New-York tribune., 1906-06-17
MEDICAL DELUSI0NS.
Many Still SarUive from Dark Ages
Of CreduIouS Faith.

Hospital yesterday wearing a pair of esls. long
defunct and dried, by way of garters He showed
much distress when they were removed by the
nurse, being firmly convinced that they would
cure his rheumatism in time
The laugh Of science to the contrary notwith-
standing, medical delusons in surprising number
still survive from the ages of faith Any phys-
clan who practises among the poor and ignorant
can testify to this and it is in particular the staff
and students of an Institution like the Postcard
uate Medical School and Hospital which receives
its patients largely from the lower East Side. a
quarter teeming with variety who are made TO ap-
precate most fully the extent of superstition re-
garding remedies for disease.
Italian immigrants peculiarly interesting in
this respect. They frequently attribute stomach
trouble to cats hairs supposed to have been swal-
lowed, and persist in eating eGgshells to it.
They also eat snails remedy for consump-
ton' though here they are supported by highly
respectable authorty-that of The Accomplished
Physician" published in 1856. which declares that
snail water owing to the cool, clammy and glutn-
Gus substance of the SNAIL, is particularly CRATE
full TO the consumptive. These Italians use castor
oil whenever their feelings become at all excited
either by JOY or sorrow, burn rolls of waxed paper
in their ears TO cure the earache and willingly go
through the even more heroic treatment of light
ing fires on their bare stomachs when they have
dyspepsia.
The trouble with these people is merely that
they have not advanced with the times but are
still holding beliefs which are held by the most
intelligent and best educated men of a few CEN
turies ago An apothecary's shop in Queen Eliza
beth's time stocked with things that strike
moderns as singular enough, considered as med-
cine. These were crabs claws foxes lungs stays
hearts boars' tusks, seahorses teeth eIks' hoofs,
precious stones in powder flying fish, tortoises al
hgators dried toads. worms, scorpions and even
human mumnlies. These latter were quite popular
as remedy for epilepsy, vertigo and palsy. be-
sides being supposed to heal wounds and mortfca-
Mummy &c in
money, and was a recognized staple of commerce
But. being so expensive artificial substitute was
invented which is described by Crollius in his
Royal Chemist calling for 'the carcass of a
young man, some say red-headed, not dying of dis
ease but killed" 1t is probable that this CHASTITY
recipe was responsible for many of the mysterious
disappearances common in those thrilling days
Human skulls sold for much as eleven shillings
apiece and given in the form of a powder
mixed with little oil.
The most highly esteemed prescriptions OF the
oIdtime apothecary those which cost the
most, and which must needs, therefore include
powdered precious stones. "Gascon's powder was
one of the most costly of these rnedcaments being
prescribed by the great physicians for their more
important patients. It forty shillngs (s9 COZ
an ounce, and was made in equal parts of crabs
eyes pearls, white amber. Oriental bezoar and tho
black tips Of crabs claws
Precious stones, TOO. were thought to have much
efficacy when worn amulets. The ruby pro-
tected its wearer from plague and pestience; the
amethyst kept a man steady and sober; blood
stones stopped bleeding; the onyx prevented ep-
lepsy; the topaz cured Inflammation; the opal
strengthened weak eyes; and the emerald pre-
vented fooshness and aided the memory Concern
ing the emerald. old writer further testifies: 1T
takes away vain and foolish fears. as of devils
and hobgobns, folly and anger and causeth good
conditions; If il do Worn about one reason will
tell him that being beaten into powder and taken
inwardy, it Will do much more"
The herbs and DIantS medicines ~
course agrees with modern practice: but the old
physicians made the mistake of considering them
as possessing semi-magical properties. 1t was be-
heved that they the dwelling places Of good
and evil spirits which worked their good and evil
wills upon those who touched them. The old
rhyme says:
Trefoi vervein Johns wort dill
Hinders witches Of their will.
and these four plants had extraordinary reputa-
tions in the Middle Ages for both natural and su-
pernatural powers. The trefoil is common in the
United States to-day especially in the South. and
has certain legitimate medical properties. The
en beGe5 % TO our he ecye qnd h os9 ans
ana the venom Of serpents, as we'll as against be
cacfons for Wfchcraftt Anne Bohemian. the cee
brated witch OF Salisbury, used 10 send her pupils
worshippers of Persia always carried vervain when
they {e approached their alJars, They gathered i
a a. Ibation Of honey upon the earth in reparatio9
"Fuga demonium" in the old days. because it
routed evil spirits II common ingredient OF
mIGh oeremS1y BY the HbP of France 2 and
solomon's seal was another of the wonder-work-
TO cure epilepsy by placing it in a ring applied TO
the nostrils of the patient, from which crcum-
stance the popularity of the magical ring or
seal that figures in many Eastern tales.
of the potato family the fruit Of %hch used to be
called the love apple "a name later applied 10
the tomato). doubt because to eat of it gener-
ously produced temporary insanity. 1t was much
used IN love philters 10 awaken the tender pas
sion. and the most eficacous specimens were OBJ
taned from the vicinity Of gibbets, where evil
10 gather the mandrake. under pain of death for
mistake, since the helief that II grOaned aloud
heard the sound fell dead on the spot The Gus
5G @ @a %a5 G S 1 IA q9g 6 e 1e @ he 70 T e up h
mandrake by the roots. The person superintend-
ing the operation had his ears stopped with pitch,
and so escaped but the dog. for which the same
precaution was not taken heard the groan and
Extraordinary cures were accomplished by some
familiar movers m the oiae+ tigs, IN rs Inc aheoiS
disease; and PInY says that physicians recon-
should be picked and concealed in scarlet cloth
until sickness came requiring % 2 that "a 1t It should be
not was credited with the power % OF hardening steel
by Paon the famous physician Of ancient Greece.
from whom it takes its name TO cure f wounds;
spot where il grew.
The elder tree also had some renarlable prop
with two little sticks ot .lc"r ia his pocket, lie
hard" A piece of an elder hrlach cut out be-
tween tvo knots used TO be worn around the neck
10 cure erysiueIas: and in the Tyrol to-day elder
bushes are planted on new sra - III the form Of a
cross il heiuz believed that they Will blossom in
due time if tie soul formerly iChabLtiug the body
living underneath has been received into Paradise
A NEW IsTHMiAN RAILROAD.
Mexico about TO take L2J-rn'-e knh our OF the
,, = aforementioned commerce which using
Panama route. the same tine II Will give the
American trarscon.InenaI railroads tremendous shock