﻿374 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  In 
  regard 
  to 
  mediciual 
  herbs 
  and 
  plants, 
  their 
  usages 
  are 
  peculiar 
  and 
  some- 
  

   times 
  amusing. 
  As 
  the 
  practice 
  of 
  medicine 
  among 
  them 
  is 
  a 
  source 
  of 
  great 
  

   profit 
  and 
  prestige, 
  it 
  is 
  sought 
  to 
  be 
  invested 
  with 
  mystery. 
  The 
  medicines 
  

   always 
  are 
  crafty 
  men, 
  keen 
  observers, 
  reticent. 
  An 
  old 
  doctor 
  always 
  clothes 
  

   his 
  art 
  with 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  of 
  superstition, 
  secrecy, 
  and 
  pompous 
  solemnity. 
  In 
  

   answer 
  to 
  impertinent 
  young 
  questioners, 
  he 
  says 
  his 
  simples 
  do 
  not 
  grow 
  any- 
  

   where 
  in 
  that 
  neighborhood 
  ; 
  he 
  is 
  obliged 
  to 
  purchase 
  them 
  from 
  tribes 
  living 
  

   at 
  a 
  great 
  distance. 
  I 
  have 
  known 
  an 
  old 
  doctor 
  and 
  his 
  wife, 
  both 
  as 
  full 
  of 
  

   guile 
  and 
  subtlety 
  as 
  an 
  egg 
  is 
  of 
  meat, 
  who 
  always 
  arose 
  at 
  the 
  dead 
  of 
  night, 
  

   crept 
  stealthily 
  out 
  of 
  camp, 
  and 
  gathered 
  their 
  potent 
  herbs, 
  roots, 
  etc., 
  then 
  

   returned 
  before 
  any 
  one 
  was 
  stirring, 
  and 
  concealed 
  them. 
  

  

  The 
  Indians 
  referred 
  to 
  in 
  this 
  paper 
  are 
  the 
  Neeshenams, 
  of 
  Bear 
  River, 
  

   and 
  the 
  flora 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  extreme 
  lower 
  foothills 
  of 
  Placer 
  County. 
  Their 
  

   general 
  name 
  for 
  '■ 
  medicine" 
  is 
  wenneh, 
  which 
  denotes 
  "good 
  " 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  fre- 
  

   quently 
  use 
  the 
  word 
  " 
  medicine," 
  even 
  among 
  themselves. 
  

  

  To 
  begin 
  with 
  the 
  oaks, 
  the 
  species 
  which 
  produces 
  their 
  favorite 
  acorns 
  is 
  

   the 
  Quercus 
  Gambelli, 
  Indian 
  name, 
  chacow. 
  They 
  generally 
  select 
  those 
  trees 
  

   which 
  have 
  a 
  free, 
  coarse 
  bark 
  and 
  large 
  acorns. 
  About 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  Octo- 
  

   ber 
  the 
  harvest 
  begins, 
  when 
  the 
  Indian, 
  armed 
  with 
  along, 
  slender 
  pole, 
  ascends 
  

   the 
  tree 
  and 
  beats 
  off 
  the 
  nuts. 
  A 
  tree 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  well 
  stripped 
  looks 
  

   as 
  if 
  it 
  had 
  been 
  scourged 
  in 
  a 
  mighty 
  hail 
  storm. 
  The 
  old 
  men 
  generally 
  as- 
  

   sist 
  in 
  carrying 
  them 
  home 
  in 
  their 
  deep, 
  conical 
  baskets, 
  and 
  there 
  the 
  squaw's 
  

   duties 
  commence. 
  Holding 
  an 
  acorn 
  on 
  a 
  stone, 
  she 
  gives 
  it 
  a 
  slight 
  tap 
  with 
  

   a 
  stone 
  pestle 
  called 
  soone/i, 
  to 
  crack 
  the 
  shell, 
  which 
  she 
  strips 
  o9 
  rapidly. 
  

   They 
  are 
  then 
  dried 
  and 
  beaten 
  to 
  powder 
  in 
  small 
  hollows 
  on 
  top 
  of 
  some 
  

   great 
  rock. 
  The 
  flour 
  is 
  soaked 
  a 
  few 
  hours 
  in 
  a 
  large 
  hollow 
  scooped 
  in 
  the 
  

   sand, 
  the 
  water 
  draining 
  ofif 
  and 
  carrying 
  away 
  the 
  bitterness 
  ; 
  after 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  

   cooked 
  into 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  mush 
  in 
  baskets 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  hot 
  stones, 
  or 
  baked 
  as 
  

   bread 
  underground. 
  The 
  acorn 
  which 
  stands 
  second 
  in 
  favor 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   burr-oak 
  (Q. 
  lobata 
  — 
  Indian, 
  loivh). 
  In 
  Placer 
  County 
  this 
  oak 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  

   more 
  properly 
  Q. 
  Douglasii, 
  as 
  its 
  branchlets 
  are 
  erect 
  and 
  rigid. 
  There 
  is 
  

   an 
  oak 
  which 
  they 
  call 
  shuheh, 
  which 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  something 
  like 
  a 
  cross 
  be- 
  

   tween 
  the 
  white 
  and 
  burr-oaks, 
  having 
  very 
  white 
  and 
  coarsely 
  rimose 
  bark, 
  

   and 
  glabrous, 
  shining, 
  deeply 
  sinuate 
  leaves. 
  But 
  Professor 
  Bolander 
  pronounces 
  

   this 
  also 
  Quercus 
  Gambelii. 
  The 
  live 
  oak 
  is 
  haha; 
  Q. 
  Widizenia, 
  hammut 
  ; 
  

   the 
  black 
  oak, 
  (Q. 
  Sonomensis) 
  hanchu. 
  The 
  acorns 
  of 
  these 
  last 
  are 
  eaten 
  

   only 
  when 
  they 
  can 
  procure 
  no 
  others. 
  There 
  is 
  one 
  other 
  very 
  small 
  species 
  

   called 
  ckeepis, 
  found 
  growing 
  in 
  the 
  mountains 
  ; 
  but 
  I 
  cannot 
  determine 
  from 
  

   their 
  description 
  whether 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  chinquapin 
  or 
  the 
  whortleberry 
  oak. 
  

  

  The 
  nut-pine 
  or 
  silver-pine 
  is 
  toan, 
  toanem 
  cha. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  favorite 
  with 
  

   them, 
  the 
  most 
  useful 
  tree 
  they 
  have, 
  and 
  they 
  always 
  regret 
  to 
  see 
  an 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  cutting 
  one 
  down. 
  The 
  nuts 
  are 
  a 
  choice 
  article 
  of 
  food 
  ; 
  and, 
  burned 
  and 
  

   beaten 
  to 
  powder, 
  or 
  crushed 
  up 
  raw 
  and 
  spread 
  on 
  in 
  a 
  plaster, 
  they 
  form 
  their 
  

   specific 
  for 
  a 
  burn 
  or 
  a 
  scald. 
  The 
  pitch, 
  and 
  the 
  mistletoe 
  which 
  grows 
  on 
  this 
  

   pine, 
  are 
  very 
  valuable, 
  in 
  their 
  estimation, 
  for 
  coughs, 
  colds, 
  and 
  rheumatism. 
  

  

  