Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-24
QUEER CURES FOR DISEASE
SOME PEOPLE STILL REPOsE FIRM
FAITH IN THEM
Buried in Wet Sand for Rhcumatism-
Cure-Alls of Oriental Origin
Fetch and voOdOO.
From the Chicago Tribune.

From the Chicago Tribune
Somebody has said of the medical profess
sion. and with some relevauce, that IL il
only effected the cures that its pretensors
call for there would be less of quackery IN
the world. But in the light of history the
inference Is severe upon the doctors. The
evolution of medicine even among its pro-
fessors, has been unusually slow as COM
pared to other professions and callings Tho
practice Of medicine came from mans su-
perstitous desire to heal himself and in tho
main it may be maintained that the medical
profession today is far in advance OF Its
patronage. The burial Of man in wet
sand at Menominee, Mich, in the belief
that the interment would cure rheumatism
is only an index Of how slowly the masses
OF the people are getting away from the
voedoo practices of Their ancestors. Ac-
ccrdtng to all diagnoses of the disease such
m tnterment could only aggra.ale rheuma-
tism but probably the old fetch aphor.sm
ihat the hair OF dog is good for us bite
led some one to urge this irrational treat
ment upon the Michigan man. tn the re-
suit that he Is now virtually disabled
Sure Cures for Toothache.
Gonelle. jester at the court of the Duke
of Ferrara in France in the fifteenth CEN
tury made the assertion that more people
pretended to healing than to all the other
arts in the world. To prove 1t he simply
walked down the street in his nightcap,
with his jaw tied up, and more than 200
persons stopped him to tell him of sure
cures for the toothache. Today this OBJ
serVation o. noblemanS jester may be be-
ueVed to hold as good it did then
One Of the strongest argument for the
common descent of all men has been found
IN the practice Of medicines among savage
pee e. Einship has lten g tan shed IN
thees practices between every nation under
the sun. in Europe after The scam en-
Sinc had been perfected. the pharmacopueia
OF the medical profession was - ,ears be-
hind that innovation.
In 1918 the pharmacopoeia Of the College,
OF physicians Of Lohdyn recosn led The
skull of a person dying a violent death as
beng or great medicinal value. The horn
of the unicorn, too. was a specific against
many Ills. In 1924 the virtues human fat,
of skulls. of unicorns horns and of toads
vipers and lizards We're recognized by the
same institution. In 1912 the pharmaco-
p9eia was considerably revised but 1t re-
tanned centipedes, lizards and vipers upon
the list.
Oriental Remedies.
Hundreds of years before in China and In
Japan the same objects were revCred bv ths
medical practitioner. They came from
him to the newer word hey M doubt.
Japan until recently believed in the virtues
of the carbonized remains of common AMI
mails. Chickens, cats, birds, dogs and many
other creatures We're kept in the back wards
OF the doctor ard the patient made h Sc
lection of the animal VIII h sh 'uid perform
the cure. The creature would be killed with
some ceremony and burnt TO ashes before
the eyes of the sick enc. As soon as p1Ssi-
BILE afterward the curative remains would
be applied. From live animals today. the
doctor has taken to dried creatures skins
horns, teeth and claws, taken from a most
every imaginable creature. The farther
these things have Travelled the more value
they are supposed to possess.
India has a like SuperStitution. and Cen
eral Robert Warden tells of having killed
a fine tiger and removed its skin. When
the natives saw this trophy they begged to
be told where the body # the animal was
buried explaining that from its bones
decoction could be made that would cause
those who drank it to become immensely
strong and courageous.
Bones to Give Strength.
England had the same fetch in 1855. when
DR.. Toope of oxford became interested In
the uncovering of a grave of the ancient
Britons on Hakpen Hill in Wiltshire. The
bodies of these men had been laid in the
ground feet to feet in circle. The doctor,
writing of the excavations, says:
The bones were large and nearly rotten,
but the teeth were extream and wonder
fully white. l dug up many bushels, with
which l made noble medicine" At one
time human skulls were exported from Ire
and the mummitied remains Of the ancient
Egyptians were much sought after.
At the present day 1t is said that more
rattlesnake OIL is bottled in Pennsylvania
than ever before in the history of the state.
In New England cobweb pills are supposed
to cure the ague. and in the south a certain
knuckle bone in pigs foot is sure cure
for rheumatism, If ii be carried in the poe 4et
or worn suspended from a string around the
neck.
Tracing the spider-web pill, 1t originated
in China, where all species Of insects had
certain positive or negative values in medi-
cine. In Pekin it is customary to give two
to three scorpions spiders to a patient
Ill of fever. In Ireland the peasantry swal-
low small spiders alive to effect cures.
From these the cobweb pill of the New Eng
land peasant was easy. In Flanders the
live spider is fastened into the empty shell
of walnut and worn around the neck or
the patient. AS the creature dies the fever
is supposed to decrease. until it Is gone en-
tirely.
Epidemic of Spider Insanity.
This attention to the spider as an agent
is thought to have come from the epidemic
of spider insanity that ran through Italy
in the end of the fourteenth century. Tho
bite of the Lycoas tarantula is supposed
to have produced the epidemic, though 1t
has long been certain that the creature is
perfectly harmless. The alleged victim
however, became oppressed morbid. grew
gin half-maniacal dance. keeping 1t up to
exhaustion For three centuries the ailment
existed. spreading throughout Italy. Then
1t waned and died. leaving only the tar
antelle'' dance remembrance.
In the United States the southern negro
has done great deal to harbor the voodoo
pra> tees of the old world. In the back
woods of all the states, however, semi
witchcraft and the virtues Of unheard-of
animals insects and refuse matter are ex-
tclled, according to the enlightenment Of
the section.
In thousands of communities there is a
firm belief that buckeye. or horse chest
nut, carried in The pocket will keep away
RI euma tism, or cure il II the wearer al
ready has 1t.
1t is believed that for warts the notch
ing Of an elder twig-one notch tor each
wart-and its burial IN a secret place Will
cause warts to disappear.
In Pennsylvania the oil of rattlesnakes is
preserved most carefully as a liniment, es-
pecially good for sore joints and for rheu-
mausm. In procuring the oil the dead
snake is nailed head and tail to board
and cut open. The fat Is taken out and
laid upon a cloth in the hot sun, from
-; aH rI,a all lrir into IN