History of Latin American Dermatology

The Indians of Uruguay and their relationship with Dermatologybecause of the nauseous smell emitted by the substance. They also employed other fats,owing to their continuous contact with water, and sometimes mixed them with herbs thatserved them as insect repellent 22, 34 .The Charrúa practiced multiple skin incisions be it for funerary mortification or as aform of pointing out the number of enemies slain.The Indians’ diet was rich in protein owing to the consumption of venison, rhea, armadillo,partridge, dusky-legged guan, fish and mollusks; the diet was rounded out withfruit such as butiá arazá, passion fruit and coral tree sprouts and abundant honey of thelechiguana wasp, Brazilian paper wasp and camoatá 43 . The Indians’ forest was a “supermarket”which they made twofold use of: the forest as source of fruit and honey,provider of protein, supplier of drink, and the forest as a pharmacy, with 48 knownspecies of medicinal plants 44 .The Indians throughout the Americas maintained a “religious” relationship with nativetrees. In our region the Charrúa and Guaraní venerated the strangler fig tree, thebelhambra and the aruera, considering that each species had a guardian spirit. They respectedand preserved the legends on sacred trees, magical or diabolical plants andmedicinal or hallucinogenic herbs, which they passed on to their descendants.Gonzalo Abella transcribes the words of an inhabitant of the city of Artigas: “My Charrúagrandmother used to tell me things and ask me not to forget them... afterwards shewould take me out into the countryside and make me greet certain trees and I was calledon to remember that they were sacred” 6 . Descendants of the Charrúa who now live inEntre Ríos, Argentina, speak of the mesquite as of “a sacred tree by virtue of its gifts” 45 .In the native Uruguayan flora, more than 170 plant species with medicinal value havebeen recognized, more than 40 of which have applications in the treatment of skin ailments.In the compilations consulted, which obey a lengthy oral tradition, their applicationto multiple skin lesions is mentioned — wounds, “sores,” ulcers, rashes,inflammation of the skin and mucosae, tineas, scabies, boils and “pimples,” “corns” and“syphilitic sore” warts — as healing agents, astringents, etc.Some of the most important were: thistle, benth, spiny-bur, wormwood, feverfew,lengua de gato, anacahuita, angico, araza bardana, passion fruit, kalawalla, centáurea,caraguatá, carqueja, coral tree, barraco, cipo, cula, curupí, charrúa, espina amarilla,espinillo, guaycurú, strangler fig tree, huevo de gallo, hollyhock, mio-mio, nettle, palanpalán,paja brava, pata de vaca, willow, elder, yerba carnicera, sarsaparrilla 45, 46 .Medicinal herbs were prepared according to the traditional methods of infusion, concoctionand maceration, be it of the stalk, leaves, flowers, bark or roots, applying themto the area to be treated.Popular medicine as practiced by the Charrúa and the Guaraní of the missions had avast spread and acquired strong roots in the Banda Oriental (Uruguay). It was practicedwith such intensity that for many years it was employed not only by medicine men butby the majority of the rural population, as well as by many other sectors of society. It wasalso adopted by the African-descended community; thus, the herb-dispensing black manand the faith-healing black woman are stock characters, represented today in candombegroups during Carnival, as is the case of the charming “gramillero black” 16 .There were Charrúa in the Argentine Mesopotamia; their descendants currently livethere. A web page created by the Pueblo Jaguar Association, located in Villaguay (EntreRíos, Argentina), publishes, under the heading of “Ethnobotanical garden of the Charrúapeople,” a list of medicinal plants with their applications. Mr. Santos Mornico is the Charrúaherbalist who leads the page: “The spirit of our herbalists and healers is the refugefor our knowledge and practices; their work endures as long as the forest endures. Traditionsremain alive if they are transmitted to new generations, today as always, andtheir efficacy encourages the preservation, regaining and protection of this traditionalknowledge for the benefit of Mankind” 45 .399