The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-06-14
HEALING ART IN
 CHINESE EMPIRE Remarkable Methods and
 Strange Remedies WONG YIk CHEFS CURES
Diagnoses Cases By Form of Military nspection-Wili Not Treat Pa. tient If Devil Jumps Down
 His Throat.

From the Medical Record
 An ordinary native Chinese doctor, Wong Yik-Chee, practicing entirely among his own countrymen. was reported to have made extraordinary cures with two or there American patients, and 25 native patients were waiting their turn when I paid him visit He was then making his weekly visits to the various towns along the China coast, with two interpreters, who generally accompanied him to ds- Pense his prescriptions, usually small powders and pills. I found him adorn ed with huge circular horn-rimmed specta- cles and thin patriarchal chin whiskers, sitting behind his counter with his stock of remedies which are necessary in prac- ticing the healing art
 There is not yet a college for the study of medicine in China, but two are now under way, one at Singapore and the other at Shanghai. Any one can pro- claim himself to be the medicine man pf his district. At times he is required to do some surgery. which is very crude and primitive. for the barber is still the rec ognized man for all ills. It is the custom for a Chinaman to visit his barber every week to have general overhauling; first, the head and face are shaved; second, the ears are scraped and cleansed with 0 small brush made of ducks hair; third, the upper and lower eyelids are scrapad with a dull-edged knife, all granulations being smooted away, and then an ap- plication Is made, with a ducks hair brush, of salt solution. This is the req rnFa a.,I ,.I. | l.. China, as they take no antiseptic meas ures whatever; all instruments are held in the operators mouth during the pro- cess of operation. Finally the patient 8 hack Is massaged, and after paying a fee of cents and no tip, he leaves the shop, feeling clean outside, but now must consult his regular physician.
 Doctor Passes Up Devils.
 After going through the usual examina- ton, which Is a form of military inspec- ton, Dr. Wong Yik-Chee will diagnose the case and treat it, unless a devil hap pens to jump down the patients throat If this has Happened the doctor can 1o the patient no good until he promises to set off 100 firecracl1ers U drive the devil away from his body and to make daily visit to the joss house. This he does, and after five days he again consults the doc tor, with feeling that he has left the devil behind or with a friend he had 10 use for. Dr. Wong -Yik-Chee is then not slow to take note of the good prognosis although he may not remember his pa- tient at all However, being assured that the devil is no longer in him, he tells his patient he can now help him, and gives him the usual pills given to all those l whom the devil has left.
 Presumably on account of the high fee 25 cents, these pills are regarded as an infallible cure for any sickness.
 Some Chinese Remedies.
 What a Chinese pill may consist of. 1. Spotted rhinoceros horn. It appears that the ordinary variety Is of little value, but the spotted horn is a wonderful cure for intestinal troubles, at least, so says Dr. Yik. The spotted rhinoceros horn comes from southern China. and in the market Tt Singapore a single specimen will bring as high as $25. Tiger bones, when ground to powder and mixed with Chinese wine, by all classes of Chinamen in northern China. The recipe Is held by firm in Shanghai which has become very wealthy by the sale of this tonic. g. Old deer horns are boiled down to make the mo- dicinal glue which binds the 50 ingredi- ents composing the average Chinese pills. As in these one may get anything from d tail dust, it is not the fault of Dr. Wong Yik-Chee If just the right kind of spe- oific escapes the patient
 Equal in medicinal efficacy to the above are three high-grade tiger remedies-the eyeball, the liver, and the blood As may be imagined, tiger eyeball, the genuine article, can be prescribed for only the exceedingly wealthy Chinese. Similarly, the liver, when dried and reduced to a rowder is worth it's weight in gold all rated to a solid at no degrees and taken . Asiatics to make a redoubtable warrior out of the most craven hearted.
 Highly Valued Llnlments.
 As liniments, the Chinese physicians pin their faith to the fats and oils of serpents and the bile Apparently, the rsore deadly the serpent the greater IS the benefit to be derived from it's ex- tract but the chemist must have three various kinds to make one set. These a1e separated by the chief in charge an l i he labels them one for the head, the second for the body and the third for the legs. When these three drugs are well preserved in ginger and orange peel they bring 30 or 40 times the cost of their preparation.
 Applications of hot pitch poultices are used by the Chinese physicians who at tend the poor as no drugs are required to cure their ills. The effect is usually | the same.
 :, After the patient has made the rounds of the barber and travelling physician, he l.ow 1oo1xs in his dentist whom he will