PHARMACAL PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 51 



individual in the normal state or condition might dislike or abhor, as is 

 clearly indicated by the practices of the Indian doctors. The actions 

 and contortions of the dancing doctor are primarily for the purpose of 

 frightening away the cause of the disease. The so-called sucking 

 doctors are somewhat more scientific, as benefit often results from their 

 practices, but after sucking the affected part with great force, acquired 

 through experience, the doctor vomits, which is said to bring up and 

 out the pain-producing matter, in which notion the patient may have 

 full confidence, but it is likely that the doctor is more than half con- 

 vinced that he is practicing deception. The medicine makers, both 

 male and female, not only treat actual disease, but make medicines for 

 a great variety of purposes, as for childbirth, for hunting, fishing, to 

 subdue the enemy, to ward off evil, to bless, to find lost articles, etc. 

 Their field of action is well-nigh limitless. It is needless to state that 

 their pretensions are the merest absurdities, and are to be compared 

 with the deeds of our modern faith healers, soothsayers, and other 

 fakirs. 



Our most reliable information regarding Indian medicine is traceable 

 to the few intelligent, well-educated observers who have lived among 

 the aborigines for some years ; as, for example, missionaries and teachers 

 who have worked among them long enough to learn their language, 

 thus enabling them to ascertain the true inwardness of their habits and 

 customs. Unfortunately, excessive sentimentalism too frequently tints 

 the reports of otherwise keen and accurate observers, resulting in a 

 misinterpretation of ulterior motives. 



Army officers, with the exception of a few post physicians with a 

 keen thirst for facts, are too much taken up with routine duties, and 

 hence do not make extensive or reliable records. There are many keen 

 observers who make accurate and reliable observations, but fail to make 

 records which can be preserved for future reference. Prospectors and 

 miners, as a rule, give little attention to Indian practices, excepting 

 such as concern them directly in their dealings with Indians. The 

 information given out by them is, as a rule, very fragmentary and very 

 inaccurate. Explorers, collectors, and travelers are generally excellent 

 and accurate observers, and, as a rule, take notes on the spot, but the 

 information thus gained loses in value because of the brevity of the 

 time of the observation. Opportunity for verification is very often 

 wholly lacking, and too frequently single erroneous observations are 

 recorded as being established facts. The most accurate information of 

 all is no doubt that given out by intelligent, well-educated members of 

 the tribes, but since these are few in number, and as a rule difficult of 

 access, it is not an easy matter to secure the desired information. Fur- 

 thermore, the language of the educated, civilized savage is superlatively 



