proceedings: anthropological society 49 



of manhood. The peyotl, or teonanacatl, called by Bancroft the "flesh 

 of the gods," was used by the Aztecs in nocturnal feasts, very much as 

 it is still used by Indians of the Mexican Sierra Madre and by certain 

 tribes of the United States, who believe the visions induced by it to 

 be supernatural. In ancient times a supply of this little narcotic 

 plant was obtained by runners especially consecrated for the purpose, 

 and its gathering was attended by a most formal ceremony. At the 

 present day it is sent from the locality where it grows, along the Rio 

 Grande, by means of parcel post. Lastly, the ceremonial and religious 

 use of picietl, or tobacco, goes back to remote antiquity. No other 

 narcotic plant, perhaps, has become so widely spread or so generally 

 used and beloved by its votaries. Though of subtropical origin its 

 cultivation had extended before the Discovery as far north as the St. 

 Lawrence River. Beautiful pipes of many forms, representing birds, 

 mammals, human heads, etc. have been discovered in Indian mounds 

 near the native city of the speaker, Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio; 

 and more recently in Scioto county farther to the south. 



In addition to the aboye plants may be mentioned a certain small 

 scarlet bean, the seed of Sophora secuncl /flora, endemic in northern Mexico 

 and southern Texas. This also has narcotic properties, and was so much 

 sought after by certain tribes of Indians that they have been known 

 to exchange a pony for a string of the beans 6 feet in length. In one of 

 the secret societies of the Iowa Indians this bean is used in the initiating 

 ceremonial ; the beans are carried as charms or amulets by the members 

 of the society, just as in western Mexico fragments of the peyotl, 

 and in southern California parts of the Datura, are carried by their 

 votaries, who believe them to be efficacious against danger and to bring 

 good luck in hunting and war. It is interesting to note a similar practice 

 in the Old World of carrying the root of Mandragora (or a substitute 

 for it) as an amulet ; but most interesting of all is the similarity between 

 the beliefs and practices of the inhabitants of the Old World and the 

 New, in connection with narcotic and other plants held to possess magic 

 properties. The lantern slides used to illustrate the lecture were 

 photographs of the various magic plants discussed. 



This paper was discussed by Mr. James Mooney, who for a number 

 of years has given special study to the subject of peyotl. Mr. Mooney 

 defended those who are devoted to the peyotl ceremony and claimed 

 that, in most cases, the assertions made against the plant and its users 

 are based upon ignorance of the facts and are without foundation. 



The 502nd meeting of the Society was held at the New National 

 Museum on Tuesday afternoon, November 21, 1916, at 4.30 o'clock. 

 Mr. Neil M. Judd, of the U. S. National Museum, presented a paper 

 on New types of Pueblo ruins found in western Utah, illustrating his 

 paper with chalk drawings. 



Mr. Judd described a recent archeological reconnaissance of western 

 Utah conducted under the auspices of the Bureau of American Eth- 

 nology, stating that this resulted in the discovery of two types of pre- 



