GRASSES. 311 
dexterously changed about from hand to hand at the will of the manip- 
ulators or the command of their opponents, who are seated opposite 
to them. One of the bones in each pair is marked by a band of black 
thread, and it is the object of the opponents to guess in which hand 
this bone is concealed. Any number of persons may bet on the game, 
but not more than four do the playing. It has long been the favorite 
way of gambling, but recently the authorities at Round Valley have 
forbidden its continuance. [tis still played by the Indians who are 
not under such direct governmental control. 
The fresh leaves of any kind of grass were formerly used in tattoo- 
ing, the green juice being pricked into the skin with a needle or with 
the sharp awl-like leaves of the California nutmeg. The finer grasses 
were also formerly used, together with dry oak leaves, for tinder in the 
process of making a fire by friction. 
Avena fatua I..! 
Si-me'-ya (Yokia, or perhaps the Spanish name, semilla).—‘* Wild 
oats,” a grass which is common throughout. the country, and which is 
supposed by some to be that from which our cultivated oats (Avena 
sativa) originally sprang. Many botanists claim that this is native 
only to the Mediterranean region of Europe, but the Pomos claim that 
they were acquainted with it and that they used the seed for food long 
before the Spaniards settled the country; and, in fact, one tribe of the 
Pomo stock—the Potter Valley Indians used to be called Bal-la' 17 
Pomos, ** Ba/-/o' 47” meaning Oat Valley. As pointed out in a letter 
from Mr. Davy, however, it is quite probable that this name really 
refers to the ‘California wild-oat @rass” (Danthonia californica), a 
robust species which resembles the true wild oat, but is of a lower 
habit. Although now largely exterminated from Potter Valley and 
the surrounding country by stock, this grass was formerly very 
abundant there. The fact that the wild oat is, even at the present 
day, absent from localities in this same region to which men and stock 
have not had ready access is a strong indication that it is not native to 
California. In fact, the general distribution of lec futua through- 
out California indicates that it is not indigenous, 
The seed is hard and slender, and so sharp-pointed and hairy that 
its use for food is altogether uninviting and, to the uninitiated, appar- 
ently dangerous, but it is consumed by the Indians in large quantities. 
The process of gathering wild oats and of converting them into flour 
is the same as that employed in obtaining flour or meal from the seeds 
of many other plants,and may therefore well be described here as 
typical. 
1 For assistance in the identification of the grasses ] am indebted to Mr. J. Burtt 
Davy, of the University of California, and to Mr. J. G. Smith, formerly of this 
Department. 
