14S October 1748. 



her from walking. She was advifed to 

 broil the berries of faffafras, and to rub the 

 painful parts of her foot with the oil, 

 which by this means would be got from 

 the berries. She did fo, but at the fame 

 time it made her vomit 5 yet this was not 

 fufficient to keep her from following the 

 prefcription three times more, though as 

 often as {he made ufe thereof, it always had 

 the fame effect. However [he was entirely 

 freed from that pain, and perfectly re- 

 covered. 



A black Woodpecker with a red head, or 

 the Picus fileatiiSy Linn, is frequent in the 

 Penfyhanian forefts, and days the winter, 

 as I know from my own experience. It is 

 reckoned among thofe birds which deftroy 

 the maize ; becaufe it fettles on the ripe 

 ears, anddeftroys them with its bill. The 

 Swedes call it Til/.kroka, but all other wood- 

 peckers, thofe with gold yellow wings ex- 

 cepted, are called Hackfpickar in the Swedifh 

 language. I intend to defcribe them alto- 

 gether more exactly in a particular work. 

 I only obferve here, that almofc all the dif- 

 ferent fpecies of woodpeckers are very nox- 

 ious to the maize, when it begins to ripen : 

 for by picking holes in the membrane 

 round the ear, the rain gets into it, and 1 

 caufes the ear with all the corn it contains- 

 to rot. October 





