| | 1 | Author: | Gould, George M., and Walter L. Pyle | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine  | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Text collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | Menstruation has always been of interest, not only to the
student of
medicine, but to the lay-observer as well. In olden times there were many
opinions concerning its causation, all of which, until the era of physiologic
investigation, were of superstitious derivation. Believing menstruation to
be the natural means of exit of the feminine bodily impurities, the ancients
always thought a menstruating woman was to be shunned; her very presence
was deleterious to the whole animal economy, as, for instance, among the
older writers we find that Pliny [1.1]
remarks: "On the approach of a woman
in this state, must will become sour, seeds which are touched by her become
sterile, grass withers away, garden plants are parched up, and the fruit
will fall from the tree beneath which she sits.'' He also says that the
menstruating women in Cappadocia were perambulated about the fields to
preserve the vegetation from worms and caterpillars. According to
Flemming, [1.2] menstrual
blood was believed to be so powerful that the mere
touch
of a menstruating woman would render vines and all kinds of fruit-trees
sterile. Among the indigenous Australians, menstrual superstition was so
intense that one of the native blacks, who discovered his wife lying on his
blanket during her menstrual period, killed her, and died of terror himself
in a fortnight. Hence, Australian women during this season are forbidden
to touch anything that men use. [1.3]
Aristotle said that the very look of a
menstruating woman would take the polish out of a mirror, and the next person
looking in it would be bewitched. Frommann
[1.4] mentions a man who said
he saw a tree in Goa which withered because a catamenial napkin was hung
on it. Bourke remarks that the dread felt by the American Indians in this
respect corresponds with the particulars recited by Pliny. Squaws at the
time of menstrual purgation are obliged to seclude themselves, and in most
instances to occupy isolated lodges, and in all tribes are forbidden to
prepare food for anyone save themselves. It was believed that, were a
menstruating woman to step astride a rifle, a bow, or a lance, the weapon
would
have no utility. Medicine men are in the habit of making a "protective''
clause whenever they concoct a "medicine,'' which is to the effect that the
"medicine'' will be effective provided that no woman in this condition is
allowed to approach the tent of the official in charge. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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