HRDLicKA] PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS 237 



Kuh-bi-ze ("snake medicine") is in great repute among the Mescal- 

 eros as a cure for snake bites. A piece of the root, preferably fresh, is 

 chewed up and appHed to the wound, being held in place by a rag. 

 When applied early enough, the part swells or pains very little if at all. 

 Even if applied within a few hours, the root is very efficacious. The 

 interpreter who was helping the writer was bitten by a rattlesnake 

 and used this plant. He was bitten in the foot at 4 o'clock in the 

 afternoon, and being without a remedy did nothing at all to the 

 wound. He reached home with difficulty at about 6 and soon after 

 applied the root. The pains, which w^ere getting to be severe, were 

 soon subdued and ceased in about two hours, so that he slept the 

 whole night. Next morning he applied the root again and after 

 breakfast was able to go about his ordinary work. No more applica- 

 tions w^ere needed. The snake, which was more than 2 feet long, was 

 killed by the man after it had bitten him. A precaution that is said 

 to be necessary in this treatment is to avoid washing the bitten part 

 with water; otherwise much swelling results. 



In toothache, after burning the end of a certain kind of twig, the 

 Mescaleros insert it, as hot as possible, into the cavity of the tooth. 

 If the tooth has no cavity, they apply the heated point to the top. 

 This treatment is rej^eated until the aching ceases. A patient who 

 underwent this treatment and was helped *by it said it was not very 

 painful. In the case of a very small cavity in a tooth some have 

 been, known to insert a heated wire. Usually the Mescaleros do not 

 try to extract a tooth unless it is loose. In that case they use a 

 sinew or a string, some friend pulling the tooth out. A case may 

 also be cited in which a man with a sore tooth in the lower jaw tied a 

 string about it, fastened the other end to a branch of a tree above 

 his head, and then sat down quickly, the tooth being jerked out. 



The ]\Iescaleros also use scarification with glass for acute pain. 

 They say they learned it from the Comanche. 



In sore eyes they often employ the leaves of the mesquite. These 

 are ground into powder, which is placed in a thin cloth, water is 

 added, and the liquid squeezed into the eyes. 



In very aggravated cases of sore eyes, when a sort of membrane 

 forms over the eyeball (pterygium ?), the Mescalero insert a needle 

 under the "flesh " and, cutting the latter with a splint of glass, "pull 

 it right off." 



I-ze da-thle-dji ("blue medicine") is a plant the root of which is used 

 in earache. It is chewed, after which a portion is introduced into 

 the ear, and a portion is rubbed externally. 



To stop bleeding, the Mescaleros apply to the bleeding surface 

 spider web (a practice possibly of Mexican origin), or the scrapings 

 from the inside of a tanned buckskin. In nose-bleed they wash the 

 head, if possible in cold water. 



