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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



proper care. But helpless old people are few in 

 Cheran. Most old people, even though they 

 may not perform an equal share of the labor, 

 keep fairly active and useful. 



SICKNESS AND ITS CURE 



Ideas about sickness and its cure are in a 

 state of transition in Chenin. The list of 

 diseases is a combination of standard medical 

 terms, sometimes misapplied, and names from 

 traditional sources. Treatment of disease is 

 likewise changing rapidly. Some people in 

 town will go to a clinic in Paracho and in 

 serious cases will send for the doctor there. 

 For part of the time of the study a practicante 

 in medicine was resident in the town (a 

 practicante is a medical student who has com- 

 pleted all his work but has to spend 8 months 

 in a town without a doctor and write a report 

 on medical and health conditions before receiv- 

 ing his final credentials) . Very few people 

 evince any dislike for doctors; if they shun 

 doctors it is because of the expense involved. 

 On the other hand, most of the local curers are 

 reticent and uncommunicative, although many 

 of them make use of remedies purchased in the 

 drug stores of nearby towns (Cheran has no 

 drug store) . 



All the curers (curanderas — surijki; in other 

 towns (inajpiri) located in the town were 

 women. Usually they are middle-aged or old. 

 In those cases where biographical data could be 

 secured, the majority were daughters or grand- 

 daughters of curers. In some cases they had 

 been taught, but apparently few of them used 

 their knowledge until they became of mature 

 years. Very few curers profess to cure all 

 illnesses; usually they claim to cure two or 

 three and in some cases only one. Twenty-five 

 centavos is the usual charge for curing, whether 

 the patient comes to the curer's house or the 

 curer visits the patient. One curer visited had 

 the reputation of being a "bad" witch, another 

 a "good" witch, but generally the curers are 

 not witches. Some rejected indignantly the 

 idea of having anything to do with witchcraft, 

 denying even ability to cure witchcraft. Any- 

 thing to do with witchcraft is a maloficio and 

 not to be touched by ordinary persons. 



Ideas of sickness are varied. Injuries, such 

 as broken bones, dislocated joints, and wounds, 



are recognized as of mechanical origin. Some 

 diseases are vaguely regarded as of natural 

 causation and as possibly contagious ; others are 

 clearly of supernatural character even though 

 curable by natural means, although the line 

 between the two is not sharp. In either case, 

 herbs, unguents, and drugs are believed capable 

 of helping the sickness. To utilize these 

 methods of curing requires no special ability 

 but merely knowledge. Many minor ailments 

 are treated at home; the curer is merely a 

 person of greater knowledge who is called in 

 when home remedies fail or the case is obviously 

 beyond the knowledge of the household. 

 Similarly, the doctor at Panicho is called only 

 when the curer fails or the case is believed be- 

 yond the curer's powers. Obviously, this ■ 

 situation has not greatly enhanced the reputa- 

 tion of the doctor, for most of his patients are 

 nearly moribund some hours before he can 

 reach them. 



Curers usually make a diagnosis first. No 

 information on methods could be secured. It 

 appears that a visual inspection and question- 

 ing of the patients are parts of the diagnosis, 

 and possibly the only diagnosis. Once the 

 diagnosis is made, the curer decides what steps 

 to take to cure the patient. Often herbs kept 

 on hand can be used ; others, however, must be 

 specially sought because they must be collected 

 either fresh or at certain hours of the day. 



In general, sickness by some is related to the 

 strength of the blood which resides below the 

 nape of the neck. This is also the location of 

 the individual's life. Persons with much blood 

 are healthy. When persons are seriously ill, 

 it is because their blood is scanty; when there 

 is insufficient to nourish the "seat of life," the 

 person dies. There are also vague concepts of 

 sickness being caused by "heat" or "cold," 

 (sophisticated Agustin attributed a cold to 

 drinking water while sweating) "airs" (which 

 may also be either hot or cold), fright 

 (espanto) , and, much more specific, evil eye. 

 Broken bones are treated by specialists, who 

 may also be curers of diseases or, in one case 

 at least, midwives. The bones are manipulated 

 into place and bound to splints without other 

 treatment. 



Dislocations are massaged repeatedly with 

 olive oil until the bones are back in place. They 



