Musical Myths and Facts Volume II Part 10

Likewise, in a cure effected in the case of a sick lad of the Wallawalla Indians, Columbia river, which Mr. Drayton witnessed, there appears to have been a kind of mesmerism used in combination with music. This case is also noteworthy inasmuch as it shows that the Indians have female physicians. The lad was lying on his back in a lodge and appeared to be in a dying state. Over him stood an old haggard-looking squaw, who was singing in great excitement, while about a dozen men and boys were accompanying her with their voices in a sort of chorus, the rhythmical effect of which they increased by striking sticks together at regular intervals. The music thus produced sounded unearthly to the foreign bystander. The squaw was all the time very busy about the lad, now bending over him and making all kinds of grimaces, and now baring his chest and pretending by her actions to be scooping out his disease, and now again falling on her knees before him and striving to draw out the evil spirit with both her hands. She blew into her hands and then moved them over the patient in a peculiar manner as if she were tossing the noxious spirit away into the air. Then again she would blow with her mouth on his neck downwards, making a quick sputtering noise; and at last she began to suck his neck and chest in different parts. Whatever may be thought of this operation, the boy certainly soon got better.

Moreover, our informant concludes his account of the occurrence with the statement: "One singular custom prevailing here (with the Indians of Wallawalla) is that all the convalescents are directed to sing for several hours during the day."[45]

The Indian tribes in Guiana have mystery-men, called Piatzas, or Piaies, who const.i.tute a powerful priesthood. In their incantations they use rattles, and also drums and bells. When a person suffering from a protracted illness finds the commonly-used medicines of no avail, his refuge is to the Piatza, to induce him to drive out the evil spirit that must be the cause of the mischief. The Piatza carries the patient into the nearest forest, and having fastened his hammock to some tree across a pa.s.s, he commences the incantations, which he accompanies with the noise of his rattle. The rattle consists of a calabash partly filled with small pebbles. During his incantations no one is permitted to witness what he is doing, even the patient being enjoined to close his eyes and to keep them shut until the end of the ceremony. The Piatza draws a circle round the sick person and addresses the evil spirit.[46]

Again, the _Manchi_, or medicine-man of the Peguenches and other Indian tribes in the Argentine Provinces, is skilled in the use of herbs. If remedies of this kind prove ineffectual, mysterious ceremonies are resorted to. A sheep and a colt are killed, and are placed with vessels of a fermented liquor, called _chichala_, under trees close to a hut; the patient is carried out of the hut and laid on the sunny side of the trees. The _Manchi_ and the women now dance in a circle round the trees, the animals, and the sick person. When the dancers are exhausted the _Manchi_ fumigates the animals and the sick person three times, and then sucks the diseased part of the man with such force as to draw blood.

After this, he sucks the heart of the colt and anoints the sick person with the blood of the animal. At the conclusion of these disgusting ceremonies, in the performance of which the _Manchi_ affects to be in a trance, dancing is recommenced, and the patient is forced to join in it, supported by his friends. A general feast, in which the people consume the animals, concludes the ceremony.[47] The _Manchi_ generally uses a kind of drum in his incantations.

The mystery-men of the Araucanian Indians are called _Gligua_, or _Dugol_, and some of them are distinguished by the epithets _Guenguenu_, _Genpugni_, and _Genpuri_ (_i. e._ "Master of the heavens, of epidemic diseases, of worms and insects,") and are supposed to have the power of curing every disease, of producing rain, and of preventing the ravages of worms and insects. The real medicine-men are called _Machi_,[48] and their method of curing is similar to that of the _Manchi_ of the Argentine Provinces just described. The ceremony is, however, always performed in the night. The hut in which the patient lies is lighted with a great number of torches. In a corner of the room is placed, among branches of laurel, a large bough of cinnamon, to which is suspended the magic drum; and near to it is a sheep which is to be killed for sacrifice. A number of women sing aloud and beat upon little drums, while the _Machi_ proceeds, with frightful gesticulations and horrible contortions of his body, to exorcise the evil spirit which is supposed to be the cause of the malady.[49] Sometimes he will suddenly exhibit in triumph a spider, a toad, or some other obnoxious animal, which he pretends to have extracted from the body of the sufferer.[50] A more detailed account of these impostors is unnecessary, especially as the works are mentioned which contain full descriptions of them.

The largest Indian tribes in Patagonia, the Moluches and the Puelches, have male and female sorcerers. Boys who suffer from epileptic fits, or from the St. Vitus's dance, are selected for this office, and are brought up in it. They have to adopt female apparel, which they continue to wear when grown up. These men, dressed like women, are supposed to have been destined for their profession by the demons themselves. They, likewise, a.s.sume the power of curing disease by means of incantations accompanied with the noise of rattles and drums.[51]

The close resemblance of certain practices of the medicine-men among uncivilized nations in different parts of the globe, is especially suggestive. Nor are the differences without interest.

Turning to Africa, we have musical-medical pract.i.tioners with the Negroes and Kafirs, whose art must have originated quite independently of that of the American medicine-men. The Negroes in Jamaica have sorcerers and physicians, called Obeah-men, whose ceremonies are probably of African origin, although they are in many respects similar to those of the Indian medicine-men. The Obeah-men, being well acquainted with the peculiar effects of the different poisonous plants, it is said, often make bad use of their knowledge.[52] When attending a sick person, the Obeah-man generally commences his cure with a dance, and he administers a powder, or a liquor, to his victim.[53]

The Negroes in Western Africa have professional musicians or minstrels, called in Senegambia, _Griots_; singing men, or bards, called _Jillikea_; Fetish priests who drum and dance as if they themselves were possessed of evil spirits; Priestesses of the Serpent worship, which has its princ.i.p.al temples in Whydah; Rain-makers; Wizards, called _Greegree-men_; and other "wise men," who are also physicians and musicians. The _Ganga_, in Loango, South Western Africa, are, according to the Abbe Proyard, priests as well as physicians: "When they come to a patient, they ask him where his ailment lies. They blow on the part affected: after that, they make fomentations, and tie up his limbs in different places with bandages. These are the preliminaries used in all diseases. They know nothing either of phlebotomy, or of medicine....

They know a very salutary remedy, in their opinion, for all diseases; but this they only employ in favour of those who can afford the expense.

When they are called in to a rich man, they take with them all the performers on musical instruments they can find in the country. They all enter in silence; but, at the first signal which they give, the musical troop begin their performance. Some are furnished with stringed instruments, others beat on the trunks of hollow trees covered with skin,--a sort of tabor. All of them uniting their voices with the sound of the instruments round the patient's bed, make a terrible uproar and din, which is often continued for several days and nights in succession."[54]

The mystery-man in Benguela is called _Kimbanda_. He performs his ceremonies in the forest, in the presence of the people. Before him stands a calabash with a wide opening, in which are figures rudely carved, of wood or bone, which represent different kinds of wild animals. A rattle, which he holds in his hand, consists of a hollow calabash containing pebbles. He shakes his rattle and addresses the figures in a recitation, interspersed with questions concerning the ailments of his patient. An a.s.sistant, who is hidden in the neighbourhood of the figures, answers the questions in a hollow tone of voice, as if it came from the figures. However, for the accomplishment of the cure a sacrifice of a cow is generally demanded by those greedy figures; or even more, according to the means of the patient. The answers given by the figures are generally so indistinct that no one but the _Kimbanda_ can understand them; and he communicates them to the people.[55]

The Somali, in Eastern Africa, have similar mystery-men, called _Tawuli_; and the natives of Zanzibar have the _Mganga_, who professes to heal the patient by expelling the demon by means of his singing and the shaking of his rattle. The mystery-man of the Kafirs of Natal likewise accompanies his recitations with a rattle. He is an extraordinarily dangerous and objectionable personage; for, when the cattle fall sick, or some other mischief happens, he is apt to declare that it has been caused by some evil-doer whom he can find out. He sings and dances towards several individuals in succession, and affects to examine them by his olfactory sense. Suddenly he touches one with the gnu's tail which he carries in his hand. He leaps over the head of the unhappy man, and points him out as the offender.[56] Also the Bechuana, in fact every Kafir tribe, has one or more of such personages, who are physicians and musicians, as well as priests, prophets, and rain-makers.

Considering the very low state of civilization of those natives of Australia who have not come into contact with the European settlers, it is especially interesting to learn their notions on the employment of music in the cure of disease. These aborigines are divided into numerous tribes, who have no chief, or leader properly speaking, except the _Crodgy_, or "wise man," who, besides being a quack, is also the conductor of their ceremonies. They not unfrequently suffer from rheumatic pains in their limbs, which they believe to be caused by some demon. To protect themselves against the demons, they carry about them charms consisting of bits of rock crystal, called "mundy-stones," which they value highly. They endeavour to drive away the demons by whirling round their head an oval-shaped board, called _moor-y-umkarr_, which is curiously ornamented, and is suspended to a string. It produces an unearthly, humming sound, sometimes soft, sometimes loud and roaring, according to the force with which it is whirled. The doctor, in curing a sick person, proceeds much in the same manner as the medicine-man of the North American Indians. He, however, uses no rattle; a bunch of green reeds held in the hand and shaken serves the same purpose. The small-pox is so greatly feared by the natives that they possess a special song, called _nguitkurra_, by the singing of which the disease is believed to be prevented, or checked in its progress.[57] A native from the vicinity of Port Jackson, whose wife was complaining of a pain in the stomach, was observed by a European traveller to cure her in the following manner: "After blowing on his hand, he warmed it at a fire, and then applied it to the part affected, beginning at the same time a song which was probably calculated for the occasion. A piece of flannel being warmed and applied by a bystander, rendered the warming his hand unnecessary; but he continued his song, always keeping his mouth very near to the part affected, and frequently stopping to blow on it, making a noise after blowing, in imitation of the barking of a dog. But, though he blew several times, he only made that noise once at every pause, and then continued his song. The woman always made short responses whenever he ceased to blow and bark."[58]

An English missionary in Tanna Island, New Hebrides, relates that when a native of that Island is taken ill, his friends believe that his illness is occasioned by some one burning his _nakah_ (_i.e._ "rubbish"). They have "disease-makers" who are believed to have in their hands the power of life and death, and who are consequently much feared. Every kind of _nakah_ is carefully buried or thrown into the sea, lest the disease-maker should pick it up, wrap it in a leaf, and burn it. When a native is taken ill, his friends blow on a conch trumpet, which signifies a supplication to the disease-maker to discontinue burning the rubbish. If the sick man recovers, the disease-man receives a present for having left off burning. The rubbish generally consists of some refuse of food.[59] The New Zealanders had formerly similar disease-makers, who were supposed to require a lock of hair, or some nail-parings, of the person whom they intended to afflict with disease.

Let us now turn to some tribes in cold regions of the North, to compare their musical ceremonies in the cure of illness with those in tropical countries.

The natives of Kamtschatka have persons called _Shamans_, who profess to be able to communicate with the spirits by arraying themselves in a grotesque garment, chanting, beating a drum, dancing, and working themselves up to a state of trance. They, on these occasions, drink an infusion of a species of fungus, which has an intoxicating power, and which sometimes makes them sleep afterwards for three or four days without interruption. Its effect must therefore be similar to that of opium. The Shamans of the Ostiaks, and of the Samoiedes, in Siberia, suspend to their dress metal representations of strange birds, fishes, and quadrupeds, with bones, teeth, and other frightful-looking things.

In their incantations they shake the dress so that the metallic appendages produce clanging and tinkling sounds, the effect of which is increased by the Shaman's beating a drum, of the tambourine kind. Also the Laplanders, about a century ago, had such sorcerers, who used a drum called _rune-bomme_, or _gobodes_, the parchment of which was marked with mystic signs. The sorcerer was called _Noaaid_, or _Spagubbe_.

Besides his magic drum he had a magic chain, about twelve inches in length, of tin and copper, which, when shaken, produced a shrill, tinkling noise. No journey, no business transaction was undertaken by the Lapp without his having previously consulted the Noaaid, who by means of a ring placed on the parchment of his drum, predicted the success of the undertaking. When he beat the drum, the vibration caused the ring to move to one or other of the mysterious signs marked upon the parchment; and from the position of the ring, he pretended to be able to divine the future. Moreover, he cured diseases by beating his drum to incantations and wild dancing. The Lapps believed that the defunct relations of the sick person attempted to draw him over to them; it, therefore, naturally suggested itself to his friends to engage the interference of the Noaaid, who professed to have intercourse with the spirits of the dead. The pagan Finns had the same notion, which is not surprising, considering that they and the Lapps are of one race. The sorcerers of the Finns recited songs, called _lugut_, when they attempted to exorcise the evil spirit of the patient, or to remove the witchcraft occasioning the mischief. These superst.i.tions the Finnish races probably brought with them originally from Asia, where we still meet with them at the present day. It is remarkable that in time of remote antiquity, the priests of certain Eastern nations used tinkling instruments for the purpose of frightening away the demons. The ancient Egyptians shook the Sistrum; and the priests of the Copts and of the Abyssinian Christians observe still this very ancient custom. The Hebrew priests, at the time of Moses, had little bells attached to their robes for protection against evil influences; at any rate, it is recorded that the sound of Aaron's bell was to be heard "that he die not." (Exod.

chap. xxviii., v. 35.)

A curious account of the employment of music in the cure of diseases in Chinese Tartary is given by M. Huc. He says: "When illness attacks any one his friends run to the nearest monastery for a Lama, whose first proceeding upon visiting the patient is to run his fingers over the pulse of both wrists simultaneously, as the fingers of a musician run over the strings of an instrument.... After due deliberation the Lama p.r.o.nounces his opinion as to the particular nature of the malady.

According to the religious belief of the Tartars all illness is owing to the visitation of a _Tchutgour_, or demon, but the expulsion of the demon is first a matter of medicine. The Lama physician next proceeds, as Lama apothecary, to give the specific befitting the case. The Tartar pharmacopoeia rejecting all mineral chemistry, the Lama remedies consist entirely of vegetables pulverized, and either infused in water or made up into pills. If the Lama doctor happens not to have any medicine with him he is by no means disconcerted; he writes the names of the remedies upon little sc.r.a.ps of paper, moistens the paper with saliva, and rolls them into pills, which the patient tosses down with the same perfect confidence as though they were genuine medicaments."

When the invalid is a person of property, the Lamas make extraordinary preparations for expelling the _Tchutgour_, for which the invalid has to give them dresses and other presents. The aunt of Tokoura, chief of an encampment, visited by M. Huc, was seized one evening with an intermittent fever. "I would invite the attendance of the Lama doctor,"

said Tokoura, "but if he finds that there is a very big Tchutgour present, the expense will ruin me." He waited for some days; but, as the aunt grew worse and worse, he at last sent for a Lama. "His antic.i.p.ations," M. Huc relates, "were confirmed. The Lama p.r.o.nounced that a demon of considerable rank was present, and that no time must be lost in expelling him. Eight other Lamas were forthwith called in, who at once set about the construction, in dried herbs, of a great puppet, which they ent.i.tled _The Demon of Intermittent Fevers_, and which, when completed, they placed on its legs by means of a stick in the patient's tent. The ceremony began at eleven o'clock at night. The Lamas ranged themselves in a semi-circle round the upper portion of the tent, with cymbals, conch-trumpets, bells, tambourines, and other instruments of the noisy Tartar music. The remainder of the circle was completed by the members of the family squatting on the ground close to one another, the patient kneeling, or rather crouched on her knees, opposite the 'Demon of intermittent fevers.' The Lama doctor-in-chief had before him a large copper basin filled with millet, and some little images made of paste.

The dung-fuel (_argols_) threw, amid much smoke, a fantastic and quivering light over the strange scene.[60] Upon a given signal, the clerical orchestra executed an introductory piece harsh enough to frighten Satan himself, the lay congregation beating time with their hands to the charivari of clanging instruments and ear-splitting voices.

The diabolic concert over, the Grand Lama opened the Book of Exorcisms, which he rested on his knees. As he chanted one of the forms, he took from the basin, from time to time, a handful of millet, which he threw east, west, north and south, according to the Rubric. The tones of his voice, as he prayed, were sometimes mournful and suppressed, sometimes vehemently loud and energetic. All of a sudden he would quit the regular cadence of prayer, and have an outburst of apparently indomitable rage, abusing the herb puppet with fierce invectives and furious gestures. The exorcism terminated, he gave a signal by stretching out his arms, right and left, and the other Lamas struck up a tremendously noisy chorus, in hurried, dashing tones; all the instruments were set to work, and meantime the lay congregation, having started up with one accord, ran out of the tent, one after the other, and, tearing round it like mad people, beat it at their hardest with sticks, yelling all the while at the pitch of their voices, in a manner to make ordinary hair stand on end."

Then they returned to the tent, and repeated the same scene. After they had done this three times, they covered their faces with their hands, and the Grand Lama set fire to the herb figure. "As soon as the flames rose, he uttered a loud cry, which was repeated with interest by the whole company.... After this strange treatment, the malady did not return. The probability is that the Lamas, having ascertained the precise moment at which the fever-fit would recur, met it at the exact point of time by this tremendous counter-excitement, and overcame it."[61]

The Burmese, especially those of the mountain region of south and east Burmah, have priests and sorcerers, called _Wees_ and _Bookhoos_, who "pretend to cure diseases, to know men's thoughts, and to converse with the spirits. Their performances are fraught with awe and terror to a superst.i.tious people. They begin with solemn and mysterious movements; at length every muscle is agitated, while with frantic looks and foaming mouth they utter oracles, or speak to a man's spirit and declare its responses."[62] In cases of severe illness which have resisted the skill of native medical art, the physician gravely tells the patient and relatives that it is useless to have recourse any longer to medicine.

An evil _Natch_ ("spirit") is the author of the complaint, and requires to be expelled. This is accomplished by means of music and dancing, while the physician gives to the patient some medicine, pointed out to him as an infallible remedy by an accomplice in a kind of trance during the ceremony.[63]

That in certain complaints it may be beneficial to the invalid to dance to the sound of music, is owing to the exhilarating influence of the music as well as to the bodily exercise of the dancing.

The treatment of the Tarantism, or the derangement of the system caused by the bite of the Tarantula, a venomous spider in Apulia, Italy, has been so often described by medical and musical men, that a detailed account of it is hardly required here. Suffice it to notice the opinions entertained by some careful medical inquirers, respecting the efficacy of music and dancing in the cure of this illness. Nicolo Peroti, an Italian Archbishop, who lived in the fifteenth century, is supposed to have been the first who in his writings has drawn attention to the symptoms attributed to the bite of the Tarantula. Achille Vergari, a physician, in his treatise, ent.i.tled, 'Tarantismo, o malattia prodotta dalle Tarantole velenose,' Naples, 1839, says that not all these spiders are alike poisonous, but that some are so to a degree that a person bitten by them is sure to die almost immediately, notwithstanding all antidotes administered to him. According to Vergari, the Tarantula is found not only in South Italy, but also in Sardinia, the Caucasus, Persia, Abyssinia, Madagascar, the West Indies, and in several other hot regions. The poison consists in a fluid secreted in glands, which, when the spider bites, is pressed into the wound, and thus diffused throughout the body. The poison is most virulent during the dog-days, and during the period of breeding, especially if the spider is irritated, and if the person bitten is particularly susceptible for the action of the poison; under other circ.u.mstances it causes but little injury, or none at all. The only specific cure for the bite is believed to be music and dancing. The animating sound of the tune known as the Tarantella subdues the depressing effect of the poison; the invalid feels invigorated by the music; he raises himself and begins to move his hands and feet to the time of it; and, be he old or young, though he may never before in his life have danced, he is irresistibly forced to dance until exhaustion compels him to desist. The dancing sometimes lasts three hours without cessation, and is repeated for three or four successive days. The most salutary time for it is the early morning, at sunrise, when the patient usually perspires, sighs, complains, and behaves like an intoxicated person. Occasionally, while dancing, he takes in his hands green branches, or ribbons of some particular colour; or he wants to be dressed in showy garments. The black colour he hates, and the sight of a person dressed in black irritates him greatly. The room in which the dancing takes place is ornamented with different bright colours, green branches, and looking-gla.s.ses. Some insist upon carrying weapons in their hands while dancing; others desire to be beaten; or they beat themselves; and so on. The musical instruments formerly used in playing the Tarantella are the violin, violoncello, guitar, flute, organ, lute, cither, shalm, and tambourine. Some of these instruments have now become obsolete; nor are the others always used in combination, but more frequently singly.

These statements were collected by Vergari from the observations of the most intelligent physicians and surgeons in Apulia, and other districts of the former kingdom of Naples.

De Renzi, a distinguished physician of Naples, sent, in the year 1841, to the 'Raccoglitore Medico,' published in Fano, the following account of a Tarantism witnessed by Doctor Samuele Costa. Giuseppe Mastria, a peasant from a small village in the southern district of the province Terra d'Otranto, twenty years of age, of robust bodily const.i.tution, while mowing gra.s.s, in June, 1840, felt a sudden pain on his right arm, near the insertion of the Deltoid muscle, and saw that he was bitten by a speckled spider, the Aranea Tarantula. The wound having become livid, enlarged and spread the pain over the arm and the back of the neck. He was seized with anxiety and with pressure on the Praecordia, inclination to vomit, faintness, cold skin, and weak pulse. After some time, the warmth of the body increased, and the pulse became stronger. The patient experienced great thirst, heavy breathing, restlessness, and the impossibility of standing on his legs. When, however, the Tarantella was played to him, he suddenly became convulsive, jumped out of the bed, and danced briskly for nearly two hours. Tired and profusely perspiring, he consequently slept quietly and uninterruptedly. After several repet.i.tions of the music in the course of three days, he entirely recovered.[64]

Dr. Martinus Kahler, a Swedish physician, who visited Apulia in the year 1756, for the express purpose of investigating the Tarantism thoroughly, came to the conclusion that it is not caused by the Tarantula, but that it is a peculiar hypochondria with hysteria, to which the inhabitants of the island of Taranto are especially subject on account of their mode of living, and from their food consisting princ.i.p.ally of green vegetables, oysters, and periwinkles. Be this as it may, the complaint is, according to medical opinion, curable by means of music and dancing.

Thomas Shaw, who visited the Barbary States about the year 1730, mentions the _Boola-kaz_, a venomous spider in the desert of Sahara, the bite of which is cured thus: "The patient lies sometimes buried all over, excepting his head, in the hot sands, or else in a pit dug and heated for the purpose, in order, no doubt, to obtain the like copious perspiration that is excited by dancing in those who are bitten by the Tarantula."[65]

The Tigretiya of Abyssinia is in some respects similar to the Tarantism; it is, however, not caused by the bite, or sting, of any animal. The Tigretiya has its name from occurring princ.i.p.ally in the Abyssinian district called Tigre. It is a kind of melancholy, the first symptoms of which usually are a gradual wasting away of the attacked person.

Music and dancing are used as the most effective remedies for healing the sufferer.

A strange illness of the natives of Madagascar is described by the Missionary W. Ellis as "an intermittent disorder, with periods of delirium, a species of hysteria readily infectious." The sufferers perambulate in groups, singing, dancing, and running, accompanied by their friends, who carry bottles of water for them, as they generally complain of thirst,--which is not surprising, considering the state of excitement to which they work themselves up. Their whims being encouraged by the people, must rather impede the beneficial result which they might derive from singing and dancing, as far as concerns the restoration to a sound state of health. Their morbid affection of the nervous system is, however, especially interesting if compared with a similar derangement in European countries during the Middle Ages, of which some account shall presently be given.

The exercise of dancing to the sound of cheerful music is universally known to be, under certain circ.u.mstances conducive to the preservation of health. Thus, the traveller, H. Salt, relates that the Negro slaves in Mozambique "a.s.sembled in the evening to dance, according to the usual practice, for keeping them in health."[66] The same means were formerly resorted to by slave-owners in America. Likewise, during a voyage to the Arctic Sea, it has been found useful to order the sailors occasionally to dance on deck to the music of a barrel-organ, to keep them in health and good spirits.

On the other hand, there are instances on record of music and dancing having nourished morbid feelings and extravagant notions. At all events, certain Terpsich.o.r.ean performances of religious fanatics can only be thus regarded. The most extraordinary exhibitions of this kind among Christian sects occurred on the Continent during the Middle Ages, and are described in an interesting little book, by J. F. C. Hecker, ent.i.tled 'Die Tanzwuth, eine Volkskrankheit im Mittelalter; nach den Quellen fur Aerzte und gebildete Nichtarzte bearbeitet,' (The Dancing Mania, an epidemic in the Middle Ages; compiled from original sources, for medical men and intelligent non-medical men. Berlin, 1832.) The author, a Doctor of Medicine, in Berlin, treats especially of the St.

John's Dance and the St. Vitus's Dance, which, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, were performed in Germany by perambulating fanatics who, in some respects, resembled certain Revivalists of our days. He carefully traces the origin of these morbid conceptions, the extravagant practices to which they led, and their gradual discontinuance during the seventeenth century. The persons afflicted with this nervous malady, men and women, wandered in troops from town to town and danced to the sound of musical instruments in the churches and streets. The authorities of some of the towns were of opinion that music and dancing alone could effectively cure this strange affection. They, therefore, hired musicians in order to bring on the dancing-fits the more rapidly; and they ordered strong, healthy men, to mix with the dancers with the object of compelling them to continue their violent exertions until they were quite exhausted,--a condition which was supposed to be a preliminary step to their restoration to health. Of the magistrates of Basle, for instance, it is recorded that in the sixteenth century they engaged some strong men to dance with a girl afflicted with the dancing mania, until she was recovered. One man subst.i.tuted another, and this strange cure they continued about four weeks with scarcely any interruption, until the patient was exhausted and unable to stand on her legs. She was then carried to an hospital, where she completely regained her health.

The following miraculous occurrence, which is recorded in William of Malmesbury's 'Chronicle of the Kings of England' as having taken place in the year 1012, ill.u.s.trates the fanaticism alluded to. The statement is by one of the poor sufferers:--

"I, Ethelbert, a sinner, even were I desirous of concealing the divine judgment which overtook me, yet the tremor of my limbs would betray me; wherefore I shall relate circ.u.mstantially how this happened, that all may know the heavy punishment due to disobedience. We were on the eve of our Lord's nativity, in a certain town of Saxony, in which was the church of Magnus the Martyr, and a priest named Robert had begun the first ma.s.s. I was in the church-yard with eighteen companions,--fifteen men and three women,--dancing and singing profane songs to such a degree that I interrupted the priest, and our voices resounded amid the sacred solemnity of the ma.s.s. Wherefore, having commanded us to be silent and not being attended to, he cursed us in the following words:--'May it please G.o.d and St. Magnus that you may remain singing in the same manner for a whole year!'--His words had their effect. The son of John the Priest seized his sister, who was singing with us, by the arm, and immediately tore it from the body; but not a drop of blood flowed out.

She also remained a whole year with us dancing and singing. The rain fell not upon us; nor did cold, nor heat, nor hunger, nor thirst, nor fatigue a.s.sail us: we neither wore our clothes nor shoes, but we kept on singing as though we had been insane. First we sunk into the ground up to our knees; next to our thighs. A covering was at length, by the permission of G.o.d, built over us, to keep off the rain. When a year had elapsed, Herbert, bishop of the city of Cologne, released us from the tie wherewith our hands were bound, and reconciled us before the altar of St. Magnus. The daughter of the priest, with the other two women, died immediately; the rest of us slept three whole days and nights. Some died afterwards, and were famed for miracles; the remainder betray their punishment by the trembling of their limbs.

"This narrative was given to us by the Lord Peregrine, the successor of Herbert, in the year of our Lord 1013."

In our time, exhibitions of a morbid religious enthusiasm, called forth, or promoted by music, are less common with Christians than with Mohammedans. In the sacred dance of the Dervishes, the music, which is soft and plaintive, represents the music of the spheres; while the Dervishes turning in a circle round their superior, who sits quietly in the centre, represent the planetary system in its relation to the sun.

So far, the procedures of these fanatics are intelligible enough; but the words of their songs are so mystic that probably the Dervishes themselves are unable to attach a reasonable meaning to them. Still more extraordinary is the behaviour of the a.s.saoua, a kind of Mohammedan fraternity in the Barbary States, who by means of music and dancing work themselves up to a state of ecstasy, in which they fancy themselves to be camels,--or, at any rate, in which they convey to others the impression that they are brutes rather than reasonable beings. As regards Christian sects, certain sacred evolutions of the Shakers, in the United States of North America, are not less extravagant than those of the Dervishes in Egypt or Turkey. Here too, music appears to have an injurious effect upon the people, inasmuch as it excites their morbid emotions.

Turning now to our literature on the medical employment of music, we find a number of treatises, the most important of which shall be briefly noticed by their t.i.tles. Of such only as are not easily attainable, some account of their contents shall be added.

'Medica Musica: or, a Mechanical Essay on the effects of Singing, Musick, and Dancing, on Human Bodies; Revis'd and corrected. To which is annex'd a New Essay on the nature and cure of the Spleen and Vapours. By Richard Browne, Apothecary, in Oakham, in the County of Rutland; London, 1729.'--This is the second edition, enlarged. The first edition was published without the name of the author.

'Die Verbindung der Musik mit der Arzneygelahrtheit, von Ernst Anton Nicolai.' (The a.s.sociation of Music with the Science of Medicine, by E.

A. Nicolai; Halle, 1745.)--Nicolai was Professor of Medicine at the University of Jena, in Germany.

'Reflections on Antient and Modern Musick, with the application to the Cure of Diseases; to which is subjoined an essay to solve the question wherein consisted the difference of ancient musick from that of modern time;' London, 1749.--The author, Richard Brocklesby, was a physician in London.--A circ.u.mstantial account of the contents of this treatise is given in 'Historisch-Kritische Beytrage zur Aufnahme der Musik, von F.

W. Marpurg;' Vol. II., Berlin, 1756; p. 16-37.

'Traite des Effets de la Musique sur le corps humain, traduit du Latin et augmente des notes, par Etienne Sainte-Marie;' Paris, 1803.--This is an annotated translation of a dissertation written in Latin by Joseph Ludovicus Roger, and published at Avignon in 1758.

Desbout (Luigi): 'Ragionamento fisico-chirurgico sopra l'effetto della Musica nelle malattie nervose;' Livorno, 1780.--A French translation appeared in the year 1784, in St. Petersburg, ent.i.tled: 'Sur l'Effet de la Musique dans les Maladies nerveuses.'

Buc'hoz (Pierre Joseph): 'L'Art de connaitre et de designer le pouls par les notes de la Musique, de guerir par son moyen la melancolie, et le Tarentisme qui est une espece de melancolie; accompagne de 198 observations, tirees tant de l'histoire que des annales de la medicine qui constatent l'efficacite de la musique, non seulement sur le corps mais sur l'ame, dans l'etat de sante, ainsi que dans celui de maladie.

Ouvrage curieux, utile et interessant; propre a inspirer le got de cet art, qui est pour nous un vrai present des cieux;' Paris, 1806.--A treatise with a similar t.i.tle, by F. N. Marquet, appeared at Nancy in the year 1747.

Lichtenthal (Peter): 'Der musikalische Arzt; oder, Abhandlung von dem Einflusse der Musik auf den menschlichen Korper, und von ihrer Anwendung in gewissen Krankheiten,' (The Musical Physician; or, a Treatise on the influence of music upon the human body, and on its application in certain illnesses. Vienna, 1807.)--An Italian translation of this work appeared in Milan in the year 1811.

Schneider (Peter Joseph): 'System einer medizinischen Musik; ein unentbehrliches Handbuch fur Medizin-Beflissene, Vorsteher der Irren-Heilanstalten, praktische Aerzte, und unmusikalische Lehrer verschiedener Disciplinen,' (A System of Medical Music; an indispensable guide for Students of Medicine, Princ.i.p.als of Lunatic Asylums, Practical Physicians, and unmusical teachers of different methods. Bonn, 1835.) This comprehensive work, in two volumes, contains much information on the subject in question, interspersed with many remarks and citations which have little or no bearing on music considered medically. The last seventy-two pages of the second volume contain a sort of autobiography of the author.