Bucho encostado

The ailment known by this name in Madeira seems to be due to a torsion or spasm of the intestine, and is usually treated by the healers through repeated friction with the hand greased with olive oil, accompanied by the following words, which must be said nine times: just as the myrtle opened and closed again, so this is true. May Our Lord put this stomach, this belly, this coelheira in its place. After a brief rest, the healer says nine times: little coelheira, go to your place, stomach, go to your place. The patient remains lying on his back while being massaged.

The treatment ends with the healer pouring oil or lard on two cabbage leaves heated over the fire, placing one on the patient's belly and the other on the opposite region, generally a little above the coccyx. If the leaves appear dry on the day after the treatment, it means the stomach was displaced; if they appear green or wilted, the stomach was in place, and then the patient must resort to other means to seek relief for his suffering.

The ridiculous aspect of the treatment we have just described lies in the words the healer utters in order, it seems, to force the stomach back into place; as for the frictions or massages, we dare not contest their effectiveness, either because numerous cases of healing obtained through them are cited, or because medicine also considers them useful in ailments stemming from the causes we mentioned earlier.