THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. 



them, and he ventures to say that eight 

 out of every ten Crees are ruptured. 



Skin diseases of all kinds are there, 

 and are treated with an ointment made 

 of equal parts of gun powder and lard. 



Sturgeon oil is used instead of cod 

 liver oil and is clarified until it becomes 

 the color of tincture of capsicum. In 

 one ounce doses, which are considered 

 large, it acts as a cathartic. 



An infusion of wild raspberry leaves 

 combined with willow bark is an excel- 

 lent remedy for cholera infantum, prompt- 

 ly administered, but there are a great 

 many deaths from diarrhoea. In that 

 latitude, and in all degrees north of 54, 

 a very large raspberry grows which is 

 called the " headberry " by the Indians ; 

 its botanical name is rubus arcticus. The 

 berry is found at the head of the stem, 

 two feet in height. 



A FEATURE OF INDIAN SUPERSTITION. 

 Rumex, or yellow dock, is well known 

 and used extensively as a laxative and 

 for poultices. In any critical case of ill- 

 ness, the medicine man of the tribe is 

 called in and is required to say whether 

 or not the patient will recover. This 

 skilful fakir has a powder resembling 

 powdered rhubarb in appearance. This 

 he places on the surface of a saucerful 

 of water. The powder in a moment or 

 two spreads out into rays either to the 

 east or west. If to the former point of 

 the compass, the victim will die ; if to 

 the latter, which invariably happens, re- 

 covery is promised. It is quite likely 

 that a promise of such a nature materi- 



ally] helps the patient by buoying him 

 up and by inspiring him with hope. So 

 much for one feature of Indian supersti- 

 tion. 



INDIAN REVENGE. 



Indian revenge, or rather that of the 

 Northern Cree in particular, is, if true, 

 of the most shocking character. It is 

 said that if a Cree wishes to punish an- 

 other severely he does it by disfiguring 

 him for life, by introducing an almost 

 tasteless compound into his tea or to- 

 bacco — generally into his tea, which he 

 drinks strong and in great quantities. 

 This vile compound is made up of twen- 

 ty-seven vegetable and animal drugs. 

 The victim feels no ill effects at the time 

 of taking it, but in the course of two or 

 three months the skin begins to peel, a 

 rash breaks out and spreads over the en- 

 tire body. Subsequently the skin grad- 

 ually darkens to black, and on the ex- 

 posed parts the hair grows so thickly as 

 to give the unhappy Indian the appear- 

 ance of a baboon. He never recovers. 

 There is no romance about this, I am 

 assured, for there are at least half a dozen 

 cases of the kind to be found in the 

 country at this day. 



The most fatal poison is the wild car- 

 rot. These Indians have a fashion of 

 boasting among themselves of their 

 ability of poisoning their enemies at 

 various distances. Just imagine an In- 

 dian polishing off an enemy at a distance 

 of five miles by a wild carrot ? 



THE BRUSSELS CONGRESS. 



At the concluding general meeting of 

 members of the Pharmaceutical Congress 

 held in Brussels last August, the General 

 Secretary, M. Duyk, read a report of the 

 resolutions passed in reference to the 



several subjects which had been dis- 

 cussed. An official draft of these resolu- 

 tions has now been issued, and from it 

 we extract the following particulars. 

 In regard to pharmacutical education 



