The Midwest pioneer, his ills, cures, & doctors - University Library ...

practice of medicine, are the prejudices the physician must
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constantly meet with, either in the mind of the patient, or
in those of his friends. It is easier to cure the bodily complaint
of a hundred persons than to eradicate the prejudices
from the mind of one."" Sickness and death, surrounded
as they were with an air of the supernatural, easily called
forth the folklore of primitive medicine. Powwowing,
charm-cures, and magnetic healers all had their devotees.
Those who possessed "the power" guarded it carefully and
passed it along with discretion, always to one of the opposite
sex. A man might tell a woman a charm, or a woman
tell a man, but if man told man or woman told woman,
the charm was lost. Some formulae were community property,
but others were jealously guarded, perhaps recorded
on sheets in the family bible along with births, deaths, and
the proper time to plant beans. A fortunate few— a seven
months' baby or the seventh son of a seventh son— were
born with special curative abilities. Some were gifted with
the knack of "blowing out the fire" and were called upon
to treat burns. Others by magic words and a red thread
could cure erysipelas.
Many persons had implicit faith in charm-cures, and failures
were charged to some deficiency or dereliction on the
part of the patient rather than regarded as a fault of the
cure. Besides, there was frequently an "out" in the formula
itself, such as "Corn beef and cabbage is good for a blacksmith
with cramps, but ain't worth a d n for cramps
in a minister." If one remedy failed another was tried. All
honor was granted the cure last used before the body mechanism,
in spite of the remedies, restored its natural condition.
Madstones, loadstones, various woods, and minerals
were widely used, and the astrological signs heeded. July
and August were the "dog days," when Sirius cast a baneful
effect on the blood and air. Wounds would then become
infected, disease was readily caught, and even the old swimming
hole was viewed askance for its
paludal influence."
From prenatal days to the grave and even after, the life
of an individual was hedged around by these practices and