DECREPIT, ANEMIC AND TUBERCULOUS: AFRICAN PATIENTS IN THE SANTA CASA DE MISERICÓRDIA HOSPITAL (BAHIA, BRAZIL, 1867-1872)

Abstract In this article, I consider the question of illnesses of Africans living in Salvador in the 1870s using the entry records of patients of the Santa Casa de Misericórdia hospital, in Bahia, unpublished sources found in the archive of the institution. Although we imagine that many of these foreigners sought - for cultural and religious reasons - alternative cure methods rather than official medicine, often diseases did not improve, and it was frequently necessary to go to the hospital to deal with the terrible physical ailments that affected them. When considering this important moment in the life of Africans in Brazil - that of dealing with serious illness - the entry records are a privileged source. The intention is to consider, based on the initial sample, ways of analyzing the presence of Africans in the Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Bahia, to get closer to who they were and how they lived. The data indicates, in addition to their names, ages, condition, marital status, profession, colour and nationality, the problems with which the patients arrived, the exact date of check-in, the ward that they were taken to and the precise date of check-out, or if it was the case, of death. Additionally, I consider the medical conceptions of the 19th century regarding diseases of Africans, as well as the conditions of functioning of the institution itself, related to part of the vast bibliography about the theme of the health of slaves. The article concludes with the narrative of life of one African, speculating about the possibilities and directions that he could have taken throughout his life, which were common to the majority of Africans in Bahia then.摘要 本文依托巴伊亚州圣卡萨德米塞里科迪亚医院（Santa Casa de Misericórdia）馆藏的未刊患者入院档案，探讨19世纪70年代居住在巴西萨尔瓦多的非洲裔群体的患病问题。尽管我们推测，这批外籍人士出于文化与宗教考量，更倾向于选择替代疗法而非正统医学，但不少患者的病情并未得到改善，往往不得不前往医院诊治自身所受的严重躯体疾患。在探讨巴西非洲裔群体直面重症这一人生重要节点时，入院档案堪称珍贵的一手史料。 本文旨在基于初始样本，梳理巴伊亚州圣卡萨德米塞里科迪亚医院非洲裔患者的分析路径，以期更深入地还原这一群体的身份与生活样貌。该档案数据不仅记录了患者的姓名、年龄、病情、婚姻状况、职业、肤色与国籍，还包含其就诊时的症状、精确入院日期、收治病房、准确出院日期，若患者身故则记录其死亡日期。此外，本文结合学界关于奴隶健康议题的大量相关文献，探讨19世纪学界对非洲裔群体患病的医学认知，以及该医院自身的运营状况。 本文最后以一位非洲裔的人生叙事收尾，结合当时巴伊亚州多数非洲裔群体的普遍境遇，推测其一生可能的人生轨迹与发展方向。