Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1911-06-17


other than are some Of the supersu-
uous Ideas connected with disease
Such IDEAS must have originated our
lhs the dark ages when the lttle that
was known Of medicine was practiced
more as secret art, the Information
about such treatment being confined
TO the sorcorers and conJurers, These
cures were practiccd In much theI
same way as is the practice Of medl- |
cine among tho American Indians OF
the present day. 1t would be against
all tradition for tho Indian brave to-
refuse TO accept the protection OF the
lucky stone or Of some other equally
invisible means OF protection, or toI
expect that he would not be healed
by the prayers and incantations OF the
medicine man. Equally sensible,
and probably OF similar origin, are
many Of the Ideas Of cures prevalent
among the white people OF the pres
ent day, All such Ideas as these
bring us face TO face with the Ideas
that were prevalent during tho dark
ages Probably fifty Of every hundred
people have some faith In one or
more of these old, antiquated ideas
OF the cause or cure OF some disease,
and the belief In the maidstone as n
cure for hyprophobIa Is prominent
among these old ideas that cling TO
us In spite OF our knowledge along
more modern and reasonable eXplana-
tion of cause and cure.
Almost every section Of the country
can boast Of one or moro madstones
that are commonly reported to have
accomplished wonders in the way OF
curing people who have been bitten
by the bite OF the mad dog and have
not stuck to those caused by dogs not
mad, and according 10 the narrator
some stones have turned green when
applied TO the wound, while others
have turned various colors when
washed in milk after they had stuck
TO the wound. The popular belief Is
that the stones will not only adhere
to such wounds as are caused by the
mad dog.
What are these stones? You VIII
hear as many OPINIONS as to their
wonderful origin and composition as
Of their wonderful action. A great
many OF these mad stones are hair
balls from the stomachs Of Illuminating
animals, such as cattle, antelopes,
deer, etc, This hair is taken into the
stomach when the animals lick them
selves and It gradually accumulates
into balls which In time may become
coated with lime covering. These
balls are frequently found on cattle
ranges where cattle have died and left
the hard rock like body to be picked
up later and called a maidstone. 9th
er madstones are nothing more or
less than small blocks of pumice
stone that can be purchased from the
druggist for a few cents per pound.
Stlu others may he sall stones that
may be found occasionally In the gall
bladder or duct In almost any or the
lower animals, In this enlightened
age, pardon the slang, we might ap-
propriatcly call them all gall stones.
These light porous bodies VIII ad-
here or stick to the wound caused by
the bite Of tho mad dog II they are
applied soon after the bite or injury
Is made. But they will also stick to
n barbed wire cut under the same
conditions. The blood serum dries
at the edge of the wound and holds
the light body to the wound until the
body takes up enough fluid to make
It heavy enough to fall Off. WASH
this blood serum out ith milk OF
water, dry the maidstone ana 1t VIII
stick to the wound If there Is enough
blood or serum present to hold IT,
It is no wonder that any one VINO
has seen n mad dog at largr would
pin their faith to any supposed rem
edy that was offered In order TO try
and prevent the awful. condition OF
madness from coming on. II was
last straw, forlorn hope, ana the
survival Of the practice Is still preVa-
lent as every summer we read ac-
counts Of people applying the mad
stone to bites of dogs that are sup
posed to be mad. Pasteur, the great
| French scientist, perfected a plan OF
treatment that VIII prevent hydro-
/ phohia from developing in very
large per cent of those bitten by ra-