Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-07-20
EAST INDIAN FOLK MEDICINE.
Remedies in Which the Natives Have
Implicit Faith.

rum the AdurdS MAIL
Perhaps in no other country in the world
Is the 'evil eye an object of such great
dread in India. You will cause mortal
offense to a Hindo lady should you remart
of her child. What nice baby you have~
or How baby has grown since l saw him
last!" She makes it a rule to speak de-
precatingly of her child and represents it
as the victim of nonresident ailments so
that your evil eye shall not affect 1t. Should
she become aware that, in spite of her pre-
cautions. you have defled 1t with your adj
miration she will lose no time in counter
acting the apprehended effects of the
'drishtidosham.' One of the simplest meth
DDS adopted for this purpose is to take a
small quantity of chilies and salt in the
closed palm and throw it into the fire. after
waving 1t thrice round the head of the
child to the accompaniment of incanta-
tons. If no pungent odor is apparent it
is Indication that the dosham has been
averted.
The harau ceremony, so frequently OBJ
served in marriages and other festive oc-
casions is also intended to counterfeit the
dire influence of the evil eye. A plate con-
tanning saffron water is held by two ladies
in front of the married couple about a
score of times during the progress OF a
Hindu marriage SO that the admiration of
the spectators shall not injuriously affect
the pride or the bridegroom. The curious
ceremonies of which her royal highness the
Princess of Wales formed the central figure
within a few hours after her landing
Indian shores were in one way intended to
be sort of insurance against the possible
effects of the evil eye.
II a child in arms be taken into the open
air and bird fly directly over its head the
infant will be rapidly reduced to mere
skeleton. The only remedy Is to give it
FOR some days a few drops of an oil ex-
rracted from the titturuptta. a kind OF
sparrow.
Great virtues are ascribed to the claws
and horns of certain animals Tigers
claws in great demand with the COM
mon people. One or two claws may be
worn near the loins, but should one possess
a larger number the fortunate owner makes
q garland of them and wears them around
his neck. Deer's horn, ground into a fine
paste, is an excellent balm for pains and
swellings. A more curious use is found for
the same substance; it Is sometimes made
into a powder which Is supposed to aid
the growth of stunted women. The joints
taken from the long and slender tail of the
black scorpion are supposed to keep ill
ness at arms distance when children wear
them on their waist thread.
AS soon as person has been bitten by
cobra a snake charner is sent for, who
lures the same or another cobra whose
fangs have not been drawn to the vicinity
of the victim and causes it to bite him at
as nearly as possible the same spot as be-
fore. This last condition Is certainly a
difficult ore to achieve, but should it be
fulfilled the sufferer will as surely recover
as the snake will die.
1t is believed that IL person should
come upon two cobras together they will
give the unfortunate intruder no quarter.
To avoid being pursued by them he takes
to his heels, after throwing behind some
garment on which the reptiles expend their
wrath. When they have completed their work
of destruction the pieces to which the cloth
has been reduced are gathered together
and preserved as panacea for future ills.
Water snakes are generally harmless but
here and there one comes across a venom
Gus species fisherman when in doubt as
to whether the snake that has bitten him
Is a poisonous one or not dips his hand
into the mud and gorges his stomach with
several handfuls of the semi
A red or swollen eye is cured by having
it touched with the bolt or chain attached
to a door. remedy which l have seen
applied with considerable effect in more
than one epileptic fit Is to place bunch of
keys In the palm of the sufferer. I have
heard it said that tho fit passes away as
readily II the keys are placed on the head.
A rather quaint remedy in the case OF a
sprained neck is to use an iron measure
for pillow.
Every one has heard of the oft quoted
remedy of "a hair of the dog that bit you
The Hindu medicine man adopts stran-
ger course to prevent hydrophpbia. He takes
an old slipper and smartly strikes the pa
tient-no gentle taps. mark you-oyer the
incision made by the dog g teeth.
For children afflicted with asthma an In
valuable medicine is the egg of red ants
boiled in margosa oil. The wings of wild
bats are very highly priced in the case
Of diseases of the hair. These wings are
crushed and the extract is added to cocoa
nut oil with other ingredients, this mixture
being kept underground in closed vessel
for period of three months. This novel
composition prevents the hair from falling
or turning gray Rabbits blood is also
| recommended as desirable lotion for
washing the hair.
| Sore throat Is cured by splitting on red-hot
| iron-quite the simplest and least expensive
cure known to the native doctor. Peacock's
| flesh and pigs ghee are the best medicines
| for acute rheumatism. Cobwebs are most
useful in boils and in skin diseases of all
| kinds. Should your house be infested by
mosquitoes or your furniture and bedding
| by bugs. all you have to do is to write on
a piece OF paper the names OF hundred
villages or towns, taking care that all the
names end In one of the sufixes ure. kottai.
palayam. &c. and secure tile paper To- a
| bed post or the ceiling, as the case may be.
and you win be relieved OF the pest In
simultaneously. as If by the Intervention OF
q magician Donkey's milk, besides being
q valuable food for newborn children
lie deemed to be the most efficacious n,edi-
cine for epilepsy.