Folk Remedies in Use

By Elton Camp (This is set in rural Alabama during the early 20th Century.) Country people relied on folk medicine for all but the most serious medical problems. Even if the remedy had no effect on the course of the disease, it gave people a feeling of doing something while the condition ran its course and the person recovered by action of the immune system. Doctors were sometimes used and the public health authorities might become involved in contagious diseases. Mamie was a firm believer in the use of Carters Little Liver Pills for herself and her children when they felt unwell.

Advertisement for Carters Little Liver Pills I took em n they cleand off my liver, she insisted. I got t feelin a heap better. The placebo effect is powerful. The pills were nothing but a mild laxative. Decades later, the government forced the company to rename the product so as to exclude any reference to the liver. Carters Little Pills it then became, but its marketing agents got around truth in labeling by enclosing the new name in a massive capital L which continued to convey the idea that they acted on the liver without actually making the claim. After all, the L could refer to the word Little. Who could prove otherwise. Earache was a common complaint, due to an infection in the middle ear. Then, as now, most cases clear within days with or without treatment. Rural folks knew exactly how to cure it. Belle advised suffering Iduma, Go t th woods n find a rottn log r stump. Brang me a Bessy bug. Iduma found a suitable location about fifty yards from the house. The large, black bugs had a colony inside a decaying stump. The one she captured emitted loud squeaks by rubbing its wings against its abdomen, but it didnt bite or sting. She brought the insect to her mother.

Betsy Bug Lay on th bed wif yore hurtin ear turned up, Belle instructed. She tore off the Betsy bugs head and allowed a drop of its blood to fall into the ear canal. Because something was being done, Iduma immediately felt better. Within about three days she fully recovered. The placebo effect combined with action of immunity did the work, but the Betsy bug got the credit. A chronic and serious health problem was tuberculosis, usually called TB. It killed more people in the South than any other infectious disease. More women than men were infected. It was more common from the middle teenage years through the midforties. It didnt respond to home remedies and could spread from one family member to another. At the time, antibiotics hadnt yet been discovered. Hit looks like Lige ez gonna half t go way fer a while, Milas commented to his wife. He wuz doin tolerable well fer a spell, but he tuk a turn fer th worse here of late. Lige was a neighbor who lived about a mile away. For months, the man experienced nausea, weakness, fever, night sweats, chest pain, and weight loss. Most ominous was his coughing up blood. A doctor in Albertville had diagnosed the dreaded consumption. In view of his serious condition and the fact that the disease was highly contagious, authorities were required to send him to the state TB sanitarium near Gadsden. The institution could provide no specific medication. Streptomycin was decades in the future. What it did offer was rest, a nutritious diet richly supplying vitamins and minerals, and plenty of fresh air and sunlight. If all else failed, surgery could be used to collapse the diseased lung for treatment or even to remove a portion. The man might rejoin his family within a couple of years. Confinement was mandatory. Whuts his wif n chillen goin t do, Belle wondered aloud. Lige was a farmer with four youngsters. Ill send th boys down t help n Im shore othersll do th same, he assured his wife. As he predicted, the community closed ranks and assisted the needy family until the return of its head. Except in the case of smallpox, vaccinations werent available. The usual childhood diseases ran their course. The victims suffered to varying degrees, but most

survived unimpaired. Almost every child had measles, mumps, whooping cough, and chickenpox. Fortunately, survival of the diseases conferred lifelong immunity. Two of the Camp children became sick. It started with fever, sore throat, swollen glands, and red tonsils with pus on them. Within a day, a red, rough rash that looked like sunburn spread all over their bodies. Scarlet fever called for drastic measures. The public health officer walked warily toward the house, paused a moment in the yard, then mounted the porch with firm steps. He didnt knock or call out. His visit, at some homes, provoked angry words or threats. In his hand was a large sign that he nailed to the wall. At the top in large letters were the words Scarlet Fever. Below the heading it read, These Premises are Under Quarantine. The notice ordered that no person could enter or leave the dwelling. The placard couldnt be removed. Penalties for noncompliance were severe: up to a hundred dollars fine or as much as thirty days imprisonment were possible. All in the community obeyed. In time, both children felt better. The outer layer of skin peeled from their bodies first and then their hands and feet. The emergency was over. Life could resume as normal.

A common sign
(The next post in this series deals with parasitic worms. Reader discretion is advised as it is a bit intense. Watch for it if this interests you.)