The curative art of specialists in folk medicine in times of cholera: 19th century Grão-Pará

Durante a epidemia de cólera que assolou o Grão-Pará, em 1855, pouco mais de uma dezena de anônimos profissionais de saúde popular inscreveram suas artes de curar nos anais da história. As terapias não eram muitas, mas foram disseminadas nos jornais provinciais ou pela forte tradição oral presente na Amazônia. Uma dessas terapias - o uso do sumo de limão - chegou a ser avalizada pelos médicos da província como cientificamente correta. Os homens que "não eram médicos, nem cirurgiões" usavam ervas e frutos medicinais preparados em sumos, infusões, banhos, emplastos e supositórios, rompendo as fronteiras estabelecidas pela arte oficial de curar, a medicina alopática, que tentava estabelecer-se hegemonicamente. Descrevo a trilha da cólera até o Grão-Pará e analiso o contexto social da epidemia; os conhecimentos sobre a cólera: as possibilidades de socorro oferecidas à população e as práticas curativas então adotadas.During the cholera epidemics that affected the Grão-Pará Province in 1855, not more than ten anonymous public health professionals registered in history their curing powers as they relieved cholera victims. There were not too many therapies, but they were publicized in letters printed in local newspapers. The therapeutical powers of alternative medicine was disseminated throughout the Amazon thanks to the strong oral history tradition. One of such therapies - the usage of lemon juice - was adopted by medical doctors in the Province and later on scientifically accredited. Citizens who "were not doctors, nor surgeons" used medicinal herbs and fruits to prepare juices, infusions, baths, plasters and suppositories. They went over the limits established by the official medicine, allopathy, which acted hegemonically. The article describes the path that cholera traveled to reach Grão-Pará and the ensuing scourge of Belém. Data are presented on mortality, the social context of the event, health-care knowledge, and, especially, cholera in the province. This analysis of the repercussion of curative arts in the fight against cholera also describes the aid offered to the population and specific curative practices, particularly those used by specialists in folk medicine