By Dr. Richard Pankhurst:-
We saw last week that the rulers and people of Ethiopia had long been
interested in foreign medical practice of all kinds. Valuable evidence
of this is to be found in the writings of foreign travellers, who were
frequently approached by Ethiopians of all classes requiring medical
advice or assistance.
Making of Amulets
Two of the visiting foreign travellers approached for cures, in the
1830s, were the French Saint Simonian missionaries Combes and Tamisier.
They recall that a young Ethiopian country-woman on one occasion begged
them for an amulet to cure her sterility. She was so insistent that,
though they did not believe in the efficacy of such “treatment,” they
eventually agreed to her request.
Justifying this action they write:
“We might perhaps be blamed in Europe for having contributed to
maintaining, or even propagating, such a ridiculous belief; we reply,
firstly, that we have never denied the power of moral influence which
can alone, in certain cases, cure illnesses often existing only in the
imagination of those who believe themselves afflicted; and we add that
we have always held the principle of never destroying a useful or
agreeable error when we have nothing to propose with which to replace
the charm of a lost illusion.”
Putting their case in somewhat different terms, they add:
“In a country deprived of remedies and of men knowing how to
administer them, the essential thing is not to undeceive the inhabitants
as to the powers of amulets, but rather to procure them medicines and
doctors.”
“A Mass of European Medicines”
Notwithstanding the above apology it is clear that foreign medicines
were in fact by then making their way into some of Ethiopia’s most
important political centres. On reaching the Shawan capital, Combes and
Tamisier were astonished to find that the local ruler, King Sahla
Sellase, was in possession of “a mass of European medicines,” which he
had received from India, by way of the Gulf of Aden port of Zayla.
European Travellers at Work; Krapf and d’Abbadie
Medicines were also being imported by European travellers, all of
whom to a greater or lesser extent dabbled in medical matters, and
administered treatment to the rulers and people of the countries through
which they passed.
The German Protestant missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf was for example
actively engaged in medical activity. In December 1841 he wrote to the
British Political Agent in Aden, asking for “some 5 or 6 ounces” of
calomel, a mercury-based medicine then widely used in the treatment of
syphilis. He wished to dispense this treatment, he explained, because it
had in “many cases” proved “very useful,” for a disease which was “so
prevailing … that you cannot but furnish asking people with a remedy
against it.”
The renowned French traveller Arnauld d’Abbadie was likewise much
involved in medicine. On one occasion he treated the consort of Emperor
Sahla Dengel, one of the later Emperors at Gondar. This led to no small
jealousy on the part of the British. One of the latter reported, in
1842, that the Frenchman was “practising medicine with considerable
success,” and thereby “raising himself to a high place in the eyes of
the ignorant population by professing chiromancy.”
The French Scientific Mission, and its Treatments
More important than such amateur treatment was the work of the first
French Scientific Mission, which toured much of Ethiopia between 1839
and 1843. The mission included two physicians, Doctors Petit and
Quartin-Dillon, who contributed greatly to its success.
Petit provides a detailed account of the treatments he prescribed. He
reports that, while in Tegray, he used emetics with ipecacuanha and
saline purgatives in treating patients suffering from influenza;
astringent lotions and calomel for ophthalmia, or eye disease, and
emeto-cathartic treatment for gastric and intestinal complaints. In
cases of wounds and light abrasions he made use of opiated lead acetate
compresses. When complications set in, he would open up the flesh, and
inject various astringent and opiated solutions. In cases of acute
inflammation he applied poultices for several days, and destroyed fungus
in wounds by sprinkling them with lead acetate. Bullets he removed, “to
the great admiration” of his assistants, and cauterised scorpion skins
with ammoniac.
Inoculation with Defective Vaccine
Petit also imported smallpox vaccine from Europe, and, with it,
carried out a “large number of inoculations.” His vaccine had, however,
been spoilt in transit,” and was virtually worthless. The “good will” of
the Ethiopian public was nevertheless so great that it displayed “blind
confidence” in it.
From Tegray the French Scientific Mission travelled south to Shawa,
where it prescribed medicine for a number of important personalities,
including King Sahla Sellase’s sister.
Rochet d’Hericourt
Sahla Sellase was also visited by a French Diplomatic Mission, headed
by Rochet d’Hericourt, who arrived in Shawa in 1839. The envoy, though
inexperienced in medicine, became a corresponding member of the French
Royal Medical Society of Marseilles. On arriving at Angolala, one of the
King Sahla Sellase’s capitals, he was warmly welcomed by the King. The
latter said to him, he claims, “You belong to a very enlightened nation;
no doubt you understand the art of curing diseases.” The Frenchman
replied with pretended modesty that he had no such claims.”I made him
understand,” he recalls, “that I had not made any special study of this
science,” but “nevertheless had with me some remedies which in certain
cases produced good results”. Before long he was treating the King, and
had “the happiness,” he claims, of proving his medicine’s efficacy on
the monarch’s own person.
Rochet also treated the royal consort, Queen Bezabesh. He was called
upon to attend her when she was suffering from toothache. He gave her a
piece of cotton soaked in muriatic acid, whereupon the pain “disappeared
as if by magic.” This cure, he recalls, “assured me a high place in the
esteem of the princess,” the more so as he had two other occasions to
treat her.
Rochet’s Return to Shawa
Rochet visited Shawa again in 1842, at a time when Sahla Sellase was
suffering from a severe attack of rheumatism. “Haven’t you brought a
remedy which can cure me of this ill?,” he asked the Frenchman.
Apparently unable to treat him, the envoy had to resort, he admits, to
sharp practice. Wishing to obtain the foetus of an hippopotamus for a
French museum, he told the King that the only cure for the complaint lay
in the body of that animal, and in this way persuaded the monarch to
organise an hippopotamus hunt.
On another occasion Rochet is said to have agreed to produce a charm
against death. That at least is the assertion of his rival, the British
envoy Captain W.C. Harris, who writes:
“In Shoa all ranks of both sexes are loaded with amulets and
talismans against every disease accidental to mortals… but none possess
armour against death… M. Rochet during his sojourn in the Kingdom was
desired to write two charms against dissolution, and on the contents
being subsequently translated by the Reverend L. Krapf at the royal
desire, the King was exceedingly wroth.”
This was because one amulet reportedly read, “This is written at the
desire of the Negus, I shall feel happy if anyone can write a better,”
The other amulet is said to have declared, “May God open the eyes of
Sahla Sellase to the perception of his errors.”
The British Diplomatic Mission
The British Diplomatic Mission of 1841-2, headed by Captain Harris,
was perhaps even more active in the medical field than the French. Its
staff included a surgeon called Kirk, who treated both Sahla Sellase and
Queen Bezabesh, as well as many of their subjects.
Harris, describing one encounter with the monarch, recalls:
“The King feeling indisposed and desirous of trying the effect of a
seidlitz (i.e. laxative powder), with a box of which he had been
furnished some time previously, we were summoned to the presence chamber
and the custom of the country compelling the physician to partake in
the first instance of the medicine prescribed to Royalty in order to
precluded the administration of poison, it was proposed to follow the
etiquette, but His Majesty laughingly observed, `there is no need of
that. I am not afraid of you’.”
Women’s Treatment
Treatment of the royal women, however, sometimes posed some difficulties. Harris, in another report, relates:
“a message was delivered by a Baldaraba (i.e. official contact man)
to the effect that Queen Bezabesh was extremely indisposed and in need
of medical aid, but, it being contrary to Court etiquette that the
King’s consort should be seen by strangers, the physician could not be
accorded an interview. Assistant surgeon Kirk visited Her Majesty the
ensuing morning, when her person was concealed behind a small coloured
tent, through an aperture in which the royal hand was passed outside.”
Hiding behind a Masob, or Basket Table
A similar practice was followed when another royal lady, Princess
Warqu Fere, fell ill. She sat, in seclusion, behind a masob, or basket
table, and thrust only her feet out, for the doctor to inspect.
While at the Shawan court the British also treated Sahla Sellase’s
son, Seyfa Sellase, whose eyes were in”a high state of inflammation,” as
well as “several women of the royal kitchen,” who had been “severely
scalded” by the braking of a pan of soup.
Sahla Sellase, as we shall see next week, was deeply interested in these and other cures, and had much to say about them.
Source: http://www.linkethiopia.org
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