WHOLE VOL. ARAUCANIAN CHILD LIFE — HILGER II I 



fluids were injected into eggs through tiny punctures made in the 

 shells, and the punctures were then sealed with the root of a plant. 

 If no black spots appeared in the yolk or albumen after the three days, 

 it was safe to eat them. 



In Boroa area, a plant called cicuta mayor was used in poisoning 

 persons. In Panguipulli area, either the fluids or the powdered dried 

 viscera of a poisonous toad were used. A teacher in the area told of a 

 clique of girls who admitted that they were planning to extract such 

 poison from a toad to bring sickness upon a classmate who persisted 

 in doing the best schoolwork. A non-Araucanian who had spent more 

 than 50 years in the area told that along the beach of Panguipulli Lake 

 one can sometimes see a heap of legs, skins, and heads of frogs in 

 one place. "Sometimes there will be quantities of these in one spot," 

 he said ; "it is a sign that a Mapuche has made preparations to poison 

 another." The viscera, the informant knew, were dehydrated and 

 ground to a fine powder. 



Since all sickness is the result of the ill will of another, the best 

 preventive of ill health is to maintain the good will of all. However, 

 once sickness has come upon someone, it can be prevented from 

 afflicting others in the family by hiring a machi to chase the spirit of 

 sickness from the locality. Two ways of doing this were mentioned : 

 In one, the father of the sick person offers a sheep as sacrifice. The 

 machi kills it and sprinkles its blood inside the ruka and in the yard 

 surrounding it; this makes it intolerable for the spirit of sickness to 

 stay there, and it will leave of its own accord. In another way, the 

 machi drives the spirit of sickness, which he has just released from a 

 sick person, away from the area. The machi orders all persons present 

 to make a great deal of noise. Then the machi grasps a firebrand 

 from the fireplace and swirls it in circles around the place, and orders 

 others present to do likewise. After all have swung their firebrands 

 for a while, the machi walks rapidly toward some water, "like a creek 

 or river or lake," and all follow, each one brandishing his firebrand. 

 This chases the spirit of sickness across the water, and a spirit thus 

 chased across water cannot return ; one not chased across water may 

 possibly return at a later time. 



Several women who had been employed as domestics in non-Arau- 

 canian homes had learned prevention by noncontamination. "If I had 

 tuberculosis," said one, "I would keep my plate and yerba mate 

 bambillo apart and would not let my children use them." There was 

 probably little done to strengthen a child's physique as a preventive 

 of ill health, except for the baby's cold baths, previously mentioned 

 (pp. 20-21). "At least I have never heard anyone say so. I am 



