﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  373 
  

  

  Aboriginal 
  Botany. 
  

  

  BY 
  STEPHEN 
  POWERS. 
  

  

  As 
  employed 
  in 
  this 
  paper 
  the 
  word, 
  " 
  botany 
  " 
  is 
  somewhat 
  loosely 
  compre- 
  

   hensive, 
  and 
  is 
  used 
  for 
  the 
  lack 
  of 
  a 
  better. 
  Under 
  it 
  are 
  included 
  all 
  the 
  

   forms 
  of 
  the 
  vegetable 
  world 
  which 
  the 
  aborigines 
  use 
  for 
  medicine, 
  food, 
  tex- 
  

   tile 
  fabrics, 
  ornaments, 
  etc. 
  Among 
  savages, 
  of 
  course, 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  systematic 
  

   classification 
  of 
  botanical 
  knowledge. 
  Every" 
  oak, 
  pine, 
  and 
  grass 
  has 
  its 
  

   separate 
  name 
  ; 
  the 
  Indian 
  never 
  groups 
  individuals 
  together, 
  except 
  occasion- 
  

   ally, 
  by 
  adding 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  words 
  cha, 
  doo, 
  popo, 
  com, 
  wi, 
  back, 
  (tree, 
  bush, 
  

   grass, 
  seed, 
  root, 
  leaf) 
  or 
  something 
  of 
  that 
  sort. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  for 
  a 
  moment 
  

   to 
  be 
  supposed 
  that 
  the 
  Indian 
  is 
  a 
  superficial 
  observer 
  ; 
  he 
  takes 
  careful 
  note 
  of 
  

   the 
  forms 
  and 
  qualities 
  of 
  everything 
  that 
  grows 
  on 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  the 
  earth. 
  

   True, 
  he 
  ascribes 
  marvelous 
  and 
  impossible 
  qualities 
  to 
  some 
  plants 
  — 
  frequently 
  

   those 
  which 
  do 
  not 
  grow 
  in 
  his 
  neighborhood 
  — 
  but 
  that 
  does 
  not 
  blind 
  him 
  to 
  

   their 
  real 
  properties. 
  And 
  as 
  his 
  perceptions 
  of 
  individual 
  differentations 
  is 
  

   nice 
  and 
  minute, 
  so 
  his 
  nomenclature 
  is 
  remarkably 
  full. 
  I 
  assert 
  without 
  hes- 
  

   itation 
  that 
  an 
  average 
  intelligent 
  Indian, 
  even 
  if 
  not 
  a 
  mediciue-man, 
  knows 
  

   a 
  much 
  greater 
  catalogue 
  of 
  names 
  than 
  nine-tenths 
  of 
  Americans. 
  Nothing 
  

   escapes 
  him 
  — 
  he 
  has 
  a 
  name 
  for 
  everything. 
  And, 
  indeed, 
  there 
  is 
  reason. 
  In 
  

   times 
  of 
  great 
  scarcity 
  they 
  are 
  driven 
  by 
  the 
  sore 
  pangs 
  of 
  hunger 
  to 
  test 
  

   everything 
  that 
  the 
  soil 
  produces, 
  if 
  perchance 
  they 
  may 
  find 
  something 
  that 
  

   will 
  appease 
  the 
  gnawings 
  of 
  appetite. 
  They 
  therefore 
  know 
  the 
  properties 
  of 
  

   all 
  herbs, 
  shrubs, 
  roots, 
  leaves, 
  whether 
  they 
  are 
  poisonous 
  or 
  nutritive, 
  wheth- 
  

   er 
  purgative, 
  astringent, 
  sedative, 
  or 
  what 
  not, 
  or 
  without 
  any 
  active 
  principle. 
  

   And 
  they 
  have 
  often 
  found 
  out 
  these 
  things 
  by 
  bitter 
  experience 
  in 
  their 
  own 
  

   persons. 
  It 
  is 
  surprising 
  what 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  roots, 
  leaves, 
  berries, 
  and 
  nuts 
  the 
  

   squaw 
  will 
  discover. 
  She 
  will 
  go 
  out 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  with 
  nothing 
  but 
  a 
  fire- 
  

   hardened 
  stick, 
  and 
  in 
  an 
  hour 
  she 
  v?ill 
  pick 
  a 
  breakfast 
  of 
  green 
  stuff, 
  into 
  

   which 
  there 
  may 
  enter 
  fifteen 
  or 
  twenty 
  ingredients, 
  though, 
  of 
  course, 
  they 
  

   are 
  seldom 
  reduced 
  to 
  this 
  extremity 
  nowadays. 
  Her 
  eye 
  will 
  be 
  arrested 
  by 
  a 
  

   minute 
  plant 
  that 
  will 
  yield 
  her 
  only 
  a 
  bulbous 
  root 
  as 
  large 
  as 
  a 
  large 
  pea, 
  

   but 
  which 
  the 
  American 
  would 
  have 
  passed 
  unnoticed. 
  The 
  women 
  are 
  gen 
  

   erally 
  best 
  acquainted 
  with 
  the 
  edible 
  matters 
  ; 
  while 
  the 
  old 
  men 
  are 
  the 
  au- 
  

   thority 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  medicines. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  seventy-three 
  vegetable 
  substances 
  mentioned 
  in 
  this 
  paper. 
  I 
  am 
  

   indebted 
  to 
  the 
  kindness 
  of 
  Professor 
  H. 
  N. 
  Bolander, 
  who 
  identified 
  for 
  me 
  

   many 
  plants 
  that 
  I 
  was 
  unable 
  to 
  determine. 
  There 
  are 
  a 
  few 
  specimens 
  

   which 
  are 
  so 
  scarce, 
  nowadays, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  stock, 
  or 
  so 
  difficult 
  to 
  

   find 
  in 
  flower, 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  impossible 
  to 
  give 
  their 
  scientific 
  names. 
  

  

  I 
  will 
  take 
  this 
  occasion 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  many 
  substances 
  popularly 
  

   called 
  " 
  Indian 
  medicines 
  " 
  which 
  are 
  humbugs, 
  and 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  fathered 
  

   upon 
  the 
  aborigines 
  by 
  patent-medicine 
  men. 
  Whatever 
  is 
  set 
  down 
  in 
  this 
  

   paper 
  has 
  been 
  learned 
  from 
  the 
  Indians 
  themselves. 
  

  

  