Many of these folk medical practices are older than 
scientific medicine. Some reflect a belief in magic. Seldom 
written down, this oral lore has been passed down from 
generation to generation from the time of the first settlements 
in this country. Some of these cures and remedies work because 
the items used have medicinal properties, as modern science has 
shown. Many have no known therapeutic value, but for those who 
believed in them the power of suggestion was enough.
   

The list of cures from "Acne" to "Whooping Cough" will bring to 
mind your grandparents' method for removing warts, stopping 
hiccups, or relieving the aches of rheumatism. 


Acne: Wash your face with a wet diaper (Jefferson 
County). Cuts and Wounds: Soak in coal oil and then tie 
up with a piece of fat bacon (Brazos County).
Whooping Cough:
Take a white weed and make a tea out of it and drink it (Bastrop
County).

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JOHN Q. ANDERSON taught folklore at Texas A&M University and 
at the University of Houston. A past president of the Texas Folklore
Society, he published more than fifty articles on folklore and on
American literature and humor.