_Of their_ DISEASES, _&c._
THE Indians in general are healthy, and subject but to few diseases,
many of those that afflict civilized nations, and are the immediate
consequences of luxury or sloth, being not known among them; however the
hardships and fatigues which they endure in hunting or war, the
inclemency of the seasons to which they are continually exposed, but
above all the extremes of hunger, and that voraciousness their long
excursions consequently subject them to, cannot fail of impairing the
constitution, and bringing on disorders.
Pains and weaknesses in the stomach and breast are sometimes the result
of their long fasting, and consumptions of the excessive fatigue and
violent exercises they expose themselves to from their infancy, before
they have strength sufficient to support them. But the disorder to which
they are most subject, is the pleurisy; for the removal of which, they
apply their grand remedy and preservative against the generality of
their complaints, sweating.
The manner in which they construct their stoves for this purpose is as
follows: They fix several small poles in the ground, the tops of which
they twist together so as to form a rotunda: this frame they cover with
skins or blankets; and they lay them on with so much nicety, that the
air is kept from entering through any crevice; a small space being only
left just sufficient to creep in at, which is immediately after closed.
In the middle of this confined building they place red hot stones, on
which they pour water till a steam arises that produces a great degree
of heat.
This causes an instantaneous perspiration, which they increase as they
please. Having continued in it for some time, they immediately hasten to
the nearest stream, and plunge into the water; and, after bathing
therein for about half a minute, they put on their cloaths, sit down and
smoak with great composure, thoroughly persuaded that the remedy will
prove efficacious. They often make use of this sudoriferous method to
refresh themselves, or to prepare their minds for the management of any
business that requires uncommon deliberation and sagacity.
They are likewise afflicted with the dropsy and paralytic complaints,
which, however, are but very seldom known among them. As a remedy for
these as well as for fevers they make use of lotions and decoctions,
composed of herbs, which the physicians know perfectly well how to
compound and apply. But they never trust to medicines alone; they always
have recourse likewise to some superstitious ceremonies, without which
their patients would not think the physical preparations sufficiently
powerful.
With equal judgment they make use of simples for the cure of wounds,
fractures, or bruises; and are able to extract by these, without
incision, splinters, iron, or any sort of matter by which the wound is
caused. In cures of this kind they are extremely dextrous, and complete
them in much less time than might be expected from their mode of
proceeding.
With the skin of a snake, which those reptiles annually shed, they will
also extract splinters. It is amazing to see the sudden efficacy of this
application, notwithstanding there does not appear to be the least
moisture remaining in it.
It has long been a subject of dispute, on what continent the venereal
disease first received its destructive power. This dreadful malady is
supposed to have originated in America, but the literary contest still
remains undecided; to give some elucidation to it I shall remark, that
as I could not discover the least traces among the Naudowessies with
whom I resided so long, and was also informed that it was yet unknown
among the more western nations, I think I may venture to pronounce that
it had not its origin in North America. Those nations that have any
communication with the Europeans or the southern tribes are greatly
afflicted with it; but they have all of them acquired a knowledge of
such certain and expeditious remedies, that the communication is not
attended with any dangerous consequences.
Soon after I set out on my travels, one of the traders whom I
accompanied, complained of a violent gonorrhœa, with all its alarming
symptoms: this increased to such a degree, that by the time we had
reached the town of the Winnebagoes, he was unable to travel. Having
made his complaint known to one of the chiefs of that tribe, he told him
not to be uneasy, for he would engage that by following his advice, he
should be able in a few days to pursue his journey, and in a little
longer time be entirely free from his disorder.
The chief had no sooner said this than he prepared for him a decoction
of the bark of the roots of the prickly Ash, a tree scarcely known in
England, but which grows in great plenty throughout North America; by
the use of which, in a few days he was greatly recovered, and having
received directions how to prepare it, in a fortnight after his
departure from this place perceived that he was radically cured.
If from excessive exercise, or the extremes of heat or cold, they are
affected with pains in their limbs or joints, they scarify the parts
affected. Those nations who have no commerce with Europeans do this with
a sharp flint; and it is surprizing to see to how fine a point they have
the dexterity to bring them; a lancet can scarcely exceed in sharpness
the instruments they make of this unmalleable substance.
They never can be convinced a person is ill, whilst he has an appetite;
but when he rejects all kind of nourishment, they consider the disease
as dangerous, and pay great attention to it; and during the continuance
of the disorder, the physician refuses his patient no sort of food that
he is desirous of.
Their doctors are not only supposed to be skilled in the physical
treatment of diseases, but the common people believe that by the
ceremony of the chichicoué usually made use of, as before described,
they are able to gain intelligence from the spirits of the cause of the
complaints with which they are afflicted, and are thereby the better
enabled to find remedies for them. They discover something supernatural
in all their diseases, and the physic administered must invariably be
aided by these superstitions.
Sometimes a sick person fancies that his disorder arises from
witchcraft; in this case the physician or juggler is consulted, who,
after the usual preparations, gives his opinion on the state of the
disease, and frequently finds some means for his cure. But
notwithstanding the Indian physicians always annex these superstitious
ceremonies to their prescriptions, it is very certain, as I have already
observed, that they exercise their art by principles which are founded
on the knowledge of simples, and on experience which they acquire by an
indefatigable attention to their operations.
The following story, which I received from a person of undoubted credit,
proves that the Indians are not only able to reason with great acuteness
on the causes and symptoms of many of the disorders which are attendant
on human nature, but to apply with equal judgment proper remedies.
In Penobscot, a settlement in the province of Main, in the north-east
parts of New England, the wife of a soldier was taken in labour, and
notwithstanding every necessary assistance was given her, could not be
delivered. In this situation she remained for two or three days, the
persons around her expecting that the next pang would put an end to her
existence.
An Indian woman, who accidentally passed by, heard the groans of the
unhappy sufferer, and enquired from whence they proceeded. Being made
acquainted with the desperate circumstances attending the case, she told
the informant, that if she might be permitted to see the person, she did
not doubt but that she could be of great service to her.
The surgeon that had attended, and the midwife who was then present,
having given up every hope of preserving their patient, the Indian woman
was allowed to make use of any methods she thought proper. She
accordingly took a handkerchief, and bound it tight over the nose and
mouth of the woman: this immediately brought on a suffocation; and from
the struggles that consequently ensued she was in a few seconds
delivered. The moment this was atchieved, and time enough to prevent any
fatal effect, the handkerchief was taken off. The long suffering patient
thus happily relieved from her pains, soon after perfectly recovered, to
the astonishment of all those who had been witness to her desperate
situation.
The reason given by the Indian for this hazardous method of proceeding
was, that desperate disorders require desperate remedies; that as she
observed the exertions of nature were not sufficiently forcible to
effect the desired consequence, she thought it necessary to augment
their force, which could only be done by some mode that was violent in
the extreme.