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Story
May 21, 1897
The Evening Tribune
Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island
What is this article about?
Article describes a Chinatown Chinese doctor's practices: burning paper incantations for indigestion (charcoal remedy) and selling costly ginseng as a youth elixir, despite American experts finding no medicinal value. Ginseng exported from US to China at high prices.
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OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
CHINATOWN'S PHYSICIANS
Burned Paper and Ginseng Root, Which Bring Him Fancy Prices.
One of the queerest shops in Chinatown is that of a Chinese doctor, who wears large diamond rings and prescribes sharks' fins, birds' nests and snakes' tongues for his patients. For prescriptions for indigestion it is his custom to charge his patient $1.
When that sum has been paid, he writes Chinese characters on a long strip of paper. This he burns, uttering incantations. The ashes he permits to fall into a glass of water which is given to the patient to drink. This cure is said to work every time, but a New York physician who has examined it says it consists of nothing more or less than the administration of charcoal, long known to practitioners as a cure for dyspepsia.
A much more expensive prescription which this New York Chinese doctor puts up for his patients is ginseng. There are some species of this peculiar plant for which the Chinatown doctor charges as much as $100 per pound.
Ginseng is supposed to infuse new life into him who takes it. To the devout Chinaman ginseng represents the fountain of youth, and for a small part of its precious wood he will often spend his last cent.
There are only three countries in the whole world where ginseng is found- China, Korea and the United States. Hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of ginseng are annually exported from this country to China, where it is in great demand and American chemists who have examined it have failed to find that it possesses any curative or medicinal properties.
In China the best ginseng comes from Manchuria and sells for $100 per pound. This is called the imperial brand. The second grade is collected in Korea, while the ginseng used by the poorer classes comes from the United States.
The Chinatown doctor sells ginseng to his patients at $20 to $100 per pound. He insists on wrapping it up in red paper bearing Chinese characters. An American doctor who tasted some of it the other day said it had the flavor of orris root and that its virtues, for which the Chinese pay so highly, are purely imaginary.-New York Journal
Burned Paper and Ginseng Root, Which Bring Him Fancy Prices.
One of the queerest shops in Chinatown is that of a Chinese doctor, who wears large diamond rings and prescribes sharks' fins, birds' nests and snakes' tongues for his patients. For prescriptions for indigestion it is his custom to charge his patient $1.
When that sum has been paid, he writes Chinese characters on a long strip of paper. This he burns, uttering incantations. The ashes he permits to fall into a glass of water which is given to the patient to drink. This cure is said to work every time, but a New York physician who has examined it says it consists of nothing more or less than the administration of charcoal, long known to practitioners as a cure for dyspepsia.
A much more expensive prescription which this New York Chinese doctor puts up for his patients is ginseng. There are some species of this peculiar plant for which the Chinatown doctor charges as much as $100 per pound.
Ginseng is supposed to infuse new life into him who takes it. To the devout Chinaman ginseng represents the fountain of youth, and for a small part of its precious wood he will often spend his last cent.
There are only three countries in the whole world where ginseng is found- China, Korea and the United States. Hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of ginseng are annually exported from this country to China, where it is in great demand and American chemists who have examined it have failed to find that it possesses any curative or medicinal properties.
In China the best ginseng comes from Manchuria and sells for $100 per pound. This is called the imperial brand. The second grade is collected in Korea, while the ginseng used by the poorer classes comes from the United States.
The Chinatown doctor sells ginseng to his patients at $20 to $100 per pound. He insists on wrapping it up in red paper bearing Chinese characters. An American doctor who tasted some of it the other day said it had the flavor of orris root and that its virtues, for which the Chinese pay so highly, are purely imaginary.-New York Journal
What sub-type of article is it?
Curiosity
Medical Curiosity
What themes does it cover?
Deception
What keywords are associated?
Chinese Medicine
Ginseng
Charcoal Cure
Chinatown Physician
Exotic Remedies
What entities or persons were involved?
Chinese Doctor
New York Physician
American Doctor
American Chemists
Where did it happen?
Chinatown, New York
Story Details
Key Persons
Chinese Doctor
New York Physician
American Doctor
American Chemists
Location
Chinatown, New York
Story Details
A Chinese doctor in Chinatown prescribes exotic remedies like burned paper for indigestion (actually charcoal) and expensive ginseng, believed by Chinese to be a fountain of youth but deemed worthless by American experts. Ginseng sources from China, Korea, and the US, with high prices for premium varieties.