HRnr.ifKAl PHYSIOLOGTCAT. AND MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS 261 



holes in the ground in which thoy make firos of wood. While this 

 is hurning: stones are thrown in; these are allowecl (o remain after'the 

 fire burns out. After being cleaned, the mescal is placed in the holes 

 and covered with grass and earth; here it is left usually two days and 

 nights. 



E-klio is the pinon nut. These nuts are eaten either raw or roasted, 

 like peanuts. 



The Pima ])lant pop corn, having learned (o do so, they say, long 

 ago from the Mexican Indians. They roast the pop corn in a pot and 

 add salt. 



Pinole is prepared in a simple manner by roasting and grinding. 

 Nothing is mixed wath it until the pinole is to be eaten, when some 

 add salt and others sugar. 



The mesquite })eans are still one of the most favored of the Pima 

 native foods. They are dried in ((lumtities and preserved in the store- 

 houses. In preparing them for use as food they are crushed in a 

 mortar and ])asse(l through a sieve; then the women line baskets 

 wath clean cloths on which are placed successive layers of the pow- 

 dered beans, each layer being sprinkled with water. When the bas- 

 kets are filled a piece of cloth is tied over the top of each which is 

 then set out over night. The mass cakes together, and can be ke{)t 

 for an indefinite time without becoming spoiled or wormy. It is 

 eaten without further preparation, and is much liked. The Pima also 

 make a sort of dough out of the fresh pounded mesquite beans, which 

 is cooked in the form of roimd cakes. 



Another very popular food is prepared b}" roasting and grinding 

 ordinary corn and mixing the meal with the juice obtained by putting 

 crushed mesquite beans into cold water which is then brought to the 

 steeping point. The Pima also drink the mesquite bean juice; "it 

 makes them well." 



The screw-bean, Tcu-u-dje (Prosopis odorata, Prosopis pubescens), 

 which grows in profusion along the Gila, is also utilized. The beans 

 are gathered and dried in the sun. For food the}'^ are pounded up 

 in a mortar and the meal mixed with cold water is left to stand for 

 five or ten minutes; the licjuid is then s(pieezed into another vessel 

 and used as a drink. 



Mescal, which is not found in the immediate neighborhood, is used 

 but seldom; it is baked in the usual numner. 



As to cactus fruits, that of the saguaro is eaten in smaller (piantities 

 than among other tribes, the plant being less common. The sirup of 

 the fruit is much liked. 



The fruit of a Cylindriopuntia, growing on the flats near Sacaton, 

 is used as food to a limited extent, and the same is true of that of 

 the a-a-dji-naf (''slender cactus: " Opuntia le])tocaulis). These small 

 fruits are eaten raw, the seeds being thrown out. 



