Embates entre a medicina popular e acadêmica no século XIX e o caso das águas “Santas” em Santa Maria da boca do monte / RS.

Abstract

In this work we will present some considerations about the healing practices carried out by the southern population of Brazil in the second half of the nineteenth century in a water fountain. As spread healing news operated by the waters seen as "holy" in Santa Maria da Boca do Monte (RS), increased the number of people who sought. In the summer of 1849 the number of these people was nine thousand, coming from various regions of Brazil and also from neighboring countries to treat their illnesses. The great movement of people across the region attracted the government's attention, and the medical profession who have sent their representatives to see what was happening and what were the practices in pursuit of health restoration. The objective of this work is to analyze the different views produced on the water "holy" of Santa Maria da Boca do Monte and the behavior of the people there went. Thus, we seek to better understand the healing practices of the southern population of Brazil in the mid-nineteenth century and the positioning of academic physicians in relation to such procedures.