Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-04-30
CURIOUS REMEDIES
FOX CnII.Ls. SPRING FEVER. AND
OTHER COMPLAINTS.
COUNTRY SIDE SUPERSfITIONS.
singular Cures That Are SIN bc-
uevcd In-The Frog and the Eel
Personal Notes of Interest from
Afton. a4e
lcorrespondenee Of lhe DIspatch)

iul OF sulphur, one OF cream VA '"' "a
ono OF molasses; mix. and take one tea
spoonful OF the compound for three morn
lngs: skip one morning, and renew al
before"
This 10 be continued until you are al
fair as a lily. as red as a rose. and al
together lovely.
An old lady on horseback came down
the Dolby road the other morning and
epicd Lucy Ann at the big gate.
"Why. Luce Ann" she said. you're as
pale as a ghost. and you've gone away
vomo. What the nation ails you, gal?'
Il dunno" whimpered Lucy Ann, 81
haint been nigh so piert since 1 had
rhills the first o. SPRING
"wen. you take this" as the before
mentioned recipe was kindly advised.
'YouW pick up powerful in a week or
two. An say. Luce" she called out as
ahe sorrel mare ambled off, "cf the chills
come agln, be sure n count EN- on the
Ircback.
Then she went on to Silas Calls and
had his gurstock wrapped in fresh powder
and marrOw-bOne grease. 10 cure
wound a4,ci1cntly inflicted on Sias by that
weapon IN the squirrel woods week
ago. Silast Call is doing well. This treat
Inont clos. ely followed on the gunstock
never fails.
The wound. itself is only thoroughly
washed its edges brought together, and
bound i'm clean clothes and left alone for
seven days. The gun does the rest
We are but just recovering from the
s'spring fev err" which is by no means a
physical Ia llucination. in mountainous
climates there is a noxious influence in
the drying air that we fight off until late
May with wo ollen wrappings and drown
out with stepped barks and copious hot
feas adminid cred just as our grand
mothers gave them TO the virgin settlers
of the soil.
And the old-time outward treatment
goes with the inward medicinal remedy.
for the age Of superstition is by no
means a past age. a great many absurd
beliefs can be tyaoed 10 very remote
times Thereds no ogler profession which |
has been So controlled by credulity and
scepticism as that os medicine Witches !
and impostors." says Bacon, have al |
ways held a comp stition with physi- |
clans"
THE SUPERNATURAL.
People seem TO have an unaccountable |
propensity for believ pg in the super
natural. In ancient DAYS If the cause of |
a disease was not Immediately under |
stood, il was attribrteo TO the wrath of |
Heaven or an offended god: from this |
came possibly the wearing OF amuets |
and charms, and the lower step Of forms |
of sacrifice
They pertain now. ridiculous as they |
seem. to various parts of the country, in |
sparsely settled mountain regions and in |
the piney woods of North and South |
Carolina.
For chills Lucy Ann" would have sew
oral sovereign remedies. She must count |
the number which she mas had and hunt |
FOR white pebbles equal TO this number.
Tie these in Il bag TO the h.nd foot of a |
toad, and prestOl Mr.. Toad will be af- |
1icted with chills and Lucy Ann will be |
blooming and beautiful. The simpler |
practice of the Dolby Hollow dwellers is |
10 mark with a poker the number OF
chills on the back of the fireplace.
Our old country dame has one never
failing remedy for baby with the
thrush. Some one who has never seen
the babys father is TO blow in its mouth.
That's hard TO find in the narrow limits
of a country neighborhood, where every
one knows every one else, but it is an
easy way out when the remedy fails.
For snake bites cut open live chicken
and place the warm flesh against the
wound. the poison viii be extracted and !
the chicken will turn green. We all know
the 'hOOdoo" of the left hind foot of a
graveyard rabbit.
For frost-bites apply hot turnip. and for
sprains cold clay and vinegar is Just as
good cure as would be the 50-cent pre-
scription of a nowly-iedged Esculapius.
great many persons-and not alone
country people-bClicve that the efficacy
of medicine, or substance must be
judged by its outward Indications: that
is al,
cial virtues.
1t goes on through all the varieties of
shape, color taste. or smell.
People think. even now. that green
yellow. etc, must of necessity be real
"pisen.'
And very rcny Of us arc homoeopathic
in belief who do not know what the word
means or how to spell Il. ] confess with
me IL is always hit or miss
To boil IL down-the theory. I mean
this IS the doctrine OF like for like.
Tumeric was, and is yet hcieabouts.
used for jaundicc, because of it's yellow
color; ncttle-toa for nettlerash, in chill
dren; rose leaves. the deeper red for
D.ood humors and the wild plant "eye-
bright" for dmness Of sight.
Ancientiy pomegranate seed, from their
teeth-like shape, were supposed so quiet
the most violent tOothache. The sunny
pomegTanate does not flourish here. and
We touch our aching teeth with a hand
which has smo,hered mole Great de-
pendence IS placed upon an eelsk.n An
eel is hard TO catch. and harder vet TO
cook. but once you have his skin you are
proof against either rheumatism or !
cramps, while ii IS worn on the arm or
hes.
THD FROG COMES IN.
Another, which l have not tried. pro-
badly because ] don't have time for in
valid luXuries Is To digest live frogs in
simmerng snake oil. and anont, but we
can furnish each Of these commodities.
The good old motherly country women
who prescribe herbal remedies for neigh
borhood ailments have often a modicum
or truth, not only at the bottom of their
seethins herb pots but in some few of
their outward superstiuons as well
Living here among them we smile M
the absurdity OF the practice but il
Dnah. the cook, burns her hand and asks
leave TO $50 on the mountain" and have
old Mrs. So and So talk the fire out"
we are going TO send Dinah on willingly
and even hopefully.
Let me tell you she comes back with
the fire gone. And in a day or two there
Is no soreness or scar left
Perhaps this is the later science Of
hypnotic impression. all unheard of I'm
these bleak Businesses. Like the rose. by
whatever name OF science or nature. we
hail the fact with delight
To talk the fire away" is a mystic and |
sacred gift possessed by only a few IA
Our de SIooer can make van SKETCH