332. PLANTS USED BY INDIANS OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CAL. 
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together at one end to another band which served to girdle the gar- 
ment over the loins. A portion of the inner bark was also used by 
the Indians as a substitute for chewing tobacco. It was gathered in 
quantity at the proper season, dried, powdered in a mortar, and thus 
preserved for future use. One white man who had learned to use it 
many years ago told me that he still preferred it to tobacco, although 
he was also fond of the latter article. The dried and powdered leaves 
are also sometimes mixed with tobacco and used for smoking. 
Very considerable use is made of the bark in medicine. A strong 
decoction is used externally as a wash for the itch; internally it is used 
asa tea to cure the chills and fever, and in large quantities to cause 
profuse sweating in almost any disease. The root bark is preferred 
in the latter case. An infusion of the leaves is said to be useful in 
checking diarrhea, The Pomo name given by Dr. Hudson for the 
tree is be-hé. 
BETULACEAE. Birch Family. 
Alnus rhombifolia Nutt. 
Un'-se (Yuki). —The common mountain alder of the region, a large 
tree, 30 to 50 feet in height, with smooth white bark and velvety g@lu- 
tinous leaves. It grows along the larger mountain streams and in wet 
places generally, a little clump of the trees frequently marking the 
presence of springs, which are often known as alder springs. 
The bark is very astringent and somewhat bitter, and contains a 
peculiar dyestuff. A decoction is made of the fresh or dried bark 
which is used copiously to produce perspiration, as a blood puritier, 
and sometimes to check diarrhea caused by drinking bad water. In 
appropriate doses it is used to allay stomach ache, to facilitate child- 
birth, and as a cure for consumption by checking hemorrhages. For 
the latter purposes it is claimed to be ‘* better than doctor’s medicines.” 
Mixed with Indian tobacco it is used to produce emesis. 
The fresh bark is used occasionally to color basket material, and was 
formerly used to a slight extent to color deerskins, the color being 
imparted in some way by the smoke or perhaps the vapors from the 
slowly burning bark. A still more novel use of the dyestuff consists 
in the practice formerly made by the Wailaki Indians of chewing 
the fresh bark and coloring their bodies with the red saliva for the 
purpose of facilitating the capture of the red-fleshed salmon, which, 
during the spawning season, run up the rivers and large streams in 
immense numbers. The color, which is somewhat resistant to water 
after having been thoroughly dried on, is supposed to favor the success 
of a big catch. The fish are driven into the nets by naked Indians. 
The trick is believed to be one, as the chief of the tribe explained, 
which was first made use of by the crafty coyote. 
Arrows were sometimes made out of the young shoots, and the soft 
