The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1902-06-05
MEDICINES OF SAvAGES.
Their Medical Practice Said to BE a
Fascinating subject-SOme
Ancient Remedies


Ancient Remedies,
The medical practice of savages is
rather a fascinating subject for per-
sons gifted with Imagination, ex-
cept, unfortunately, the class that
ought to feel specific interest in it,
says the London Standard. Many
doctors, no doubt, have mag
nation enough, and some, perhaps,
observe the methods of their ma
tive" confreres; but it is not easy TO
come across one of that kind. In
general they ignore all remedies
which are not entered in books, and
smile-sometimes impatiently-when
old residents tell them of cures eff
fected by local practitioner hung
with charms, or an ancient negress.
But European science was not a rev.
elation. Even the Greeks collected
all they knew by patiently observ-
ing eases" and writing down the
particulars from age to age, as we
know by the testimony of the rec
ords found some years ago in ex-
ploring the Temple hospital at Epi-
daurus. Michelet declares fatty, in
his renowned book, La Sorcerie,"
that the modern principles of medi-
cine and surgery were discovered by
the witches. They first practised an
atomy and overthrow the supersti-
tious reverence for Galen and Hip
pocrates; and he cites Paracelsus as
stating that all the best of his
knowledge had been gathered from
those beldames. If French and Ger
man witches showed such ability, it
is probable, to say the least, that
their black and brown comrades of
the present day have something to
teach us. And Englishmen who know
most about them hold that opinion
decidedly. 1t is firmly believed on
the Gold Coast, by men of long ex-
perience, that the black doctors
there, women mostly, can cure all
the local maladies. They say that
when 1.-The fever" has reached its
last stage, and the scientific white
man has withdrawn, there are ne
crosses who can bring the patient
round. Hearing this report, one nat
urally asks why so many poor fell
lows are allowed to die? But the
answer is reasonable 81 consult
these women myself" said a mer-
chant, "but how could l summon
them to clerk of mine who was
i'll? If he died, and his parents
learned that 1 had put him into the
hands of a negress l am not sure
they could not prosecute me for
manslaughter. Anyhow, I should be
ruined" Evidently it is so, and
therefore, unless the sick man him
self demand native treatment, he re-
mains in charge of the medical of
ficer, and surely dies if he becomes
comatose.
The late Mary Kingsley never
found ANY trace of really valuable
drug in all the herbal remedies of
these people'-the West African ne
groes-though she freely admits that
they have methods of treatment
which prove very useful" But if
the lady were qualified to Judge. her
opportunities must have been limit
ed. Prima facie, it would seem ex-
traordinary if races who have the deep
and varied knowledge of poisonous
plants, for which all writer's give them
credit, herself included. should not
have discovered any beneficent spe-
cies. Travellers of a former day gave
another report; they did not carry
medicine chests, and when seriously
i'll they were dependent on the native
doctors. A common Sangalla" re-
lieved Bruce of dysentery by admin
istering the pounded root of shrub:
further, Bruce introduced the remedy
to England on his return. Taverrier
gives a striking account of the skill
of the Hottentots. Nineteen men
aboard the vessel in which he reached
Cape Town were very i'll of fever,
scurvy, ulcers and wounds. Four trust
ed themselves to the Dutch doctors, and
of these we hear nothing. But Is were
put into the hands of the Caffres," as
he calls the Hottentots. Each had
two Caffres to attend him, who. as soon
as they saw what was wrong, sought
the herbs necessary, which they
crushed between stones" And in a
fortnight all had recovered Farther.
Breton gentleman who was passen-
ger, had been bitten so terribly By
mosquitoes that his legs threatened to
mortify. The surgeons at Cape Town
declared that nothing could save his