---
title: A pint of blood to reduce the pulse, then ten grains of calomel, fol… — Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the… · tree and pragmatics
description: A pint of blood to reduce the pulse, then ten grains of calomel, followed in the morning by half a teacup of castor-oil containing three or four drops of turpentine to impart additional potency to the dose, and finally snake-root tea to brace up the halting system, constituted the practice in vogue 
---

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# Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular, Opening, part 12, sentence 113

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A pint of blood to reduce the pulse, then ten grains of calomel, followed in the morning by half a teacup of castor-oil containing three or four drops of turpentine to impart additional potency to the dose, and finally snake-root tea to brace up the halting system, constituted the practice in vogue in cases of ordinary fever.

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**Who acts:** pint, castor oil, halting system · **What happens:** reduce, follow, contain, impart, brace up, constitute · **To what, where:** pulse, ten grains, three drops, additional potency, halting system, practice

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This is a sentence of «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Opening, part 12. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (pint, castor oil, halting system), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg76586:12:113
# text = A pint of blood to reduce the pulse, then ten grains of calomel, followed in the morning by half a teacup of castor-oil containing three or four drops of turpentine to impart additional potency to the dose, and finally snake-root tea to brace up the halting system, constituted the practice in vogue in cases of ordinary fever.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pint	pint	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	blood	blood	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	nmod	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	reduce	reduce	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	pulse	pulse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
10	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	12	advmod	_	_
11	ten	ten	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	12	nummod	_	_
12	grains	grain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obl	_	_
13	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	calomel	calomel	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	followed	follow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	acl	_	_
17	in	in	ADP	IN	_	19	case	_	_
18	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	morning	morning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
20	by	by	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
21	half	half	DET	PDT	NumForm=Word|NumType=Frac|PronType=Ind	23	det:predet	_	_
22	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	teacup	teacup	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
25	castor	castor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	25	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	oil	oil	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	_
28	containing	contain	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	27	acl	_	_
29	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	32	nummod	_	_
30	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
31	four	four	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	29	conj	_	_
32	drops	drop	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	obj	_	_
33	of	of	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
34	turpentine	turpentine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	32	nmod	_	_
35	to	to	PART	TO	_	36	mark	_	_
36	impart	impart	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	advcl	_	_
37	additional	additional	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
38	potency	potency	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obj	_	_
39	to	to	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	dose	dose	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	48	punct	_	_
43	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	48	cc	_	_
44	finally	finally	ADV	RB	_	48	advmod	_	_
45	snake	snake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	45	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
47	root	root	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	48	compound	_	_
48	tea	tea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	parataxis	_	_
49	to	to	PART	TO	_	50	mark	_	_
50	brace	brace	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	48	acl	_	_
51	up	up	ADP	RP	_	50	compound:prt	_	_
52	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	54	det	_	_
53	halting	halting	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	54	compound	_	_
54	system	system	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	56	punct	_	_
56	constituted	constitute	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	54	acl	_	_
57	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	58	det	_	_
58	practice	practice	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	obj	_	_
59	in	in	ADP	IN	_	60	case	_	_
60	vogue	vogue	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	obl	_	_
61	in	in	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
62	cases	case	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	56	obl	_	_
63	of	of	ADP	IN	_	65	case	_	_
64	ordinary	ordinary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	65	amod	_	_
65	fever	fever	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	62	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
66	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **reduce** | to-infinitive | a pint of blood | the pulse |  |  |  | ten grains of calomel *obl*; snake root tea *parataxis* | vn limit-76 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer pulse=Patient |
| 2 | **follow** | participle |  | ten grains of calomel *not said here* |  |  | morning | by half teacup of castor oil | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme by teacup=Location |
| 3 | **contain** | gerund | castor oil *not said here* | three drops of turpentine |  |  |  |  | vn comprise-107.2-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot drop=Theme |
| 4 | **impart** | to-infinitive | castor oil *not said here* | additional potency |  |  |  | to the dose | tree rules |
| 5 | **brace up** | to-infinitive | a pint of blood *not said here* | the halting system |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **constitute** | participle | the halting system *not said here* | the practice |  | vogue |  | in cases of ordinary fever | vn comprise-107.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme practice=Pivot |

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One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

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**Text:** «Negro myths from the Georgia coast, told in the vernacular» by Charles C., Jr. Jones, Project Gutenberg book 76586 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order.

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