POPULAR MEDICINE IN GERMANY.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5441, 23 July 1879, Page 3

POPULAR MEDICINE IN GERMANY.

The lower classes of Germans, especially the colintr'y pdopleyhave 1 ' a medical science of their own, a stratigd arbitrary pharmacy — unacknowledged by any professional doctor — in the healing power of which they place the greatest faith. This popular science touches but a few maladies, such as fever, consumption, epilepsy, all rheumatic complaints, headache, asthnia, &6. , wlli«Ii, as well as all kinds of sores, are generally ascribed to witchcraft ':or some other supernatural power. The directions prescribed as preventives against all sorts of witchcraft vary different parts of Germany, and are generally ! limited to certain provinces. Thus,' in Silesia, people carefully avoid swallowing a cat's hair' or a fragment of thread, as this imprudence Would certainly cause consumption* In the Tyrol, eating a sparrow is believed to bring about St. Yitus's dance' and in Hesse, spitting Into the fire will make the culprit's mouth sore, a belief which is probably a remnant of the time when fire was considered sacred. In Saxony, nobody ventures to wipe their fingers on the table-cloth, lest, their hands become covered with warts. Throughout Germany, brooms play a large part in the tragi-comedy of popular medicine, since they' are the witches' favorite means of conveyance to their nightly feast at the Blocksberg. In Wes phalia — that lumberroom of superstition— and Saxony, the unfortunate mortals who happen to have been beaten with a broomstick firmly believe themselves doomed to die of consumption, and small children who have been chastised by means of a hazel or willow rod are supposed either to be crippled or stunted in their growth. Another strange notion prevailing throughout Germany is that no one should boast of good health, at least not without spreading out tho fore and middle fingers of both hands and saying the word TJnbcrufen or Unbeschrieen, which means unbewitched.

Many of these preventives are closely connected with church holidays and other religious concerns. Thus, bathing in the open air on Good Friday or at Easter ia supposed to keep the Silesians well and healthy the whole year ; and in Saxony, the common preservative against ague is to eat nine different kinds of green Vegetables mixed together on MaundayThursday, In many ports of the German empire it is a custom to take a cold bath oii Christmas night, for during the following Tw«lfth-night the water is believed to possess magio powers. In Brandenburg, the old believers in these wonderful doctrines say that every illness becomes contagious to thoso who hear the sick person complaining about the disease ; wherefore the individual thus addressed will most ungraciously retort — ( ' Bear thy pains alone, Or bewail them to a stone." Three crosses painted over tho housedoor keep diseases and all other domestic disasters off the homes of true believers ; for which tho initials K. (Kaspar), M. (Melehoir), and B. (Balthasar), or even the pentalpha (commonly called wizardfoot), may be substituted. This pentalpha consists of two triangles united in a manner to form a five-pointed star. It is strange to observe how in the abovementioned customs Christian and heathenish are commingled. Some other usages are of a droll character, such as kissing a donkey, which remedy is prescribed for toothache. Shutting up a spider in a nutshell and wearing it round the throat will cure persons afflicted with sore eyes ; and those who suffer from jaundice are enjoined merely to look intently into a barrel of tar if they wish to get rid of their complaint. Gout it annihilated by potatoes — simple raw potatoes — which, however, must needs

have been the produce of a bagging expedition, and must be carried about suspended from the invalid's body until they are. quite shrivelled and dried up.

A special chapter might be devoted to the supernatural healing powers attributed to the corpse or the separate parts of

the body of a dead person, especially of one executed by the hand of justice ; or of any young person who may have died suddenly (self-destroyers excepted) ; but the subject is too disagreeable to dwell on. We will merely mention that in Germany a coffin nail is not quite so dead a thing as Dickens believed it to be, for if properly used it serves as a remedy against gout, spasms, and other complaints. Epileptic persons are recommended to wear rings made of coffin nails ; and strange to say, even highly educated persons believe that this nostrum could rid them of their terrible complaint.