40 ETHNOBOTANY OF THE ZUNI INDIANS [eth. ann. 30 



If, for example, a member of a fraternity gives his medicine to a 

 fellow member, it is customary for the recipient to return the favor 

 in kind. These medicines are usually presented with the under- 

 standing that they may be mtroduced into the medicine order of the 

 fraternity to which the recipient belongs. Again, a man may present 

 his medicme to an individual to be held m inviolate secrecy by him; 

 or a man may forever hold secret the medicinal properties of plants 

 the knowledge of wliich has come to him through inheritance for 

 generations. Many medicmes of this last-named class are adminis- 

 tered in the most practical manner. 



Mention has already been made of plant medicines associated in 

 the Zuiii mind with animals. 



The Zuiii assert that the reason of the late Nai'uchi's great success 

 as a doctor was his exclusive knowledge of certain medicinal plants. 

 Only those in affluent circumstances could afford to conmiand Nai'- 

 uchi's services, because of his exorbitant charges. The secrets per- 

 taining to plants often sell at a considerable price. 



There are also among the Zuni medicines free to the people at 

 large, which may be achnuiistered by laymen, one member of a family 

 prescribmg them for another or for a neighbor, without the advice of 

 a "doctor." 



In some cases the theurgist makes no use of medicme, but, actmg 

 under the influence of the animal gods, with the mind's eye he pene- 

 trates the flesh, locates the cause of the disease which has been "shot" 

 into the body by means of sorcery, and extracts it by sucking; or 

 he may merely manipulate the spot with his hand and draw the 

 malevolent substance from the body. This is so dextrously done 

 that, although the writer has been seated beside the nude theurgist 

 innumerable times, she was never able to observe that he had secreted 

 any object in his mouth or hand until Nai'uchi, m an ahnost dying 

 condition, treated a patient who imagined a sorcerer had mjured his 

 eyesight. It was then evident to the writer, who sat by the side of 

 the old man, that the pebbles he was supposed to press from the 

 patient's eyes were held m the most remarkable manner in the palm 

 of his right hand, which apparently was held in a natural position. 

 Such treatment is usually practiced on one who imagines that he has 

 been face to face with a wizard or a witch and so subjected to mahgu 

 influence. 



It is when a theurgist realizes that a person is genuuicly ill that he 

 brings his plant medicine mto use. It is usual for the doctor to treat 

 the patient with his personal or fraternity medicme for ordinary 

 ailments; if the disease does not yield, he knows that his patient is 

 not suffering from some minor enemy, such as ants,' but has been 



1 Ants cause many cutaneous troubles because of their anger over the disregard shown for their houses. 

 "Ants shoot tiny pebbles into the flesh/' the Zuiii say. 



