History of Latin American Dermatology

LUIS DAVID PIERINIto have diuretic, diaphoretic and cathartic properties. The resin, mixed with rhea or fishfat and applied to the skin, drove mosquitoes away. Nowadays, palo santo is employedfor the same purpose in the composition of insecticide spirals.Ceibo or seibo (coral tree): the ground-up bark was employed as a poultice on animalbites; boiled, it still persists in popular concoctions for the treatment of ulcers, rectal inflammation,hemorrhoids and vaginitis.Yetibay or jalapa (clavillia): the juice from its flower, freshly pressed, was employedin child otitis and in herpetic eruptions.Ayuy or laurel: a tree with a resistant wood, its fruit was employed against children’sdigestive disorders and scrofulosis; ground together with honey, it was applied onchronic ulcerations. As a liniment it was prescribed for rheumatic phlogosis, neuralgiasand the itch of scabies.Oruzuz (licorice): in addition to employing the infusion in situations of catarrh andaphonias, it was employed for erysipelas in the manner of a sinapism or as a paste.Canchalagua (centaury): it was administered in the form of an infusion, as well asserving to mitigate rheumatic pain and additionally for carriers of venereal diseases.Totora (totora): its flowers were applied to burns, and its cooked roots were employedfor washing ulcers and tumors.Tusca (mesquite): it was drunk as a concoction, after toasting and boiling its fruit. Itsingestion was indicated on an empty stomach and it was recommended for gonococcalinfections.Tobacco: Dr. Esteban Laureano Maradona, an outstanding physician in Formosa andresearcher into the flora of the central Chaco, says in his book A través de la selva(Through the Jungle) that, in case of snakebite, the Indians suck on the affected area likesuction cups, after chewing tobacco leaves. In addition, diverse parts of the plant, suchas roots and seeds, with or without grease, with or without resin and with valve powder,are often employed for a variety of conditions.4. Wichi or Wichí and CharrúaThe word wichi means “true men” or “men with a full life,” meaning that they interactwith plants, trees, fish and birds.The Spaniards incorrectly called them “Mataco,” a word which in old Spanish meant“animal of no consequence” or “unimportant animal.” The first they met, toward 1623,they called Mataguayo.They may be described as one of the world’s most ancient communities. Even today,isolated in northern Argentina, they struggle to subsist in the modern world.The ills that decimated these communities were tuberculosis, malnutrition, Chagasdisease, venereal diseases, cholera and brucelosis, all of which was worsened by an unbalanceddiet, based mainly on corn, pumpkin, goat meat, fish and fruit, but few vegetables.■ Groups of the the NorthwestThis grouping was aware of hot springs. The presence of lakes, favorable temperatures,the tapestry of meadows and riparian habitats and the proliferation of trees, suchas molle (Brazilian peppertree), created a bucolic landscape in which the life of the nativefamilies flowed without the distress and sudden scares of other ethnic groups.The indigenous Americas took into account the universal myth of the fountain ofyouth and at various times its protohistorical inhabitants were aware of, and prized, thetherapeutic effects of the waters of the Pachamama (Mother Earth). They frequented the26