HRDUCK-O PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS 21 



gather many wild plums, as at Taos, among the Tarahumare, Cora, 

 and other tribes. Among the natives of northwestern Mexico and 

 southern Arizona the place of the peach is taken mainly by the very 

 digestible and nourishing fig-like pitahaya and various other fruits of 

 the cactus. This region produces also many other wild fruits, includ- 

 ing berries." Numerous fruits are used, crushed in water, as drinks. 

 All the Indian tribes eat greens, bulbs, and roots of many varieties. 

 The Mexican Indians eat the tender leaves of the cactus; and among 

 the tribes who still live in a more primitive fasliion many kinds of 

 native seeds serve as food. The pod of the mesquite, the screw bean, 

 and the mescal '' are additional important articles of diet. Bread of 

 the mesquite bean is used, especially by the Mohave and the Yuma, 

 and it is fovmd also in several forms in Mexico. The acorn is eaten 

 only sparingly. 



Milk is either disliked or is used but little, and of their own initiative 

 the Indians make neither cheese nor butter. Coffee, on the other 

 hand, has come much in vogue among the tribes of the Southwest. 

 It is used black and sweetened, and is often drunk to excess ; in course 

 of time the "coffee habit" will probabl}^ produce evil consequences. 

 Often this beverage is taken as a substitute for more substantial diet. 

 There is no Itnowledge of danger in the use of coffee, which is given 

 without stint to individuals of all ages, occasionally even to young 

 infants. 



Among most of the tribes, particularly those not restricted to 

 reservation life, the quantity of food available varies very much at 

 different periods of the year. No Indian raises much, even if good 

 land can be had; consequently only in rare cases, as among the 

 Pueblos, do the natives have much left to eat, or even for seed, at the 

 end of the year. After even an ordinary harvest for a time food is every- 

 where abundant. Among some of the Indians, particularly the Tara- 

 humare and other Mexican tribes, frequent feasts are held at this season, 

 at which much of the food supply is consumed. If the harvest is abun- 

 dant, the store of corn may last until the next crops are gathered, 

 but, as before stated, this is seldom the case. Consequently it hap- 

 pens that in springtime the Indians not infrequently suffer from want. 

 If the season is poor and the demand for their labor by the whites 

 is slight, the suffering may be severe. Under these conditions the 

 Indians use as food man}^ articles unknown or repulsive to the white 

 man. A peculiar feature is the universal and often detrimental eat- 

 ing of unripe fruit, especially unripe melons. It may be observed 

 in all tribes and particularly among the young. The mothers give 



« The fruits are widely known by the same names. They include among others platanos, naranjas, 

 ciruelas, wamuchil, nanche, manzana, membrillo, chirimoya, wayava, zapotc, copalcojote, tejocote, 

 and lapulin. For references see Bibliography. 



b Made probably from several species (as yet undetenniued; of agave. 



