IN CALIFORNIA 147 



other supposed to have been possessed by the In- 

 dians, it is that pertaining to the cure of rattlesnake 

 bites; and wherever you travel in California, you 

 hear of these Indian medicines. Your hardshell 

 scientist dismisses them all as valueless, and when 

 confronted with certified instances of recovery un- 

 der Indian treatment, puts up the counter-theory 

 that rattlesnake bites are not necessarily fatal, and 

 such cases would have gotten well anyhow. Per- 

 haps the herbs most widely believed in to-day are 

 those called yerba de vibora (snake herb) a name 

 applied to two or three species of umbellifers and 

 golondrina, one or two species of Euphorbia. The 

 latter are small herbs with milky juice, prostrate 

 and mat-like, and found in all sorts of situations 

 where snakes are apt to be, from mountain top to 

 desert plain. In the midst of the small, grayish, 

 round leaves, are tiny twinkling flowers surrounded 

 with white collars. To the eye of fancy, the plant 

 in color and marking may suggest the hide of the 

 rattler, and as the Indian was, and in his heart 

 doubtless still is, a believer in the doctrine of signa- 

 tures once generally accepted by white Galens of 

 repute it was natural for him to take the hint and 

 put golondrina on his list of cures. A poultice was 

 mixed of the mashed leaves and bound on the wound, 

 while a tea made from the whole plant, was drunk. 



