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Walking Back - In the Daysof Cayman Past
Good old traditional medicine
Will Jackson
(Extracted from his book, 'Up From The Deep')
One of the greatest problems that facedthe early Caymanians was perhaps that of medical treatments. Myinformant told me that in the late 1800s, an Englishman by thename of Frederick Sanguinnetti came to Grand Cayman as the firstappointed Commissioner of the Island.
Previous to that, the business of government had been run by localappointees as Customs and Magistrates, when Mr. Sanguinnetti came,he not only served as Commissioner but was fitted with very goodfirst-aid knowledge, although he was not a doctor.
There had been no certified doctors or dentists here before thattime. One may question, then, how did the people stay alive, orhow long did they live. They had no hospital to go to; no registerednurses to call on; yet they survived, many of them into over-ripeold age.
The old Caymanians depended on herbal remedies and the help ofthe Lord. In fact, hundreds of them lived into old age withoutever knowing anything of patent medicines.
We talk today about the benefits of aloe. Well, aloe is no newthing for medication; the old folks knew all about that 150 yearsago. They knew how to make tablets, which were distributed island-wideat a very low cost. This served as a very powerful purgative orjust as a laxative, according to the dose taken.
Aloe was also used on cuts and sores to draw and to heal. If theywanted to draw out infection, aloe was roasted and sliced thinlyand laid on the wound and wrapped up for a couple of days. Thisdrew out all of the infection, and then the aloe was applied ina raw state just to heal the affected part.
Aloe juice was also given to children as a worm medicine. Oneof the things that plagued children most was intestinal worms;but the old folks had their own remedies for that. Cow-itch podsscraped in porridge or ripe paw-paw (papaya) and fed to the childrenwas very effective.
The old folks had a bush for every complaint. They didn't needcough medicines for their bad coughs and colds. Along with theirbush drinks and dives in the sea, they soon shook off head andchest problems. Kerosene oil dropped in a spoonful of brown sugarwas usually given to children as a cough suppressant. Also, curiosityleaves when chewed and the juice swallowed with a little saltworked wonders. Then there was the fresh coconut oil taken withsalt. All of these took real good care of their chest congestions.
They made their own castor oil in abundance and they drank it.As a young boy I used to know a gentleman who ate the remainsof the boiled castor oil, which was called crunching, with hiscassava bamby, and that old man lived well up in his 90s, quitehealthy.
For the purification of their blood, they boiled surreysea androsemary bushes together and drank it like water. That was a verybitter drink, but is still effective today as a tonic. I knowpeople who use it.
If the kidneys and bladder gave trouble, they had several herbsto which they turned for help. One special brew was made fromthe juniper bush that grows along the beaches. That, coupled withsome birch tree bark and some strong back bush usually did theirproblem much good.
The land was full of nature's remedies for every complaint. Itis most unfortunate that all of the old herbal doctors have passedon, and the now generation knows nothing about their remedies.
Those people who lived away from George Town could only improvisefor themselves when sickness struck. Many of them died, though,no one ever knowing what really took them away. Thinking of theword 'cancer', now that the malady and its reactions are known,I think we are quite safe in saying that cancer was always here.Many folks who died with it were only thought of as having 'black-waterfever' or some such-like thing.
The question may rightly be asked, how did pregnant mothers-to-bemanage with their delivery and nearly, or almost all babies bornover 40 years ago were delivered by untrained mid-wives at home.But the instances were indeed very rare of a mother dying in childbirth.
The old -time idea was that when a mother gave birth, she shouldremain quietly in bed for a period of not less than nine days.Her bare feet should not be allowed to touch the floor in thattime. Compare today's conceptions with yesteryear's ideas. Nevertheless,it was always better to be safe than to be sorry, they thought.The midwives of those days need to be highly commended for thenoble work they did during those primitive times. Not only didthey do the work of a midwife, but they also rendered good first-aidin many instances.