206 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



Among the scores of men who wrote of Indians and 

 of the frontiers, there were a few who gave more or less 

 information relative to the rednian's medicines. One of 

 these was Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declara- 

 tion of Independence, and who was the foremost phy- 

 sician of his time. Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton, of Phila- 

 delphia, was another, whose works were published con- 

 siderably more than a hundred years ago. Peter Smith, 

 a practicing physician on the early Ohio frontier and 

 who said that he "had read some medicine," frankly 

 stated in his book : "I learned some of my remedies 

 from the Indians, or learned them in the same way that 

 the Indians learned them." He called himself "a home 

 old man or In- 

 dian d o c t o r." 

 His unique book 

 was long out of 

 print but a new 

 edition was is- 

 sued a few years 

 ago in Cincin- 

 nati. J o h a 11 n 

 David Schoepf. 

 a Hessian army 

 surgeon who 

 fought against 

 the Americans 

 in the Revolu- 

 tion and after- 

 wards traveled 

 extensively o n 

 the western 

 frontiers, left a 

 work in Latin 

 descriptive o f 

 American med- 

 icinal plants, 

 and another in 

 German descriptive of his travels, and he threw much 

 light on the Indians' practice of medicine. John Law- 

 son's "History of Carolina," written two centuries ago, 

 deals with some of the Indian remedies derived from the 

 forest. Peter Kalm, a Swedish naturalist, writing about 

 1749 from observations made while traveling through 

 the eastern United States and Canada, gave much inter- 

 esting information on the same subject. C. F. Volney, 

 a Frenchman who traveled through Indiana and Illinois 

 soon after the close of the Revolution, wrote many care- 

 ful observations of Indians, including their diseases and 

 cures. Information comes from many other travelers 

 who have left books dealing with phases of Indian life. 



Men who were of the medical profession and were 

 personally acquainted with Indian doctors and their 

 medicines have not left wholly favorable accounts of the 

 redman's proficiency as a physician. ' His knowledge of 

 certain remedies has been admitted, but his skill in ad- 

 ministering them has been called in question. That was 

 the view held by Dr. Rush, while the following summary 

 shows Dr. Barton's opinion : 



ARBORVITAE 



I t 1 1 1 1 a 1 1 s placed leaves and twigs of this cedar 

 in their beds for the purpose of keeping snakes 

 at a distance. Modern campers use it for deco- 

 rations and like its odor. 



My inquiries concerning the diseases and remedies of our 

 Indians has convinced me that among these people the art of 

 medicine is truly in a shapeless and embryonic state. It is, 

 nevertheless, certain that some of the rudest tribes are acquainted 

 with the general medicinal properties of many of their vege- 

 tables. Medicines of savages are in general medicines of an 

 active kind. The Indians of North America are in possession 

 of a number of active and important remedies. They do not 

 always apply their remedies with judgment and discernment. 



Volney reached his conclusions from observations of 



Indians of the Middle West, and his summary follows : 



They are afflicted with diseases of the stomach, intermittent 

 and bilious fevers, consumption, and pleurisy. Fractures and 

 dislocations are not rare among them, but they are pretty 

 dextrous in reducing them. They would suffer more from rheu- 

 matism if they did not practice fumigation by means of hot 

 stones. 



Schoepf 's opinion of Indian medicine and practice, was 



given in these words : 



Most of the diseases for the healing of which the skill of the 

 Indians is specially praised, are simple, those in which nature 

 may work actively and effect most salutary changes. The ob- 

 servers and panegyrists of the so much belauded Indian methods 

 of therepy are commonly ignorant people who find things and 

 circumstances wonderful because they cannot offer explanations 

 from general principles. The medicines of which they make use 

 are few and simple, potent naturally or through the heaviness 

 of the dose. 



Indian doc- 

 tors seldom com- 

 pounded medi- 

 cines. Each was 

 complete in it- 

 self. If they 

 used cherry 

 bark, they mix- 

 ed nothing with 

 it ; if dogwood 

 flowers, they 

 were used alone ; 

 if beech leaves, 

 they alone were 

 employed. The 

 old medical 

 books called 

 such remedies 

 "simples," be- 

 cause only one 

 ingredient was 

 present. 



After the In- 

 dian came in 

 contact with 

 white men he speedily acquired most of the diseases of 

 civilization, but while he lived in his natural environment 

 his ailments were fewer in number. Judging from state- 

 ments in old books dealing with the matter, Indians suf- 

 fered chiefly from four classes of complaints, but the 

 classification here given is not scientific. 



The first may be defined as aches for which the Indian 

 could discover no visible cause, such as rheumatism, 

 toothache, and headache. There is no question that the 

 savages suffered severely from these. 



Fevers constituted the second class, and all accounts 

 agree that Indians suffered from that cause. It may not' 

 be possible to diagnose the cases sufficiently to deter- 



BUTTERNUT OR WHITE WALNUT 



Indians cured many ailments with this tree's 

 bark, and white men learned its use from them. 

 Modern drugstores keep the bark for sale. 



