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



This medicine is given to women during parturition to hasten 

 childbirth by increasing the severity of hibor. It is given also to 

 stop hemorrhage after childbirtli, and for abnormal lochial discharge. 

 The treatment is the same for the three ailments — a jjinch of the 

 Ustilago is put into a small quantity of warm or cold water and the 

 infusion is taken at intervals. 



This remedy belongs to all the female theurgists.' 



Villanova dissecta (A. Gray) Rydb. Carduace^. Thistle 



family. 

 Hd'lo Jcia'we, 'ant seeds' (hd'lo, ant; l-ia'we, seeds). 



The entire plant is gi-ound to powder, which the theurgists, to 

 whom the medicine belongs, keep in deerskin sacks. It is considered 

 a specific foi- rheiunatism and for pains in the head. The theurgist 

 takes the powder into his mouth, then ejects it into his hands, which 

 he places on the parts of the body of the patient that are affected. 

 This treatment is sure to bring rehef unless the patient has an "evil 

 heart," say the Zuni. It belongs to aU fraternities. 



Wedeliella glabra (Choisy) Cockerell. Allioniace^e. Four- 

 o'clock family. 

 Ea'pewiHapa, 'leaves flat in all directions' (ha<ha'li, leaf; 

 pe'unl~iapa, flat in all directions), so called in allusion to the 

 spreading habit of the plant in disk form upon the ground. 

 This plant is inimical to heahng and is consequently the enemy of 

 all healing plants. " If separated with the hands it will cause the skin 

 to break." 



Xanthium commune Britton. Cocklebur. Ambrosiace^. Rag- 

 weed family. 

 Mo'HacMjM, 'prickly pod' {mo<mo'U, round or roundi.sh; 

 Icia'chipa, prickly). Wa'tapa is another term for prickly. 

 Seeds of the bur are ground with native squash seeds and with 

 grains of corn that have been buried l>y crows and found by members 

 of the Cactus fraternity. The grinding is done on stone slabs in the 

 fraternity chamber. This mixture is applied externally to extract 

 cactus needles or sphnters, to heal wounds from nails, and for similar 

 purposes. The theurgist expectorates on the wound, then on the 

 medicine, wliich he applies to the wound, patting it until it adheres 

 firmly to the flesh. He then binds cm a cloth when this can be done; 



1 " Dr. W.A.N. Borland has found that in doses of one or two drachms of the fluid extract [of Uxtilago 

 zese] it markedly increases the uterme pains during lal)or. He claims for it that it will not produce a pro- 

 longed tonic contraction, as does ergot. This is, however, doubtful."— Tlic Dispematory of the United States 

 of America, by Dr. Geo. B. Wood and Dr. Franklin Bache, 17th edition, p. 1766, Phila., 1894. 



" Ustilago was introduced into practice chiefly through the efforts of the Homoeopaths. Inasmuch as it 

 acts promptly upon the gravid uterus, excitmg contraction, it may be employed in labor, under the same 

 circumstances, and observing the same precautions as named under ergot. ... It also arrests prolonged 

 lochial discharge, and gives a healthy tone to the uterine walls." — King, American Dispensatory, 18th 

 edition, vol. ii, 1900, pp. 2035, 2036. 



