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stomachs. Nearly related to the preceding is P. Coulteri of the 
coast ranges south of San Francisco, with stout, long, strongly 
incurved cone-spines, and somewhat smaller but equally pala- 
table seeds. 
Another genus of Conifers, /wniperus, contains three species 
whose fruit deserves mention: //. occidentalis Hook., with its 
several varieties, extending from Texas to the Northern Pacific 
coast; /. Californica Carr. of Southern California, with a variety 
extending to Utah and Nevada; /. pachyphloca Torr. of Western 
Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, apparently merging into /. 
Mexicana Schl. of Northern Mexico. They all bear abundant 
globose greenish or copper-colored berries with a mealy, resinous 
and not very unpalatable taste. Those of the last-named species 
are the largest (often half inch in diameter) and best ; I have eaten 
them, not greedily, but without repugnance. Mexicans and In- 
dians consume large quantities of these berries and make them 
into abread which, Dr. Palmer says, is of “ chaffy and saw-dust 
consistency.” According to the same authority this bread con- 
tains the following constituents which would indicate unexpected 
nutritiousness: Water 14.34, protein compounds 5.69, starch 
17.87, sugar 10.66, 
Another fruit of much importance to the Indians is that from 
many of our Oaks. Acorns contain starch, fixed oil, citric acid and 
sugar, as well as astringent and bitter principles. They are some- 
times sweet enough to be eaten raw without preparation, but it is 
generally necessary to rid them of their bitter principle ; this is 
done by shelling and skinning, then pounding them into meal and 
washing thoroughly in water; the meal is then ready for boiling 
into mush or baking into*cake or bread. Not long’ago’l received 
specimens of Quercus Garryana from Fort Gaston, in Northern 
California, with the information that the acorns were still a com- 
mon article of food among the Hoopah and other Indians of that 
reservation. To remove the bitterness they place the meal in @ 
hole dug in wet sand, so that in gathering it up more or less sand 
is unavoidably mixed with it, enough to have a decided effect 
upon the teeth. My informant, a medical officer, tells me that he 
has seen an Indian 45 years old with the crowns of his otherwise 
healthy teeth half gone, while, in Indians 60 years old, itis not un- 
common to see all the teeth worn down, even with the gums. 
