THE ROOT DOCTOR IN ATLANTA 26 A THESIS 7 Fae SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF ATLANTA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF FASTER OF ARTS BY LILLIAN FRANCES STOKES DEPARTRENT OF SOCIOLOGY ATLANTA, GEORGIA JUNE 1945TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... 00 .seeses cece eee eenceeeeseceeteeeeases Chapter I. Il. III. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND............. THE PRACTITIONERS Some Medical Practices in West Africa......... Magic end Medicinal in the West Indies The Role of the Ro: the United States, AS Teseeee SOME SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF “HE PRACTICE OF THE ROOT DOCTOR....... BIBLIOGRAPHY 6. .....eseeeesseececes at Page 1Introduction Beneath the heart of a modern metropolis there beets much of the primitive. In the city the magic of the medicine man takes on new guises; is adaptea to new situations and problems. Kysticism rubs elbows with mechanics end points up, what has been definedby Ogburn, as the ‘cultural lag’. Thrrefore, the role of the troot and herb doctor' and the extent to which it aggravates and perpetuates this lag, is of importance to the student of society. A study of the 'root doctor’, his role, and the extent to which it determines, end is determined by, the behavior patterns of the milieu in which he operates, should be useful for a better understanding of the cultural conflicts ever present in modern urben society with its great mobility of individuals, groups and institutions. The two principal methods used to obtain the information for such a study made in the city of Atlante, were by inter- views and the exemination of pertinent literature. licensed medical practitioners, pharmacists, public health officers and nurses, a minister, and the 'root doctors! were interviewed in an effort to arrive at a fuller interpretation of the subject. At times it was necessary to assume the role of a patient in order to get information from several of the practitioners, while in other instances the normel interview technique was em~ ployed, The writings consulted were employed chiefly as back~ ground material since few studies of the 'root doctor! have 1actually been made, Pore list of the literature used the reader is referred to the bibliography accompanying this study. It is difficult to arrive at any one definition for the term 'root doctor', Apparently the title is applied indis- criminately to members of the voodoo cult, spirituslists, ‘quacks! of various types, and to the individuals who use roots and herbs for either, or both, their curative or magical ef- fects, However, for the purposes of this study the root doc- tor will be defined as any individual who employs roots and herbs as the primary source of his alleged curative or magical : powers, Spiritualists, faith healers, and 'quacks' will not be included in this discussion except where such practitioners af- fect or are affected by the practice of the root doctor.CHAPTER I HISTORICAL BACKGROUND From the earliest times man has sought explanation for those things in his environment which he did not understend. He has sought methods of controlling these forces, usually through the use of symbols, such as charms, rituals, sympa~ thetic magic and the like, Gradually a body of knowledge, a religion, or 4 dogma of some sort is built up. As an accom= panying consequence the society developed certain individuals who were supposed to be endowed with the power of control over these mystericus farces. In this connection haddox has pointed out ",,..since in the thought of primitive man malicious spirits are responsible for all the ills of life, the chief object of the savage is to bring about a change of rele tionship between heaven and earth, But because the struggle between mortals and immortals is un- equal, the necessity erises of a specialist, who by reason of a spiritual nature is competent to act as an Se araert Iiedicine men, however, are not the only members of a primi- tive society who treat disease or other physical phenomena. The simple remedies for the common diseases ere usually known to everyone in the group, and certain people may have even more 1 John Lee Haddox, The Meking Of The Medicine Wen, (New York, 1923), p. 69. 31 specialized knowledge. It is necessary to know something of she role of the root doctor in the oultures of West Africa and the West Indies in order to more fully understand the part which he plays in our modern society, Some Medical Practices of West Africa Since West Africa supplied the bulk of the Negro slaves destined for the American market, it is to this source that the role of the root doctor should be traced, It is frequently @iffioult to separate the medical and religious elements in the cultures of West Africa, In some instances there are simple remedies used in a rational way for the treatment of disease while at the other end of the scale, are practices com- pletely tied in with magic. Between the two extremes lie treatments which consist of both rational and magical elements. In our Western culture the division of medicine from religion is fairly olear--the one being concerned with natural laws while the other has to ao with the supernatural. Since, how- ever, the West African aboriginal nad no concept of the natural, nor any recognition of natural areer he felt that there was a bit of the supernatural in everything. L dwives and This is especially true with reference to mi members of certain cults who may know particular remedies. 2 Ibid., p. 15.5 Among the Mano, a tribe native to Liberia, there has de- veloped a large body of medicel knowledge and certain special- ists for its practice have been produced within its ranks, According to Hurley, "the Kano is & logical being who is quite keen at determining cause end effect through his experience and by familiarity with comion events. If he cannot deduce.a cause from his everyday experience, he looks for it in the unknown, which he would cali the superneturel." ‘The more religious elements of his medicine are concentret- ed around the crises of life--birth, puberty, war and death, while the commonest diseases are treated in a menner more near- ly approsching the rational medicine of our Yestern oulture. The supernatural in his attitude toward, and treatment of ill- nesses and disease are highly important. This is attested to ty its survivals in Afro-American culture. Levy-Bruhl states that, "The primitives sometimes veiled yet ever present concern is to escape malign influences, and not to inour the animosity of any of the unseen powers upon which his success or his bad fortune depends...."Always under the threat of a danger he can neither define nor locate, (he) is naturally ever on the look-out, and heedful of the slightest sign that will permit him to discover, and perhaps circumvent, the evil influence he dreads, while still ignorant of its nature. It is therefore of vital interest to him to be as early Ibid.6 and as fully cognizant of it as possible, and his continual recourse to devination in its meny veried forms largely arises out of this pressing. need." The medicine man, therefore, is most importent for the role he plays in combatting "malign influences", in discover- ing and prescribing methods for circumventing them, as well as the pert he pleys in the therapeutic treatment of diseases. In Africa there are in @neral, three kinds of medicine men, Harley designates them as: "(1) the real doctor, who is sometimes called the "man of the trees" or belongs to the "guild of leaves", (2) the diviner, whose main duty is one of diagnosis, and (3) the witch doctor whose duty it is to catch the witch or exorcise the evil spirit." The secrets of the profession are usually passed in the same family from one generation to the next. Any one wishing to enter the practice must spend years of apprenticeship under @ master of the art and in addition, pay a substentiel sum. In some instances members of the profession become so by virtue of the fact that they have suffered froma certain disease from which they have recovered and subsequently have 1 Lucien Levy-Bruhl, Primitives and The Supernatural, translated by Lilian A. lave. (Wea York, 1936}, pe #5< 2 Harley, op. cit., p. 200 citing H. H. Johnson, The Uganda Protectorate, Faryore, 1502, II, p. 750. :1 1 specialized in curing others of it. In some culture physio- logical or psychological abnormalities are often determintes in the creation of a medicine man. liedicines used by the medicine men may also be divided into three categories. The first is "those common remedies used by everybody and gethered as needed without ceremony. Second are those which are family secrets handed down from mother to daughter or from father to son and guarded with great secrecy. Third are those medicines known only to the professional man who must go through a strict initiation end pay highly for his knowledge, These frequently have magical 2 properties and must be gathered in some special way." Harley quotes Robert H. Nassau in a stetement that seems to be applicable to the medicine man in the African, West Indian, and Afro-American cultures. He says: The native doctor does not understand therepeutics as such. Some of his ancestors happened to observe that a certain leaf, berk or root exhibited internslly proved efficient in cases where symptoms indicated a certain disease he had failed to cure by his dences, drums, augu- ries, and other enchantments. Not knowing the modus operandi of the drug itself, he had jumped to the con- Sasion ‘that he hed finally found the adjuvent herb nec- cessary to please the spirit for whom he had been making enchantments, without which herb the spirit had hitherto withheld its assistance. And ever afterward the secret of this particular drug was guarded by his family, the knowledge of its tree being handed down as an heirloom, the secret kept as jealously and carefully as the receipt for the proprietary medicine of any quack in civilized 1. Ibid. 2 Ibid., p. 204, citing Robert H. Nassau, Petichism in West Africa, 1904, p. 105.8 lands. In his mpdical ethics there was no quae ‘prosunt omnibus. In West Africa, seemingly, leaves are used more frequent- ly than the roots, bark, fruits, flowers, and eto. of plants. It is to be inferred tht this is the reason that the practition- er is known as a "leaf doctor". Some of the diseases treated by these "leaf doctors" in- clude arthritis, rheumatism, gonorrhea, headache, genitio- urinary complaints, snakebit, menstrual irregularity and habitu- al abortion, yaws, malnutrition, tuberculosis, jeundice, heart trouble, and infected outs, animal bits and cheatrizetions.” Though magic is used by the practitioner in applying the remedy, or though he attributes magical properties to the medi- Cine itself, this type of magic must be distinguished from the So called 'black magic! in which the fetish and poisons play a dominant role. Harley says that "the use of megical "medicines" and fetishes in secret societies has been shown to work in one of three different ways: through direct violence perpetrated by members but blamed on animals, through poison, or fear of the supposed power of a fetish, sometimes on both." The native often attributes any illness that he might in- cur to some enemy who has supposedly cast a spell over him, or 1 Ibid. 2 Cioatrization is the formtion of fibrous tissues at the siteof the wound which later forms a scar. At the time of pu- berty certain tribal marks are cut in designs on the bodies of the initiates. 3 Harley, op. cit.,209.9 who has poisoned him in some way. Among the Mano, poison usualiy accompanies the use of black magic. Plants and other substences are used in the manufacture of fetishes, i.e. objects which are cariied to ward off evil, to bring fortune, or through which evil might be worked on another. Through the use of a fetish one may cause for his intended victim bad luck in general, sickness which will cause the victim to waste away or die some lingering and painful death. As a part of his prectice, the medicine man sometimes draws lizards, moths, worms, or other small orestures from a patient telling him it is this which has csused his trouble, Another common practice is that of burying a fetish under the doorstep of the intended victim or in the middle of a path which he frequents. This he does after instructing the fetish to treat his victim in a certain mamner. Associated with this method is thet of treating the fetisn as the practi- tioner wishes his victim to be afflicted. Thus ve see that both medicine and bleck magic play an integral part in the lives of the Yest Africans, and that in many instances there is little difference between the two. When the West African was transplanted as a slave to the West Indies, it wes only natural that he carried this part of his culture with him, Magic and Medical Practices in The West Indies The slave system brought in close contact members ofge | 10 tribes who may have otherwise had no relationship. old rituals and practices were modified or changed under this new pressure, ‘This factor, together with those gained from the new environment led to the production of new religions, new cults, new superstitions, and new medicinal practices, Chris- tien saints and African gods, Catholic ritual and pagan rites, the French language and African dialects were welded together in what may seem a grotesque fashion, to form whut we regard under the general heading of voodoo. Vagic is @ part of the Haitian peasant!s life from the day | he is born until the day he dies, While the elaborate birth and puberty rites of Africa seem to have been eliminated from Haitian culture, death hes taken on more significence. The important aspect of death Zor this study, however, is the role of the graveyard end corpses. Graveyard dirt taken from certain types of graves is one of the main ingredients used in the most powerful charms, Hurston says in regard to this: They take dirt from a graveyard to maim end kill. And the principle behind this practise is more subtle than the surface shows, It is hardly probable that more than one per cent of the people who dig into an old grave to get « handful of dirt to destroy an enemy, or the enemy of 2 client, know whet they do. To most of them it is a superstition connected in their minds With the idea of ghosts and the belief in their poner to herm. But soil from deep in an old grave hes, pres tige wherever the Negro exists in the New World. Proee Neale Hurston, Tell wy Horse, (New York, 1936), p. 251.i Sir Spencer Wells, Dr. Domingo Poriero of Rio de Jeniero; and Pasteur have all given testimony to the fact thet deadly disease germs are often present in the dirt of a grave as much as twenty years after the victim has been buried - As in Africu, the role of poison in effecting death is an important adjunct of Haitian magic. Kost of the poisons used are vegetable products for which there are only a few known antidotes, The use of poisons follows the African rather than the European pattern. Because some of the poi- sons have North American counterparts they are pertinent to this study. Hurston cites the following plants as used in the West Indies for poisoning. 1, Night Shade (Jamaica) Antidote--Bissy (Kola tut) 2. Red Head (Jamaica) Antidote--Bissy (Kola Nut) 3. Bitter Cassava (Jamaica) Antidote=-mix clay and water and drink 4. Dumb Cane(Jemaica) Antidote--None known. (The juice from this plent atiecks the throat first and so constricts the vocal cords thet the vic- tim cannot speck. A flood of saliva pours from the mouth and drenches the lower pert of the face. Terrible skin eruptions occur wherever the poi- soned saliva has touched, 5. Rose Apple ‘root is black and very poisonous) Antidote--Mone known. 6. Dogwood root (Haiti, Jamaica, Bahamas) Antidote-- one known. 7. Black sage jHaiti, Jomaica, Bahamas) Antidote-- Wone known. Certain anime] and minersl derivitives are ¢1so employed as poisons, Ibid. 2 Ibid., p. 255.12 The Haitian perallel to the Africen Witch doctor is the priest or priestess of the voodoo cult, These individuals act as intermediaries between their gods and the oult members, perform rituals, make ow es, conduct sacrificial rites, work spells against she enemies of their clients, remove spells and practice medicine, As in Africa the Haitian "doctor! is known as the "doo- teur fewille" (leaf doctor). Here also, some of the medicines employed are no doubt used because of some nagical significance, while others have definite therapeutic velue. These medicines are derived from various plants and ere administered in teas, plasters, poultices, and the like. One interesting parallel to the African custom of rubbing the medicine into small cuts on the affected part is cited by Seabrook. He tells of 4 priestess odlled in to administer to a girl who was suffering from a very high temperature. She pre- pered a mixture of herbs, made many small cuts on the girl's head, and rubved the preparation in. The fever was reduced within the next twenty-four hours. Herb doctoring in Haiti is usuelly connected with Voodoo and sorcery, but not necesserily so. Remedies ere often ad- ninistered without any recourse to magic or megicel incenta- tions. 1 The ouange is analegous to the Africen fetish. It is enployea fof the seme purposes, i.e, to bring luck, ‘to work misfortune egainst an enemy, to protect the bearer from harm ané for divination. 2 3¥5i8:, Soegsek The Nagic Island, (New York, 1929), p.302.13 The Haitian voodoo cult gained followers in the French territory of Louisiana. Subsequently sany of its practices spread eastward, were adopted by early American ‘root doc- tors' and were probably responsible far changing the charac- ter of the general practice of the "docteur feuille's" Ameri- can prototype. The Role of the Root Doctor in the United States The troot doctor’ is designated by various titles throughout the southern part of the United States. Some of these are "root-doctor","wood-doctor", "nigger doctor", "for- tune teller", "witcheraft woman", and infrequently, "goofer- dootor".’ the tems "horse", nyengateux" "Wi teheh-man" are also sometimes employed. Other common terms are: "Gonjur doctor", "conjur man", “hoodoo doctor", "root worker", "root men" and "doctor". The 'root doctor’ had high status among the early slaves. As a general rule the slaves were given good medical care be- cause it was of economical advantage to the master to provide this service. The 'root doctor', might not have survived under ‘these circums ‘ances had he not provided other services. Puckett says in this connection: ++-The same master who protected his investment against — "goofer dust" is the tezm used in connection with grave- yard dirt. 2 From the Haitian term "ouanga", 3 Hewbell Niles Puckett, Polk Beliefs Of The Southern Wegro, (Chapel Hill, 1926), pp. 200-14 disease germs also protected it ageinst undue physical violence, and thus forbade a slave from inflicting bodily injury upon © fellow slave. This would lead in- variably to indirect revenge or revenge by witchcraft, Lacking overt and natural means of obtaining justice, the slave turned to his conjure bag and after the Civil War, when the treatment of disease was taken out of the hands of the master and given agsin to the Negroes, their desire to avoid expensive medical attention focus- ed their attention again on the all-powerful "root doctor" or "hoodoo-man" as the healer of diseases. fo the present day the 'root doctor' still exists in the culture of the lower class Negro, where he prescribes for di~ sease, detects and eliminates conjure, prectises magic for his clients, and in sane cases even pleys the role of the minister. Henri Gamache in The Magic of Herbs aaa et number of herbs and their therapeutic values as follows: LAXATIVES: These are herbs which stimulate secretions of the in- testinal glanés or excite moderete peristalsis promoting mild evacuation. Licorice Root Blue Gentien Tulip Tree Cascara Snakehead Golden Seal Black Butternut Yellow Poplar Senna Pod Turtlebloom Flax Seed Dandlion Root May Wort ‘Rhubarb Yellow Root PURGALIVES These are herbs which have an action similar to LAXATIVES except that they are far stronger and induce copious evacuation. Wandrake Rhizome Senna Leaves Way Apple Root Buckthorn Bark Boneset Herb Black Root 1 Ibid., p. 167. 2 Henri Gamache, The Magic of Herbs, (New York, 1942), pp. 87 ff.15 AROWATICS or CARMINATIVES These are herbs which for the most part are pleasant and pungent to the taste and are useful to expel gas from the stomach and intestines. They are chiefly used to make other drugs more palatable and to prevent griping in cathartios. Anise Root Gardaman Seed Elecampine Root Gloves Cumin Seed Peppermint Canada Snake Root Catnip Herb Spearmint Wild Ginger Angelica Root Caraway Coriander Seed Gelery Seed Parsley Root Yarrow Herb Sassefras Bark © Sweet Clover WERVINES The following herbs seem to have a soothing in- fluence on nerves that have been subjected to undue ex- citement or strain. Pragrent Valerian Hop Flowers Iugwort Lady Slipper Musk Root Kole Nut Blue Skull Cap Celery Seed Sweet Basil Blue Vervain Rosemary Wild Lettuce Catnip Herb Mistletoe TONICcS The following herbs seem to be popular with won- en as meeting their particular or peculiar tonic needs, Pappose Root Squaw Vine Pale Cohosh (Blue Cohosh) Squaw Root Beth Root Palmetto Berries Rosemary Eleamoane Root Lovage Liferoot Angelica Root Bearberry Shepherds Purse Tansy Alder Queen's Delight Blue Gohosh STOMACHICHS--TONICS These are herbs which promote nutrition and tend to tone up the stomach. Past generations have found them useful in loss of appetite and associated conditions. Blue Gentian Waywort Blackberry Root Columbo Solomon Seal Wild Sarseparilla Wild Cherry Bark © Ghocolate Root © Jamaica Ginger Wild Sage Dandelion Root —Mugwort Herb Wild Strawberry Elecampane QuassiaAngelica Root Congo Root Chicory Root (Endive ) 16 Gensing Root Golden Seal ‘Thyme Juniper Berries ANTPHELMINTICS These are herbs which are said to help expel worms from the stomach and intestines. Those in the first column seem to be best, it is said, for tape worms. Elm Bark Flax Seed Wormwood Kalefern Pomegrante Pumpkin Seed EXPECTORANTS Expectorants are herbs which modify quality and quantity of mucous secretions and fevor its expulsion. They are the chief ingredients of medicines for com- mon colds and coughs as well as irritations of the throat. Hoarhound Butterfly weed Balm of Gilead Roots Wahoo Bark Seneca Root life Everlasting Hettle Leaves White Pine Bark DIURETICS Solomon Seal Wild Cherry Bark These are herbs which are used in medicines which promote the secretion of urine. Generally speaking they are used when the kidneys are not sufficiently active. Most people eve e tendency to use diuretics to excess thus over stimulating the kidneys. Seven Barks Trailing Arbutus Pipsissena Leaf Horse Radish Root Juniper Berries Birch Leaves Watermelon Seed Pimpernel Skunk Cabbage Burdock See Sweet Bugle Parsley Root Dwarf Elder Bark Corn Silk Kava Kava Indian Chickweed Beth Root ASTRINGENTS These are herbs which tend to contract the tissues. The following are used in medicine for such a purpose. Black Alder Bark Bleck Cherries Iron Wood Blackberry Bark Black Willow Bellberry Water-lily Root White Oak Bark Gold Thread17 Hawthorn Berries Alum Root Life Everlasting Butternut Bark Meidenhair Fern ola Nuts Sweet Fern Root Swamp Snake Root Weny of the roots and herds mentioned above are the chief constituents of patent and proprietary medicines which are ourrently on the market. The second major class consists ¢ certain roots and herbs, which because of their value as talismans and amulets, and because of their use in magical formulas are of great value to the root doctor. The most popular of the roots used for magical purposes is, undoubtedly, ‘High John the Conqueror! root. In connec- tion with this Puckett says: "Phe King root of the forest is called ' High John the Gonqueror’. All believers in con- jure quake when they see a bit of it in the hands of anyone. ol Other roots end herbs rhich are used as amilets or for some other magical purpose are: Devil Shoe String Loveage Root Five Finger Grass Life Everlasting Holy Herb Jezabel Root Buckeye Lesser Periwinkle Dragons Blood Sea Spirit Oriental Gum Sumbul Root Holy Sandalwood Waster of the Wood Queen Elizebeth Root Grains of Paradise Sacred Bark Adam and Eve Root Tonka Beans Queen's Root Orris Root Cumin Seed Wahoo Bark Alkanet Root Bethel wut 1 Puckett, op. cit., p. 299. 2 Gamache, op. cit., p. 88.18 ‘The practice of the ‘root doctor! as it has thus far been @iscussed is en outgrowth of the primitive, and the plantation and rural community practices. Here is a rurel pattern that moved to the city when its rural advocates migrated to urban centers, It is this new social setting with which we are chiefly concerned.CHAPTER IT ‘THE PRACTITIONERS The ecological distributicn of the ‘tlenta 'Root and Herb doctor! is closely correlated with that of his clients, The majority af the practitioners are lw ated in the south- east section of the city, particularly in the IcDaniel Street area and in the section known locally as Pittsburgh. Ina study made several years ego, Laroy Haynes says of this area: The section ...west of MoDaniel Street, north of Glenn Street, south of Whitehall, and east of the Southern railroad tracks (which includes the streets of Robin, Hightower, Jells and a portion of Humphries) has one phenomenon tint is characterisiic of the whole of this section of the city. Slum houses in groups of ten or more are found in the rear of éwell- ings tl t ave inhabited by other Negroes....In the rear of Humphries and Hightower Streets there are rows of houses, about twenty in number, tha! are mere shacks. ‘hey are single room dwellings. In one case twelve people live ina two room sheck. ‘he whole of ‘the populetion seems to be recently rural.t~ Is is from the lower income group thet inhabits this and similar sections of the city that the 'Root doctor! draws his clientele. The problems with which he deals are the problems of people of this perticular social setting. The ‘root doctar', while not entirely indigenous to the United States, was a product of the plantation environment, Many of the characteris*ics peculiar to his practice are at- 1 Haynes, Laroy Howard Wilton,"fhe Ecological Distribu- tion of Negro Popule tion in Atlenta 1939", unpublished Naster's Thesis, Atlante University - June 1945. 1920 tributable to the rural surroundings in which he opereted. Kost conspicuous of these characteristics are the roots and herbs--his materia medicinalis--which he gathered from the yocés and meadows abous iin. In the rurel areas, waere li- censed physicians were rarely available, the therapeutic as- pects of the root doctor's practice were the most importent. While he did, on occasion, practice magic, the physical rather than the psychological complaints of his clients were his most important concerns. When his clients moved from the rural into the urban areas, the root doctor followed, In tle city, however, he had to modify old techniques and learn new ones more adapted to the needs of the city dweller, As one of the consequences of his urbanization, the root doctor of the city of Atlenta no a longer fits the stereotype which several authors have ascribe: to him. Herskovits quotes a statement, made by Cameron in an un- published masters thesis, to the effect that "two groups of practitioners are known and recognized not only by themselves but also by their particular clientele, as distinct from each other, One deals in what may be termed "medicine", that is roots, herbs, barks, and teas, while the other is composed of those who work by means of magic. So clear out is this feeling of difference between the members of these two groups that there is reason for deep insult if e practitioner of the medical type is mistaken for one of those who practice21 1 magic." Among the Atlenta practitioners there is no evidence to substantiate this statement. On the contrary, it is difficwlt to draw any line between the two types. No two of tle 'doctors' interviewed covld be placed in the same category. The types would range from the man who practices no magic and who uses herbs for their therapeutic velue only, to @ woman who actual- ly uses no herbs but is generally cosidered 5 root doctor. Herskovits says further: "These two types of practition- ers are distinguished by their dress, especially since, de- spite the fact that there is no hard and fast rule, medical practitioners are predominantly women, while those who prec- tice by magical meens are, for the most part men, a statement that again is reminiscent of Puckett's findings. Even disre- garding the sex line, the dress of the prectitioner is not that of ordinary persons, though this tendency is becoming less pronounced." ; In this same vein Puckett says: "I have noticed that the Americen witch-doctor is also possessed of unusual mentality and often shows physical pecularities as well." 1 Melville J. Herskovits, The Myth of the Negro Past, (New York, 1941), p. 235 citing hrs. Cameron "Po lk Bette? Peviain~ ing to Health of the Southern Negro", unpublished Naster's Thesis, Northwestern University. (date not given). 2 Herskovits, op. cit., p. 240. 3. Puckett, op. cit., p. 201.22 Although the above statements may be true of practition- ers in other areas, they cennot justly be applied to eny of the Atlanta root doctors.” The titles by which most of the practitioners designate thenselves are in some weys indicative of the nature of their partioular practices. Generally speaking, the herbalists are known as "Doctor", woile those individuals more inclined to- ward spiritualism prefer to be addressed #5 “Reverend”. One practitioner in the city, however, has combined these com plimentary prefixes and has on his business card the title "Dew tor Reverend". The sterotype that the root doctor's credentials show him to be an ordeined minister, and thet he inveriably introduces himself as "Reverend Doctor" is certainly not applicable to the Atlanta herbalist. A closer study of the data perteining to the Atlanta practitioners will more clwrly reveel the sinilerities am Gissimilarities existing between then, It is for that pur- pose that case studies of five of the most representatives of the herb doctors are presented below. Case I Prectitioner &., @ man apparently between sixty and seventy years of age, conducts his busi ss at his home in the section of the city commonly known as "Pittsburgh". 1 One exception was noted in @ practitioner who was ob- viously suffering from a form of parenoidel schizophrenia. 2 Puckett, op. cit., p. 204.23 Here, in two fly-filled rooms--both of which are obviously used by the femily as bed rooms, he receives his patients, His manner is as informal and as comfortable es his appear- ance. (On both occasions that he was visited he wore old and soiled pants held up by ancient suspenders, and « shirt which because it was in the same condition, neither complimented nor disgraced the rest of his attire.) In order to get the initial interview, the writer in the company of a young man, approached the practitioner as a pa- tient who wished to get from him some sort of herbal abortive. He gently but firmly refused to take the case, although he admitted that under certain circumstances, i.e., where a wom- an could not go through @ pregnzncy without endangering her life or health, he could produce the desired results, There followed a monologue by the practitioner that was full of friendly advice, in which he counseled the writer to "go through with 'it' whether or not she married the young man, Although he could cure "any thing" with his herbs he could only give that which would "build up--not tear down," since he had been called by God to do this work a number of years previously. Until tm+t time he "worked like any other man", As @ result of the "call" he learned the name of evexy plant and its uses. The interview was concluded when he said, "I'm sorry that I can't go anything for you now, but be of good cheer, daughtt" as he ushered the writer and her escort to the door.26 vation vbout his prectice, In order to gain further info which is perhaps the largest in the city, the writer epproach- ed the ‘doctor! again, not as & shy young girl but disguised as a confident young woman, During this interview he revesl- ed thet he practiced under a city business license, which made it imperative that he use nothing that could be considered harmful in his medicines. This applied especially to the use of "narconitios" (narcotics). Once again the writer was as- sured that the doctor could oure anything, and he revealed that he had had special success with cases of "ulcerated stom~ achs", Under no circumstances would he reveal the names of any of the herbs which he used, nor how they were employed. He seemed to have a @efinite fear that should he let out any such information, the person to whom he was talking would soon set up a business in competition, His motto was "trust no one". This man's confidence in himself end in his practice was apparent throughout his conversations. He was undoubtedly wholly sincere. One found it difficult to reconcile this to the fact that a licensed physician of the city served this ‘root doctor’, his wife and eight sons in a medical capacity. Case II Practitioner B, owns and operates a small herb shop in the Southeast section of the city. His talents are varied. He is the minister of a Baptist church in the Atlanta Univer- sity area, offers to give free spiritualist readings by mail,25 ~ brand medicines, end diagnoses disease manufactures B and prescribes treetment for them without charge. The writer, again in the company of the young man, ap- proached tne subject complaining vaguely about a sewre pain in the arm, which had no particular characteristic, and no particular location, The illness was immediately diagnosed as "arthritis". At a cost of five dollars he guaranteed to cure the malady if the patient would only follow the simple directions for brewing and taking the medicine, whereupon he produced a brown paper bag which held a mixture of liay Apple Root, Pope Root, and Black Haw, to be brewed as a tea and taken in the morning and again before retiring. ihen the writer complained that she did not have the sum which he ask- ed, the subject offered her the medicine for only three dol- lars. The writer's companion later inquired privately of the 'doctor' if he could cure a case of 'clapps! (gonorrhea). Por fifteen dollars the practitioner could cleer the case up in four days. ‘his would be eccomplished through the use of a tonic "Lightning Red Chief" and some green pills. The tonic, according to the label, contained hydrochloric acid, glycerine, nitric acid and artificial coloring while the pills were said to contain 2 special herb formula, ‘he price asked for this treatment was eventually dropped to five dollars as a "special favor", The writer was left with the impression that here was a man who wes willing to make concessions es far as price was concerned far two reasons. ‘These were a sincere desire to26 help the client, end also to make a little money off e sale, since that wes beter than not any sale. Case III Practitioner C, was visited by the writer in the company of a murse. ‘he subject, a victim of high blood pressure, had been confined in bed tor # number of months, The home in which she end her children lived was located in the same gen- eral area of Cases I end II, It was well furnished and did not have the appearance of a slum dwelling thot was characteristic of many of the houses in thet district, The writer did notice, however, two peculiarities about the place. Horseshoes were nailed above every doorsay in the house, on either side of it, ang there was also an unmistakable odor of sulphur about the place. While not revecling any of her secrets, this woman talked emiably and freely about her work, citing case after case in which she had been successful. ‘The medicines which she uses ave prepared by her. She purchases the herbs from a 'root man! who brings then to her door every week. She told the writer that many people ere suffering from conditions caused vy snakes, frogs, and other small reptiles that get into the body. She described a swelling of the throat (which physi- cians would probably diagnose as a goiter) as being caused by a collection of smell reptiles at this point, Through her special treatment the patient would either vomit the reptiles,27 or pass them out of the body through the intestine] tract. 1 The physical ailments of her clients do not take up near- ly so much time as do other phases of her work, She advises people on ell sorts of troubles, Her power to do this does not spring from any particular inner capability, but from the ‘Jack! whieh she owns, One of tne pertioular powers of this instrument is that of disim tion, It will answer eny question put to it by swinging in one direction to indicate a positive answer, and in the opposite direction to indicate a negative reply. ‘This however, is not the 'jack's' only claim to fame. Its owner has used it successfully in cases which involve ex- tricating her clients from the hands of the lew. In these cases the instrument was used for its powers as a charm rather than for any sort of divinstion, iterital problems, imprisonment, femily problems, and love entenglements are her specialties. With her medicine is Puckett describes a number of such cases, Kot only is it possible for ‘hoodoo doctor', according to him, to introduce snekes and other smell reptiles'into the body, but there are also certain methods for removing them. He found thet "tea made from Snake root, end Silk root, a tincture made by soak- ing Way-Apple root and Snekeroot in whiskey; or else a tea made from "Red-shanks" roots have all been prescribed for use in removing reptiles. Puckett, op. cit., p. 249 ff. 2 "While the tenn ' jack! is commonly used by Negroes to mean 'trick'or ‘hand', strictly spesking it is & piece of loaded cane or some object of @ similar sort which is used for devination.” Puckett, op. cit., p. 279.28 case IV Practitioner D. now lives in the part of Atlanta known as "Hunter ‘lilis". He had moved from the Southeastern section of the city three years previously. From the outside the frame house looked as respectable as its neighbors on the inside it looked emazingly like the slun houses in the Pittsburgh area. Dr. D, is an old man, At one time in his life he must have been singularly handsome, Wow his eppearance is almost diabolic. Thick white eyebrows slant upward from the inner corners of his eyes. The eyes themselves are very dark and bright. A very thin white mustache, drooped Chinese fashion over the corners of his mouth, ané@ 4 scraggly beard adorned his chin, All of his upper teeth save two, were missing. These were the canine molars which had the appearance of be- ing very long, almost fang-like. The writer and her companion were ushered into a tiny cubicle that served as office. It was Girty and crowded. ‘The practitioner was seemingly unaware of this, He talked easily and freely about certein aspects of his business. If his appearance was evil, perhaps it was only a re- flection of his work, He spoke of instnces where he was re- sponsible for the enemy of some client losing his mind. He hinted darkly that he had had same part in the deaths of at least three people. He bragged about & "machine" which he had, with which he could stand out on his back porch and "work" anyone any where in the United States. He was no novice29 et the practice. iis a student he haé spent five years learn- ing the "black art", At the end of that time he was gradueted in e ceremony which involved his getting for himself a "black cat bone", one of the strongest and most evil of the voodoo chamms. In order to get this bone, he hed to throw a live black cat into a pot of boiling water. After the flesh was boiled off the bones it was necessary to pass exch of them through his mouth until he found one ths" had « bitter taste, Possession of this bone is one of the mein sources of his power. His magic working herbs are secured through "the old nen", bis former teacher. His power had brought to him both fame end fortune in & smell wey. He has clients ell over the country. ‘his neces- sitates his hiring a secretery to keep up with the correspond- ence, As a result of his gectice he has been able to buy a layge amount of property in Atlenta and in one or to other southern cities, Case V Practitioner EB, is 2 women, who from her eppeerance might have been one of the creetions of Al Cepp for his "Lil Abner" comic strip. Her costume was bizarre. It consisted of a short, tight, cocoa colored wrap arouné skirt, a sleeve- less, black blouse with a deep V neck, sneakers pulled over her very large feet end silk stockings dragging listlessly about her ankles. The waren herself was tail, being at least six feet in height. She hed lovely brown skin, dark sloe eyes,30 and might under other circumstences have been an attractive woman . As she stood by a cluttered table, in a shed-like kitch- en, her hand rested on @ rock that had been painted silver. Within three minutes after she had summoned the writer into her kitchen-consultstion room she hed demonstrated that she was definitely apsychopsthic case en should have been in an institution, B, believes that she is e member of the white vace, Presently she is smong the Negroes as @ loan from God to "lift the niggers up". Spicing her irrationel dissertation on her mission vith much invective hurled e+ Negroes she in- formed her audience that she was the wisest women in the world; that she had stopped the war and was currently trying to “win the duration." Her method of aiding her clients, physically or mentally, was not through herbs, but through the rocks wrich were scat- tered ell over the porch and livirg room of the house. She was alsosubject to trances brought on by playing end singing. There were st least six clients in the house, el] of then women. Some of them had come to get "the numbers" (one of E's specialties). One hed come to get help for her son who was ebout to be sentenced to a chain gang. E's mental abnor- mality seemed to heighten her popularity xether then detract from it,31 One of the most striking conclusions to be drawn from the case studies is the fect that the cheracter of the root- doctor's practice seems to be changing under the pressures of urban life, particularly in the cirection away from the medi- cal and toward the magical.CHAPTER III SOME SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF ZHE PRACTICE OF ‘HE ROO? DOCTOR ‘The magical practices of the urban root doctor eppear to be on the ascent rather than on the decline, Here is indeed @ paradox--where the ways of the city argravate rether than erase the more primitive aspects of a perticular class of people. Park suggests that magic my be regerded as cheracter- istic of, but not necesserily confined to the primitive or so- called pre-literate man. He also suggests that primitive thought and primitive mentality may perhaps be essociated with @ gefinite economic organization of sour Since human beings are disposed to think in magical terms in those areas of their experience thet have not been rational- ized, and where their control is uncertain and uncomplete™ at is not surprising tha’ a group of people, recently rural, faced with new psychological and emotional experiences which they do not fully understend, should rely on the magic of the root doc- tor in these situations. "one can think of magical practices among the Negroes as legging cultural patterns, which they are, but one can e1so think of them as foms of ection in reference to current 1 Robert BE. Park and Ernest W. Burgess, The City, (Chicago, 1926), p. 128. 7 . 2 Ibid. 3233 social life. Fagic accepts the status quo; it takes the place of political activity, agitation, organization, soli- derxity, or any real move to change status. It is interesting and harmless from the stendpoint of the caste system, end it probably has great private value to those who prectice it. These psychological satisfactions are important, even if they ao not alter the sooiul structure and ure mere substitutes for effective efforts to alter it.... Nagic, in brief, is « control gesture, a comfort to the individual, en accomodation attitude to helplessness." This interpretation is correct insofar as it is epplied to the practitioners, A number of the root doctors inter- viewed indicated through their com ersations that some sort of personal frustration in individuals transplented from a rural environment to one of social semi-isolation in an urban comunity was responsible for their present occupational roles. Frustrated because of some sexual factor, because of ‘color complexes! or lack of education, these individusls hea turned to magic and the magical ones to provide compensation for their needs, It is doubtful, however, thit the ‘spiritualist’ or the root doctor would like to see any real change in the social status of the groups with which they deal. They are no doubt, quite conscious of the fact thet such a change would deprive 1 Herskovits, op. oit., p. 235, citing John Dollard, Caste and Glass in a Southema Town, 262,34 them of their main source of income, We are not to conclude from this, however, the! the practice of the herbalist is static or unelastic, Perhaps the most striking indication of this impact of urbanism and the high powered commercial era of which we ere a pert, is the adaption to commercialization that has taken plece within this field of "social" ministering. Daring the days of slevery, and before America entered into the present highly commercialized er:, root doctors per- force had to gather their own herbs, or get then directly from @ "root man" who selected then from their natural hebitat. Today, much of this business is handled by commercial estab- lishnents through both retail stores and mail order houses. There are at least three stores which handle herbs in the city of Atlant::. ‘Two of these also handle the commercial pow- ders, incense, cendles, and certain amulets used by spiritue alists and "conjure doctors", Each of these is owned and op- erated by whites, while the third is operated by one of the Ne- gro practitioners. The magical ofls and powders which were formerly manu- factured by the individvels who used them and which in meny instances required specie] ritual in the manufacture are now available in mass quantities through companies set up for their production. The Ar-Jax products company, located in Chicego, Illi- nois, offers the following spiritual anointing oils: Com- pelling, Concentration, Exodus, Doves Blood, Cleopathre, Com- manding, Black Art, Chinese, Altar, Attraction, Bat's Blood,35 Bible, Pive Circle, High John the Conquerer, Lovers, Lucky Planet, Finance, Magnet, Holy Bath, Ten Commandment, Hindu Grass, King Solomon, Power, Lady Luck, Rose of Crucifixion, 7th Heaven, and Spirit. Other oils which they advertise ere Van Yon, Piery Wall of Protection, Money Drawing, Jinx Re~ moving, Fire of Love, Courege, Unerossing, Past Luck, Domin- ion, Crown of Success, and Double Cross, The catelogue of the Ar-Jex company carries the following statement about its pro- duet: "Untold numbers of people the world over believe in the use of Sachet ponders in occulism, spiritualism snd the allied Phychic (sic) sciences, Some people use Sachet Powders as a rubbing powder, 2 baby powder, others use Sachet Powders in little secks and cerry them on their person, Some ocoult- ists place Sachet Powders around their homes, others place them in the furniture, Regardless of how you use Sachet Pow- ders you will find that Ar-Jax Brand Sachet powders are indeed finer." These powders bear names that are similar to those of the oils. Although the root doctor is a product of the South, it is likely that if he purchases his herbs or conjure materials from & store or wholesale house, that company will be located above the Mason-Dixon line. One of the largest wholesale herb companies, the Indiana Botanical Garden, is located in Hammond, 1 Hurston says that Van Van is oil of Lemon Grass in Vanil- la, used for luck and power of 21l kinds, This is the most popular conjure drug in Louisiana. Hurston, Mules and Men, (Philadelphia, 1935).36 Indiana. Patent and proprietary medicines have tended, in recent years, to encroach more end more upon the confines of the prac- tice of the root doctor, The Atlanta practitioners operate under a Gity Business License, which entitles then to sell their medicines. However, they have made very little effort to sell their products through other chennels than that of their practice. While there are a number of large companies which manu- facture a variety of patent medicines there ere a great many smaller ones which w oduce only one or two nostrums. This is partially due to the fact that e physicien or some individual who les hed much success witha particular prescription will begin to menufacture it for commercial purposes. There are several companies of this type in Atlanta. According to phamacists interviewed on the subject, those nostrums which bear the most descriptive or compelling names are the uost popular with customers who belong to the lowest income groups, Host of the most popular patent medi- cines contain Botanicals. The usual formula contains three parts Active drugs, one part Aromatic drugs, one part Demul- cent and one part Lexative. Some of the herbs contained in such patent medicines as "Swamp Root", a diuretic; "Black i Gamache, op. cit., p. 130.37 Draught", e popular cathartic; "$.S.5.", @ tonic, end others axe Buchu leaves, Peppermint Herb, Rhubarb Root, lendreke, Golden Seel Root, Sassafras, Senna, -nise, Swamp Sumac, Poke Root, Lobelia, Squill, Blood Root and the like. The Negro newspapers play a mejor role in the sdvertise- ment of these ya tent medicines, as well as in the edvertise- ment ¢ “lucky goods", both of wrich axe used by herb practi- tioners, One has only to look through any of the moze widely imown publications such as the "Pittsburgh Courier" or tne "Afro-american", to note thet the bulk of thes dvertisemant is divided between beauty preparations, patent medicines, and "lucky goods". The most widely advertised types of medicines are diuretics, tonics, cathartics and toures! for arthritis and rheumatic pains. Since advertisement is the most important factor in sell- ing patent medicines the therepeutic practises of the root doc- tor may be doomed unless he too, begins to advertise. However, in such advertising lurks the danger of the practitioner run- ning afoul of certain legel controls. At a time when scientific cures for venereal diseases were still in the experimental stage and not generally evail- able many root doctors “ere diagnosing and selling cures for both syphilis and gonorrhea. A study made in Chicago in 1930 revesled that herbalists were diagnosing gonorrhea or syphilis by "pressing on the patients palms, by looking into his eyes, or by getting date end place of his birth," They would38 presoribe medicines guaranteed to cure and which ranged in price from fifty cents to seventy-five dollars, depending usu ally on how much the victim could oat In Atlante this harmful practise has been ell out elimi- nated through the efforts & the Health Department. Excellent clinics which give free treatment for venereal disease have been establisned. According to one of the nurses at the West Side Clinic, cases coming to the clinic in which the patient has sought aid from a root doctor are now very rare. A few years ago @ number of tuberculosis patients under the care of the Atlmta Health Depertment died as & result of listening to root doctors who advised them tat they were not suffering from tuberoulosis but from ailments resulting from their having oeen 'fixed' by some enemy. The "root woxker" then undertook to remove the spell through his magic. Correct medical treatment was neglected and the patient died as a re- sult. ‘There have been no cases of this neture during recent dass tl while many individuals seek medical aid from the practi- tioners, the majority seek another kind of help. These peopl 40 not patronize the root doctors because they accept the status quo which society has outlined for them, or because it takes the place of "political activity, agitation, orgenization, HE Semuel li, Auerbach, "Herbalists and other Charlatans", Journal of Social Hygiene, Vol. 17, 1931, p. 270. 2 Prom an interview with Public Health Nurse informant.39 solidarity or any real move to chenge status," but because of some trouble or frustration which hes purely personal implica- tions. Frequently they seek advice regarding maritel affairs, especielly with reference to situetions in which a third per- son is involved, It is the business of the root doctor through his knowledge of magic to eliminate this competition. There are others who have enemies, and, since they cannot get vid of them by any means sanctioned by society, they resort to the "conjure doctor" to remove this source af contention ‘through his magical powers. Almost the whole of th practices of the Atlanta root doctors are related to the life of a partiouler economic stra- tum, the lower income groups, of society and the physical and psychological environment which this segment of the popula- tion occupies. Because they are administering to certain physical and psychological needs of these poorer classes of people, it is these sections in which they are found. With one or two exceptions they are in dress, speech, and the types of places in which they live, indistinguishable from the rest of the membes of the milieu in which they operate. It is not possible to say that the root doctor is either good or bad for society, While it is true that he may often be 4 menace to the physical and social heslth of his communi- ty through lack of scientific knowledge, unsanitary practices 8 Herskovits, loc. cit.40 and his fostering of health superstitions, his major influence has been greatly negated by the establishment of sound and wide public health programs. As more people learn of the A'BIG's of Public Health edwation, the root doctor's role as a medical practitioner will decline, On the other hand, the role thet the root and herb doc~ tor plays in administering to the psychological needs of his clients remains important, His methods are, for the most part, neither scientific nor desirable, but even so he is sup- plying a need which no other agent is meeting. It would, per= haps, be possible to almost completely eliminate this type of practitioner from society through legislation, closer super- vision of health laws already in existence and sociel pressure, especially on the part of the churches located in the same areas. This method, however, would be treating one of the symp- tons rather than the disease. The problems, superstitions, and frustrations of the people who make up the clientele of the root doctor, would in no way be alleviated. It is con- ceivable that they might find even more undesireable outlets than the ones now furnished by the root and herb doctors. The root (and no pun is intended) problem is one of creating @ wide, functional literacy in our urban populations. No quack, charlatan or "medicine man" can adequately survive in such an environment. However, even if present conditions are not eltered, the root doctor may well come to be an interest- ing historical character within a gereration, While a number41 of the older practitioners have died within the past few years, they are apparently not being replaced by younger people. All of the practitioners interviewed for this study were middle aged and older persons. @he process of elimination of this element could be hur- ried if certain steps were taken. Wider and better educational facilities for Negroes would eliminate much superstition and ignorance concerning health and hygiene. Not only could the facilities for children of school age be improved, but an adult educstion program design- ed specifically to meet the needs of the members of the lower economic brackets could well serve its purpose. In addition, counseling programs which would specialize in femily and personal problems might be established. ‘This program too, should be geared to the need of our lower econom- ic, semi-isolated urban groups. Since women form the majority of the clientele of the root doctors, it might be possible toorganize women's groups to provide @ social outlet for some of their frustrations, They could ve encouraged to discuss matters of health and hygiene, marriage ané family problems as part of the program of these clubs. Ministers could do a great dee] since many of them wield an autocratic influence over their congregations. Sermons de- livered from the stendpoint of sociel education rather than for merely emotional reasons could do a great deal of good if42 properly handled. they might also establish counseling serv- ices for the memvers of their congregetions. The basic problem involved in this study, however, is & societal one, What orectes the sociel type upon which the root doctor preys? One answer is found in the cheracter of the machine culture, The impact of machine technology on the urban individual ultimately leads to nis thinking in @ retion- al way, "In the city the externel conditions of existence are 80 evidently contrived to meet man's clearly recognized needs, that the least intellectural of peoples are inevitably led to think in deterministic and mechenistic terms."” the very char- acter of machinery, the use to which it is put and the techni- cal requirements for its operetion tend to force its users in- to rational modes of thought. On the other hand, the impact of the highly complex way of life tmt is characteristic of the city tends to lead to personality disintegration. This is especielly true of the rurel individual who moves to the city, where he is often psy- chologically unequipped to meet the problems which an urban way of life increases. The large majority of rural people who migrate to the city do so because the country no longer ade- quately supports them. In the city they become members of the lowest income group. The jobs which they fill require the least amount of technical skill, the least contact with modern 1 Park and Burgess, op. cit., p. 130.43 machinery, consequently their ways of thought are least af- fected by the impact of machine technology. This lag between the technical modern way of life and the simplicity of rural life creates » social void for many people. It is largely responsible for the root doctor's new role as a sort of confessor and privy counselor in the intimate and per- sonal affairs of his olients, It is in this role that he sur- vives in modern urban society. Until ways and institutions that will fill these needs in a sound, scientific manner, ways and institutions comparable to the already existing health services which are becoming increasingly available to the poorest people in the modern city, are developed the root doc- tor will remain as a social type. Weanwhile, the inexorable laws of social survival will compel him and his clients to a= dopt the survival tactics herein revealed.BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Blanchan, Neltje. Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. New York Doubleday, Doran TSB Claremont, Lewis de. Legends of Incense, Herb and Oil Magic. New York: Totenes 1938s Duncen, Wilbur H. Guide to Georgie Trees, Athens: Univer- sity of Georgia Press, 1941. Gamache, Henri. The Magic of Herbs. New York: Power Thoughts ‘Publishing Coe Toaee Georgia Writers Project. Drums and Shadows. Athens: Univer- sity o& Georgie Press, 1940. Gist, Noel P, and Halbert, L. A. Urben Society. New York: ‘Thomas Crowell, 1937. Haggard, Howard W. Devils. 3 and Doctors. Garden City: Harper end ee Te ers, ° Harley, George Way. Wative african Medicine. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1041. Herskovits, Nelville J, ‘he Myth of the Negro Past. Mew York: uarper and Brote@se TSA Hurston, Zora Neale. Wules and Men. Philadelphia: J. B. Lip- pincott, 1935. Hurston, Zora Neale, Tell My Horse. Philadelphia: J. B. Lip- pincott, 1938. Levy~Bruhl, lucien. Primitives and the Supernatural. trans- aated by Lilian Ee Clave, Wen York? Ee, Dutton, 1935. Maddox, John Lee, The Making of the Medicine Nan, Wew York: Macmillan, 1923 Nationél Resources Committee. Mhe Problems of a Changing Popu~ gtion. Washington, D--C-7 0. S- Printing Oftee, 1938. Park, Robert B. and Burgess, Ernest W. ‘The City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, i 4445 Puckett, Newbell Niles. Folk Belief of the Southern Ne . 8: Chapel Hill: Univers rolina Press, 1926. Seabrook, /. B. The Magic Island. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1927. Young, Kimball. Social Psychology. (second ed.) New York: Crofts, 1945. Articles Auerbach, Samuel H. “Herbalists and Other Charlatans," Jour~ nal of Sociel Hygiene, Vol. XVII, 1931. Béwards, Wary $., @nd Kinsie, Paul Kk, "Illegal and Unethical Brectices of the liagnosis and Treatment of Syphi- lis and Gonorrhea," Journal of Social dene, Voi. XXVI, April, ggg EE OF Socks Hyetens Phillips, R. B. “Sure-Cure Racket. es Hygeia Vol. XIX, pp. ist-9, March, 1941. Unpublished Material Haynes, Laroy Howard Milton. “The Beological Distribution of Negro Population in Atlanta 1939." Unpublished Master's Thesis, Atlanta University, June 1940.