The Washington times., 1937-01-12

Edwin G. Hill ages have been
making horrendous noises to cure
diseases, and now the scientists
are doing it.
Before the recent convention OF
the Society of American Bacteri-
ologists, at indianapolis, there were
submitted studies in soundly GER
titled research by scientists Of the
school of medicine of the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, pioneering
the use Of noise, to cripple Strep-
tococci-dangerous gangsters OF
the Submicroscopic underworld.
DR.. Stuart Mudd and others use
an electro-magnet to make a
piercing Screech of precisely con-
trolled vibration. This "ScareS"
the antibodies, the always present
police force, into action and makes
them close in on the streptococci
like G-men surrounding a kid
naper. jungle obi-men, doing the
same thing, thought they were
soaring away the demon. Science
discovers that, instead, it incites
the benign spirits who assail the
Virulent intruder.
Primitive Lore
When one notes the latent, fal.
tering, cropping empirical knowl-
edge of the race, as contrasted to
the rational findings Of modern
science, he is apt to be accused of
fostering superstition, as was the
late G.. K. CheSterton. This Skep-
tical attitude, it seems to this OBJ
server, is wholesome. For every
citation of fact in primitive lore
there is a wilderness Of crude stu
pidity, suffering, preposterous hug
germuggery, dirt, cruelty and dis
eaSe-all coming under the head
ing Of superstition.
Blessed are the Rabbits, modern
plumbing, sanitation, and even
torch singers and radio crooners
when you have seen Martinique
Islanders tying the wool on their
heads in tight knots to keep the
roofs of their mouths from cav
ing in.
But wise len have long noted
that men can feel farther than
they can grasp. Exorcism of de-
mons by frantic noiSe-making is
as old as the race itself.
In Africa, in the Matto Grasso
region Of Brazil, still encysted in
a forgotten epoch; in the high,
windSWept outer reaches of Tibet;
in French Indo- -China-each iso-
lated people has evolved it's own
noise therapeutics to cure disease.
Tributory to Africa is the elabo-
rate sound pharmacopoeia of the
West Indian islands, seeping into
the. remote jungles of South
America as handed down by gen.
erationS of obi-men.
Jungle ExOrcism
One of my friends, now a New
York columnist, tells me of weird
jungle noise clinics on the Chu.
chunaque River. juncture of
Maya and Aztec civilizations.
"The Obi-man has to be as
expert az a trap drummer in
making variegated noises" he
said. 81 will never forget one
night when . red, Chinese lac
quer moon was sinking to the
jungle river as they carried a
ChOcOi chief to the river bank
for treatment. Frequently, in
this and other countries, the
noise assault against the devil
of sickness was worked up by
q dancing horde.
Rush lights on the bank were
extinguished as the chief was
carried down the river bank,
where the Obi-man, clad in
jaguar skins, trimmed with
tusks Of the wild hog, sWayed,
chanted and addressed the
moon. We were commanded to
remain mOtionless. The nude
body Of the chief was laid on a
grass mat before the Obi-man.
The stOOge began slowly drum,
made from section of followed
log.
"The Obi.man began by slowly
intOning some solemn gibberiSh
which / could associate with no
language / had ever heard be-
fore. Then he began his pound
ing, Shrieking, excOriating, eli
mactic noise build-up. About all
/ could make of it was that the
noise became more ShriIl, cul-
minating in a taut, screaming
. sound, made by some kind of a
One-Stringed instrument which
seemed to reach beyond the
range of human hearing.
'"ThiS was the pay-Off. The
Obi-man leaned over the now
writhing body of the chief with
some whispered mumbO- jumbo.
was unable to get any accurate
idea of what was the matter
with the chief, SO the fact that
he apparently was cured is, of
course"
Read how the old East Indian
guru seemed to anticipate the find
ingS of all modern physics in the
interplay of energy and matter.
Read DR.. Haggard'S Devils, Drugs
and Doctors" and know that
there is a lot more in heaven
and earth than ever your philoso-
ply dreamed Of"
(Capyright. 1887 by King Features
Syndicate. Inc.)