Medicine in Virginia, 1607-1699

The study traces medical beliefs and practices transplanted from seventeenth-century Europe to early Virginia and contrasts them with Native American remedies, then examines epidemic and nutritional crises that shaped early settlements, detailing illnesses encountered at Jamestown and common treatments such as bloodletting, clysters, vomitives, and remedies for scurvy. It surveys patterns of health care across the century, including the roles of women, clergy, legal frameworks, and limited formal education for practitioners, and concludes by considering how environment, shortage, and cultural exchange altered clinical practice and public health in the colony.