Letter 1841

[fol. 45] Worthy Sr. ever Since I had the Happiness to Read your first Volume (the Second I Never did See) I could not be contented without makeing you some Acknowlodgment of the great Benefit I have Received thereby and I think the Whole Island ought unanimously Joyne in their Thanks to you; for the great Pains, Industry and labor in Compileing soo usefull a work. Butt such is the ungratefulness of some men (and those that the Rest have an Eye or Regard too) because they are not Consulted with, or had not a hand in itt; under Values and exploads that. that they scarse gave themselves time seriously to Read or unprejudice to Consider some of these men who ar [sic] thought by the Rest to honore. Capable of Reading and Judging; belive what ever they say; soo that a book is oftimes Condemned in Generall before ever it is Particularly Read or Considered; Such misfortune your Laboring and usefull History hath mett with Here; for you shall not meet with one in Tenn that Spekes slightly of it that ever Read itt. Some are Dissatisfyed with putting names in your Observation of Diseases others that the Practis is very mean and Plaine (I am sure it is safe) Butt the main Objection is; that you have writt the Names and their severall kindes of Plants in Latin wch very few understands in this Island. Altho you have Described their groath in English yet they are to look for a Name, they also wish you had been larger in the virtues of them. To Rendir these if their were an Abstract writt of the Nature and as Plaine as Culpepers English Physitian and Referr them to the figure of the Plant: I Belive every Planter would have one of them in his House: I hope youl Pardon my great Presumption in offering to Prescribe Rules or Method to soo Learned and eminent a Person. My zeal and Sincear affection to soo usefull and Laborius work makes me I Cannot forbare Spakeing or writeing with sincerity what may be of use and service to have the book more [?]: wch att present seem to be slighted Here and if anything in my mean Capacity may be usefull I shall be ready to Communicate it with all Integrit: I have for these many years made it my Indevors to finde out the specific qualityes of Plants wch is no small Task: and oftimes meet with Disapointments Through the fond Opinion and Credulity of some Persons: some will have the Corlex Peru to grow here, butt I Cannot meet with any that Certainly Know it when growing: Just after the Flagration on Port Royall where great quantitys of the bark was very [?] scarse any to be gott and that at an excessive price Other as well as myself made use of a Bullie [?] Free Bark wch answeard in intermitting Fevers butt in greater quantity: Here is a bark lately made known to our Traders by a Bishop Upon the Maine wch is famd and great esteem with the Peple for gravell stone or stoppage of Urine I often given it with good success it make a Pleasant Drink like New wort[?]; and it is Observd that is rare to find a Tree farr from Spanish Town and scarse a Tree of any bigness but what is bark; I am Informd that the lords [?] sends great quantityes off the Island: butt This Bark is farr short of a Plant wch in yr History is Called Montastrunk Maximum, flore CarabooNard Odore [?]; as I have had great and Certain experience off where there hath been a Total privation of Urine fainting sweats and Nothing butt Death expected: it give immediate relief and brought away in some an incredeable quantity of small stones and Gravell in some Slimy Thick Urine I Could write a small Treatise of examples; This particular quality or Virtue of the Plant is not Knowne to any at present butt myself to whome they apply too here is a bark whose Virtues are not much known Nothing Can Compare to it for Bitterness a small handful of the shavings of the wood will see Bitter severall Gallons of Water Altho butt just Dip and taken out Againe that [?] wormwood Can exceed; the Herb that Cured Capt: Pickerings Eye when it was to all appearance thrast out of its place with a stick is wonderfully esteemd with the Planters a Negro onely putt in some of the Juice of the Herb and Laid some of the Bruisd Herb over all the Eye and it Healed it to great admiration The Hogg Gum as its Called is more in use then ever taken while fresh and New from the spurs of the Tree with a little sugar and water passes Through in the most Violent Belly ach it also hath great effect Dissolved in a Emollions Clyster and farr exceeds the belly ach weed when it is Old it will be very [fol. 46] very hard Melt it with a little hoggs fatt, Beed was [?] and a little birth wort Root in Powder makes a Balsam that will Cleanse the most foulest Ulcer a Negro Can have fill it with flesh and skinn off boy and anything that I can you meet with; The Gum Guaiacum Carefully administred Cures the Dropsie as I have lately had the experience in Three Desparate Cases The good Opinion of our hot Baths (to windward, increases Daily and great Cures are done by Drinking of itt more than by Bathing and were it not soo Difficult to combat it would be much more frequented I wonder it Never was Essayed Uppon a Minerall water as St Faiths in St Johns Parish, found it Impregnated with an Antimonial Sulphur and Vitrioloick salt it hath Relived severall Dropsicall Persons, and indeed where that water is according to my Judgment and by the Syptoms that Albaso Alonso Barta gives of mines it Must be very Rich one I Dugg into is about 3 or 4 feet and found about eleven Vainss Running North and South under a River and under a great mountaine the Lower I wonder the more solid the Oars by Less Shining and of the Nigrilla Tribe as the Spaniards Calls them out of 16 ounces of the Blackest [?] well washed and Ground I Could gett 4 ounces of Blaught [?] Regulus every wayes like to Regulus of Antimony 8 grains wrought uppwards and Downwards with a Negro bringing away many large worms: I had proceeded further in my search Had I not been prevented by Malicious Persons who Neither doo good themselves nor Lett anybody else have the Creditt; I Essayed a hott bath at the Round Hill as it is Calld butt not Much hotter then Blood I Could extract 1 ounce of square and graind salt out of 20 ounces of Water I Could not perceive any Sulphur or Nitras [?] as was Generally Thought nor att present accoundt for its Warmthl Here is late by found great and Certaine Virtues in a Plant Called the blood flower (and by some falslet Called Spocacranha[?]) and is the poysione erectum folio oblonga [?] flora umbellate, notatis soccinaris reflexis in your History of Jamaica, the Leafs outwardly Applied give Immediat relief in the Gout Drawing Violent by a Water out [?] the part The flowers stopp Bleeding att eh Nose Altho butt Smelt [?] too. And a Decoction of the whole Herb Cures fluxes and Gonarrhea [sic] as a Patient of myne lately experienced and after a Long while takeing of Balsamicks and Resringents [?] to noo purpose this Herb Cured him in 2 or 3 times takeing it was Discovered by a Negro. The Negroes have mad use of the Poppanax Root as it is Called here to Poyson their slaves as some hath Confessed when Suffering Death, and they say a large Wilde Bean that growes in the woods Will expel the Poyson I have been shown it and take it to be the Phascolus Maximus, Siligua ensiforme nervis insignita es semine Albige [?] in your History Plant wch I think you have not taken notice of and of the Tribe of Ferns or Capillary Plants; it hath a small Purple flower round the edges of the Leaf and after comes a large seed in shape tho not soo large as Hemp; wee have the Tarantula with Eyes on the back of the head as Baglivi spakes off butt not soo large nor venomous they are very black and Shining like Japan and have have a read spott Uppon the streech [?] About as bigg as a Pinn head; I have been Called to 2 Persons that have been bitt with them and a Negro manl the Other a White boy boath in Violent Pains in all their Joynts and sometimes Delirious the Negro quickly Recoverd butt Complained of a Cold and Numbness and is to this day Troubled with them once a yearl I had a small ruff stone like Iron stone seem to be broak of from a much larger wch would attract Iron as powerfull as any Load Stone that ever I sat in proportion it was brought from or Near Palmers Hutt in 16 Mile walk from whence they have brought me very large stones full of Iron where they say there is a Mountain off itt These are onely some Hints I give you wch if of any Service to you I Can inlarge Uppon them; and many Other things; butt I am afraide I have been so bold and Troublesome wch is admits of Pardon I shall always myself your most Devoted and faothfull Servant to Comm Henry Barham From my House in St Iago dela Vega May 10th 1712