Special Articles

AN ACCOUNT OF INDIAN MEDICINE other places on the west coast. After return- ing to England in 1682 he published a BY ' learned and delightful book on India, A new JOHN FRYER, m.d., f.r.s. account of East India and Persia,' which is (1650-1733 A.D.) the basis for this article. By D. V. S. EEDDY Vizagapatam Medical topography : of John Fryer, m.d. (Cantab.), f.r.s., may be Bombay Writing Bombay, Fryer says rightly described as the most observant and that the president has his chaplains, physicians, and domestics. He also learned of all the physicians and surgeons of chyrurgeons refers to the East India Company in the 17th century. the sickly progeny of English women. in He came out to India 1673 and served at 'This may be attributed to their living at large not various settlements in this country and Persia debarring themselves wine and strong drink which, till 1682. During his journey to his immoderately used, influence the blood and spoils the station, milk in these hot as Aristotle he visited Fort St. and Masuli- countries, long ago Surat, George declared. The natives abhor all heady liquours for on patam the Coromandel coast, and Goa and which reason they approve better nurses.'

-I Jan., 1940] JOHN FRYER'S ACCOUNT OF INDIAN MEDICINE : REDDY 35

a of the Dust and the of the Air: 'The have only Eyes by fiery Temper Fryer also adds English In the Rains, Fluxes, Apoplexies, and all. Distempers church or burying place but neither ^ ^hospital of the Brain, as well as Stomach.' both which are mightily to be desired.' some diseases Fryer notes the unhealthiness of Bombay. Description of rotten 'At first to be caused by Bubsho, Fryer relates that the Governor of Junnar thought continues but that be yet it called all his male children and the fish; though prohibited, whic gave as the Situation, Mortal: I rather impute it to of their maladies but the details are a Putridness history causes an Infecundity in the Earth, and coming to m the Air, what being produced seldom lacking. what is eaten is undigestedwhence Writing of Jehonna and adds Maturity, whereby is a Hohelia, Fryer follows Fluxes, Dropsy, Scurvy, Barbiers (which interesting observations on the dangers and neither able to use enervating the whole Body, being a and Putrid diseases of long voyage of the times. Hands or Feet), Gout, Stone, Malignant 'A not to be without a Fevers which are Endemial Diseases.' Blessing passed by grateful Commemoration, when half the Fleet were disabled to the Goa : Writing of Goa, Fryer refers by Distempers acquired by Salt Meats, and a long Paulistines who the biggest of the monas- Voyage without Refreshments; and must have suffered enjoy too for want of Water, had not they met with a teries at St. Roch. seasonable Recruit.' ' s ' In it is a Library, an Hospital, and an Apothecary The first care then was to send the Sick Men ashore Shop well furnished with Medicines, where Gasper which it is incredible to relate how strangely they of the Order, the in so short a on and Antonio, a Florentine, a Lay-Brother revived time, by feeding Oranges Author of the Goa Stones, brings them in 50,000 Fresh Limes, and the very smell of the Earth; for an Old that invention Annually; he is those that were carried from the Ships in Cradles ^erephins, by for his Man, and almost being of great Esteem and looked upon as desperate, in a day's time could Blind, to by ong practice in and therefore applied take up their Beds and walk; only minding to fetch Physick, in this most Eminent of all Ranks and Orders them anights, that the Misty Vapours might not hinder tn.e like a it a and shews the kind on their tainted Mass of ^lfcy; . is Built like Cross, Operation begun Seraglio on the water.' , Blood, by these specifick Medicines of Nature's own to the ?c. :e descended from this lovely spectacle preparing.' well from Spittle", where we found the Poor faring also in course his visit their Benefactors. ? Fryer notes the of "Natal The of to the ,1 to a called Tanore in Malabar district forepart their vespers for port spend at the where their Care King's Hospital; e the prevalence of filariasis and records faith- the Sick an handsome Apothecary is commendable, the traditional lore the aetio- Shop them with Medicines; The Physicians fully concerning furnishing exceed "ere are great Bleeders, insomuch that they logy of the disease. often an in Fevers; hardly ' 'Galen's Advice, deliquium, Of Christians here are not an inconsiderable number. leaving enough to feed the Currents for Circulations; of invidiously after Here are also those Elephant-Legged St. Thomeans, which Cruelty some complain which the unbiassed will tell chances Recovery.' Enquiries you to them two ways: By the Venom of a certain at the for which the or furnish them On his next visit to Goa Fryer lodged Snake, Jangies Pilgrims of with a Factitious Stone (which we call a Snake-stone) house of a in the camp French physician and is Counterpoyson to all deadly Bites; if it stick, pt. Thomas which the city overlooked. it attracts the Poyson; and put it into Milk, it recovers < Surat: This City (Surat) is very nasty it self again, leaving its virelency therein, discovered by their want of Privies, and their making by its Greenness: As also by drinking bad Water (to which as we to the they attribute all a never had they any Air, Dunghill; yet when travel over the and then ~^??r the Rains Diseases) they Sands, "iague, the Heats evaporating, and lying down when they are hot, till the Earth at Night washing this Filth away.' is in a cold sweat, which penetrating the rarified sick- fixes the Humours their free : People were free from Cuticle, by intercepting Masulipatam with concourse on that side, not to be remedied by any ness summer but from May, during Panacea of their Esculapian Sectators; it is not much cooling showers, air grew foggy and Empyemas unlike the Elephantiasis Arabum.' fluxes were rifest. an^ refers to venereal disease in the : Fryer Madraspatam Canareese a cast of Country: About this mount Thomas) live ' (St. The Diseases here are unless whose are as big as an elephants, Epidemical, Plague u ?ne legs Veneris be more for which at this Season lc.h ?ives occasion for divulging it to be a judgment Endemial, oa murderers have a Noble and Familiar the them as the of assasins and they Remedy, Mango generation I saw (which have in all kinds to the the blessed St. Thomas one of whom they improved it(s) apostle utmost a at Fort St. Perfection) being Sovereign Medicine; they George.' are the best and largest in India, most like a Pear- Fryer did not visit Delhi, Agra, or Hugli. Plum, but three times as big, grow on a tree nearest a plum-Tree; the Fruit when Green scents like Seasons and diseases Turpentine, and pickled are the best Achars to provoke the to the Seasons; an Appetite; When the Apples of Hisperides are TVT Diseases reign according Ripe, " solid and are rendered firm, but Fables to them; for Taste, the Nectarine, Peach, blowing, Bodies 17. '? lve by exhausting the Serous Humours, ad Hyp. and Apricot fall short; they make them break out, and is more Lib. 3 for which cause Dry Weather cleanse the Blood, and Salivate to the height of Digestion, andMercurial Arcanaes; and afterwards fatten as much . than it fon-i-i Moist, hastening are aciiitating Excretion, when no Fevers that as Antimony, or Acorns do Hogs; these and Sarsa eaeherous root themselves in a deep Putrefaction,being their usual Diet.' the are miserably afflicted Variable Months they and and Tumours of the Mouth Critical review Indian medicine Tk ^oushs Catarrhs, also of Rheumatisms, and intermitting Fevers; fW?? V so here; In the course of his history of India under x Evades the Youth, as in all India, ' T?*iAQ the notes the extreme Heats, Cholera Morbus, inflammation| particular heading SciencesFryer 36 THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE [Jan., 1940 that, while magic and judicial astrology, Some home remedies grammar and rhetoric, are held in high esteem, will submit to and ' Here they spells charms, are not Elocution, Physick, Metaphysicks, and the advice of old women. out of their element: Their Philosophers also adds notes on simple home nor are Fryer maintain an Aristotelian Vacuity; they remedies like butter of 400 years' standing of is ' quite ignorant Medicks, though Anatomy prized by gentiles as high as gold prevalent not wherein lean too much on approved they in old aches and sore eyes one of which (tank) able to a very slender Tradition, being give was opened for my sake and a present made account of the Rational Part thereof.' me of its black stinking viscous balsom \ ' ' They are unskill'd in Anatomy, even those of the To correct distempers of the brain as well Moors who follow the Arabians, thinking it unlawful as stomach the natives eat a sort of Bodies is not Hing, to dissect Human whereupon Phlebotomy smell understood, they being ignorant how the veins lye; liquid Assafaetida, whereby they odiously. but they will worry themselves Martyrs to death by For all Lethargick Fits they use Garlick and Leeches, clapping on an hundred at once, which they in or ButterHe also refers Ginger, given Oyl ' know not how to pull off, till they have filled to the uses and popularity of Goa stones' themselves, and drop of their own accord. ' in various diseases. Chirurgery is in as bad a plight, Amputation being an horrid thing: Yet I confess it is strange to see, at work that what Nature will effect on such Bodies, Intem- Iiidian doctors has not perance debauch'd. the inhabitants of he ' Discussing India, Pharmacy is in no better condition: Apothecaries divides Brahmins into two chief Butts here being no more than Perfumers or at sects, Druggists, and the latter fish-eaters. best; for he that has the boldness to practise, makes Sinais, being ' up his own Medicines, which are generally such The Butts live a life of study abstracted from all Draughts, that if their own Energy work not, yet the worldly employments, unless such as are for saving and very Weight must force an Operation. preserving of life, the chiefest and skilfullest physicians 'They pretend to understand the Pulse, but the being of their tribe. The Sinais are more biassed by of Urine they will not look on. Midwifery is in esteem seculiar offices, farmers, governors towns, physicians, clerks and interpreters.' among the Rich and Lazy only; the Poorer, while accountants,' I have seen a Barber undertake the Cure of they are labouring or planting, go aside as if to do Bloody their Needs, deliver themselves, wash the Child, and Flux, by pretending the Guts were displaced, and lay it in a Clout or Hammock, and return to work laying the patient on his Back, and gently tickling his again.' Reins, thrust on each side the Abdomen with all his strength; then placing a Pot filled with dried Earth, Again Fryer says of the Moormen of Surat: like that of Samos, upon his Navel, he made it fast ' by a Ligature; and on some Bodies thus treated he At their labours they seldom call midwives being had gained Credit, but this died. Prosper Alpinus quick that way, though there are not a few, pretty mentions something like this among the live well by that profession; known by tufts of silk Egyptians.' on their shoes or slippers all other women wearing At took the of a Brahmin them At the end of their which is Surat, Fryer help plain. quarantine skilled in to and learn the 40 days after the old law, women that were Confined, simples identify enter the hummums to uses of various plants. The same person purify.' ' on ban and datura Here 'To Cup they use Venosoes, without Scarifications. enlightened Fryer They have good Escaroticks and Vesicatories, made by he discovered to me his beloved Alluh the bark a certain Nut, the same they chop or mark their of a tree the present remedy against all manner Calicuts black with instead of Ink. of fluxies ' ? Rohun ? ' Indarjau ' They apply Cauteries most unmercifully in a Here is a Brahmin Doctor who has raised a good called so the a Mordisheen, by Portugals, being Vomit- Fortune; the}' pretend to no Fees, but make them pay with a like is a ing Loosness; the done in Calenture. in their Physick; and think it Honour enough if you ' favour them with the Title of Physick here is now as in former days, open to all your Physician only. This Brahmin comes and feels Man's Pretenders: here being no Bars of Authority, or formal everyday, every Pulse in the and is often made use of a Graduation, Examination or Proof of their Proficiency: Factory, for for which works as as the but every one ventures, and every one suffers; and powder Agues, infallibly Peruvian it is a of Natural those that are most skilled have it by Tradition, or Bark; preparation former experience descending in their families; not Channaber.' considering either alteration of tempers or seasons, but what succeeded well to one, they apply to all. Fryer's aristocratic patients and his 'The Tortoise bears the Vogue for altering the STRANGE EXPERIENCES wherefore in Scurvies Blood; good got by bad Air and His medical services were in constant Diet in long Voyages, and for the running of the requi- sition not in Surat and but also Reins by impure Copulation; for which 'tis used as an only Bombay over undoubted Cure, purging by the Genitals an Oily all the west coast of India. , viscous Matter of a Yellow hew, if fed upon constantly Joao Mendes, a wealthy Portuguese of for thirty days; restoring the decayed of the Vigour Bassein, sent for him to attend on his Body, and giving it a grace and lustre as elegant, as only a to Viper Wine does Consumptive Persons, or worn-out daughter, handsome girl engaged marry Prostitutes.' the Portuguese admiral of the North. 'In Fevers their method is to prescribe Coolers, till One of the Mogul's generals, who was also they have extinguished the Vital Heat; and if' the Governor of Jeneah (Junnar in Poona District), Patients are so robust to conquer the Remedies used requisitioned Fryer's services. Gerald to quency the Flame of the Acute are Aungier, Disease, yet chief at Bombay, commanded to render they left labouring under Chronical ones, as Dropsy, Fryer Jaundice, and 111 Habits, a long while before they the necessary expert medical aid. On arriv- recover their Pristine Heat.' ing at this place, a letter from President Jan., 1940] ELECTRO-SURGERY OF TONSILS : AHMED 37

Aungier, was handed over to Fryer. The communication described who the distinguished Patients were but counselled Fryer to be Patient till a good and auspicious day presented. A good Governor sent for me to y. day coming, the in the which was to a nu Lady Haram, opposite chamber he sate in, accompanied only with one pretty Wanton Boy, his Only Son by this Woman; ,P?n which account he had the greater kindness for 'er? An old Gentle-woman with a Tiffany Vail, made trips, being, I suppose, the Government of the ?mens Quarters: at least I was called and admitted with my Linguist. At our being ready to enter, she clapped with her g*ve when we were led a Inn j Notice; through g dark Entry, with Dormitories on both sides, the oa?t^S w^ich Creeked in our passage (but I-was unous ?f being too Circumspect) till we came to an ojify Choultry; where was placed a Bed hung with to I was Com- ma which being brought, jCjrtams;*? ? from whence I rrm P^ace by it, might and Feel her my Hi ?discourse Pulse, putting ^V^menily under the It was them to Curtains. agreed among me 1 upon me; wherefore at first they gave S to be Sound and Fre anc*> whom I declared f6 aQy the true Tprf j disease, nothing contradicting of when to be m an- Ry.thme Pulsation; they began re was done to Thp in?eni?us? telling me, it try me; Siven me another which demonstrated a iWaf Hand, the and *anSuid Constitution; and collecting Signs I feared not to which met ?n?P*i0in.sJ give Sentence; w their approbation, and so I was sent back same way I came.'

A GOLDEN SHOWER OF PAGODAS FOR A VENESECTION ^aun had been acquainted with what had Passp!rfe anc* se^med pleased; whereupon I must visit thew'aram of his \y- again the next day to Bleed another thi^Y being tolerated Four, though he keeps more G hundred concubines. AnH now Clm,,n ^le Curtains was extended athward the an ^rm he'd forth at an hole; but this Was r u11^ ?! sllght fence for such Animals, who leaning too harci and discovered the y PeePec^> pulled it down, w?Si like so Birds when a Net i ^eyy> fluttering many ?yer. them; yet none of them sought to escanls ?astbut inn. feigning a shamefacedness, continued look- The Ladv tU8'1 w^e lattice of their Fingers: ? was a Dame sunirr, ^y the Arm Plump Russet to enliven her cheek- remainder of her Blood S?n/?s the Passions of Fear . among the darkest Blacks, ?er> or J?y, are discernible enough in the Face) anc* be hUn? she bearing a command, caused it to a rPijP again; pouring upon her extravasated Blood Ash for'11 sh?wer of Pagodas, which I made my Man