#41: Getting Well, Part 1: They got a tea for that!
Note: What I'm about to say here will give you an idea of how these posts get written - and when. I write them as if I'm writing as you are reading. However, these posts are usually written months in advance. In the case of "John's Keys", a post yet to come, it has been in the works for close to two years. I began putting this post, #41, together in October of 2019 LONG before the new Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, became such a prevalent component of our daily lives; long before it was even imagined by most of us. I wonder how our ancestors would have reacted to this pandemic. We did survive the pandemic of 1918, but there is little to no information available that I've uncovered that tells us about that time as it relates to "us". What you are about to read in this post, therefore, has nothing to do with the present pandemic. Perhaps one will be posted in the near future, a "Contemporary History" post, perhaps, that tells that story. That will be then, however, so let's get on with this one now, "They got a tea for that!"
In the last two posts we looked at how we Drums went
about getting our learnin’ done. At the end of the previous post (#40) I
mentioned that when I was in the grade school classes, I told my mom that
school made me sick. So, in honor of those sentiments, I thought it might be
interesting to have a look at what we Drums did to stay healthy and what we did
when we didn’t stay healthy (by that, I mean how we got healthy again. I just
thought I better clarify that statement).
Something else I better clarify right up front is that I
am not a doctor. Heck, I didn’t even
stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, or even recently! A few of my
ancestors were doctors. George Frank Drum(George, George, George, Jacob,
Philip), known as G. Frank Drum, became a doctor and two of his
daughter’s, Dora and Susan, each married a doctor. My brother, Nathan, IS a doctor;
a Doctor of Optometry. His offices are in northern New Hampshire, but, relevant
to my knowledge of the medical field, all of this information certainly begs
the question: So what?
 |
| The play was in all the papers, well, in the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, at least. |
I suppose it really doesn’t count either that I played
Radar in the Hazleton High School Drama Club’s Presentation of M*A*S*H* in 1974. This
is the story of the doctors and nurses in a medical unit during the Korean War.
Anyway, my character was Radar, the company clerk, not a doctor. My first toy,
a Teddy Bear I named Teddy, played the role of Radar’s teddy bear in the
production. He won the award for “Best Supporting Teddy Bear” during the Drama
Club’s Awards Banquet. My mom made a tuxedo for him to wear to the banquet and
he was so pleased with it that he hasn’t taken it off since!
Nor does it matter, I suppose, that “Doctor” was one of
my favorite games to play as a child. My friend Claire and I would spend hours
on end diagnosing each other’s illnesses, bandaging each other’s “wounds”, and
so forth. Thank goodness we were playing “doctor” and not “surgeon”!!
I even had a “Medical Kit”! In fact, I still do! Here it is! The “doctor’s
bag” that holds the kit is a broken metal lunch pail. A lot of the “instruments”
in the kit came from a children’s book about doctors and medicine that included
punch-out cardboard instruments including: a yellow “Health Chart”, a Reflex Hammer”,
a medicine measuring eye-dropper, a microscope, a Head Mirror, two cotton
swabs, two wooden tongue depressors, and
a hypodermic needle.
I supplemented those items with a real needle (minus the
needle), a very large diaper pin (for what reason I’m sure has been long
forgotten!), a plastic spoon, a box of 1 inch “Red Cross” gauze bandage, a surgical face
mask, a Sucrets box (good for holding the face mask), 2 tongue depressors (the
wrapper says “Pertussin relieves coughs), and a plastic Stethoscope. Another
small roll of gauze can be seen still in the lunch pail, I mean, medical bag,
in the photo.
My over-explained point in all of this is to say that I
don’t know squat about medicine or medications. I have had First Aid training
so if you are frostbitten, come see me. Otherwise, we are mostly out-of-luck.
Still, I’ll give it the “old college try”, as they say; or “med-school try”, as
the case may be.
In looking at this as a post topic, I realized this one
is even harder than the one about “our” schooling. Once again, I lament the
lack of diaries, letters, and the like that would give us clues, direct our
research, into how the Drums interacted with medicine and medical care; to tell
us just how well we did hold up!
One assumes most of us fared well enough, long enough, to
at least produce some off-spring given my son is the 10th generation
of “us” since Philip first arrived in Philadelphia back in 1738. The early
longer-life (or long-enough-life) successes are due largely to the ingenuity and
creativity of our ancestor’s, themselves. They listened, observed,
experimented; repeated what worked, tossed out what didn’t.
I look at all the remedies and potions and practices they
lived by and with, now lost and forgotten in today’s world, and I find myself
amazed. I discussed some of these remedies they would concoct in a previous
post entitled “It
Takes a Village Part 2: Village Remedies”. There I discuss handwritten
remedies found in “The Hatbox Collection” (see the post Faith – In God for information
about; and a look into; this box of family papers reaching back to 1800).
These recipes included an “Rx” for a sore cleansing
mixture of Iodine and Benzene;
flaxseed and raisins for a cough syrup recipe; and a mixture of vinegar, egg
yolks, and turpentine for sore backs (this one was not for internal use, thank
goodness!). I found it interesting that the flannel color called for by the
remedy was specific (red). I wonder if that helped; if “red flannel” was
somehow different, warmer perhaps, than, say, plaid flannel or green flannel. I
mean, why red?
There is even a recipe in the collection for use when
your cow is “off her feed” that includes Juniper berries, Antimony, and
Calamus. For this one, I had to turn to Google as well as look in a medical
book published in 1822 for what all this might be. I explain it in the post entitled “It
Takes a Village Part 2: Village Remedies”. But this all brings me to the 1822 Medical
book. This is not a book that was owned by any of the Drums, by the way.
However, I’m sure they’d have enjoyed it had they HAD owned it!
Dr.
Nathaniel Chapman, first president of the American Medical Association, published
a series of volumes entitled Elements of
Therapeutics and Materia Medica. The book I have is Vol. 2 of the
second edition that was published in 1822. It covers some interesting and
concerning things; most of which make me glad I wasn’t exposed to the world of
medicine in 1822!
For example, He mentions what he calls “Antimonium Tartarizatum”. He says that some doctors use
this “salt” as a blister to pull the sickness out of the body. He listed
maladies such as Chronic Rheumatism, Asthma, and Consumption (Tuberculosis), to
name a few, for which practitioners claimed to have found this procedure useful.
However, he says the application of the medicine to the skin produces an
irritation that is permanent and “most distressingly painful.”[1] "Permanent
and most distressingly painful"!?! Why would you even THINK of using something
like that!?
I have not read through this book cover to cover, but it
appears to be a compendium of treatments derived from various plants, sometimes
mixed with such ingredients as mercury or turpentine or vinegar, etcetera, and
so forth. On pages 238 through 242 Chapman discusses the use of spider webs
(cobwebs) for alleviating various symptoms, but mostly for the reduction of
fevers.
 |
| George Washington’s death as depicted in: Devens, R. M., Our First Century: being a Popular Discriptive Portraiture of the One Hundred Great and Memorable Events of perpetual interest in the History of our country, Political, Military, Mechanical, Social, Scientific and Commercial: embracing also delineations of all the great historic characters celebrated in the annuals of the Republic; men of Heroism, Statesmanship, Genius, Oratory, Adventure and Philanthropy. (Springfield, MA: C. A. Nichols & Co.; Easton, PA: J. W. Lyon, 1876). |
One of his quoted sources says the cobweb is not to be used
until the patient has been properly “prepared by bleeding, emetics, or
purgatives”. Emetics make you vomit. Purgatives move your bowels. Bleeding is
literally allowing blood to flow from the body. These medical procedures were
used to remove the bad “humours”
from the body. Some historians suggest bleeding was a contributing cause, if
not the true cause, of President George Washington’s death in 1799.
Even as late as 1860, the practice of bleeding was still
in use. It may have been used to try to cure the four Hart sisters whose story
is told by the post It
Takes a Village Part 3: The Story of the Hart Children. This is the sad
story of the deaths; all in the month of July, 1860; of the four little daughters
of Anna Margaret Rosina Drum Hart(Jacob, George, Jacob, Philip)
and her husband, John Hart.
Returning to the cobwebs, however, Chapman does not
specifically identify the spider in question. He simply says “cobwebs”. At one
point he does concede that there may be differences in medicinal properties
from the webs of different kinds of spiders. However, by “Cobwebs”, I’m
guessing the most likely genus being referred to is Achaearanea
(or, Parasteatoda; I’m not sure why there
appear to be two Genus names for the same species). Anyway, this
is the genus under which the Common House Spider (Achaearanea - Parasteatoda
tepidariorum) is classified and they are the ones who make the best
cobwebs, those big ones you find in buildings basements and barns.
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| Of course, we are most likely talking about spiders one would usually find indoors (a basement or in a barn), but I was having a difficult time finding a good photo of one of those so I chose this nice "outdoorsy" photo. I believe the tunnel spider whose web is seen at the top of this photo is a cousin to the variety Chapman is referring to. Certainly, he isn’t talking orb web weavers, such as the one seen in the lower half of this photo. And can you imagine the conversation about obtaining the cobwebs? “Go get me a few spider webs, Quick!” “What!? Spiderwebs!? NO! No way! YOU go get the spiderwebs!” |
 |
| That’s me with my dad in 1965. I surely can’t be on my way to help him with his hives, although that’s what the fancy headgear and gloves are for. I’m in shorts (and only one sock, apparently!). No way was I going to open honeybee hives in SHORTS! The hives in the wheelbarrow behind Dad (white boxes to the right) do not have bees in them yet. He must have been setting up new hives that day and I probably pestered him until he dressed me up like he was (and Mom, of course, had to take a photo). |
Medicine, however, is not, limited just to
arachnids and their webs. Insects[2] can play a roll too! My dad was a beekeeper, as was his father before him. I don’t know how far back
“our” relationship goes with Honey Bees. I do know the relationship between man
and honey goes back to Biblical times and probably earlier, back even to the earliest
days of humankind. It turns out honey and beeswax have long been used in the cure
of a long list of human and animal conditions and afflictions.
At one time it was believed that people who ate large
quantities of Honey became more congenial and affectionate![3]
Move over chocolate! Valentine’s Day has a new sweet to celebrate with!!
Honey is mentioned in the Bible, the Talmud, and the
Koran. It was used as a medicine in ancient China, India, Persia, Arabia,
Assyria, and Greece. It was used for wounds, burns, and boils. Mixed with
vinegar and wintergreen it became a useful poultice. Mixed with beeswax it was
used as a rectal suppository. Mixed with oil (I assume vegetable oil, but maybe
not) it became a popular enema. There were various types of Honey ointments for
wounds and Honey solutions were used in the ears and the eyes.[4]
So, Honey and beekeeping knowledge, crossed the ocean
with the Europeans (Can we say that they really knew their beeswax? sorry.
Again.), the Honeybee first arriving on this continent in 1622.[5]
The Germans, especially, strongly believed in the medicinal virtues of Honey.
One of the many remedies they used was to mix Honey with cod liver oil to
create an ointment for wounds.[6]
 |
| A “Bee Skep”. Image from: Devens, R. M., Our First Century |
Once here, Honey quickly became part of the culture. In
New England, they mix Honey with apple cider vinegar, heat it up, sniff the
fumes, and cure a headache. Now you apparently have to sniff 50 to 70 times for
the cure to work. I’m thinking by then the headache better be gone or I’m
fainting! I’m thinking that the sniffing
alone would GIVE me a headache but what do I know? By the way, since honey is a
relaxant, just eating it should help resolve tension headaches.[7]
In Pennsylvania, we also mix Honey with apple cider vinegar,
except we don’t sniff it, we DRINK it!! It makes a wonderful energizing tonic
called “Honigar”. There are lots of recipes online for Honey and vinegar drinks,
some include cinnamon.
And then there are the herbs. I mean,
who knew that Rhubarb had medicinal uses? I thought it was just good as a pie
filling! Wait, is Rhubarb an herb? Let’s say “herbs and other plants”. There, now I
feel better. Tree moss, grasses, certain barks, sassafras, various mints,
cattails, hemp, the list just keeps going!
A booklet entitled The
Forgotten Arts includes a chapter entitled “Herbal Medicines: The
Garden Apothecary” [8].
It says plants and herbs such as Wild Cherry and Horehound are both good for relieving
coughs; teas made from Chamomile, Fennel, Dill, Catnip, or Lemon Verbena were
once prescribed for their calming and relaxing effect (sweetened with honey?).
Hops (used as a pillow) induces sleep, they say. Teas made from Hyssop, Peppermint,
or Spearmint are supposed to be good stimulants. Peppermint was also
recommended for a queasy stomach, as was both Sage and Anise. Teas are made by
steeping the leaves in hot water. A decoction is made by boiling the prescribed
plant materials. Decoctions of Anise seed, Fennel, Coriander or Sweet Marjoram
were each used to cure colic.
Have a headache but you ran out of honey? Sniff Lavender.
Really, what could it hurt?
It is said that Rosemary will help your headache too. However,
some say it should be given as a tea (sweetened with honey, I wonder?) while
others want it applied as a compress. Pennyroyal
is said to repel insects. Sage tea and honey aids a sore throat. Jewelweed or Sweet Fern is
recommended for Poison Ivy, although there seems to be some disagreement over
which is the better application of the Sweet Fern, drinking it or bathing in
it!
The list goes on, but the author quite correctly points
out that many of conditions these remedies are suggested to help, are rarely
seen today, probably because we call them something else or have eradicated the
problem that was once so common. Examples include tetters[9],
chilblains,
scurvy,
ague[10],
erysipelas,
and summer diseases[11].
They then caution that if one is suffering from one of these many maladies, extinct
or not; a tea, decoction, bath, compress or whatever, might help, but for gosh
sakes (my words, not theirs) see a Doctor! These remedies most likely won’t
hurt you and may even help a tad, but they can’t hold a candle stick, sassafras
stick, or even a cinnamon stick, to what an actual doctor practicing modern
medicine can do for you! Go see a DOCTOR.
I’m guessing that the above was the extent of medicine
that was available to most of us Drums prior to the Civil War (The families of
Philip, Jacob, George, Philip, and into John’s life). These “folk remedies” (herbs
and such) were used even thereafter, albeit in a continuously diminishing
capacity at least into the Second World War years, and a some few years
thereafter, as “Modern Medicine” replaced these remedies as the primary “go-to”
option for the families of Nathan, Elmer, and Harry. The use of these remedies only
disappeared in general society use as those who had been taught their use died
and the modern pill or the over-the-counter commercially produced concoction replaced
the home-brewed tea or self-mixed salve. The closest I think I’ve ever come to
the use of such remedies was putting honey and lemon in my tea for a sore
throat or applying Aloe
for a burn.
And Stypic Pencils; I've used Stypic Pencils. These little sticks of Aluminum
Sulfate are used to stop bleeding. Those of us who shave; anything: checks, necks, legs, etc.; know about these pencils. Give yourself a nick with the razor and these pencils will stop the flow of blood fast. They are for external use only, of course. However, true to form, I know what they taste like. I found them rather soothing as a kid when I bit my cheek or lip accidentally while chewing. They have an interesting, sour-like flavor. I think use and time have caused this one to be somewhat diminished. They are usually bigger.
That is not to say that these old-time remedies just went away and
were forgotten. As we shall soon see, many of these remedies were captured and
used in those modern, commercially produced concoctions like throat lozenges
and cough syrups.
However, before we leave the “earlier times”, there was a
“remedy source” that we Drums apparently turned to that was passed along to us
by our European ancestors. It was probably knowledge carried by Philip on his
original Atlantic voyage; if not how to do it, certainly he was aware of it and
saw it practiced by the German community he left in Europe, as well as the
German community he joined in southeastern Pennsylvania. It is a centuries-old
tradition that most people today refer to as “Powwowing”. In the Pennsylvania
German, it is called Braucherei[12].
This tradition involves prayers one recites, or someone
says for you, or in some cases, for an animal, that will cure or heal a
condition. As I explained in more detail in the post “Faith
– In God”, the prayer, alone, doesn’t do the trick. The prayer is just
one element in a process that usually involves gestures, actions (such as
burying a lock of hair), procedures (such as repeating the prayer three times),
timed according to moon phases or similar natural occurrences, and so forth.
The process combines religious elements with ritual elements to produce the desired
result such as healing or providing protection.[13]
I know we Drums at lease knew of this practice because
found among the various other notes, news clippings, receipts and such saved in
“The Hat Box” collection, was the following Powwow. I go into much greater
detail about this in the post “Faith
– In God”. For our discussion here, it is sufficient to note that the
document holds two prayers. The top prayer is for a condition that afflicts
horses called “Sweeny” (it is spelled “swinny” in this document). The second
prayer is for healing wounds. I am unable to determine the age of this
document. It may be as old as 1862 or perhaps was produced as late as the
1920’s. That it exists, however, opens a whole line of insight into this family
that I had not been exposed to previously.
And with that, it begins to feel like we need to turn now
to the years after the Civil War on into today. Join us again on June 9, 2020
for #42: Getting Well, Part 2: Now they got a pill for that!
[1]
Chapman, N. M.D., Elements of Therapeutics and Materia Medica, vol. 2
(Philadelphia: H. C. Carey and I. Lea, 1822) p 118.
[2]
Although both are Arthropods, they fall into different classes. Arachnids
(spiders) have two body parts and eight legs while members of the class Insecta
(Insects) have three body parts and six legs. There are other dividing points
as well but these are the biggies.
[4] Perlman,
Dorothy, pp. 77-79
[6] Perlman,
Dorothy, pp. 77-79
[7] Perlman,
Dorothy, p. 79
[8]
Rogers, Barbara R., Chapter 10: “Herbal Medicines: The Garden Apothecary”,
pp57-62 in: The Forgotten Arts, Edie Clark, Ed., Book Four, (Dublin,
N.H., Yankee Inc., 1979)
[9]
Tetters: any of various vesicular skin diseases (such as ringworm, eczema, and
herpes)
[10]
Experiencing shivers with a fever, such as happens when suffering from Malaria.
[11] I
was not able to find a good, clean description of what this term may have been
describing. It probably involved the common summer afflictions of sun burn,
heat stroke, rashes, insect bites, and such, but may also have included such
things as malaria, yellow fever, chicken pox and measles.
[12] pronunciation
of the word is "BROW-khe-RYE" with a primary stress on BROW and a
secondary stress on RYE. The "khe" is a phoneme that does not exist
in most English dialects (it is most often heard in parts of Scotland). This is
a guttural sound formed in the back of your mouth, top of your throat, that is
similar to the sound that is made by trying to clear your throat.
[13] Donmoyer, Patrick J., Powwowing in Pennsylvania:
Braucherei and the Ritual of Everyday Life (Kutztown, PA: The Pennsylvania
German Cultural Heritage Center, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2018) p
23.
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