hospitals in mexico.—anatomy and human sacrifices.—midwives as spiritual mothers.—circumcision.—peru.—discovery of cinchona bark.

little or nothing is known of the ancient history of mexico and peru. mexico, anciently called anahuac, was probably conquered by the aztecs, who founded the city of mexico about 1325. it was discovered in 1517. peru was long governed by the incas, said to be descended from manco capac, who ruled in the eleventh century. it was explored and conquered by pizarro, 1524-1533.

for the purposes of this work the history of these countries dates from the time of their discovery, as the spaniards in their blind fanaticism destroyed most of their literature. don juan de zumarraga was one of the darkeners of human intelligence; he diligently collected all the mexican manuscripts, especially from tezcuco, the literary capital of the mexican empire, and burned them in one great bonfire in the market-place of tlatelolco.825

las casas says that there were public hospitals in the cities of mexico, tlascala, and cholula, expressly endowed for the relief of the sick. as surgeons attended the mexican armies, it is evident that they had attained some skill in medicine and surgery. they used the temazcalli, or vapour-bath, practised bleeding, and knew the medicinal properties of many herbs. they professed to have learned this wisdom from their ancestors, the tultecas, whose knowledge of chemistry they likewise extolled. as human sacrifices were of daily occurrence in the city of mexico, they must have acquired some knowledge of anatomy, which would assist them in the practice of surgery.826

midwives were treated by the ancient mexicans with great deference. they were termed “spiritual mothers,” and were believed to be under the immediate inspiration of the god tezcatlipoca. aglio says that the treatment of lying-in women was very similar to that among the jews.827

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the ancient mexicans practised circumcision, and venerated the tequepatl, or flint knife, with which the rite was performed.828

among the many vegetable products which america introduced to europe were maize, potatoes, chocolate, tobacco, ipecacuanha, and peruvian bark, from which we obtain quinine. the discovery of this valuable medicine was due to the jesuit missionaries. the second wife of the viceroy, the count of chinchon, accompanied him to peru. in 1628 she was attacked by a tertian fever. her physician was unable to cure her. at about the same time an indian of uritusinga, near loxa, in the government of quito, had given some fever-curing bark to a jesuit missionary. he sent some of it to torres vasquez, who was rector of the jesuit college at lima and confessor to the viceroy. torres vasquez cured the vice-queen by administering doses of the bark.... the remedy was long known as countess’s bark and jesuit’s bark, and linn?us gave the name chinchona [after the viceroy chinchon] to the genus of plants which produces it.... various species of this precious tree are found throughout the eastern cordillera of the andes for a distance of 2,000 miles. we owe guaiacum, sarsaparilla, sassafras, logwood, jalap, seneka, serpentaria, and many other valuable drugs to the same part of the world.

frezier, in his voyage to the south sea and along the coasts of chili and peru in the years 1712, 1713, and 1714, says concerning lima: “there is an herb called carapullo, which grows like a tuft of grass, and yields an ear, the decoction of which makes such as drink it delirious for some days. the indians make use of it to discover the natural disposition of their children. all the time when it has its operation, they place by them the tools of all such trades as they may follow—as by a maiden, a spindle, wool, scissors, cloth, kitchen furniture, etc.; and by a youth, accoutrements for a horse, awls, hammers, etc.; and that tool they take most fancy to in their delirium, is a certain indication of the trade they are fittest for, as i was assured by a french surgeon, who was an eye-witness to this verity.”