THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. 



Br. — is given as a strong infusion, com- 

 bined with senna and wild indigo. The 

 latter article, by the way, is used as an 

 antiseptic, and has excellent drying 

 properties in the treatment of eczema 

 humidum, or "weeping eczema." One 

 of the commonest drugs with them, and 

 which is to be seen hanging up to dry in 

 every wigwam or tepee, is the wekas or 

 sweet flag — the calamus of the Pharma- 

 copoeia. It is considered a specific in all 

 throat troubles with the exception of 

 diphtheria, which is unknown to them. 

 In cases of pharyngitis and tonsilitis it 

 is used externally and internally. The 

 rhizome is chewed and the saliva allowed 

 to wash the throat. Poultices are made 

 by mixing the powder with boiling 

 water. It is a curious fact that the In- 

 dians are not only ignorant of gargles, 

 but of the act of gargling, and Mr. 

 Strath has been amused time and again 

 in his efforts to get a Cree to gargle. 

 This drug is carried about by the natives 

 in the winter time as a tonic, and is 

 chewed because of its stimulating prop- 

 erties by the Indians as tobacco is chewed 

 by the white — or should we say, more 

 correctly, by the civilized — man ? Most 

 of their medicines are in the form of in- 

 fusions. Very little is known about the 

 salts, and it was with the greatest diffi- 

 culty that the officer could persuade a 

 patient to take Epsom salts, in conse- 

 quence of a deep-rooted suspicion that 

 the magnesium sulphate will produce in- 

 flammation of the bowels. Pills, no 

 matter how strong, are swallowed ad 

 libitum. Podophyllum peltatum, or man- 

 drake, is taken in doses of 20 grains. 

 Carui fructus, or the common caraway, 

 is indigenous to this country, and is the 

 common remedy for colic, a complaint 

 perhaps more frequent and more stub- 

 born than with us. 



BLUE COHOSH, AN ABORTIFACIENT. 



Another indigenous plant, and one 

 which grows in that latitude in great 

 profusion is the caulophyllum, or the blue 

 cohosh, also known by the name of pap- 

 poose root, squaw root or blueberry root. 

 It is used very largely in obstetrics and 

 all female complaints. In doses of 30 to 

 60 grains the powdered rhizome is given 

 to produce abortion ; but the Crees have 

 a powder which they mix with the co- 

 hosh, and when thus administered Mr. 

 Strath has known more than one instance 

 where a three-months foetus has been ex- 

 pelled from uterus without ensuing dan- 

 ger to the mother. He even goes so far 

 as to say that abortion procured in this 

 manner precludes all possibility of future 

 conception. This powder they never 

 allowed Mr. Strath to see, and, in spite 

 of his offer of $50 for a small sample, 

 the secret has been kept profoundly 

 sacred. Menstruation at the age of 

 eleven years is the rule, and he considers 

 it a remarkable fact in a cold country 

 where the thermometer often registers 50 

 degrees below zero. 



DRUGS COMMONLY USED. 



Ladies' slipper, the cypripedium of 

 the Pharmacopoeia, imported from the 

 tribes to the south, is chiefly used in 

 rheumatism in very large doses. It is 

 also used in the treatment of epilepsy, 

 but this disease is of rare occurrence. 



As an aromatic stimulant hedeoma, or 

 pennyroyal, is as much used by the Cree 

 women, and in a similar manner, as by 

 our own people. 



Plantago, or plantain, is used com- 

 monly as a hemostatic, and is chewed by 

 the doctor and applied as a paste to the 

 bleeding surface. This drug is also their 

 remedy for toothache It is not put in 

 the aching tooth, but is swallowed. 



