HRDLicKA] PHYSTOLOGTCAL AND MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS 253 



at the base of cacti and bushes or trees. Its leaves applied to the skin 

 act like cantharides. Tumha- raquero , a plant known by the Otomi as 

 well as by the Mexicans, is used also Tor rabies. According to the 

 writer's informants the bulbous root of this plant is extremely sudorific. 

 A quantity of the root that can be piled on a piece of money the size 

 of our 25-cent piece has been known to produce sweating lasting tlu*ee 

 days. Trompetia blanca is a plant held in great repute among the 

 Otomi and some of their white neighbors as a cure for poisonous bites, 

 including those of snakes. About an ounce of the leaves of this 

 plant is crushed on a metate and administered, mixed in a glass of 

 pulque. One dose is said to be sufficient as a rule to prevent 

 death. Portions of this plant which the \mter brought were sent 

 for identification to Mr. C. F. Millspaugh, of the Field Museum of 

 Natural History, who pronounced it without doubt ''a Rubiad in the 

 Cinchona bailiwick, and known botanically as Manettia reclinata L," 

 So much for Indian medicine. All that has been said in this chap- 

 ter, however — and the same statement is applicable to other por- 

 tions of this paper— affords merely a glance at the multiple concep- 

 tions and practices of the Indians. A thorough investigation of 

 Indian notions concerning tl\e various bodily ailments and the means 

 employed for curing them, with the reasoning that leads to the 

 selection and mode of use of such means, an investigation carried to 

 the minutest details would undoubtedly reveal a wealth of additional 

 data, invaluable to the study of folklore and of primitive men- 

 talitv. There is much here that remains to be brought to light. 

 And, notwithstanding the ever-increasing encroachments of the 

 white mail's influence, such investigation is still feasible with most of 

 the tribes mentioned. 



