Report of Use of Skullcap Herb as Folk Remedy to Treat Rabies in Pelham Manor in the Early 19th Century

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During the first years of the 19th century, Pelham was a very rural place.  The Town, created by Act of the New York State Legislature in 1788, encompassed not only its present territory, but also all of today's Pelham Bay Park and islands in Long Island Sound including City Island.  Its population was a little more than 200 souls.  Nearly the entire region consisted of farmland and self-sustaining estates and orchards where produce was grown to sustain families and to sell to the nearby New York City markets.  

Physicians, of course, were few and far between.  Moreover, the state of medicine at the time was little better than medieval times and nothing like the modern medical industry on which we rely today.

Even in Pelham, folk medicine based on oral traditions rather than rigorous scientific practices (typically using indigenous plants as traditional "cures" or "remedies") was the rule.  Additionally, for some ailments there really were not yet effective treatments.  That left traditional folk medicine as the only hope for the afflicted.

One of the most horrific and gruesome afflictions for which there was no meaningfully effective remedy at that time was rabies, also known as hydrophobia.  In the early 19th century, rabies cases virtually always resulted in death.  Indeed, it was not until 1885 that Louis Pasteur and Émile Roux developed the first effective rabies vaccine and used it for the first time on a human to save the life of nine-year-old Joseph Meister who had been mauled by a rabid dog.  Indeed, not long after the ground-breaking work of Pasteur and Roux, a Pelham woman bitten by a rabid dog hustled overseas to be treated by Pasteur.  See Thu., Aug. 10, 2017:  Bitten by a Dog Showing Rabies Symptoms, Pelham Woman Traveled to Europe to See Pasteur.

According to one newspaper account published in 1811, a small "mad dog" infected with rabies rampaged through a home in Pelham Manor (as the region often then was called) in about 1806 and bit twelve members of the same family.  The same dog also bit two hogs at the same time.  Fearing rabies, the hogs were locked away and, indeed, reportedly died of hydrophobia.

With no meaningful alternative, the twelve Pelham residents reportedly were treated with a folk remedy.  They were administered an herb referenced as "scullcap."  The herb actually is referenced colloquially as "skullcap," a member the genus "Scutellaria" that includes flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae.  According to one source:  "The generic name is derived from the Latin scutella, meaning "a small dish, tray or platter," or "little dish," referring to the shape of the calyx.  The common name [i.e., skullcap] alludes to the resemblance of the same structure to "miniature medieval helmets."  Source:  Scutellaria in Wikipedia -- The Free Encyclopedia (visited Apr. 1, 2018).

The version of Skullcap used to treat such cases of hydrophobia in the early years of the 19th century in America typically was Scutellaria lateriflora.  Although there seems to be no known scientific basis to believe that this Skullcap is the least bit effective in treating rabies, the plant is known to demonstrate "anxiolytic activity" in humans, meaning it can inhibit anxiety -- certainly some small benefit for anyone bitten by a rabid dog and facing likely death at the time.

In 1811, a civic-minded citizen wrote to a New York newspaper to reveal for the benefit of "all who may have the misfortune to be bit by a mad dog" what he believed to be a closely-guarded secret known only to a few physicians in the region.  The "secret" was that skullcap was an effective treatment for rabies.  In support of his contention, the gentleman claimed:

"Among many others the following deserves special mention.  About five years ago, if my memory serves me, a mad dog at Pelham Manor, being a small favourite, and running about the house, bit no less than 12 persons, in one family; to these the scullcap [sic] was administered by Lewis, without delay, and no one ever experienced the least inconvenience; two hogs in the neighborhood, were also bit by the same dog, at the same time, which were shut up, but nothing was administered; both of them went made and died of the hydrophobia."

Research has revealed no account of the mad dog incident that the man claimed occurred in Pelham in about 1806.  Either the account was fabricated or twelve members of a single Pelham family experienced a modern miracle and survived the bite of a mad dog . . . . . 

An Example of One Plant Referenced as a Skullcap,

Scutellaria Pekinensis.  Source:  Wikipedia.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"Mad Dogs. -- From the morning papers we learn that several persons have lately been bitten by mad dogs in this city.  A number of cows, hogs and horses have been bitten, some of which have died with hydrophobia.

I feel it to be my duty to inform the public on this occasion, and I hesitate not to take upon myself the responsibility of doing so, that all who may have the misfortune to be bit by a mad dog, may be certain of a cure, by application to Mr. Jesse Lewis living in Mamaroneck, county of West Chester.  His father, who is now dead, obtained the knowledge of the remedy, from a Dr. Vanderveer, an elderly physician of New Jersey, many years since, and for a trifle made the secret known to Mr. Robert Bowne, of this city:  it is the plant commonly called scullcap [sic], if timely administered, that is, any time before the appearance of hydrophobia, has never been known to fail.  The editor has the less hesitation in confidently recommending this remedy to the public because striking instances of its success have fallen within his personal knowledge.  Among many others the following deserves special mention.  About five years ago, if my memory serves me, a mad dog at Pelham Manor, being a small favourite, and running about the house, bit no less than 12 persons, in one family; to these the scullcap [sic] was administered by Lewis, without delay, and no one ever experienced the least inconvenience; two hogs in the neighborhood, were also bit by the same dog, at the same time, which were shut up, but nothing was administered; both of them went made and died of the hydrophobia.

A more particular account of the virtues of the herb called scullcap [sic], with an engraving of the plant, may be found in the Med. Repertory published in February last. -- New York Evening Post."

Source:  Mad Dogs, The Raleigh Minerva [Raleigh, NC], Jun. 14, 1811, Vol. 16, No. 793, p. 4, col. 3.

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