54 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



paid on June 7, 1787. The bill is interesting as a com- 

 mentary on the medical practice of an early day, as well 

 as for the light which it throws on Jean Audubon's 

 Santo Domingan career, his establishment at Les Cayes, 

 and his treatment of black slaves and dependents. This 

 quaint document, moreover, tends to confirm a remark 

 of Baron de Wimpffen to the effect that every doctor in 

 Santo Domingo grew rich at his profession, and also 

 recalls what he said in regard to the household remedies 

 of the period. "Every colonist," to quote this observer 

 again, "is commonly provided with a small chest of 

 medicines, of which the principal are manna, salts, and 

 rhubarb ; the country itself produces tamarinds, and the 

 leaves of the cassia tree, a slight infusion of which, with 

 a little orange juice, makes as good a purge as a mixture 

 more scientifically composed." 



This physician's chief resources are seen to have 

 been ipecacuanha, purgative decoctions, including such 

 as the tamarind tree provided, manna, mineral waters, 

 lotions, plasters, and kino, an astringent juice derived 

 from different leguminous plants, which gave a red color 

 to the saliva, not to speak of "other medicines," the na- 

 ture of which is not revealed, which were liberally sup- 

 plied to whites and blacks, both old and young, alike. 

 It will be noticed further that the slaves of African 

 birth when not named are referred to as "bossals," 

 though many young blacks and mulattoes are called 

 "Joue"; 3 that a cooper, attached presumably to the 



3 The word "Joue," which occurs eleven times in this document — as 

 "mulatto Joue," "Joue mulatto," "negro bossal named Joue," and "little 

 negro Joue" — suggests the English equivalent "Cheek," but no such usage 

 appears to be authorized. It is evidently a proper name, and is more 

 likely to prove the French rendering of a word common to one of the 

 negro dialects of the island. On the other hand it might represent a 

 corrupted pet name, like "joujou" or "bijou," bestowed by the French 

 Creoles of Santo Domingo upon their favorite negrillons or petits nhgres, 



