The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-10-20

treatment was very simple. The wound hda to be closed up and left to itself, while the we1pon which inflicted tho hurt was copiously poultioed with the powder, until the wounded parson recovered. For many years the cure held the field against all corners. until some careless apothecary bound up the wound of an tn' jurcd man, but forgot to poultice the weapon, with the result. astounding at the time. that the man recovered just as rapidly as he would have done had the sword blade been properly swathcd in bandages and doctored with the powder. The romance of the cure was hopelessly shattered by such an unexpected terni- nation of the foolish apothecary's treat ment. and tho fame of the sympathetic powder faded into oblivion. But as in modern days there seems to be a recru- desccnce of faith in the curing nostrums of bvgone days a mention of the pre- scription of this powder may not be oue of place. To prepar. 1t, one Is told: Take Roman vitriol six or eight ounces, beat 1t very small in a mortar. slft 1t through a fine sieve when the sun enters Leo; keep it in the heat of the sun by day and dry by night. and marvellous cures may be done by 1t.
 A more modern method of extraneous application of prCscriptic ns Is that af- forded by many a seeker after outdoor relief Here Is the prescription; rub !t on his chest" said a dspensary docao: to q woman whose child was suffering from Q chest affection, and a week later the woman returned with compiail ls that tho treatment had done no good, skin of and worn the bit of paper tO rags" Another patient came back cured and smiling and told the doctor she would wear the medicine h future as prcvcnti, C. so well had it acted as d cure and she showed hIn the prescription for a throat lotion he had given her tied round her neck in a handkerchief. rti5 Ia a parallel to the old-fashlonCd notion hook nf the Had 4 certain cure for ague If applied to the head cf the sick man, the underlying idea of the cure apparently being that language of such warmth and grandeur as Homer wrote was enough to cure a cbiIi even when. as lifeless print. 1t was nIaced near the brain of man. Surely , a graceful ,-.bute to genius, though poor as physic for a sick man; as poor, in- deed as the potatoes and horse chestnuts uhicb gre carried by many sufferers from rhenn1atisn not only in outlying coun- try districts, but in the very heart or husv lattar-dav towns and cities.
 Rnt if is in the matter of curing whoop- ine cou0h that superstition still holds Its own Many arc the unfortunate spiders fhat annually are pinned I'D 1h paper smear bacs oyer the mantelpiece of nurs-
 ere and sitting rooms. As the spider dies so will inc cough pass away, the recog- nized version of the superstition asserts and many will add the pleasing informa-
 tion that unless be SP,df Pmt6reak of the ds |
 | aasa inc little patient will certainly
 e,,9or mil May. whether the first wnoop
 is soi,ndcd in April or June. A blucbottle
 G T,, uitb a pin through 1t is sometimes s,,bst;tnted for the spider, and may also 1 do ditv as a sacrifice for the removal Of
 wartsEbut in curing warts there are annngh sllperstitious practices to fill l book.
 1 Confidence. extreme, explicit confidence.
 is tbe first essential on the part of the
 na+jant who submits himself to the ten 1 day. roercies of the faith healer, whether
 tha bnaIing is performed by means of
 snider hv anointlng, or merely by the
 npIinG over of money for so intangible
 2 pa G1atbod ,at1 of treatment as the mental ex-
 arcise nf the modern Christian Scientists.
 This may. perhaps, account for the sig
 nifcant fact that investigators of the
 .nacJai cures alleged to have been ef- l Spotad hv curemongers usually find 70
 ror cent of the persons cured to have
 99iad ainost as soon as the cures were
 onrnrintnd All curemongers are not so
 oUriirit as th4 inventors of the anodyne
 yNnTiace which was claimed to be an | t' neS 'saIiitto ramedy for the troubles of
 tnathirg In infants and was harmless
 seetnlhe ste'ng ef heads made from the roots of
 'nS No'tber do the majority of them com
 NY a,itb tbe advertiser who boldly an-
 Pai,L,o'.d Pair tbat as iaundice was caused by
 i;ttinO OvaI,nvy flies flying about Tn the, sys-
 tsn he cured hs patients by glving them spiders eggs 10 S""'0"' -''e