Sale 2471 - Printed & Manuscript African Americana, March 29, 2018

261 c   (MEDICINE.) “Snake stone” and accompanying manuscript description. Small piece of smoothed bone, 1 1 / 2 x 3 / 4 inches, with accompanying manuscript description on a 5 x 7 3 / 4 - inch sheet; moderate wear, folds, foxing, and repaired tears to the description. [South Carolina, circa 1800] [400/600] Snake stones (usually made from bone rather than stone) remain a popular folk medicine belief in parts of Africa, South America, and Asia. This stone and its description, found among the archives of the Angel Oak plantation in South Carolina, seem to be an example of African folk medicine passing over from slave to master. The description, in a late 18th or early 19th century hand, reads “This stone his called a snake stone. It is to draw the pison from the bite of a snake. Put it to the wound of the snake and it will immedi- ately draw the pison of the snake ought. When it has been on for ten or fifteen minuits, take it of and throw it in warm water for a few minuits for the hot water to draw ought the pison. . . . Wipe it dry and apply it to the wound again. . . . After apply a poult[ice] of sault and yallow leaf and onions or skillions with planting in the poultous will make a shore coure.” The description was apparently folded around the stone with docketing for easy reference. PROPERTY OFTHE PIONEERING A.T.AUGUSTA 262 c   (MEDICINE.) Clarke,W. Fairlie. A Manual of the Practice of Surgery. Text illustra- tions. xi, 316 pages. 8vo, publisher’s cloth, minor wear; contents clean; inked stamp on front free endpaper reading “Dr.A.T.Augusta.” NewYork, 1879 [500/750] This standard medical text was the property of Dr.Alexander Thomas Augusta (1825-1890), an American who trained at the University ofToronto after facing discrimination from medical schools in the United States. In 1863, he became the first African-American physician in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brevet lieutenant colonel. In 1868, he was hired as the first African-American medical professor, and the first African-American on the Howard University faculty. 261