The genesis of the American materia medica : including a biographical sketch of "John Josselyn, gent," and the medical and materia medica references in Josselyn's "New-Englands rarities discovered," etc., and in his "Two voyages to New-England," / with critical notes and comments by Harvey Wickes Felter.

  • Felter, Harvey Wickes, 1865-1927.
Date:
[1927]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The genesis of the American materia medica : including a biographical sketch of "John Josselyn, gent," and the medical and materia medica references in Josselyn's "New-Englands rarities discovered," etc., and in his "Two voyages to New-England," / with critical notes and comments by Harvey Wickes Felter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ing a board with them two foot long, and a foot and a half broad, bor’d full of holes on each side, having a foot beneath like a Jack that we pull Boots off with, on the top of the board a broad strap of leather which they put over their forehead, the board hanging at their back; when they are come to a Bush or a Tree that they fancy they lay them down and are delivered in a trice, not so much as groaning for it, they wrap the child up in a young Beaver-skin with his heels close to his britch, leaving a little hole if it be a Boy for his Cock to peep out at; and lace him down to the board upon his back, his knees resting upon the foot beneath, then putting the strap of leather upon their forehead with the infant hanging at their back home they trudge; What other ceremonies they use more than dying of them with a liquor of boiled Hem¬ lock-Bark, and then throwing of them into the water if they suspect the Child to be gotten by any other Nation, to see if he will swim, if he swim they ac¬ knowledge him for their own, their names they give them when they are men grown, and covet much to be called after our English manner, Robin, Harry, Phillip and the like, very indulgent they are to their Children, and their chil¬ dren sometimes to their Parents, but if they live so long that they become a burden to them, they will either starve them or bury them alive, as it was sup¬ posed an Indian did his father at Casco in 1669.” [Other references to the Indians, containing fragments of material ger¬ mane to our subject, are contained in the following.—F.] [Pp. 130, 131, 132, 133] : “They live long, even to an hundred years of age, if they be not cut off by their Children, war, and the plague, which to¬ gether with the smallpox hath taken away abundance of them. Pliny reckons up but 300 Diseases in and about man, latter writers six thousand, 236 belong¬ ing to the eyes. There are not so many Diseases raigning amongst them as our Europeans. The great pox 19 is proper to them, by reason (as some do deem) that they are Man-eaters, which disease was brought amongst our Europeans, first by the Spaniards that went with Christopher Columbus who brought it to Naples with their Indian-women, with whom the Italians and French conversed Anno Dom. 1493. Paracelsus saith it happened in the year 1478 and 1480. But all agree that it was not known in Europe before Colum¬ bus his voyage to America. It hath continued amongst us above two hundred years. “There are diseases that are proper to certain climates, as the Leprosie to AEgypt, swelling of the Throat or Montegra to Asia, the sweating sickness to the Inhabitants of the North; to the Portugals the Phthisick, to Savoy the mumps; So to the West-Indies the Pox,20 but this doth not exclude other 19 Syphilis. (Felter.) 20 Pox here evidently refers to syphilis (see Josselyn’s reference to “great pox” and Columbus, etc., above). In early times to refer to pox unqualifiedly meant smallpox. In our time, however, it has come to mean syphilis exclusively. (Felter.)