Article Nº 2319 Folk medicine Vol. II · pp. 664–667
Fainting or syncope
Original title: Desmaios ou sincopes
Rural treatment of fainting: smelling vinegar or a dirty boot, mustard plasters and foot baths, formerly bloodletting, and cupping for apoplexy.
If fainting comes from weakness or from disorders of the digestive functions, it is customary to make the patient smell vinegar, or the boot of someone who takes little care to keep his feet clean. If it comes from more serious causes, mustard plasters on the legs and hot foot baths are resorted to until the doctor arrives. In the days when there were bloodletters in Madeira, bleeding was often practised to bring the patient round. There are women healers who know how to apply cupping glasses properly in cases of apoplexy.