Browse:Ground Puppies (Volume 1, entries 578)
Ground Puppies
Volume 1, entries 578. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → DIAGNOSIS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 578
She [the informant's aunt] lingered along sick an' she sent to get a man from de South to come up here an' see about it. Well, when he came it wus too late; she had a hole in her back. He told her that she wus cunjured an' he would begun to verked [worked] on 'er. An' he told 'er dat it would be insex that came from 'er body. The first he got wus a snake, an' nex' he got two crabs. An' then he begin to doctor on her again. An' he told her dat some [ground] puppies would be [in her], an' told her if de puppies came out an' didn't look back an' bark at her, dat he could cure 'er; but if dey came out an' looked back an' bark at her, he wouldn't cure 'er. So the first one came out an' he vent runnin' on out de door into de front; de nex' one came out, he went runnin' out de door into de front; an' de nex' one came out, he got fer as de front doah an' looked back at her an' bark. An' in ten minutes after that she wus dead. So they took de puppies an' put 'em in some alcohol. [Wilmington, N. Car., (205), 197:3.] [Ground puppy = the hellbender, aquatic salamander (Cryptobranchus allenganiensis), common in streams of Ohio Valley and up to 18 inches.] 1