Medicine in Old Wachovia
Moravians brought ol<l world skills lo
wilderness: but they used native lierlis in
their cures, loo.
Among the "relics" in Wachovia
Museum — the ancient Boys’ School in
the heart of Old Salem — are those per¬
taining to the practice of medicine by
the pioneer Moravian physicians of
our state.
The brass mortar and pestle for the
pounding of medicinal roots; the little
long-legged iron pots in which over
the live coals on the hearth were
brewed simples and bitters from gar¬
den herbs and native plants; the pill
board made of wood grooved in brass;
the wooden pill boxes and the herb
boxes, also of wood; the apothecary
scales and weights; the small wooden
medicine bottles, round in shape; and
the square blown-glass bottles made
to fit into the leather ease, resembling
a leather-bound book when folded,
which the pioneer physician was wont
to tuck into his saddlebags when start¬
ing "hither and yon" on his rounds —
these objects call lo mind the Mora¬
vian physicians of colonial days, who,
cut off by wilderness roads and un¬
bridged streams from centers of trade,
had to depend entirely upon their own
«»/
MAHV C. WILEY
resources for the remedies they needed
in their practice — a practice which of¬
ten extended far beyond the bounda¬
ries of Moravian villages and Mora¬
vian country congregations.
Identified Plants
For an idea of the plants which the
early Moravian physicians made use
of. most helpful are the "Observa¬
tions" which in 1764 the Moravian
surveyor. Christian Gottlieb Reuter,
made upon the plants and animals he
had found in Wachovia — now the
counties of Stokes. Surry, and For¬
syth — and which the late Dr. Ade¬
laide Fries translated for insertion in
Vol. I I of The Records of the Mo¬
rn via ns in North Carolina.
In his "Observations" the scholarly
Moravian surveyor incidentally brings
in. as Dr. Fries editorially remarks,
"a bit of old-time medicine" — old-time
medicines relating most naturally to
the ailments common to frontier life,
such as colds, running sores, fevers,
snakebite.
As a powerful antidote for snake¬
bite the Moravian surveyor mentions
heart snakeroot. called by the Fnglish
frontiersmen milk snakeroot, cooked
in milk.
Another antidote, he says, consid¬
ered so good by the hunter in case of
snakebite that he carries it in his pock¬
et. is fern snakeroot.
"If any one is bitten by a snake."
he writes, "the first thing to do is to
bind the limb above the bite, then
chew a piece of the root — swallowing
the juice — and apply the chewed piece
to the wound.
"If the man is at home, a drink
should be given him of one part fern
snakeroot and two parts milk snake¬
root cooked in milk, and even though
his entire body has swelled he can
be cured.”
As a bit of interesting information
Surveyor Reuter notes that in the
back country the rattlesnake was con¬
sidered of medicinal value. The fat,
melted, was used as a salve for pain
in the limbs. The skin, stripped off.
was used for the same purpose. A
In the museum are brass mortar and pestle, wooden decorated medicine cases, small, round wooden medicine container,
small wooden pill bottle, apothecary scales, two leather book-shaped cases for medicine. —
(ЛИ
photos by Frank Jones
from Wachovia Museum.)
