HKDLicKA] PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS 235 



During the last days of the writer's stay at the reservation in tlie 

 spring of 1905 a child became ill with tnben^ulons meningitis. It 

 was treated at first by the agency physician, but, the case not improv- 

 ing, a native medicine-man was called in. He tried at first to remove 

 the cause of the disease by sucking, and ])retended to extract from 

 the head of the child a gopher. As this did not help and the child 

 died, he declared that it was bewitched. 



The people understand clearly that consumption is contagious, 

 though its nature and the method of its transmission remain to them 

 a mystery. About many internal diseases the notions are very 

 curious. If a man gets close to a woman in labor or steps into any 

 bloody discharge connected therewith, he will have rheumatism or 

 will become otherwise afflicted. 



Many of the medicines used in tliis tribe are known to. all, but 

 there are also others that are strictly proprietary, and the individuals 

 who know them, mostly old women or men, keep the knowledge 

 secret and make a profit out of the drugs. The sum paid for a 

 medicine is occasionally very liigh; one man paid $7, another a horse. 



Chin^de i-ze ("devil's medicine": Artemisia frigida) is used by 

 the Mescaleros when anyone is badly frightened. They put some of 

 the root on the fire and inhale the smoke. 



For pains in the chest they draw tight a band placed around the 

 chest. This treatment is employed even in consumption.'* 



Tsa i-ze, I-tsa i-ze (''head medicine": Hedeoma reverchoni), is 

 used by both Mescaleros and Lipan in prolonged headache. They 

 gather a bunch of the aromatic twigs, rub them in the hands, and 

 inhale the smell. This is said to stop the headache. 



I-la tso-e-hi-ta ("bird eats it"). The root is boiled and a drink of 

 the decoction is taken a number of times in cases of bloody diarrhea. 



I-ze hu-ie is used in pains in the bowels. The root is ground up 

 and boiled, and the patient drinks some of the decoction, wliich eases 

 the pains and produces a laxative effect. 



Ha-chi-de, hai-chi-di (Ligusticum porteri), grows in and about the 

 White mountains. The Mescaleros use the root, drinking a decoc- 

 tion of it in colds and cough. They also grind it, mix with a little 

 water, and rub on the sore part. Occasionally they simply chew 

 the root for cough, or they smell, chew, or smoke it for headache. 



I-ze i-tJio-M ("medicine red flower") is a remedy for consumption. 

 All parts of the plant are used together. They are pounded and 

 boiled, and the decoction is drunk lukewarm. A cupful is given 

 before breakfast; the dose is not repeated for some days. 



In consumption the Mescaleros use also a remedy composed of two 

 or three kinds of vegetal medicines mixed together. They boil them 



a Dr. E. L. Morgan, of Washington, D. C, observed this. same treatment among the Indians of 

 Oregon. 



