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Vergleichende Volksmedizin,
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Historical SummaryPeasant life in Europe is still in some regions considerably shut off from communication with the centers of scientific life, and their folk medicine is comparable with the magical practices of savages. The following prescription for the cure of a consumptive child represents the medicine in use in one of these communities, until recently at least:
Take water from nine watering troughs, earth from the graves of nine children, straw from the corners of nine thatched roofs, nine old stumps of cabbage, and nine spindles. Cook into a concoction and bathe the child, saying: "Not one, not two, not three . . . not nine," but very softly. Then roll the child over nine children’s graves and let it jump over a dog.1
Now this kind of medical practice evidently represents not at all the mental ability of its practitioners. "It represents a cultural lag due to lack of communication. Peasant boys from these communities occasionally make their way to medical centers (Vienna, Berlin) and become "scientists" as readily as American farm boys under the same conditions.
1Hovorka, O., n/an/an/an/an/a and A.n/aKronfeld, n/an/an/an/a 2: 47.
Chicago: Vergleichende Volksmedizin, in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. Thomas, William I. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937), Original Sources, accessed November 22, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=4PMC25SXMFHXA83.
MLA: . Vergleichende Volksmedizin,, Vol. 2, in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, edited by Thomas, William I., New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937, Original Sources. 22 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=4PMC25SXMFHXA83.
Harvard: , Vergleichende Volksmedizin,. cited in 1937, Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. , McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York. Original Sources, retrieved 22 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=4PMC25SXMFHXA83.
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