Date: Fri 07-May-1999

Publication: Ant

Author: LISA

Quick Words:

Sturbridge

Full Text:

AA LEAD: Old Sturbridge Village Opens New Exhibit On Health Care In Early

America

(with 6 cuts)

STURBRIDGE, MASS. -- If it seems difficult to envision health care in the

years before antiseptics, anesthesia and antibiotics, then the lancets,

bleeding cups, tooth-pulling "keys," and other early Nineteenth Century

medical instruments on display at Old Sturbridge Village will command your

attention.

"Picture of Health: Illness and Healing in New England 1790-1860," a new

exhibit that opened at the museum April 24, 1999, and remains on display until

January 1, 2001, offers a fascinating look at more than 200 artifacts from

this vanished world of medicine.

Patent medicines such as "Dr Campbell's Hair Invigorator," a doctor's sleigh,

early wheeled chairs, a gout crane, electromagnetic therapy machines, and a

steam box are shown. Computer stations allow visitors to compare today's

patterns of disease, family size and life expectancy with those of five or six

generations ago.

"In 1830s New England, health care encompassed home nursing, folk remedies,

patent medicines, regular physicians' `heroic' treatments of bleeding and

purging, and alternative healers. For example, Homer Merriam, a rural printer,

tried all the standard cures and finally decided to see an Indian doctress

named Rhoda Rhoades in Huntington, Mass. She treated patients in her home with

medicinal roots and herbs," said Nan Wolverton, Old Sturbridge Village

curator. "In `Picture of Health,' we have partially recreated Rhoda Rhoades'

house and you can listen to how Homer Merriam described his stay with her in

his autobiography."

"Picture of Health" explores a time when germs were not understood and

infection resulting from childbirth was a significant cause of death for

women. "About one of every four New England children died before reaching

adulthood, from diseases such as diphtheria, measles, and scarlet fever," said

Jack Larkin, director of research, collections and library at Old Sturbridge

Village.

"Most early Americans' understanding of sickness and health still reflected

ancient Greek thought that the body had four fluids, or humors -- blood,

phlegm, black bile and yellow bile -- and that an imbalance could be corrected

by bleeding -- taking a pint or more of a patient's blood from a vein -- or

purging -- inducing vomiting and administering powerful laxatives. Some

American doctors came to believe in heroic medicine, bleeding in large

quantities and prescribing purging drugs such as calomel (mercurous chloride)

that today's doctors would see as very dangerous.

In the first half of the Nineteenth Century, these practices were being

challenged by proponents of alternative medical systems, who are also

represented in "Picture of Health." Samuel Thomson was one. He created a

complete system of vegetable-based medicines and considered traditional

medicine as poisonous. Others advocated mild electric shock or steam baths.

Sylvester Graham, now best known as the namesake of the graham cracker, argued

that a rigid diet of vegetarian fare and cold water was the key to health.

"Picture of Health" begins with "The Home as Hospital," a vignette of an early

sick room. "Woman assumed the primary responsibility for caring for sick

family members, sometimes relying upon home health advice books such as The

Family Nurse . Physicians were not always available, not always trusted, and

their services could be costly," said Wolverton. In many families, doctors

were consulted only after numerous home remedies had been tried. "Even them,

the doctor went to the patient's home and prescribed treatment that would be

administered there. Nineteenth Century health care truly began and ended in

the household," said Wolverton.

"Picture of Health" illustrates not only the stark contrasts to contemporary

medicine, but also some interesting parallels. "Americans in both centuries

have longed for certainty and have sometimes distrusted the established

medical profession. Some of the earliest medical advice books were published

in the early 1800s, encouraging Americans to take greater responsibility for

their health, a practice that has continued today. And both then and now, we

see interest in herbal medicine and alternative treatments," said Wolverton.

The village is on Route 20, near Exit 9 of the Mass. Turnpike (I-90) and Exit

2 of I-84. Telephone 800/SEE-1830.