Did You Know? ~ Whooping Cough Treatment from 1935

As far as I know, this is from a vintage poster
 and in the public realm.

Before the advent of vaccinations, whopping cough was a common occurance. For historical writers, and those who are interested in the history of medicine, I thought I'd post an excerpt from an article about how to treat the disease from an April 1935 issue of The Farmer's Wife. 

Excerpt:

Whooping cough, like measles, is one of the most dangerous affections of infant and children. Its seriousness is underrated by most parents.

Like measles, whooping cough is most contagious during the early stages, often before the condition is recognized. Whooping cough is due to a germ and the infection is spread in the spray which comes from the throat during a fit of coughing.

During the first, or catarrhal stage, which lasts a week or more, the attacks of coughing sound somewhat like an ordinary laryngitis. There is usually the difference, however, that the attacks in whooping cough come with intervals between. The attacks increase in severity, and the thing which makes the diagnosis practically certain is the characteristic "whoop" which comes when the child inhales after a numer of coughs. The whoop is caused by the narrowing of the opening of the windpipe due to a spasm of the muscles.

In severe cases the face becomes very red and eyes look as if they might pop from their sockets. In some of these cases there are hemorrhages around the eyes and small hemorrhages or congestion in the brain, causing dizziness and a staggering gait.

Vomiting of food is a common and stressing symptom accompanying the cough. This is often so persistent that the nutrition suffers. For this condition it is well to give concentrated liquid food in the form of milk, soups, gruels, eggnogs--a cup or a glass every three hours, allowing longer intervals at night. Avoid large meals of solid food.

Severed bronchitis and pneumonia are rather common and dangerous complications of whooping cough. So are heart troubles, caused by the extreme strain of the coughing. The most dangerous complication of all, however, and the one responsible for many deaths in infants under two years, is convulsions.

. . .Because of serious complications in young children, try to keep your children from catching whooping cough until they are five years old, at least. The contagious period usually lasts about three weeks, but to avoid all risk it is well to protect infants for a much longer time.

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Did You Know? ~ Lustrous Hair Tips from Summer 1910

The following tip was taken from Women’s World, June, 1910

For Beautiful Hair in the Summertime

Iris
(Picture public domain USA)

“Any woman desiring abundant, lustrous hair should use a dry shampoo every two or three day,” says Mme. DeMille, the famous beauty expert. “No woman should use water upon her hair too frequently, for moisture causes the hair to lose its color and in time become thin.”

“When dressing for the evening, you can quickly take a dry shampoo that will remove all dust from the hair in a few minutes. Treated thus, the hair does not become damp in the evening, or while out boating.

“Mix four ounces of powdered orris root* with four ounces of therox** and you will have a splendid dry shampoo powder that will last for months, even if you use it every day. Keep it in a sifter-top can and sprinkle a little of this mixture evenly upon the head; then brush the powder thoroughly through the hair. Therox keep the hair light and fluffy, and beautifully lustrous.

“This treatment is the only thing I know that will produce a growth of hair. If your druggist doesn’t keep orris root and therox he can easily get them for you from his wholesaler, if he cares to be accommodating.”

* Orris root is a preparation of the fragrant root of an iris.

** I don’t know what therox is, and I can’t find any references online to a therox powder. If any of our readers know what this is, I’d love to hear from you.

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Did You Know? ~ Rats and Fleas and Plague, Oh My!

I hope our Borrowed Book readers don't mind, but tonight I'm going to recycle an article I wrote in 2012. It seems apropos because of an article I recently read about a man dying in Yemen from bubonic plague. Even more interesting is the archaic way Yemen officials are handling the death--they're sealing off parts of the city. But sealing people away isn't going to keep diseased animals from spreading the disease via fleas. It reminds me of the book I mentioned at the end of this article, and the panicked way U.S. officials reacted to the first U.S. outbreak in San Fransisco.

Here is the article:

In this day and age of pest control companies, pesticides for sale, and well built houses, it’s hard to imagine the pests that our forefathers had to put up with. Our prairie foremothers had bugs, snakes and mice falling from the ceiling of their soddies. Nowadays we aren’t so used to seeing things like that. In fact, many of us panic at the sight of creepy crawlies, whether they be of the buggy type like centipedes, the no legged type like snakes, or the four-legged type. . .like rats.

Recently I acquired two Woman’s World magazines, one from September, 1922 and one from July, 1926. Both had an ad for products to get rid of rats. 

That struck me weird because I’ve never seen ads like that in present day women’s magazines. That’s probably because we’ve become relatively successful at keeping the pest population at bay in the United States. Notice I said, “at bay,” not controlled or eliminated. I think the recent upsurge in bedbugs is a good example that we aren’t really in control (a topic I’d like to address in a future blog).

But back to the rats. . .they’ve played a significant role in the history of man, for instance, in spreading the Black Death through another pest--fleas. 

I just finished a book about the first epidemic of bubonic plague (spread by fleas via host rats) here in the continental United State. It makes for fascinating reading and tells not just the history of the plague, but how it impacted the path of medicine.

Now that I think about it, given the history of plague and rats (not to mention ticks and Lyme disease, brown recluse spiders and necrosis, or snake bites and death), perhaps screaming at the sight of a pest and running away isn’t such a bad idea.

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Did You Know? ~ The Humble Elderberry

Elderberries have been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years through Europe, North America, Western Asia, and North Africa. The Elderberry shrub became a part of many American homestead plantings and was often grown alongside lilacs, forsythia, and apple trees. Ancient elder bushes can still be found on abandoned farmsteads, along roadsides, and in other unexpected places.

The European elder is a large shrub or small tree that grows up to 30 feet tall in wet or dry soil in a sunny locations. Its deciduous leaves grow in opposite pairs and have five to seven leaflets. The flowers are white and flat-topped, and the berries are green and turn red, then black when ripe.

Evidence of elderberry cultivation has been found in Stone Age village sites in Italy and Switzerland. Medicinal use of elderberries is mentioned in ancient medicinal texts, including Hippocrates' Materia Medica. Pliny the Elder recorded its use among the ancient Romans. In the Middle Ages, it was considered a holy tree due to its ability to improve health and longevity. Gypsies in historical Europe reportedly called elderberry “the healingst tree on earth.”

Elderberry has traditionally been used for its antioxidant activity, to improve vision, to boost the immune system, to lower cholesterol, and for coughs, colds, flu, bacterial and viral infections.

The medicinal use of elderberry isn’t just a folk remedy. There’s science backing up the claims of hundreds of years. A placebo-controlled, double blind study was carried out on a group of individuals living in an agricultural community (kibbutz) during an outbreak of influenza B/Panama in 1993. Fever, feeling of improvement, and complete cure were recorded during 6 days. (Find abstract here.)

In Israel, Hasassah's Oncology Lab has determined that elderberry stimulates the body's immune system and they are treating cancer and AIDS patients with it.

Some of our readers may have read that elderberries can be poisonous. The berries aren't, but they should be cooked before eaten. Uncooked berries can cause digestive problems. It’s the rest of the parts of the plant that can be toxic.

Here is a recipe for elderberry syrup, which can be used at the onset of a cold or even as a pancake syrup.

1 cup fresh elderberries or ½ cup dried berries

3 cups water

1 cup honey

Place the berries in a saucepan and cover them with the 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for a half hour.

After the berries are cooked, smash them, then strain the mixture through a mesh strainer.

Add the honey.

Bottle and store in the fridge, where it will last a few months.

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Did You Know? ~ Household Uses for Ammonia during the Civil War

I found a little booklet called Civil War Household Tips, which included these uses for ammonia. I have no idea if they really worked, but I thought they were interesting.

All housekeepers should keep a bottle of liquid ammonia, as it is the most powerful and useful agent for cleaning silks, stuffs and hats, in fact cleans everything it touches. A few drops of ammonia in water will take off grease from dishes, pans, etc., and does not injure the hands as much as the use of soda and strong chemical soaps. A spoonful in a quart of warm water for cleaning paint makes it look like new, and so with everything that needs cleaning.

Spots on towels and hosiery will disappear with little trouble if a little ammonia is put into enough water to soak the articles, and they are left in it an hour or two before washing; and if a cupful is put into the water in which clothes are soaked the night before washing, the ease with which the articles can be washed, and their great whiteness and clearness when dried, will be very gratifying. Remembering the small sum paid for three quarts of ammonia of common strength, one can easily see that no bleaching preparation can be more cheaply obtained.

No articles in kitchen use are so likely to be neglected and abused as the dish-cloth and dish-towels; and in washing these, ammonia, if properly used, is a great comfort more than anywhere else. Put a teaspoonful into the water in which these cloths are, or should be, washed every day; rub soap on the towels. Put them in the water; let them stand half an hour or so; faithfully, and dry outdoors in clear air and sun, and dish-clothes and towels need never look gray and dingy—a perpetual discomfort to all housekeepers.

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Did You Know? ~ Rosemary, a Versatile Herb

Our own Elizabeth Ludwig inspired today’s blog topic. She posted a link on her Facebook page about the memory enhancement properties of the herb rosemary. I wondered what other medicinal and health properties this wonderful herb has. Turns out there are many.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is an evergreen herb, native to the Mediterranean. In my neck of the woods, it grows as an annual. I grow it every year just so I can smell its fragrant scent when I rub my fingers along its spiky leaves. Rosemary is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae along with oregano, thyme, basil, and lavender. The name rosemary derives from the Latin ros meaning "dew" and marinus meaning "sea" - "sea dew."

Yes, rosemary smells good, but its benefits go way beyond that. It’s been used as a medicine both internally and externally. Typically it’s prepared as a dried whole herb or a dried powdered extract. Rosemary teas and liquid extracts are made from fresh or dried leaves. 



In Europe, rosemary is used to help treat indigestion. It’s said to relieve flatulence and stomach cramping. Rosemary contains carnosic acid, which is said to fight off free radical damage in the brain. Canosic acid also promotes eye health. 

Rosemary may be an effective herbal anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agent, according to one study, published in Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry. (See report here.) Research published in Oncology Reports found that “Constituents in rosemary have shown a variety of pharmacological activities for cancer chemoprevention and therapy in in vitro and in vivo models.” (See report here.)

Rosemary oil applied externally helps ease muscular pain, sciatica, and neuralgia. It’s been used for centuries in products for the hair and scalp, stimulating the hair follicles and circulation in the scalp.

All in all, rosemary seems like quite a little powerhouse herb. As a cooking spice, it’s outstanding. One of my all-time favorite uses of rosemary is in garlic mashed potatoes. You’ll find a great recipe for this here, at the Washington State Potatoes site.

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Did You Know?~Plantain

When I was little, I used to earn a nickle for each weed I pulled from our yard. Little did I know that one of those pesky weeds I pulled was an herb with many great health benefits. The plant I'm talking about is called plantain (no, not the bananas). There are several varieties of plantain, but all of them look similar. You might recognize the plant in the pictures.

Plantain (also called ripple grass, waybread, waybroad, snakeweed, slan-lus, and white man's foot) has been known as a healing herb for many years. It was highly regarded by the Saxons and mentioned in their writings as one of the nine sacred herbs. Pliny mentions the plant, as do Chaucer and Shakespeare.

The plantain seems to have followed the migrations of colonists to every part of the world. Wherever the English took possession of the soil, plantain grew. Thus it's one name: white man's foot.

This little weedy pest is a true healing power house. It's main claim to fame is its drawing power. As a poultice, it draws out dirt, stingers, insect venom, and (it's claimed) infection from an abscess. It also stays a bleeding wound. An ointment of plantain can ease itching. Plantain oil can relieve the inflammation of a sprain. 

And along with it's medicinal use, plantain can be eaten. The young leaves can be used in salads, and the seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids

So next time you're looking around your yard and see plantain and think you need to get out a heavy duty weed killer (or pay your kids to do the dirty work), stop and remember how helpful this little herb can be. 

For more information, check this link at A Modern Herbal.

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Did You Know? ~ Toad Doctors

Looking for a cure for your headache? Try a live toad, applied topically. Perhaps you have kidney issues. Cut a live toad in half and apply it directly to your body. If your child has a problem wetting the bed, make an amulet out of toad ashes, and have the kid wear it. Yep. Toads. At one time they were considered a multi-purpose cure-all. 

“Toad cures” first appeared in Roman times. Powdered, toads were administered to promote a free flow of urine.  In the 1600s and 1700s doctors used powdered toad to cure cancerous ulcers. Live toads were used to cure cancerous breasts (I’m not sure how). But in the 1800s, a certain group of doctors used toads exclusively. These guys were called “toad doctors” and they operated in western England.

Toad doctors’ primary use of toads was to cure the “King’s Evil,” also called scrofula. Scrofula is a form of tuberculosis that affects the lymph nodes in the neck. One remedy was to tear the legs from living toads, which were then placed in bags and worn around the neck. Another was to put a living toad in a bag and hang it in the room of the sufferer. As the toad died and withered away, so, it was said, would the disease.

But toad doctors treated more than just scrofula. They traveled the countryside selling parts of the toads, sometimes raw, sometimes powdered. One doctor recommended using the venom of the toad in cases of epilepsy, rabies, and paralysis.

But not everyone believed. Critics questioned the medicinal use of toads even as early as the 1700s. By the 1800s, the use of toads as medicine was associated with superstition. Regular doctors protested that toads had little value as medicine. By 1900, toad doctors had ceased operating.

But before you laugh and wonder how anyone can be so stupid as to believe that toads can cure anything, I found a scientific study that claims, “Toad skin-secretions are potent source of drugs. It's probably the only such source in nature from where we can get nearly six types of drugs possessing analgesic, painkiller, antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-cancerous properties as well as possessing potential of treating cardiovascular diseases.” (Read the article here: Toad skin-secretions: Potent source of pharmacologicallyand therapeutically significant compounds).

So, is it possible that the powdered toad administered by toad doctors might have contained an active ingredient that had some medicinal value?

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Household Notes, 1905

Here are some "Household Notes" from The Woman's Magazine, November, 1905.


The white leaves of celery dried and added to soups give a delicious flavor.

If fish and oysters are rolled in cornmeal before frying they will fry brown and crisp.

To prevent suet from sticking to the knife when chopping sprinkle it with a little ground rice.

Best results will be obtained when clothes are sprinkled with hot water and a good whisk broom kept for the purpose.

If a little cornstarch is mixed with salt before being put in the shaker it will keep it from clogging.

Careful housewives do not forget that the tea-kettle as well as the tea and coffee pots should be washed on the inside and outside every day.

A new and handy device is a straw basket made in a conical shape for use in a carrying knives and forks from the table. This method prevents the dropping of cutlery on the floor, as is apt to be the case when removed with a pile of dishes.

In seasoning a fowl the flavor may be improved by rubbing well into the flesh salt and pepper to which ginger has been added. If an apple or onion is put in a duck to be roasted it gives a better flavor to the meat. A spoonful of vinegar in water in which fowls are boiled makes them tender.

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Did You Know? ~ Typhoid Outbreak in Rock Island, Illinois

I found an interesting little article in the Kansas City Daily Journal from April 21, 1890.

Quarantine Signs like this one were often used

A College Closed

Rock Island, Ill., Aril 20,--Augustina college, in this city, has been closed on account of an epidemic of typoid fever among the students. About forty of the students have been on the sick list. Twenty of them are not regarded as dangerous, but sixteen cases have developed a malignant form of the disease. Two of the students have died and two others are in a critical state. Sewer gas has been pronounced the cause of the epidemic, as those students who did not eat or sleep in the afflicted building have not been troubled.

Interestingly enough, in 1880, Karl Joseph Eberth, a German pathologist and bacteriologist, described a bacillus that he suspected was the cause of typhoid. In 1884 pathologist Georg Theodor August Gaffky, also from Germany, confirmed Eberth's findings. This article about the college outbreak was published in 1890.

Opposition between medical professionals who held old beliefs and those who were on the cutting edge of new discoveries was rampant in the medical world during these years. Many doctors refused to accept the fact that bacteria, and later on, viruses, even existed. This newspaper article is a good example of how slow this kind of information was to spread across the world and to be accepted.

The cause of the typhoid outbreak that affected these unfortunate students obviously wasn’t sewer gas, although that theory was a popularly held one at the time. The typhoid was spread by eating or drinking beverages that were handled by someone who was shedding Salmonella Typhi, the bacillus that causes the disease. That explains why the disease was limited to the one building. Close quarters like those these students probably lived and ate in would be the perfect breeding ground for typhoid. .

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Did You Know? ~ Three Stories From 1890 Newspaper

I'm sitting on my bed tonight writing this blog article on my tiny laptop. Next to my laptop is a copy of the Kanas City Daily Journal, dated Monday, April 21, 1890. Yes, it's that old, and seriously yellow and brittle. (I would probably be yellow and brittle if I were over one hundred years old, too.) Anyway, I think it's ironic to have something that old next to this modern technology.

I love old magazines and newspapers. I have framed several old papers because I like the way they look on the wall, and it keeps them safely intact. Surprisingly, there are many available for sale, and unless they are of historical significance, they are fairly inexpensive. Owning an old newspaper gives me a sense of awe. Over a hundred years ago someone bought this paper and read it. That person has been gone a long time, yet I'm holding the paper he or she read.

I don't know a lot about the Kansas City Daily Journal except that it was printed in Kansas City, obviously. But I thought I'd share a few of the articles from the front page that I found interesting. They could even be seeds for a historical novel.

A HORRIBLE MURDER
An Uncle Shoots the Top of His Nephews Head Off

Chambersburg, PA., April 20. -- John Rhodes, a well-known farmer living near Green Castle, shot and instantly killed his nephew, William Rhodes, last evening during a quarrel on the farm of the former. The uncle taunted his nephew about the latter's crippled son, and the young man threatened to shoot him.

Rhodes then stepped into the house, got his gun and fired at his nephew who was standing only six feet away. The load struck the young man fair in the forehead and blew the whole top of his head off. The uncle is now in jail here.

(I love the old timey language--fair in the forehead.)

Desperadoes Killed

Cinncinnati, April 20. -- A Commercial-Gazette special from Catlettsburg, Ky., reports the killing in West Virginia, near Pigeon creek, last Friday, of Smith Baisden, John Baisden, and William Baisden, three brothers, noted desperadoes. James Brewer, deputy sheriff, and posse attempted to arrest them and were fired upon. A battle ensued and the desperadoes were killed or mortally wounded and captured.

(Desperadoes is an old timey word, too.)

Another Female Poisoner

Pittsburg PA., April 20 -- Pretty 16-year-old Mary Stewart, of McKeesport, is under arrest on a charge of poisoning. Friday the girl cooked soup for dinner. All the family but her partook and were immediately seized with violent pains. Physicians pronounce the case as arsenical poisoning. A 4-year-old boy died yesterday and three others of the family are in a serious condition. The girl evades all questions, and stoutly declares her innocence. She says she did not eat the soup because she did not care for it.

(The title of this article is interesting. ANOTHER female poisoner--implying there are more of them. As if all sorts of females are poisoning people.)

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Did You Know? ~ Ads for 1908 Ice Box, Recliner, and Earrings

I found these ads in the 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catalogue. I thought our readers might enjoy looking at them.

An Ice Box

I've always wondered what an ice box looked like. Pretty nifty! (Click on the picture to see close up.)

Recliner

  I had no idea there were recliners in the early 1900s. I think my legs would get tired resting on this one with that space between the chair and the foot rest. (Click on the picture to see close up.)

Earrings

 I love gold hoops and these look very similar to what we can buy today, but the prices--wow! What a difference! (Click on the picture to see close up.)

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Did You Know? ~ Dr. Miles Restorative Nervine

Today I thought I’d write about the medical elixir that was once contained in one of my old medicine bottles. You can’t see it clearly, but the outside of this bottle says, “Dr. Miles Restorative Nervine.”

From the name NERVINE, you can guess one of the purposes of this medicine was to help nerves—nervous exhaustion, to be exact. It was also prescribed for headaches, insomnia, backaches, epilepsy, sexual dysfunction, and miscellaneous pains and spasms. Sounds like a miracle drug, doesn’t’ it? This product was sold until the mid-1960s.

The active ingredient in Nervine was bromide, a form of bromine (chemically related to chlorine). It was a predecessor to present day sedatives. The makers of Nervine claimed it to be “. . .among the safest of effective medications to calm the nerves,” but as with many drugs, this wasn’t the case. The amount of bromide needed to sedate a person was near toxic level. Excess use of bromide led to bromism. Classic symptoms of bromism include alteration in central nervous system functioning with headache, irritability, fatigue, slurred speech, ataxia, emotional instability, tremor, hallucinations, gastrointenstinal, and dermatological symptoms.

The FDA does not currently approve bromine for treatment of any disease. It was removed from all over-the-counter sedatives in 1975.Today bromine (and forms of bromide) is still used today in pesticides, disinfectants, flame retardants, as a gasoline additive, and for swimming pool maintenance. (Remember that bromides are chemically related to chlorine.)

It's easy to laugh at this old ad and think we're safe from bromide, but my research today took an interesting turn. It seems the FDA allows limited use of bromide in certain food products in the United States today.

The Borrowed Book blog isn’t the place for me to pursue present day use of bromide, but if you’re interested in doing a little research, here is a link that contains images of products that containbromide and bromated products. You can pursue the topic from there. Apparently some of those companies whose products are pictured in those images are now in the process of removing forms of bromide from their products.

To conclude, I’d like to return briefly to my original topic--Nervine. The term “nervine” actually means (1) of or pertaining to the nerves; (2) acting on or relieving disorders of the nerves; soothing the nerves.Thus the name of the medicine, Nervine.

A product is available today called Nervine Tonic. I found it on Amazon. It’s an herbal remedy containing fresh passionflower herb tip, fresh valerian root, fresh oat seed in milky stage, black cohosh root, fresh skullcap herb and fresh betony herb. These are herbs known for their calming effects. Valerian root is traditionally used in herbal sleep remedies. Black cohosh root is a remedy for hot flashes.

And one more interesting tidbit: “A bromide” was used as a phrase or platitude to describe someone whose speech was a verbal sedative. A bore. 

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Did You Know? ~ Vintage Recipes for Ears, Cough, and Rheumatism

Old time recipes for what ails you.

Ear-ache

Soak the feet in warm water, roast an onion, and put the heart of it into the ear as warm as can be borne. Heat a brick, and wrap it up, and apply it to the side of the head. When the feet are taken from the water, bind roasted onions on them. Lard or sweet oil [olive oil] dropped in the ear, as warm as can be borne, is good. 

(Onions contain the antibiotic/antiviral, and anti-fungal ingredient called allicin. They are also supposed to contain a natural anti-inflammatory.)

General Taylor’s celebrated cough syrup

One quart in bulk of horehound to one quart of water and boil down to a pint; add three sticks of liquorice, and a tablespoonful of essence of lemon. One tablespoonful five times a day, or as often as the cough may be troublesome. This has been sold for one dollar a bottle.

(Horehound has been used as an expectorant and purgative, for stomach complaints, tea for a cold, and to help wounds.) 

To cure rheumatism

Put an ounce of cayenne pepper in ½ pint of brandy, and take from a tea to a teaspoonful three times a day, or blister the affected parts.

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Did You Know? ~ Rules for a Sick Room (1877)

I found these Rules for a Sick Room in The Circle of Useful Knowledge by Charles Kinsley (self published in 1877), and I thought it might interest our readers. (Please note last sentence, which I thought pretty funny.)

Keep the patient and all about him perfectly clean, and secure as far as possible pure air. The chamber should be ventilated at least once a day, or twice if it can be borne. The bed-clothes should be carried out into the open air, if it is dry; if not, into the next room; and if the patient is unable to sit up meanwhile, let them be supplied by others. Keep the room quiet and in perfect order. Let the sick be addressed in a gentle voice, and the conversation, if any is admitted, be pleasant and cheering. The nurse and friends should express sympathy with the sufferer, but at the same time seek to inspire courage, and patience to endure. All vials and powders should be labelled to prevent fatal mistakes. The bed should be made at least once per day, and if the patient can bear it twice. Carry the beds into the open air, or if damp into another room. Keep the skin clean by daily ablutions; change the garments frequently and rinse the mouth often. A nurse should be of pleasant, agreeable, persuasive and even temper, with great patience to bear with the whims and unreasonable fretfulness that often appear in the sick. Never dispute with a very sick person, nor reprove him for any seeming inconsistency. Remember that he is hardly a responsible being.  

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Did You Know? ~ Siberian Mummies in Zeleniy Yar

I love a good mystery, and when it involves the past, it’s even better. Here’s one I just read about.

In Siberia, about 18 miles from the Arctic Circle, archaeologists have excavated 34 shallow graves at a place called Zeleniy Yar. They think the remote spot could have been an important trading crossroads about a thousand years ago.

The graves include 11 bodies with smashed skeletons and shattered or missing skulls. Among the bodies found were five mummies shrouded in copper plating and covered in animal fur. Only one female body was found—a child with her face masked by copper plates. No bodies of adult women were found.

A red-haired man was found, also protected by copper plating. In his grave were furs, an iron hatchet, and a bronze head buckle depicting a bear. Another grave contained an iron combat knife, silver medallion, and a bronze bird figurine which possibility dated from seventh century. Yet another spot on the site contained bronze bowls originating in Persia, about 3,700 miles to the south-west. These dated from the tenth or eleventh centuries.

The bodies weren’t preserved on purpose like those of the Egyptian pharaohs.  The mummification in this case was due to a combination of copper, which prevented oxidation, plus the sinking temperature in the 14^th century.

The site was discovered earlier, but digging in the area halted in 2002 due to objections by the locals, who feared the scientists were disturbing the souls of their ancestors. Work is underway again, but I was unable to discover whether the locals ceased to object or were just told to live with it.

When I read about this kind of discovery, I have so many questions. Archaeologists say the shattering of the bones and the missing skulls might have some sort of religious significance. I've noticed archaeologists say that a lot--that things are religious in nature--but I wonder in this case if perhaps there was some sort of fight and the people were just crushed. I also wonder where the people came from. Were some of the people in the graves from Persia? Was the site once a thriving crossroads? If so, what happened to it? Did people actually live there or did they just pass through. And why were there no women buried at the site?

And just for fun, here are some events that happened in the rest of the world one thousand years ago, in 1014: February 14th - Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry II Roman German Emperor. April 23rd - King Brian Boru of Ireland beats Danes at Battle of Clontarf. July 29th - Battle of Strumitsa-valley: Byzantine destroys Bulgarian armies.

Yes, so many questions. So fascinating.

If you want to read the article from which I got information about Zeleniy Yar, or if you want to see more pictures, go to the Siberian Times.

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Did You Know? ~ Sir George Grant and the Colony of Victoria

A Scene from Victoria

In spring 1872, Sir George Grant, a wealthy London silk merchant, toured the Great Plains looking for a place to retire. Toward the end of his journey, he passed by Fort Hays, Kansas, and traveled across Ellis County. He was spellbound by the endless, rolling prairies with their colorful flowers and grazing buffalo.

Instead of buying property for himself, he negotiated with the Kansas Pacific Railroad and bought fifty thousand acres of land in eastern Ellis County to begin a colony for a contingent of his fellow Englishmen. He called it Victoria after Queen Victoria.

On April 1, 1873, the Steamship Alabama sailed down the Clyde from Glasgow, with sons and daughter of many of England’s most noble families. In the coming years, more than two hundred Englishmen, as well as a number of Scottish and Irish immigrants, settled on Grant’s prairie purchase. 

The colonists homesteaded with a distinct finesse. Delicate French satins and fine English tweeds were as common in Victoria as calico and denim were in other areas of the plains. Victoria homes were decorated with fine furniture, oil paintings, and many family heirlooms. The ladies used lace tablecloths, sterling flatware, and bone china. The residents traveled by horse-drawn carriages.

The Englishmen and women not only held on to their luxuries, they also held on to their social customs. In keeping with proper tradition, they dressed in imported English hunting attire and saddled their imported English thoroughbreds with imported hunting saddles. Then they galloped after packs of yelping foxhounds. If they couldn’t find a fox, they hunted cottontail rabbits, coyotes, antelope or buffalo.

Many of the colonists of Victoria regarded their social engagements as more important than household chores and farm work. The men gathered for afternoon games of cricket while their wives visited over tea. In the evenings they often had formal banquets.

Catherine Cavender, a woman familiar with the colony, commented, “The English gave wonderful entertainment. Dinners with long tables, laden with baked buffalo, antelope and quail, mince pies, plum puddings and tipsy cake, and after the dinner a dance that lasted till morning and there were Lords and Lairds to dance with, too!” Sir Grant was a veteran entertainer. His lavish affairs were the highlights of the social season, and he had visitors from the East Coast, as well as England.

Sir Grant was responsible for bringing the first Aberdeen Angus cattle to the United States. The colonists stocked their ranches with the finest breeds of draft horses, English rams and short-horned cattle. But to many of the men and women, pioneer life was hard. The men were often unskilled at farming. The tough sod and arid climate was formidable. Some adapted to a life behind a plow, but others continued to rely on personal wealth. Life was no easier for many of the women who had once relied on maids and butlers. The people, accustomed to luxury, had to lived with no screens, no ice, and in homes that were so unlike their homes in England, they grew homesick.

Within a few years, the Victoria colonists realized how unsuited they were for the open range. Poor crops, drought, grasshoppers, prairie fires, and winter storms weakened their stamina. Little by little, they abandoned Victoria, packed up, and returned to England. By 1876, only a few of the colonists remained. But Sir Grant refused to leave Victoria, a dream he’d worked so hard to build.

He died not long after that in 1878 and with him, Victoria died, as well. Those who remained moved to the nearby town of Hays. Victoria was deserted.

But the town of Victoria was brought back from the dead by an unlikely source. The Germans and Russian had settled west of Victoria in a settlement they called Herzog. As Herzog grew, it encompassed Victoria, and in 1913, the townspeople dropped the name Herzog and officially named the town Victoria.

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