uctive aspects. Unlike Cannon, Nimiendaju offers no analysis of the process whereby the magical individual in his account brings about the cure of a six-year-old girl's dysentery. Nimiendaju simply repeats what the healer tells him about the sickness and the healing, and includes his own observations of the process. Nimiendaju is an objective reporter, not an analyst as Cannon is, so we have much less to work with in his story than we do with Cannon's in terms of applying it to a larger context.
Essentially, Cannon seeks to discover if "voodoo death" is the "fatal outcome from profound emotional strain" (Cannon 372). Cannon does not doubt that the individuals under the curse of a voodoo practitioner are genuinely sickened and even die. He examines the historical record and discovers many accounts made by Western physicians and scientists who clearly conclude that voodoo is real and is not a matter of poison being administered to the ailing or dying individual.
What Cannon then seeks is knowledge of the actual process whereby this sickness and death occur. Even more importantly, he wants to show that the measurable elements of the process give it an actuality which connects it to the stress, anxiety, fear and shock which can occur in any society. For example, he suggests that the modern hospital can be as intimidating and stress-creating as a vood
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