these originated partly in the desire to cover ignorance.—medicine-men.—sucking out diseases.—origin of exorcism.—ingenuity of the priests.—blowing disease away.—beelzebub cast out by beelzebub.—menders of souls.—”bringing up the devil.“—diseases and medicines.—fever puppets.—amulets.—totemism and medicine.
dr. robertson tells us that the ignorant pretenders to medical skill amongst the north american indians were compelled to cover their ignorance concerning the structure of the human body, and the causes of its diseases, by imputing the origin of the maladies which they failed to cure to supernatural influences of a baleful sort. they therefore “prescribed or performed a variety of mysterious rites, which they gave out to be of such efficacy as to remove the most dangerous and inveterate malice. the credulity and love of the marvellous natural to uninformed men favoured the deception, and prepared them to be the dupes of those impostors. among savages, their first physicians are a kind of conjurers, or wizards, who boast that they know what is past, and can foretell what is to come. thus, superstition, in its earliest form, flowed from the solicitude of man to be delivered from present distress, not from his dread of evils awaiting him in a future life, and was originally ingrafted on medicine, not on religion. one of the first and most intelligent historians of america was struck with this alliance between the art of divination and that of physic among the people of hispaniola. but this was not peculiar to them. the alexis, the piayas, the autmoins, or whatever was the distinguishing name of the diviners and charmers in other parts of america, were all physicians of their respective tribes, in the same manner as the buhitos of hispaniola. as their function led them to apply to the human mind when enfeebled by sickness, and as they found it, in that season of dejection, prone to be alarmed with imaginary fears, or assured with vain hopes, they easily induced it to rely with implicit confidence on the virtue of their spells and the certainty of their predictions.”60
the aborigines of the amazon have a kind of priests called pagés,27 like the medicine-men of the north american indians. they attribute all diseases either to poison or to the charms of some enemy. of course, diseases caused by magic can only be cured by magic, so these powerful priest-physicians cure their patients by strong blowing and breathing upon them, accompanied by the singing of songs and by incantations. they are believed to have the power to kill enemies, and to afflict with various diseases. as they are much believed in, these pagés are well paid for their services. they are acquainted with the properties of many poisonous plants. one of their poisons most frequently used is terrible in its effects, causing the tongue and throat, as well as the intestines, to putrefy and rot away, leaving the sufferer to linger in torment for several days.61
amongst many savage tribes their medicine-men pretend to remove diseases by sucking the affected part of the body. they have previously placed bits of bone, stones, etc., in their mouths, and they pretend they have removed them from the patient, and exhibit them as proofs of their success. the shaman, or wizard-priest of the religion still existing amongst the peoples of northern asia, who pretends to have dealings with good and evil spirits, is the successor of the priests of accad; thus is the babylonian religion reduced to the level of the heathenism of mongolia.
the aborigines of the darling river, new south wales, believe that sickness is caused by an enemy, who uses certain charms called the yountoo and molee. the yountoo is made from a piece of bone taken from the leg of a deceased friend. this is wrapped up in a piece of the dried flesh from the body of another deceased friend. the package is tied with some hair from the head of a third friend. when this charm is used against an enemy, it is taken to the camp where he sleeps, and after certain rites are performed it is pointed at the person to be injured. the doctor of the tribe attributes disease to this sort of enchantment, and pretends to suck out of his patient the piece of bone which he declares has entered his body and caused the mischief. the molee is a piece of white quartz, which is pointed at the victim with somewhat similar ceremonies and consequences. the possessors of these powerful charms take care to hide them from view. when the doctor, or maykeeka, sucks out the yountoo—bone chip—from his patient, he must throw it away. the molee must be cast into water.
mr. f. bonney read a paper on “some customs of the aborigines of the river darling,” before the anthropological society of great britain, may 8th, 1883, in which the process of curing diseases is described. he says:28 “on one occasion, when i was camped in the purnanga ranges, i watched by the light of a camp-fire a doctor at work, sucking the back of a woman who was suffering from pains in that part. while she sat on a log a few yards distant from the camp-fire, he moved about her, making certain passes with boughs which he held, and then sucked for some time the place where pain was felt; at last he took something from his mouth, and, holding it towards the firelight, declared it to be a piece of bone. the old women sitting near loudly expressed their satisfaction at his success. i asked to be allowed to look at it, and it was given to me. i carelessly looked at it, and then pretended to throw it into the fire, but, keeping it between my fingers, i placed it in my pocket, when i could do so unobserved; and on the following morning, when i examined it by daylight, it proved to be a small splinter of wood, and not bone. at the time the patient appeared to be very much relieved by the treatment.” another mode of treatment described by mr. bonney is that of sucking poison, supposed to have been sent into the patient by an enemy, through a string. the patient complained of sickness in the stomach; the woman doctor placed the patient on her back on the ground, tied a string round the middle of her naked body, leaving a loose end about eighteen inches long. the doctress then began sucking the string, passing the loose end through her mouth, from time to time spitting blood and saliva into a pot. she repeated this many times, until the patient professed to be cured.
the people of timor-laut, near the island of new guinea, scar themselves on the arms and shoulders with red-hot stones, in imitation of immense small-pox marks, in order to ward off that disease.62
among the kaffirs diseases are all attributed to three causes—either to being enchanted by an enemy, to the anger of certain beings whose abode appears to be in the rivers, or to the power of evil spirits.63
“among the kalmucks,” says lubbock, “the cures are effected by exorcising the evil spirit. this is the business of the so-called ‘priests,’ who induce the evil spirit to quit the body of the patient and enter some other object. if a chief is ill, some other person is induced to take his name, and then, as is supposed, the evil spirit passes into his body.”64
pritchard tells us that29 “the priests of the negroes are also the physicians, as were the priests of apollo and ?sculapius. the notions which the negroes entertain of the causes of diseases are very different. the watje attribute them to evil spirits whom they call dobbo. when these are very numerous, they ask of their sacred cotton-tree permission to hunt them out. hereupon a chase is appointed, and they do not cease following the demons with arms and great cries until they have chased them beyond their boundaries. this chase of the spirits of disease is very customary among many nations of guinea, who universally believe that many diseases arise from enchantment, and others by the direction of the deity.”65
it is interesting to note, as showing the ingenuity of the priests, that during the extremely dangerous rainy season the doctors’ remedies are of very little use; then the priests say this is because the gods at this particular season are obliged to appear at the court of the superior deity. during their absence at court, the priests cannot obtain access to them; and as without their advice they could not efficaciously prescribe, such medicines as they offer have little good effect.
the antilles indians in columbus’s time went through the pretence of pulling the disease off the patient and blowing it away, telling it to begone to the sea or the mountains.
that the disease-demon may often be blown away by a plentiful supply of fresh air is now an article of every hygienist’s creed.
the badaga folk, mountaineers of the neilgherries, insure their children against accidents and sickness by talismans made of the earth and ashes of funeral pyres. they think the souls of the departed are so vexed at finding themselves in a novel condition that they are liable to kill people even without a motive. when an epidemic breaks out, they lay the blame on the person who died last, who is going about the country taking vengeance on his kindred.66
monier williams says they endeavour to induce the demon of pestilence, of typhoid fever, of the plague of rats or caterpillars, to enter into the body of a dancer, who acts as a medium and has power to exorcise the angry spirit. he has power to let loose rot or farcy amongst the flocks and herds, so the medium has to be conciliated. the corumba of these mountain people is a wizard, the sicknesses of men and animals are all set down to his account. “gratified by the evil reputation the corumba enjoy, they offer to undo what they are supposed to have done, to remove the spells they are accused of having cast. the wheat is smutty, the flocks have the scab? somebody’s head aches, some one’s stomach is out of order? one of these rogues turns up, offers to eject the demon; as it happens, the evil spirit is one of his particular cronies! he will cast out beelzebub by beelzebub.”67
amongst the western inoits, says elie reclus,68 the magician of the30 people is called angakok, signifying the “great” or “the ancient,” and he is guide, instructor, wonder-worker, physician, and priest. he accumulates in himself all influences; “he is public counsellor, justice of the peace, arbitrator in public and private affairs, artist of all kinds, poet, actor, buffoon.” supposed to be in contact and close communication with the superior beings of the world of spirits, and to harbour in his body many demons of various kinds, he is supposed to be invested with omnipotence, he can chase away the disease-demons, and put even death itself to flight. the angakok defends his people from the demons who take the form of cancers, rheumatism, paralysis, and skin diseases. he exorcises the sick man with stale urine, like the bochiman poison-doctors.69
the cambodians exorcise the small-pox demon with the urine of a white horse.70
thiers (des superstitions), quoted by reclus, says that slavonic rustics asperse their cattle with herbs of st. john boiled in urine to keep ill-luck away from them; and that french peasant women used to wash their hands in their own urine, or in that of their husbands and children, to prevent evil enchantments doing them harm. reclus says: “when a diagnosis puzzles an angakok, he has recourse to a truly ingenious proceeding. he fastens to the invalid’s head a string, the other end of which is attached to a stick; this he raises, feels, balances on his hand, and turns in every direction. various operations follow, having for their object the forcible removal of the spider from the luckless wretch whose flesh it devours. he will cleanse and set to rights as much as he is able—whence his name ‘mender of souls.’ a wicked witch, present though invisible, can undo the efforts of the conjurer, and even communicate to him the disease, rendering him the victim of his devotion; black magic can display more power than white magic. then, seeing the case to be desperate, the honest angakok summons, if possible, one or more brethren, and the physicians of souls strive in concert to comfort the dying man; with a solemn voice they extol the felicities of paradise, chanting softly a farewell canticle, which they accompany lightly upon the drum.”71
the superstitious natives of the lower congo have a singular custom, when anybody dies, of compelling some victim or other to drink a poison made from the bark of the erythrophl?um guineensis. it usually acts as a powerful emetic, and is administered in the hope that it may “bring up” the devil. their medicine-man is called nganga, and he is taught a language quite different from the ordinary tongue,31 and this is kept secret from females. “no one,” says mr. h.?h. johnston (“on the races of the congo”),72 “has yet been able to examine into their sacred tongue.” the use of latin by civilized doctors is not unlike this african custom.
the mountaineers of the neilgherries endeavour to induce the demon they invoke to enter into the body of the “medium,” a dancer who pretends to the intoxication of prophecy. if they can persuade the demon of pestilence or typhoid fever to enter into the medium, it becomes possible to act upon and influence him.73
the people of tartary make a great puppet when fever is prevalent, which they call the demon of intermittent fevers, and which when completed they set up in the tent of the patients.
mr. forbes, in his account of the tribes of the island of timor, says that the natives believe all diseases to be the result of sorcery, and they carry a variety of herbs and charms to avert its influence. he says: “i had as a servant an old man, who one morning complained of being in a very discomposed and generally uncomfortable state, and of being afraid he was going to die. he had seen, he said, the spirit of his mother in the night, she had been present by him and had spoken with him. he feared, therefore, that he was about to die. he begged of me some tobacco and rice to offer to her, which i gave him. he retired a little way to a great stone in the ground, and laying on it some betel and pinang, with a small quantity of chalk, along with a little tobacco and rice, he repeated for some eight or ten minutes an invocation which i did not understand. the rice and the chalk he left on the stone, which were very shortly after devoured by my fowls; the tobacco, betel, and pinang he took away again, to be utilised by himself.”74
when the medicine-man of these tribes calls to see a patient, he looks very closely at him, to endeavour to perceive the sorcerer who is making him ill. then he returns to his home and makes up some medicines, which the happy patient has not however to swallow, but the drugs having been packed by the doctor into a bundle with a small stone, are thrown away as far as possible from the sick man; the stone finds out the sorcerer and returns to the doctor, who gives it to his patient and tells him it will cure him if he will wear it about his neck. this affords another illustration of the universal belief of the value of amulets in medicine.
medicine amongst certain tribes has a connection with the adoration of particular objects and animals believed to be related to each32 separate stock or blood-kindred of human beings, and which is known in anthropology as totemism. the algonquin indians use the name, bear, wolf, tortoise, deer, or rabbit to designate each of a number of clans into which the race is divided. the animal is considered as an ancestor or protector of the tribe.
in considering the institutions of “totemism” and “medicine,” we must not forget that savage “medicine” has a function somewhat different from that of medicine in our sense of the word. some doubt if there be any real distinction between the totem and the medicine.75
schoolcraft says that among the sioux a clan consists of individuals who use the same roots for medicine, and they are initiated into the clan by a great medicine-dance. the sioux and other tribes make a bag out of the skin of the medicine (totem?) animal, which acts as a talisman, and is inherited by the son. here we have an instance of the reverence inspired by an inherited medicine. it is a little surprising that we have so few evidences of the worship of healing herbs and drugs.
demon-worship is the explanation of the mysteries of dionysus zagreus and the chthonic and bacchic orgies. m. reclus says: “if we knew nothing otherwise of these orgies, we could obtain a sufficiently correct idea of them by visiting the ghats, the neilgherries, and the vindhyas.”76
the medicine-dance of the north american indians.
