THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



of amulet-weuring among those people, and had worn it about 

 his neck ! No matter how precious it was, it would tlien have been 

 left untouched. The dead of battle may be stripped of every gar- 

 ment or ornament but that about the neck. No doubt the j)riceless 

 talisman of centuries is now the choicest decoration in some neck 

 ornament of claws and teeth and feathers. The most interesting- 

 charm of the American Indians is the " medicine." This may be al- 

 most anything to which the superstitious barbarian attributes some 

 supernatural jjower. Commonly it is the skin of some animal. In 

 many tribes, the boy who is approaching manhood withdraw^s to 

 the woods or to some lonely place, where he undergoes a long fast. 

 Weakened by his abstinence, he falls into a slumber, in which he 

 dreams of some animal. With recovered consciousness he hunts 

 for an individiuil of this species, kills it, and with great care re- 

 moves the skin. This is his " medicine," and to increase its power 

 various articles may be inclosed within it. To part with his medi- 

 cine would be most unlucky; worn or carried upon the person, it 

 serves as a powerful protector. We once purchased a medicine- 

 bag from a Fox Indian. Its 

 original owner was dead. It 

 was kept in a small pouch of 

 worsted, and consisted of the 

 skin of a mole, carefully tied 

 up and containing five different 

 kinds of roots and barks. One 

 of the most intelligent Indians 

 in the tribe refused to look at 

 the contents, assuring us that 

 it would cause him bad luck, 

 and was disrespect to the man 

 whose protector it had formerly 

 been. Among many Moham- 

 medans we find amulets worn 

 which consist of little pouches 

 containing strips of parchment, 

 on which are written jiassages 

 from the Koran. This suggests 

 certain practices of the Jews, 

 both ancient and modern. One 

 evening we had occasion to have a little Russian Jew boy try on 

 some garments. Several of his young friends came with him. 

 When he had removed his jacket and shirt, one of the boys eager- 

 ly called our attention to a queer little knitted garment worn over 

 the undershirt. At its four corners hung bits of blue worsted twist- 

 ed into a sort of tassel. The garment had little corner pockets into 

 which these blue twists might be tucked. " Did you ever see that 



-Terra-cotta Ukai 



