Letter 2845

Delacoste sends an excerpt from ‘the 2d Vol. of Labat’s nouveau voyage aux Isles Franc: de L’Amerique. Paris. 1722. pag: 50. etc.’ He hopes Sloane finds it interesting. It regards ‘What he [the author] calls, Pierre verte des Caraibes’, a group of people in the West Indies. The passage, in French, suggests they came from the Amazon River. They are like savages, poor, and in want of better lives. Labat describes the people in detail, including information on the methods they use to combat disease, one of which is a remedy for stones tested on ‘un Jeune Negre en 1700’. Some of the information was gathered in Martinique. Delacoste is amazed to read that Amerindians have methods of treating disease and thinks it is worth investigating: ‘If half of what this author affirms be true, You must know it, if any body.’ Some of the stories in the book sounded like sorcery to Delacoste, but since it was written by a priest there should be some truth in it. He would like Sloane’s opinion of the book. J. Delacoste was a physician. He practiced in Bath and Paris.