St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1897-09-04
DOCTORHNG A NATIVE.
A Woman Travellers Experience In
Aeris.ft.

|
A Woman Travellers Experience In
Agricn.
Mrs. Mary Kingsley, in a recent enter
tanning article upon some of her Afri-
can experiences, relates her first att
tempt at doctoring q sick nafive. She
had observed, during d rather trying
march which her party had been maxi
T ing, that one of the carriers had begun
to stagger and look dazed. His COM
rades had relieved him of his load, and
he had managed with much difficulty
to keep on with the others until agiI-
lage was reached and a halt called for
the night.
She then bade his friends call in the
best doctor there was in the place to att
tend to The sufferer, and she would pay
him; but shortly after one of them
came toSber and reported, in language
which she found more comprehensive
than its construction warranted:
| ssMassa, them man he live for die
fastening to the hut where the In
valid lay, she found the native doctor
sitting outside, covering and uncover
| ing small basket, and muttering inean-
| tations- ged, so the awestrnck OBJ
| servers informed her, In trying to find
out "who had stolen one of the patients
souls.
Without critieising this theory Of the
disease, the lady tactfully explained
that perhaps, if they allowed her to try,
she might effect some good while the
ether doctor was completing his dag
nosis- she got out her medical
book.
/ 1t informed her that the patient was
suffering not from d missing soul, but
from some kind Of Inflammation Of the
! brain, and that he should be blistered
upon the back of the head and neck.
/ He lay upon his chest, picking at the
floor with his hands, and evidently de-
lirious, as he was talking to his father,
who had died many years before.
She prepared d blister Of mustard
/ | leaves, but upon trying to apply It, dis
covered that the wool was several inches
i deep on the back of the mans head,
and that place must be clipped clear to
/ receive the blister, or it would have no
effect. Taking a pair Of scissors. she
set about clearing patch Of scalp.
while was engaged in this opera
tion," she says, the patient went of
into a CONFUSION that frightened me
out Of my wits; so dropped the scis-
sors and reared, driving my head up
/ through the low roof and tearing that
structure from its supports. / wore IL
as a collar or neck ruff, while TIC Sfs-
tient broke the rest of thaf simple home
completely up, and mixed himself and
the scissors and the mustard leaves and
4 the lantern so well with the debris that
i II took some time to sort him out.
81 regret to say, however, that he was
neglected for some ten minutes, be-
cause the assembled spectators reared
/ so with laughter that they were incap-
table of action, and was busy clearing
off my superstrucfure and trying to ex-
tract an interesting and exciting coll
lection Of centipeds, lizards, scorpions
4 and spiders from my hair, wherein they
had sought refuge on the occurrence Of
the cataclysm.
Nevertheless, she persevercd, and the
invalid was finally exfTicated, clipped
y and blistered, and III drc ti1ne got well II
i but III is probable that Miss Kingsley.
thereafter preferred open-afr practice,
at 1eastwhen she had to biistera Q man Il
i deIiriurn. Yonth S Comp