CHAPTER I 



THE HISTORY OF TROPICAL MEDICINE 



Primitive medicine: Accadia — China- — Japan- — America- — Foundations of 

 medicine : Indian — Egyptian — Jewish- — Grecian- — Alexandrian — Graeco- 

 Roman — Byzantine — Arabian — Medieval — Foundations of modern medi- 

 cine: The discovery of the tropics — Early tropical medicine — Founda- 

 tions of modern tropical medicine : Causation of disease — Helminthology 

 — Protozoology — Mycology — Bacteriology — Serums and vaccines — 

 Entomology — Toxicology — Climatology — Dietetics — Clinical medicine- — 

 Treatment — Prophylaxis — Research — The State and tropical medicine 

 — -The war and tropical medicine — Modern journals — Special works on 

 tropical medicine — References. 



Primitive Medicine. 



Primitive peoples from the earliest times had some knowledge of 

 medicine, but they did not understand the phenomena of disease, 

 which they attributed to supernatural causes, generally to evil or 

 offended spirits. Hence, in order to cure their ailments, it was 

 natural that they should seek to propitiate these spirits ; and accord- 

 ingly we find that the medicine of primitive peoples was part of their 

 religion, and was administered by their witch-doctors, fetishmen, 

 and priests. 



This primitive condition is still met with in many parts of the 

 tropical world. Thus, on approaching a West African village, little 

 images will be found on the roadside with offerings, which are often 

 to make 'ju-ju ' against some disease — e.g., smallpox- — which, in the 

 guise of a malignant spirit, might otherwise enter the village. 



Among native peoples will be found many curious medical, sur- 

 gical, and obstetrical practices which are very interesting. 



In Ceylon the superstitions are quite as elaborate as in West Africa, if not 

 more so. Pestilences are considered to be punishments on the people for 

 wickedness, and to be brought about by the conjunction of Saturn and 

 Jupiter, or Saturn and Mars in Sagittarius. 



Every illness is supposed to be due to a demon or to the ' evil eye,' and it is 

 dangerous for a sick person to come in contact with an unclean person — the 

 word ' unclean ' being used in the Biblical sense — who is supposed to convey 

 to the sick man a ' killa ' — that is to say, a something which increases the 

 severity of the illness. When a person is ill, every trivial incident becomes 

 of importance, and is discussed seriously to discover whether it is a good or 

 bad omen. 



Another means of prognosis of great importance is the horoscope, which 

 is generally made for the child soon after birth, and is written on a palm-leaf. 

 From it the influence of the planets with regard to good or evil on the individual 

 can be calculated. If the influences of the planets are unfavourable, some- 

 thing can be done by propitiatory means. In times of pestilences, when the 

 planets are contrary, the goddess Pattini can still intervene and avert the 

 epidemic if proper devotion is paid to her, 



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