Diseases and Medicines
Indian men and women of all ages and classes, when attacked by any serious malady, are found to be lacking in vitality and stamina; they relinquish hope, and relax their grip on life very easily, seeming to hold it lightly and as not worth a fight to retain. An elderly man or woman will sometimes take to the hammock without apparent physical symptoms of disease beyond the anemia and splenitis from which nearly all suffer, and merely announce Ile in cimli, "I am going to die." They refuse to eat, drink, or talk, wrap themselves in a sheet from head to foot, and finally do succumb in a very short time apparently from sheer lack of vitality and absence of desire to continue living.
Malaria is without doubt the chief scourge of the Indian's existence. Many of the villages are built in low-lying situations, with mosquito-breeding swamps all round them, while the scrubby bush and rank vegetation are allowed to grow in the yards right up to the houses, furnishing good cover and an excellent lurking place for the insects; moreover, the Indians seldom use mosquito curtains, as they seem to have acquired a sort of immunity to the irritation caused at night by the noise and biting of the pests. Practically all Indians suffer from malaria, which is the main cause of the splenic enlargement and anemia so prevalent among them. In some cases the spleen reaches an enormous size, nearly filling the abdominal cavity, and deaths from a slight blow or fall, causing rupture of this organ, are by no means uncommon. Malaria is usually treated by means of profuse sweating (kilcabankil), the patient lying wrapped in a cotton sheet in the hammock, with a fire burning beneath and drinking sudorific bush medicine. This in itself is an excellent remedy, but in the midst of the sweat patients frequently plunge into cold water, thus becoming thoroughly chilled, a procedure very apt to bring on pneumonia, to which they are peculiarly subject.
The splenic enlargement is treated by applying a number of small circular blisters (xacal) containing chichem juice to the skin, over the affected organ, which seem to be remarkably efficacious in reducing the swelling.
In the winter when the nights are cold the Indians often lie out all night in the wet, a practice which frequently results in pneumonia and death. Hookworms and many other varieties of intestinal parasites are prevalent, owing to the earth-eating habits of the children, the earth being taken usually from the immediate vicinity of the house, where pigs and other domestic animals have their quarters. This disgusting habit no doubt accounts in part for the swollen bellies and earthy color of many of the children.
Smallpox (ǩak) invading an Indian village is a terrible scourge, far worse than in a more civilized community of the same size, where partial immunity has been acquired. Sometimes the whole unaffected population depart en masse, leaving the dead unburied and the stricken lying in their hammocks, with a supply of food and water, to do the best they can for themselves. The Indians employ the same mode of treatment for this disease as for malarial fever—sweating followed by immersion in cold water, treatment which, it need hardly be said, is not infrequently followed by disastrous results.
Venereal diseases of all kinds are remarkably rare among all the Indian tribes. Among the Santa Cruz and Icaichè such diseases were practically unknown. Even among the mixed breeds of British Honduras they are comparatively rare, notwithstanding the fact that these natives have come much in contact with people of many other races, especially of late years with Mexican Chicleros, nearly all of whom are affected with venereal disease in one form or another.
Simple fractures of the long bones are set very neatly and skillfully in the following way: The fractured limb is pulled away from the body with considerable force in order to overcome the displacement; over the fractured bone is wound a thick layer of cotton wool, and over this are applied a number of small round, straight sticks, completely surrounding the limb, their centers corresponding nearly to the seat of fracture; these are kept in place by a firm binding of henequen cord. The limb, if an arm, is supported in a sling; if a leg, the patient is confined to his hammock till the fracture is firmly knit. Excellent results are secured by this method, the union being firm, and the limb nearly always uniting in good position.
Bleeding, a favorite remedy for all complaints, is especially resorted to in cases of headache and malarial fever. Usually the temporal vein, less frequently one of the veins in the front of the forearm, is opened, having been first distended with blood by tying a ligature around the upper arm. A chip of obsidian, a sharp splinter of bone, or a snake's tooth, serves as a crude lancet; the use of the last causes considerable pain, but is believed to have some esoteric virtue connected with it.
Decoctions made from the charred carcasses of animals at one time were much employed, certain animals being regarded as specifics for certain diseases. Thus, during an epidemic of whooping cough (xinki sen) a decoction from the charred remains of the cane rat was almost exclusively given to the children to relieve the cough, though in this case it is difficult to trace the connection between the remedy and the disease.
Many eye troubles are treated by placing a small rough seed beneath the lower lid of the affected eye, where it remains for a day; when the seed is withdrawn it is covered with mucus, to which the doctor points as the injurious matter, the cause of all the trouble, which he has removed.
Massage is practiced chiefly for uterine and ovarian pains by the older women, who also act as midwives; it is used also in conjunction with kneading and manual manipulation in the cure of neuralgic pains, strains, stiffness, and rheumatism.
In confinements, which usually take place either in the hammock or on the floor, the dorsal position is invariably assumed. In such cases also massage over the uterus is performed by the midwife. If the desired results are not secured, the patient is made to vomit by thrusting a long coil of hair down her throat, while a woman of exceptional lung power is sent for to blow into her mouth, with the object of hastening delivery.
The Indians use for medicinal purposes a great variety of plants which grow in their country; some of these are purely empirical remedies; others produce definite physiological results and are frequently used with good effect, while a few, apparently on the assumption that "similia similibus curantur," are employed because of some fancied resemblance in form to the diseased part, as xhudub pek, twin seeds of the size of small eggs, the milky juice of which is used as an external application for enlarged glands and for various forms of orchitis.
The following plants are used medicinally by the Indians as remedies for the diseases named, respectively:
Acitz.—The milky juice of a tree, used as an application for chronic sores and ulcers.
Acam.—The leaves of this plant are applied hot to reduce the swelling and relieve the pain in enlargement of the spleen and liver.
Purgacion Xiu.—An infusion made from the leaves is administered warm in bladder and urethral troubles.
Pakaal.—An infusion made from the leaves of the orange tree is given as a sudorific.
Pichi.—A paste made from the leaves of the guava is applied to "bay sore," a specific ulcer somewhat resembling "oriental sore."
Pomolche.—A mouth wash made from the milk of this tree is used in cases of stomatitis and ulceration of the mouth.
Quimbombo.—The wild okra is greatly esteemed as an external application in cases of snake bite.
Sisim.—An infusion made from the leaves is used as a sudorific in cases of malarial fever.
Sicilpuz.—A yellowish fruit sometimes used as a purgative.
Cabalpixoy.—The fruit of this tree is given in cases of diarrhea, and an infusion made from the bark is used in diarrhea and dysentery.
Claudiosa Xiu.—An infusion made from the whole bush is greatly esteemed as a bath and lotion in all uterine and ovarian complaints.
Chalche.—The spinous leaf of this plant is used as a local application to relieve neuralgic pains, and an infusion made from the leaves is given for rheumatism.
Chamico.—An infusion made from the leaves of the convolvulus mixed with other leaves is given to relieve asthma and bronchial catarrh.
Chaac.—The arrowroot, eaten raw, is regarded as a useful remedy in all bladder and urethral complaints.
CuƆuc.—The wood, ground into a paste, is applied to the heads of small children suffering from fever and convulsions.
Ruda.—The leaves of this plant are universally used as an external application for children suffering from convulsions, and frequently in the same manner for the relief of almost any nervous complaint in adults.
Pica pica.—A sort of cowhage which, mixed with atol or some corn beverage, is largely used as a vermifuge for children.