) ( ( ) Good Morning Family! ( \ .-.,--^--. ( Come on in. . . \* ) \\|`----'| - The coffee pot's on. . . .=|=. \| |// ...and we even have decaf, |~'~| | |/ tea, and hot chocolate! | | \ / _|___|_ ------ (_______) Today's topics include: 1. Welcome to new cousins 2. WHOPBOF site fight 3. bowercommunity.com business 4. Those were the days: medicine 5. Did you know ...? TO OUR NEWEST COUSINS ~~ On behalf of the entire family, I'd like to extend a most hearty welcome to those cousins who came into the family fold this past week. We are very glad to have you with us and hope you'll stay and remain a part of our online family. As soon as you're comfortable with us and the list, please send in your Bower[s]/Bauer or Baur lines so we can all see how we're related to you. We do not have a fancy format for sending in records or queries to the list. Post as many as you wish! If the data has anything to do with Bower[s]/Bauer or Baur ancestors or any of the 81+ variant spellings we research that might help someone, please feel free to post it. Every scrap of information is appreciated. If you haven't visited the homesite of this list yet, you are encouraged to do so. Our home is Bower Community, located at <http://bowercommunity.com>. There, we currently have two sites: The Bower Family Homestead [a.k.a., the Homestead] is our primary homesite and the gathering place for much of our information. It waits to join us all in welcoming you into the family at <http://bowercommunity.com/homestead>. Smaller is our sister site, the Bower Cottage, which houses most of our projects including an online GEDCOM fed by cousins from our research groups. Find the Cottage is at <http://bowercommunity.com/cottage>. WHOPBOF SITE FIGHT Of the numbers of you who wrote in (73, to be exact) only one person didn't believe we should participate in this final round. Since we're a democracy here, :) ... we'll be going into "battle" one more time. As before, I'll keep you updated as to anything new developments that get passed on to me. Since it's going to be another close-to-Christmas round, I'd like to go ahead and use the same display we used last year ~ unless someone else has another idea. I still need to know if anyone knows what I need to do to lay in an HTML hyperlink over an applet. If you happen to have that knowledge, please contact me. BOWERCOMMUNITY.COM BUSINESS Our domain renewal came due yesterday. Our domain ISP has come up with a new deal whereby if I paid an additional $35, we could get 300 megs more of space, for a total of 500 megs. We haven't hit the 200-meg mark yet, but I took the deal simply because I knew we'd use the space in the future. Here's the final bill total: $70 domain renewal with the 300 additional megs $10 extension renewal for .org $10 extension renewal for .net I still had $35 left over from when we started our homesite. So, I used that. We have a $100 credit from having the banner clicked on on the bowercommunity.com front page and a new subscription begun. However, before we can receive that credit, two more people have to click on the banner and start new subscriptions with our ISP. So, if you have friends who are thinking of beginning their own domains, please direct them to our banner. The point of all this is ~ we're good for another year. :) **For our new cousins who joined us since last October: you don't know this because it isn't in the welcome letter. Our homesite, Bower Community, is one that the family voted on to acquire because of problems we'd been having simply trying to access our data from free Web hosts (specifically GeoCities and Crosswinds). The family voted on our name; I had nothing to do with that. Cousins donated funds for us to get this site started. Because our home is a family project, I brought this annual report back to everyone. You should also know that I will NEVER move our home without discussion from the family. Our site has everyone's material and I don't consider it mine to just up and move it anywhere without your knowing about it first. We are, after all, a family ... and we work together as one. THOSE WERE THE DAYS: MEDICINE Before modern medicine ~ those days before antiseptics, anesthesia, and antibiotics, it just wasn't a safe time to live in this world and get sick or be injured. A doctor's education was informal. Most were literate, but some were not. A man who wished to practice medicine didn't need any type of certification. Most had a period of apprenticeship with an established physician, but even this was not a requirement. Physicians in the 18th century had no knowledge of bacteria, germs, or viruses. They had no idea that disease was caused by the spread of bacteria. The result meant the medical profession did not practice the process of sterilization. Theories of medicine at the time were based on the notion that disease was caused by an imbalance in bodily "humors," or fluids. To treat an illness, you either added fluids, or drained them away. Contained in a doctor's little black bag were implements designed to purge, sweat and bleed infected fluids from the body. There were emetics and diuretics, scalpels and leeches. Steaming hot poultices were used to intentionally create infections on scaled skin. The drainy pus that flowed afterward was thought to ooze beneficially. In the 1830's health care included a variety of options, from home nursing and herbal remedies to bleeding and dosing, hydrotherapy, and treatments with static electricity. In addition, purgings and high doses of toxic drugs like calomel constituted treatment for nearly every condition. Bleedings were accomplished using a surgical lancet and a bleeding bowl - usually a little pewter porringer - that was marked off inside with the number of ounces. Since physicians at that time had more in common with a medieval barber than a modern doctor, they were often consulted only after numerous home remedies had been tried. An experienced mother or grandmother could judge a fever or inspect a whitened tongue or bloodshot eye as well as any physician. When the doctor was called upon, he went to the patient's home and prescribed treatment that would be administered there. Families were expected to provide medical care in every sort of ailment from acute fevers to chronic ills such as cancer, tuberculosis, and "dropsy" (a swelling of tissues often caused by kidney or heart disease). Surgery was a last resort because it was often fatal and was always painful. In the 19th century, opiates were used to alleviate pain and quinine was known to be an effective treatment for malaria. However, since surgery was done with no regard for cleanliness, infections like septicemia or gangrene were common. Families called upon a well-understood repertoire of recipes and knowledge, much of it incorporating and preserving a centuries-old tradition of oftentimes botanic, information. Much of this lore was passed on in the form of oral tradition or carefully preserved books of manuscript "receipts" ~ formulas for everything from curing rheumatism and how to dress when tending to the ill (the rustling noise of silk dresses would not do!) to tanning leather and making soap. It is just ten of these "receipts" that I bring you today: For a Stitch in the Side: Rub the part affected with unsalted butter and make the sign of the cross seven times over the place. For Weak Eyes: A deconcoction of the flowers of daisies boiled down is an excellent wash to be used constantly. For Water on the Brain: Cover the head well with wool then place oil skin over and the water will be drawn up out of the head. When the wool is quite saturated the brain will be free and the patient cured. For Consumption (consumption of the 1700's refers to tuberculosis, but in colonial America it encompassed both lung cancer and tuberculosis): Every morning cut up a little turf of fresh earth, and lying down, breath into the hole for a quarter of an hour. For the Mumps: Wrap the child in a blanket,take it to the pigsty, rub the child's head to the back of a pig. The mumps will pass from the child to the animal. For an Earache: The smoke of tobacco blown into the ear is excellent. For a Stye on the Eyelid: Point a gooseberry thorn at it nine times saying "away away away!" The stye will vanish presently and disappear. To Cure Warts: On meeting a funeral, take some of the clay from under the feet of the men who bear the coffin and apply it to the wart, wishing strongly at the same time that it may disappear and so it will be. For the Bite of a Mad Dog, for either Man or Beast: Take six ounces of Rue clean picked and bruised, four ounces of garlick peeled and bruised, four ounces of Venice treacle, and four ounces of filed pewter, or scraped tin. Boil these in two wuarts of the best ale, in a pan covered close over a gentle fire, for the space of an hour, then strain the ingredients from the liquor. Give eight or nine spoonfuls of it warm to a man or a woman, three mornings fasting. Eight or nine spoonfuls is sufficient for the strongest; a lesser quantity to those younger, or of a weaker constitution, as you may judge of their strength. Ten or twelve spoonfuls for a horse, or a bullock; three, four, or five to a sheet, hog, or dog. This must be given within nine days after the bite; it seldom fails in man or beast. If you can conveniently bind some of the ingredients on the wound, it will be so much the better. For Toothache: Carry in your pocket the two jaw bones of a haddock, for ever since the miracle of the loaves and fishes these bones are an infallible remedy against toothache and the older they are the better as nearer the time of the miracle. DID YOU KNOW ...? ... that a total of 80 ounces of blood had been drained from him in a 12-hour period? Actually, George Washington didn't die from the bloodletting at all, though you'd certainly have thought so after having 35% of his blood removed. Documentation from the time points to acute bacterial epiglottitis. This is an infection that causes throat tissue to swell to the point that the person chokes to death. ... that both Washington and Lincoln had smallpox during their lives? Washington caught it at about the age of 19 or 20, leaving his face pockmarked. Lincoln was incubating a case of the disease when he gave the Gettysburg Address in 1863. ... that the roughened skin of facial smallpox scars were a common sight in Revolutionary America? Artists tended to render these blemishes as rosier-than-normal cheeks in portraits of the time. It all makes one wonder just how any of us managed to be born! It also causes me to appreciate even more the hard times our ancestors had. We all know I haven't even scratched the surface of this subject here, but I believe I may have done enough to have given you the same feeling of appreciate and/or made you curious for more information on the subject. It's with this additional appreciation that I say ... Family ... it's what we're all about. I wish you all a week filled with health, productivity, fun, and above all ... filled with love and inner peace. ) ( ) _.-~~-. (@\'--'/. Colleen ('``.__.'`) `..____.'

Sure glad I didn't live 'back then' and have to get cured!!! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Colleen Pustola" <ladyaudris@earthlink.net> To: <BOWER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 9:47 AM Subject: [BOWER] SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE > > ) > ( ( > ) Good Morning Family! ( \ > .-.,--^--. ( Come on in. . . \* ) > \\|`----'| - The coffee pot's on. . . .=|=. > \| |// ...and we even have decaf, |~'~| > | |/ tea, and hot chocolate! | | > \ / _|___|_ > ------ (_______) > > > Today's topics include: > > 1. Welcome to new cousins > 2. WHOPBOF site fight > 3. bowercommunity.com business > 4. Those were the days: medicine > 5. Did you know ...? > > TO OUR NEWEST COUSINS ~~ > > On behalf of the entire family, I'd like to extend a most hearty welcome > to those cousins who came into the family fold this past week. We are > very glad to have you with us and hope you'll stay and remain a part of > our online family. As soon as you're comfortable with us and the list, > please send in your Bower[s]/Bauer or Baur lines so we can all see how > we're related to you. We do not have a fancy format for sending in > records or queries to the list. Post as many as you wish! If the data > has anything to do with Bower[s]/Bauer or Baur ancestors or any of the > 81+ variant spellings we research that might help someone, please feel > free to post it. Every scrap of information is appreciated. If you > haven't visited the homesite of this list yet, you are encouraged to do > so. Our home is Bower Community, located at > <http://bowercommunity.com>. There, we currently have two sites: > > The Bower Family Homestead [a.k.a., the Homestead] is our primary > homesite and the gathering place for much of our information. It waits > to join us all in welcoming you into the family at > <http://bowercommunity.com/homestead>. > > Smaller is our sister site, the Bower Cottage, which houses most of our > projects including an online GEDCOM fed by cousins from our research > groups. Find the Cottage is at <http://bowercommunity.com/cottage>. > > WHOPBOF SITE FIGHT > > Of the numbers of you who wrote in (73, to be exact) only one person > didn't believe we should participate in this final round. Since we're a > democracy here, :) ... we'll be going into "battle" one more time. As > before, I'll keep you updated as to anything new developments that get > passed on to me. > > Since it's going to be another close-to-Christmas round, I'd like to go > ahead and use the same display we used last year ~ unless someone else > has another idea. I still need to know if anyone knows what I need to > do to lay in an HTML hyperlink over an applet. If you happen to have > that knowledge, please contact me. > > BOWERCOMMUNITY.COM BUSINESS > > Our domain renewal came due yesterday. Our domain ISP has come up with > a new deal whereby if I paid an additional $35, we could get 300 megs > more of space, for a total of 500 megs. We haven't hit the 200-meg mark > yet, but I took the deal simply because I knew we'd use the space in the > future. > > Here's the final bill total: > > $70 domain renewal with the 300 additional megs > $10 extension renewal for .org > $10 extension renewal for .net > > I still had $35 left over from when we started our homesite. So, I used > that. We have a $100 credit from having the banner clicked on on the > bowercommunity.com front page and a new subscription begun. However, > before we can receive that credit, two more people have to click on the > banner and start new subscriptions with our ISP. So, if you have > friends who are thinking of beginning their own domains, please direct > them to our banner. > > The point of all this is ~ we're good for another year. :) > > **For our new cousins who joined us since last October: you don't know > this because it isn't in the welcome letter. Our homesite, Bower > Community, is one that the family voted on to acquire because of > problems we'd been having simply trying to access our data from free Web > hosts (specifically GeoCities and Crosswinds). The family voted on our > name; I had nothing to do with that. Cousins donated funds for us to > get this site started. Because our home is a family project, I brought > this annual report back to everyone. You should also know that I will > NEVER move our home without discussion from the family. Our site has > everyone's material and I don't consider it mine to just up and move it > anywhere without your knowing about it first. We are, after all, a > family ... and we work together as one. > > THOSE WERE THE DAYS: MEDICINE > > Before modern medicine ~ those days before antiseptics, anesthesia, and > antibiotics, it just wasn't a safe time to live in this world and get > sick or be injured. A doctor's education was informal. Most were > literate, but some were not. A man who wished to practice medicine > didn't need any type of certification. Most had a period of > apprenticeship with an established physician, but even this was not a > requirement. Physicians in the 18th century had no knowledge of > bacteria, germs, or viruses. They had no idea that disease was caused > by the spread of bacteria. The result meant the medical profession did > not practice the process of sterilization. Theories of medicine at the > time were based on the notion that disease was caused by an imbalance in > bodily "humors," or fluids. To treat an illness, you either added > fluids, or drained them away. Contained in a doctor's little black bag > were implements designed to purge, sweat and bleed infected fluids from > the body. There were emetics and diuretics, scalpels and leeches. > Steaming hot poultices were used to intentionally create infections on > scaled skin. The drainy pus that flowed afterward was thought to ooze > beneficially. In the 1830's health care included a variety of options, > from home nursing and herbal remedies to bleeding and dosing, > hydrotherapy, and treatments with static electricity. In addition, > purgings and high doses of toxic drugs like calomel constituted > treatment for nearly every condition. Bleedings were accomplished using > a surgical lancet and a bleeding bowl - usually a little pewter > porringer - that was marked off inside with the number of ounces. > > Since physicians at that time had more in common with a medieval barber > than a modern doctor, they were often consulted only after numerous home > remedies had been tried. An experienced mother or grandmother could > judge a fever or inspect a whitened tongue or bloodshot eye as well as > any physician. When the doctor was called upon, he went to the > patient's home and prescribed treatment that would be administered > there. Families were expected to provide medical care in every sort of > ailment from acute fevers to chronic ills such as cancer, tuberculosis, > and "dropsy" (a swelling of tissues often caused by kidney or heart > disease). > > Surgery was a last resort because it was often fatal and was always > painful. In the 19th century, opiates were used to alleviate pain and > quinine was known to be an effective treatment for malaria. However, > since surgery was done with no regard for cleanliness, infections like > septicemia or gangrene were common. > > Families called upon a well-understood repertoire of recipes and > knowledge, much of it incorporating and preserving a centuries-old > tradition of oftentimes botanic, information. Much of this lore was > passed on in the form of oral tradition or carefully preserved books of > manuscript "receipts" ~ formulas for everything from curing rheumatism > and how to dress when tending to the ill (the rustling noise of silk > dresses would not do!) to tanning leather and making soap. It is just > ten of these "receipts" that I bring you today: > > For a Stitch in the Side: Rub the part affected with unsalted butter and > make the sign of the cross seven times over the place. > > For Weak Eyes: A deconcoction of the flowers of daisies boiled down is > an excellent wash to be used constantly. > > For Water on the Brain: Cover the head well with wool then place oil > skin over and the water will be drawn up out of the head. When the wool > is quite saturated the brain will be free and the patient cured. > > For Consumption (consumption of the 1700's refers to tuberculosis, but > in colonial America it encompassed both lung cancer and tuberculosis): > Every morning cut up a little turf of fresh earth, and lying down, > breath into the hole for a quarter of an hour. > > For the Mumps: Wrap the child in a blanket,take it to the pigsty, rub > the child's head to the back of a pig. The mumps will pass from the > child to the animal. > > For an Earache: The smoke of tobacco blown into the ear is excellent. > > For a Stye on the Eyelid: Point a gooseberry thorn at it nine times > saying "away away away!" The stye will vanish presently and disappear. > > To Cure Warts: On meeting a funeral, take some of the clay from under > the feet of the men who bear the coffin and apply it to the wart, > wishing strongly at the same time that it may disappear and so it will > be. > > For the Bite of a Mad Dog, for either Man or Beast: Take six ounces of > Rue clean picked and bruised, four ounces of garlick peeled and bruised, > four ounces of Venice treacle, and four ounces of filed pewter, or > scraped tin. Boil these in two wuarts of the best ale, in a pan covered > close over a gentle fire, for the space of an hour, then strain the > ingredients from the liquor. Give eight or nine spoonfuls of it warm to > a man or a woman, three mornings fasting. Eight or nine spoonfuls is > sufficient for the strongest; a lesser quantity to those younger, or of > a weaker constitution, as you may judge of their strength. Ten or > twelve spoonfuls for a horse, or a bullock; three, four, or five to a > sheet, hog, or dog. This must be given within nine days after the bite; > it seldom fails in man or beast. If you can conveniently bind some of > the ingredients on the wound, it will be so much the better. > > For Toothache: Carry in your pocket the two jaw bones of a haddock, for > ever since the miracle of the loaves and fishes these bones are an > infallible remedy against toothache and the older they are the better as > nearer the time of the miracle. > > DID YOU KNOW ...? > > ... that a total of 80 ounces of blood had been drained from him in a > 12-hour period? Actually, George Washington didn't die from the > bloodletting at all, though you'd certainly have thought so after having > 35% of his blood removed. Documentation from the time points to acute > bacterial epiglottitis. This is an infection that causes throat tissue > to swell to the point that the person chokes to death. > > ... that both Washington and Lincoln had smallpox during their lives? > Washington caught it at about the age of 19 or 20, leaving his face > pockmarked. Lincoln was incubating a case of the disease when he gave > the Gettysburg Address in 1863. > > ... that the roughened skin of facial smallpox scars were a common sight > in Revolutionary America? Artists tended to render these blemishes as > rosier-than-normal cheeks in portraits of the time. > > It all makes one wonder just how any of us managed to be born! It also > causes me to appreciate even more the hard times our ancestors had. We > all know I haven't even scratched the surface of this subject here, but > I believe I may have done enough to have given you the same feeling of > appreciate and/or made you curious for more information on the subject. > > It's with this additional appreciation that I say ... > > Family ... it's what we're all about. > > I wish you all a week filled with health, productivity, fun, and above > all ... filled with love and inner peace. > > > ) > ( > ) > _.-~~-. > (@\'--'/. Colleen > ('``.__.'`) > `..____.' > > > ==== BOWER Mailing List ==== > To post messages to the Bower discussion list, send them to > BOWER-L@rootsweb.com > >