when eaten in large amounts (7). They contain the al- 
kaloid sophorine (cytisine) (78) which causes death by 
asphyxiation (5). It has been stated that one bean is 
sufficient to kill a man (7/, but this certainly must be an 
exaggerated statement. A Wichita informed me (his 
statement being corroborated by several Kiowa and Kick- 
apoo) that members of his tribe ate one bean before a foot- 
race to prevent panting afterwards. A Kickapoo stated 
that a decoction made by boiling the ground beans in 
water and strained through a cloth was employed to cure 
earaches. Similarly, LaBarre reports that the Cheyenne 
value it as an ‘‘eye-water.’’ he beans are used as an in- 
toxicant in the form of a tea by the Indians of San An- 
tonio, Texas, and of northern Mexico; the intoxication 
is said to be marked by an initial period of stimulation 
followed by a deep sleep of long duration (8). Skinner, 
quoting Harrington, states (75) that the loway Indians 
use the mescal-bean’ as an intoxicant in their Red Bean 
Dance ; the beans are ‘‘killed’’ (crushed) and brewed with 
herbs (unfortunately not enumerated) which are said to 
make the tea milder. ‘‘Everything looks red to the drink- 
er for a while, then he vomits and evacuates the bowels, 
which the Indians say, cleans out the system and bene- 
fits the health, even in the case of children.’’ (74 ) 
Mescal-beans were usually included in the War Bun- 
dles of the Indians of the southern plains. The Loway 
Red Bean War Bundle is considered a fetish, protecting 
*Skinner reports (15) the mescal-bean as Erythrina flabelliformis 
Kearn. Inasmuch as the seeds of the two legumes (Erythrina and 
Sophora) are easily confused, and as Erythrina seeds are not narcotic, 
this is palpably an error, and the seed indicated must have been that 
of some Sophora. Safford states (14) that Erythrina seeds are often 
contained in the same package with the narcotie Sophora secundiflora 
beans sold in Mexican drug markets, but that, inasmuch as the two 
plants are not at all similar, the adulteration is intentional. 
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