Folk-medicine : a chapter in the history of culture / by William George Black.

  • Black, William George, 1857-1932.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Folk-medicine : a chapter in the history of culture / by William George Black. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    would they be to make strong suggestive impressions upon the mind of primitive man, but I demur to any doctrine that man's earliest conceptions were in the least degree likely to be materially due to those disorders. Greatly they may have modified, or even entirely altered, his first conceptions, but the savage, primarily and necessarily healthy, was neither apoplectic nor epileptic. I argue, as does Mr. Spencer, from the presumed state of man's nature when intellect dawned. Primitive man again has a mind like a child's mind—that is to say, he has a mind like a looking-glass, which reflects all and retains nothing. It will show the image of this or that, but remove the object and its image vanishes. Mr. Spencer himself cites instances of this state of mind in savage communities. It is illustrated by Mr. Oldfield's difficulties with the Australians. If he asked a question they immediately assented. A native brought him some specimens of a species of eucalyptus: Being desirous of ascertaining the habit of the plant, I asked, ' A tall tree ?' to which his ready answer was in the affirmative. Not feeling quite satisfied I again demanded, 'A low bush?' to which ' Yes* was also the response. The Damaras have great difficulty in counting beyond five, because no other hand remains to secure the units already counted. Many instances of primi- tive man's feeble grasp of thought, as illustrated in such people, as may be presumed approximately to represent him might be collected.* I shall assume, therefore, that admittedly man, so far as we can learn from his history as written in himself, is mentally fairly represented by a very young civilised child. The conclusions to which Mr. Spencer would point, then, are that to this strong, childlike savage the first explanation of disease, of death, and the suggestion of higher powers and religion, are due to dreams and epileptic fits. The healthy savage delays all conjectures about life or death till he sees his * See Lubbock, Origin of Civilization, pp. 8, 9 ; Spencer, Data of Sociology, pp. 94 et seq.