MEDICAI. PRACTICES AND MEDICINiVL PL^^JSTTS 



Medical treatment is older than intelligence in man. The dog 

 hunts the fields for his special gi'ass me<licine; the boar dresses the 

 wound of her cub or feUow-bear with perhaps as much bitelligcnce, 

 as piimitive man observes in his empirical practice. PiTinitivc man 

 does not know why his medicine cm'cs; he simply knows that it does 

 cm'e. He believes disease to be the result of malign influence, 

 hicludhig that of his fellow man, to whom he attributes the pt)wer of 

 sorcery wliich ho himself is unable to overcome; hence he must 

 summon the aid of the beast gods, who alone j)ossess the power of 

 combating the malevolent practices of the sorcerer,^ while he admin- 

 isters their medicine. The plants of the gods could not effect a cure, 

 however, by the mere use of the medicines concocted from them; 

 durmg the treatment of the patient prayers and supplications must 

 be offered to the gods to whom the medicine belongs. 



Although the therapeutics of the Indians is largely associated with 

 occultism, these people have discovered tiirough the ages and brought 

 into practical use numerous valuable plant medicmes; but in the lu'st 

 stages in the use of j)lants it was not understood that they were 

 endowed with healing properties, except as they were associated 

 with the gods, and the old conception is still adhered to. The plants 

 regarded as the sole property of man no doubt wore discoAered at a 

 later period. 



The Gods of War and other aiithiopic deities have their particular 

 medicines, which are emploj-ed by those privileged to administer 

 them. The rain priests possess mediciiies of celestial bodies, and of 

 sacred bh'ds, and the}^ also make use of Datura meteloides (see pp. 

 89, 90). Tliis precious plant, which Ls believed to have been once a 

 bo3^ and a girl, may be used onl}' by the rain priests and by the 

 directors of the Little Fire and Cimex fraternities. 



There are other plant medicines belonging to medicine orders of the 

 secret fraternities that are not the property of the gods. While all 

 legitimate medicines have come into use by accident or through 

 experiment, there is a great difference in the Zuni mind between the 

 medicines of the gods and those that have become known to the fra- 

 ternities through members who have given the secrets of their 

 inuuediate ancestors one to another or to the fraternity at large. A 

 high ethical standard is recognized by the members of the fraternities. 



1 The beast gods were originally human Ixings who preceded the Zuni to this world. They brought with 

 them the knowledge of mystery medicine, (healing o( ills produced by witchcraft; from the undermost 

 world. See tSd Ann. Rep. Bur. A mer. Elhn., p. 49. 



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