept In bottles, jars or other
receptacles with nearly much care as
a bon vivant bestows on his wines.
For Indigestion they give the sufferer a
piece of raw meat cut from a newly killed
animal. This the patient chews until he
has extracted all the juice and then
throws away. Some, however, eat the
meat raw, and thus without knowing it
follow the example of that school of health
seekers in our own civilization who drink
flesh blood at slaughter houses and eat
finely chopped raw meat at their meals
With ailing children these strips of raw
meat, especially when they are yenison
or partridge, do a world of good, and
frequently restore health and strength to
the little patient.