FOOD AXD FIBER PLANTS OF THE INDIANS. 31 



character, and were open to be made, "with a little tact, by every sharp 

 eye and clear head. The English can also furnish lis Avilh the model 

 for this participation of unprofessional persons in the observation of 

 Nature. Not only their many colonies, their residencies, and their do- 

 mains, in the farthest parts of the globe, permit individuals to make 

 numerous new and valuable observations, but there are also in England 

 numbers of wealthy persons who, having no official positions, are ani- 

 mated by a spontaneous scientific enthusiasm, and are able to come 

 forth again and again as patrons of scientific researches. Thus the 

 gap between amateurs and professionals in the sciences is necessarily 

 becoming naiTOwer. The closer relation of the world of students to the 

 public must, on the other side, give heart to the individual — yes, raise 

 up a positive desire in him to make known what he has observed, and 

 inspire him to experiments of his own. Community in work of this 

 kind can already show its results. A perusal of the journal " Nature," 

 in which students and laymen publish their researches and observa- 

 tions from the fields of science in all the five quarters of the globe, 

 wherever Englishmen dwell, will illustrate this in the plainest man- 

 ner. Inquiry is active, then, and is stimulated by the constant contri- 

 bution of new facts. The most distinguished men of science are not 

 ashamed to take j^art in these proceedings ; but their communications 

 give the nation opportunity to become immediately acquainted with 

 their researches, to estimate their value, and rejoice over the good 

 that accrues to the nation from them. In Germany such a usage 

 could, in consequence of the closer relations of the different members 

 of society, be made to be of much wider significance than in England. 

 — Translated for the Popular Science Monthly from ^^ Humboldt.'''' 



FOOD A^J) FIBER PLANTS OF THE NORTH A1\IERI- 

 CAN INDIANS. 



Br J. S. NEWBEEEY. 



IT has happened to me to visit nearly forty tribes of the native popu- 

 lation of North America, and many of these at a time when they 

 had had little or no intercourse with the whites. As a physician and 

 botanist, ray attention was naturally directed to the use of plants 

 among them for food, and as remedies. I made many notes on these 

 subjects, and, as they have never been published, and contain some 

 items that may be interesting, it has seemed to me worth while to put 

 them on record. Most of the observations to which I have referred 

 were made a quarter of a century ago among the Indians of the Far 

 West, remote from civilization, and where they were living in the 

 "state of nature." The plants, of which the Indians I have visited 

 have made use, are the following : 



