"old indig"

[Missouri Swampfox]

Has anyone run across the Confederate substitute for quinine called "old indig" as Surgeon Roberts calls it in the Hospital volume of the photographic history set. It was not called that in the ORA volumes. It was a mixture of three barks steeped in whiskey and given to malaria victims or men with high fevers. I cannot find the mixture listed anywhere before the war, just the individual barks as a treatment for fevers. However, most of the medical purveyors advertised for the three barks throughout the war and the lab in Mobile states how to prepare it. I have checked most materia medica, botany, pharmacy, pharmaceutical botany, medical botany and pharmacology books and journals available on archives.com from 1800-1860 but cannot find the mixture's use before the war. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[James Brenner]

I wonder if it's a local concoction and, if so, local histories may talk about it.

The reason why I think that it may be a local remedy is its name. Indig (rhymes with bridge) is short for indigenous; an abbreviation of indigenous people and often used to refer to local inhabitants.

 

[Missouri Swampfox]

I wonder if it's a local concoction and, if so, local histories may talk about it.

The reason why I think that it may be a local remedy is its name. Indig (rhymes with bridge) is short for indigenous; an abbreviation of indigenous people and often used to refer to local inhabitants.

It was used throughout the Confederacy and I've checked newspapers for the period and find nothing.

 

[JackADriscoll]

Could reference tree barks that could be used to treat malaria. My best guess is indig is short for indigenous medicines

 

[Library Lady]

H. H. Cunningham in his book Doctors in Gray: The Confederate Medical Service points out that Confederate Surgeon General Moore was seriously into finding indigenous (native) plants from which to prepare drugs even to the point that his minions thought he had it "on the brain." If you can't get enough quinine/cinchona bark or opium through the blockade, for example, then you have to find local substitutes. You might not find the particular remedy you're looking for in the antebellum era because it wasn't needed then. Yes, there was the disease, but the standard of care remedy was available at that time so the indigenous substitute wasn't needed, appreciated or possibly even known.

Cunningham also makes mention of Francis Peyre Porcher's book on indigenous Southern botanical resources and seems to indicate that recipes may be included. You've probably seen it, but if anyone else is interested, please see below.

Resources Of The Southern Fields And Forests, Medical, Economical And Agricultural: Being Also A Medical Botany Of The Southern States: Porcher M.D., Francis Peyre: 9781477605356: Amazon.com: Books

Resources Of The Southern Fields And Forests, Medical, Economical And Agricultural: Being Also A Medical Botany Of The Southern States [Porcher M.D., Francis Peyre] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Resources Of The Southern Fields And Forests, Medical, Economical And...

www.amazon.com

 

[Missouri Swampfox]

Could reference tree barks that could be used to treat malaria. My best guess is indig is short for indigenous medicines

Yes