Medical inquiries and observations / by Benjamin Rush ... ; four volumes in two. Vol. I.[-II.].

  • Rush, Benjamin, 1746-1813.
Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical inquiries and observations / by Benjamin Rush ... ; four volumes in two. Vol. I.[-II.]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    Fourthly, Of those customs which are common to them both.* I. Of the birth and treatment of their children. Much of the future health of the body depends upon its original stamina. A child born of healthy parents al- ways brings into the world a system formed by nature to resist the causes of diseases. The treatment of children among the Indians tends to secure their hereditary firm- ness qf constitution. Their first food is their mother's milk. To harden them against the action of heat and cold (the natural enemies of health and life among the Indians) they are plunged every day into cold water. In order to facilitate their being moved from place to place, and at the same time to preserve their shape, they are tied to a board, where they lie on their backs for six, ten, or eighteen months. A child generally sucks its mother till it is two years old, and sometimes longer. It is easy to conceive how much vigour their bodies must acquire from their simple but wholesome nourishment. The ap- petite we some imes observe in children for flesh is alto- gether artificial. The peculiar irritability of the system in infancy forbids stimulating aliment of all kinds. Nature never calls for animal food, till she has provided the child with those teeth which are necessary to divide it. I shall not undertake to determine how far the wholesome quali- ty of the mother's milk is increased, by her refusing the embraces of her husband during the time of giving suck. II. The diet of the Indians is of a mixed nature, being partly animal, and partly vegetable. Their animals are wild and therefore easy of digestion. As the Indians are naturally more disposed to the indolent employment of fishing than hunting, in summer, so we find them living more upon fish than land animals, in that season of the year. Their vegetables consist of roots and fruits, mild * Many of the facts contained in the Natural History of Medicine among the Indians, in this Inquiry, are taken from La Hontan and Charlevoix's histories of Canada; but the most material of them nre taken from per- sons who had lived or travelled among the indians. The author acknow- ledges himself indebted in a particular manner to Mr. Edward Hand, surgeon in the 18th regiment, afterwards brigadier-genera! in the army of the United States, who during several years' residence at Fort Pitt, directed his inquiries into their customs, diseases, and remedies, with a success that does equal honour to his ingenuity and diligence.