330 ETHNOLOGY. 



OX THE USES OF THE BEAUT AJfD MARROW OF AXIMAIS AMOXG THE 

 INBIAXS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



By Titlvn E. Peale, 



United States Patent Office. 



The uses of the brain aud marrow of animals among savage peoi)le 

 having" become of interest in connection with the ethnological researches 

 wliich are being prosecuted with so much ardor in this and other coun- 

 tries, a brief exposition of the facts relative to the subject, observed by 

 myself, and collected from the writings of others, may not be unaccept- 

 able for the Smithsonian report. It may not, perhaps, be improper to 

 state, as introductory to the subject of this communication, that I 

 am, with one exception, (that of General Swift,) the only survivor of 

 the celebrated expedition of ]\Iajor Long to the Eocky Mountains. We 

 owe this delay of tlie inevitable summons of the grim messenger princi- 

 pally to the fact that we were the youngest of a party numbering twenty- 

 six. I was appointed as assistant naturalist and draughtsman of the 

 expedition, and, among other duties, was directed by the letter of my 

 instructions to give attention to the method employed by the natives in 

 the preparation of the skins of animals killed for food or for their furs. 



The material used for the preservation of the skins is principally the 

 brains of the animal from which they were taken. While the skins are 

 fresh, or in their green state, they are stretched on the ground, and 

 scraped with an instrument of bone or stone, resembling an adze j the 

 adhering portions of flesh are removed, and the surface is then plas- 

 tered over with the brains, mixed in some cases with the liver, and on 

 this is poured, from time to time, warm water in which the meat has 

 been boiled. The whole is then suffered to dry, after which the skin is 

 again subjected to the action of the brain and hot water, further 

 stretched, and, while still wet, scraped and rubbed with stones until per- 

 fectly dry. It is farther softened by rubbing and passing it backward 

 and forward over a twisted sinew, stretched horizontally. The brain 

 of an animal is sufficient to dress its skin ; but, in some cases, a less 

 quantity is sufficient for the purpose. I have myself used this process 

 in the preparation of skins, but have found animal brains inferior, as a 

 curing material, to a mixture of saltpeter and alum. The Indian, how- 

 ever, has no choice, and makes use of such materials as he can procure, 

 and which, probably from accidental discovery and subsequent experi- 

 ence, he has found to produce the desired effect. 



The marrow of bones of animals has generally been esteemed as a lux- 

 ury, and among the Indians of this continent is held in high estimation, 

 particularlj- that of the bones of the buffalo, the elk, the moose, and the 

 deer. The round bones of these animals are roasted on the coals or be- 

 fore the fire, then split with a stone hatchet, and in some cases with a 

 wedge driven in between the condyles when the bone has these ter- 



