Early Medicine

For almost a thousand years, medical theory had been based on the Galenic Medical System. It had been created by Galen in the first century A.D. and held that the world was composed of four main elements: earth, fire, water, and wind. Based on the teachings of Hippocrates and Aristotle, Galen believed these elements were exhibited in the body as four humors: black bile, blood, phlegm, and yellow bile. Doctors thought illness occurred when the humors were impure or out of balance - personality disorders as well as physical ones. If a person had developed too much of a humor, he or she could be cured by purging, bleeding, or

sweating. Those that had too little of a humor were treated with food and medicines. Each humor had symptoms the doctor could access. Black bile would be cold and dry, blood was moist and warm, phlegm was moist and cool, and yellow bile would be warm and dry. If the body developed too much or too little of any humor, it would cause problems, and the doctor would try to treat the patient.

In the 1600's medicine began to make a few advances. An English doctor, William Harvey, had discovered the circulation of the blood, and the invention of the microscope allowed the first glimpse of bacteria (although they didn't know what this meant to

medicine). By the 1700's, medicine was changing, and new medicines, like opium and cochina bark, had been introduced. Herman Boerhaave believed that sickness came from an imbalance of "natural activities," and a fever was the body's attempt to help. He thought the best procedure was to sweeten the acid in the body, purify the stomach, and get rid of any impurities through bleeding or purging. Booerhaave's system was the most commonly practiced one in Colonial America.

Most people in early America lived too far away from a doctor, however, and folk medicine, usually practiced by women for their families and neighbors, became common. In Cleared for Planting, Emma learns herbs and medicine from a Cherokee. Her son, Clifton, will later become a practicing doctor. He first uses the known methods of bleeding and purging, but later changes his mind about their benefits.

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