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CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS MAY RESULT IN IMPRISONMENT OR A FINE OF UP TO $250,000, OR BOTH. ________________________________________________________ BOSON BOOKS -1- The War Against Epidemics Published by Boson Books 3905 Meadow Field Lane Raleigh, NC 27606 ISBN 1-886420-60-2 An imprint of C&M Online Media Inc. © Copyright 1999 Lawrence H. Feldman All rights reserved For information contact C&M Online Media Inc. 3905 Meadow Field Lane Raleigh, NC 27606 Tel: (919) 233-8164; Fax: (919) 233-8578; e-mail:[email protected] URL: http://www.bosonbooks.com/ BOSON BOOKS -2- The War Against Epidemics _____________________________________________ The War Against Epidemics in Colonial Guatemala 1519-1821 by Lawrence H. Feldman ______________________________________ BOSON BOOKS -3- The War Against Epidemics Contents PREFACE 8 The Stench of the Dead 13 Impact of the Epidemics 14-15 Colonial Government and Boundaries 15 Medical Practice in the Colony 21 Medical Education and Administration 22 Saints and Devils 23 Native drugs for the Healing of Measles and Smallpox 28 Inoculation 46-47 The Vaccination Crusade Against Smallpox, 1798-1804 56-59 The Fevers of Amatitlan, 1814 84 ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS "Of the Epidemic Called Cocoliztli and the Image of Death Called San Pascual" by Antonio Fuentes y Guzman (late seventeenth century) 24-27 "Procedure Used in the Curing of Measles and Smallpox, Prepared at the Request of the Government as per the Order of the Fiscal of His Majesty in the Present Year of 1769" by Manual Avalos y Porras and Francisco Desplanques (1769) 29-34 Reports on A New Disease, 1786-1787 by Jose de Estacheria (1788-1787) 35-37 Correspondence on Typhus by Pedro Aparicis, Francisco Xavier de Aguirre, Toribio Josef Carbajal, Francisco Solivera, Josef Bonilla, Jose Antonio Cordoba, and Ignacio Guerra (1797-1798) 38-44 Testimony of a Provincial Governor 39-41 Relief for Jumaytepeque 41-44 Correspondence on Smallpox by Domingo Gonzalez, Francisco Sebastian Chamorro, and Jose Camposeco Lorenzana (1795) 45-55 "Laws for the Propagation and Establishment of the Vaccine in the Kingdom of Guatemala" [by Jose Antonio Cordoba, 1805] 60-82 ARTICLE I. THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE. 60-64 ARTICLE II. PROVINCIAL COMMITTEES 65-67 ARTICLE III. PROPAGATION OF THE VACCINE 67-71 ARTICLE IV. PERPETUITY OR ESTABLISHMENT 72-75 ARTICLE V. PRIESTS AND JUDGES. 75-77 ARTICLE VI. THE PHYSICIANS 77-79 BOSON BOOKS -4- The War Against Epidemics ARTICLE VII. THE VACCINATORS 79-80 ARTICLE VIII. PORTS AND FRONTIER ESTABLISHMENTS 80-81 ARTICLE IX. THE SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC 81-82 "Simple and Easy Instructions for Curing the Fevers that Currently 85-87 exist in Amatitlan" by Narciso Esparragosa y Gallardo (1814) SOURCES 88-89 REFERENCES CITED 90-101 INDEX 102 BOSON BOOKS -5- The War Against Epidemics Maps of Guatemala and Some of its Provinces in 1800 Guatemala 9 Escuintla 10 Amatitanes 11 Totonicapan 12 Tables Major Colonial Guatemala Epidemics 16-18 Measles 16 Smallpox 16-17 Typhus 18 Other Epidemic Diseases in Colonial Guatemala 19 BOSON BOOKS -6- The War Against Epidemics For Richard, Samantha, Gabrielle, Alexandra, Shana, Davey, Jacqueline, Rhonda and her husband, Dave the M.D. BOSON BOOKS -7- The War Against Epidemics Preface There are many works on medicine in Colonial Guatemala. This is one more such endeavor. What makes this work different is that it is neither a broad history nor restricted to an ethnic group or organization. Instead it confronts a particular problem; what to do when an epidemic strikes? Looking at it from the viewpoint of those who actually had to face this menace, the words of those who needed to take action are given in English translation. The first part offers a discussion of the setting, the times and places in which these happenings took place, and presents some conclusions on the effects of all these efforts. The second part of each section gives the actual words of the people effected by the epidemics. In this second edition of Epidemics in Colonial Guatemala, I have made changes in the manner of citing references, corrected some errata and provided some additional material prepared for the earlier edition but, because of space limitations, not included in that edition. No attempt has been made to review the literature since 1991, that I will leave for those who wish to pursue this topic further. I wish to take this opportunity to express my thanks those at the School of Medicine whose editing improved the first edition and that the same school for their permission to do a revised edition under another publisher. Lawrence H. Feldman, Ph.D BOSON BOOKS -8- The War Against Epidemics BOSON BOOKS -9-