Antall József – Buzinkay Géza szerk.: Népi gyógyítás Magyarországon / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 7-8. (Budapest, 1975)

Hoppál Mihály—Törő László: Népi gyógyítás Magyarországon (magyar és angol nyelven)

M. Hoppá —L. Törő: Ethnomedicine in Hungary 95 applied to aching ears children with eczema were washed with salter water, paticularly in East Hungary.

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8 The Hungarians in Moldovia believed that soaking in salt water cured rheumatic feet.

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9 Obviously primitive man observed the important preventive use of salt in food preservation: thus originated probably its application to medical practice. Its popular medical use is therefore characterized by the belief in its effectiveness in removing undesirable materials from the human body. Similarly, petroleum displays a case of borrowing a modern product, while its medical use follows the pattern of magical formulas. Petroleum was applied, even consumed, in Hungarian regions to cure all varieties of throat maladies. Another example is the use of gunpowder. Malignant pustules were cured with a mixture of garlic and gunpowder.

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0 Wouds, tooth-a

ehe and other ailments were also subject to medication with this „invention," generally in use since the early 19 th century. It can be said in general that all available materials, thought to be of benefit, were used in folk medicine. As Andor Oláh has said: "The pharmacy of the people is the whole world around us."

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l PEASANT HEALERS AND THEIR ACTIVITY In the peasant village of pre-modern times, the role of the physician was played by peasant healers. Each village had one or more such persons, possessing knowledge or experience in folk medicine. The designation of these persons used exclusively by peasant society clarifies the social and medical role they played in the community. In earlier centuries the term "néző" ("viewer") was customary, since the 19th century such terms as "tudó." (knowing") "látó," ("seer"), "javas" ("advisor") have been used.

1 These designations suggest that the village healer was consulted primarily in order to diagnose an illness. In addition, his counsel was requested in other areas of daily life, pertaining to questions of love, marriage and animal maladies.

2 The healer acquired his expertise in one of several ways. He may have inherited it through ancestors. Circumstances of birth sometimes desig3

8 Greszné 1943. 255., 1944. 10.; Oláh, 1956. 207. 3

9 Bosnyák, 1973. 294. 4

0 Cs. Pócs, 1964. 203. 4

1 Oláh, 1956. 209. 1 The substantial form of the word was first taken down relatively late in 1755. Cf. The historical ethymological dictionary of the Hungarian language. Budapest, 1970. II. 682. — The figure of the seer is treated in a separate paper by Ferenczy, 1959. There are data from the counties Tolna, Veszprém and Zemplén which refer to the seer as physician. — Schram, 1970. OO. 358. 2 In the ethnomedicinal literature several papers present the healers: Ébñer, 1931; Farkas, 1967; Földes, 1960; Gönyey, 1942; Oláh, 1937 and 1938; Szűcs, 1936, 1938, 1941.