Reading Into It: 19th Century Resources

I found Տանու Բճիշկ (Home Doctor) in late October at the Boston Antiquarian Book Fair. Alternatively titled Հասարական Բճշկարան (Common Clinic) this book on Armenian folk and herbal medicine was written by Garabed Kochariants and published in 1863 in Tbilisi.

Without the desire to be melodramatic, the Prudential center was the last place I thought I would find something so invaluable to me and by extension, to armmad.

I wanted to give a brief overview of some of the contents of the book and upcoming sections I plan to translate that will feed into several blog posts.

Split into 4 main parts, the book covers General Pathology of Illnesses, Internal Illnesses (with subsections on Women’s health and Children’s health), External Illnesses and Remedies/Medicinal Treatment. Within the index of internal illnesses there is reference to a wide array of diseases; scurvy, measles, smallpox, scarlet fever that I won’t write too much about. I will be focusing on the remedies prescribed for throat pain, stomach pain, nausea and fever. Additionally, the remedies and knowledge shared on menstruation and postpartum care as well as for superficial wounds, nosebleeds, ear pains and rosacea.

Searching for specific plants from the book’s herbal index led me to find a digital scan of a 19th century Armenian journal entitled Կռունկ (Crane) written in 1861, linked here that includes two sections on Հասարական Բճշկականութիւն (Common Medicine). One of these sections focuses primarily on water as healing and destructive agent. The other introduces the topic of “Pantry Medicine”- how household and kitchen ingredients can serve as cures when traditional pharmacies or medicines are scarce. Blog posts on the use of sugar, vinegar, flour, oil, soap, milk, lard are forthcoming.