44 [76] TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



other plants was made by the oracle of the plants' "singing." 

 This forcibly reminds us of the following passage in Philostratus, 

 Apollonius of Tyana : "Was not Esculapius the son of Apollo? 

 and was it not through his oracles that he discovered the several 

 remedies for diseases, and herbs for wounds?" Cf. Jour. Roy. 

 Asiat. Soc'y, xvii. p. 9S. 



MiKO huyani'dsha (or huyani'tcha), popularly interpreted by 

 "king physic," is a tree or shrub, the roots of which were made 

 to act as an emetic. Dr. Baldwin, who visited the Creek Agency 

 in 1 81 2 or 1S13, declared it to be the dwarf willow. Pickering, 

 Hist, of Plants, p. 777, makes it Salix tristis; "the root bruised 

 in a watery infusion as a tonic, becoming an emetic when used 

 freely." Hence Mr. W. R. Gerard concludes that it was either 

 Salix tristis Ait., or more pi'obably Salix humilis Marshall, both 

 having been used as medicines. A legend states that it was given 

 by the hayayalgi (q.v.) to the Kasi'hta, Kawita, etc., and was in- 

 tended to belong- to some particular gens. It belongs to the four- 

 teen plants serving as ingredients for the war-physic prepared on 

 the last day of the Kasijta busk, and was drunk in an infusion or 

 mixture during four days in the council-house by warriors before 

 starting on the war-path (Hawkins, pp. 77-82). The legend men- 

 tions it as "Micoweanochaw, red-root," as the second medicinal 

 herb discovered by the migrating tribe. 



SowATCHKO is described by Mrs. A. E. W. Robertson as "an 

 herb about three feet high, with blue flowers about an inch in 

 length, having a root with a bitter taste." W. R. Gerard thinks 

 it is the blueJJag^ Iris versicolor L., the root of which was used 

 by the Southern Indians for dropsy in combination with the 

 buttonsnake-root or pa'ssa. The root, which is very bitter, was 

 eaten by the young warriors for four days before starting on the 

 war-path, and had an intoxicating and maddening effect. Boys 

 also ate the root and drank the infusion during the year of ini- 

 tiation ; cf. vol. I, p. 185; Hawkins, pp. 78, 79. The modern 

 Creeks, who used this potion in their busk up to recent times, 

 state that its preparation lasted eight days, and that only a few 

 persons were allowed to drink of it. — In the legend the plant is 

 mentioned as " sowatchko, which grows like wild fennel," and 

 was one of the four plants which disclosed their virtues by sing- 



