7 8 ETHNO-BOTANY OF THE COAHUILLA INDIANS 



steeped in a drink to produce vomit and bowel relief. It is of very 

 common resort for pain in stomach or intestines. These twigs are also 

 ground very fine, mixed with grease, and used for a salve. 



A strong, black decoction of the leaves of the " wild buckwheat," 

 Eriogonum fasciculatum, Benth., called by Coahuillas hu-la-kal, is drunk 

 for pain in the stomach and also for pain in the head. The white 

 flower of the buckwheat, so well known as " bee-feed," is steeped to make 

 an eye-wash. 



The wormwood, Artemcsia tridentata, Coahuilla wik-wut, is used for 

 stomach complaints in the same way as hu-lu-kul. 



The leaves of the " creosote bush," Larrea Mexicana, d-tu-kul, 

 obtained from the desert are steeped and drunk for bowel complaints 

 and for consumption. 



The Perezia microcephala, Gray, an herb two or three feet high, with 

 thin oblong leaves and purple flowers, called by the Coahuillas hd-bak- 

 a-ba, is used, when prepared as a decoction, to produce a very quick 

 passage of the bowels. 



The root of an undetermined plant, called chi-vi-ni-vish, is cleaned 

 from just where it branches into the stem, pounded up, boiled into a 

 dark draught, and used to alleviate any sort of pain. 



The balsamic leaves of the Eriodyction Californica, a low shrub, 

 very common throughout southern California, are reported by the 

 "Botany" of the Geological Survey of California to yield a tonic when 

 infused in spirits. When merely steeped in water this herb makes a 

 strong and not unpleasant tea, sometimes used, within the writer's 

 remembrance, by white families. The Coahuillas commonly use the 

 leaves of this herb, which they call tdn-wi-vel, for a poultice or lini- 

 ment. The leaves pounded up are bound upon the sores of both men 

 and beasts and a strong decoction is used for bathing sore parts or the 

 limbs when painful or fatigued. 



The leaves and twigs of the Aplopappus Palmeri, Gray, Coahuilla 

 he-nil, are bound upon the feet, together with hot stones, to relieve 

 swelling and pain. 



An eye-wash is prepared by steeping the leaves of the Baccharis 

 glutinosa, Pers., called pd-ki. 



Another plant, whose species or genus could not be determined 

 from my specimen, named by the Coahuillas ki-ta-vel, is beaten up, 

 root and all, and applied as a liniment or poultice. 



Besides the Larrea Mexicana in consumption, several other plants 

 are used for coughs, pain in the chest, and phthisis. 



