swANToNl TXnr.VX TRIBES OF THE T.OWF.Il MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 85 



Its sndniilic virtue |tli:it of tlic /»/<// ilc l)<>is\ is so iinwt'i-riil tli:it llir iiMlivc 

 doctors ciiipioy it :ilto;;i'tlior. altlioiiiili llicy :ire well iiccnuiiutcd witli sass.-ifnis, 

 snrsapiirilla. (.'liiiui root, and other | remedies |." 



The ground ivy is l<iio\vn l)y tlie native doctors to have many more virtues 

 than our l)otanists liavo told me they knew ret^ardinj; it. It has, amonn other 

 virtues, tliat of relievinj; women in childi)!!!]!, wlien a de(;oction of it is taken; 

 that of cnrini,' ulcers, when it is crushed and put on the ulcerous place; but 

 above all I <iui;ht not to omit mention of one of its qualities, which is that of 

 bciufi a soverei^'u remedy for headache, to which it is commonly said tliat no 

 remedy has been found. Its leaves, when quite green, being crushwl in a suf- 

 ficiently large ijuantity and placed on the head as a poultice, cure promptly.'' 



A " kind of wild onion '" is mentioned b}^ Dumont, which, when 

 mashed and applied to the wound, acted as an antidote to the poison 

 of a rattlesnake.' This is evidently the same as the rattlesnake med- 

 icine called by the Natchez "■ oiidla-coudlogoiiille," of which Dii 

 Pratz speaks. He says that the falling flower leaves a large head 

 which rattles like the rattle of this snake, and this would suggest, in 

 the light of what we know^ of Indian medicine generally, that its 

 virtue rested rather on this similarity than on any actual curative 

 properties.** 



De la Vente asserts that after having rubbed their hands with these 

 herbs the native doctors would take up rattlesnakes, handle them 

 without fear, and receive no bites from them.'^ 



Dumont has the folloAving to say regarding sweating: 



The Spanish beard, that uioss which grows on the trees and of which I have 

 spoken elsewhere, is one of the remedies which they employ oftenest in their 

 cures. They make use of it princii)ally in cases of sluggishness, lassitude in the 

 limbs, cramps, and even internal disorders, and here is the method which they 

 observe in these maladies. They first have prepared in the cabin of the sick 

 person a bed raised about 1h feet from the ground and ditTereut from others 

 in that the canes with which it is covered instead of being close together are 

 fully an inch apart. The savage physician then spreads the moss or S])anish 

 beard over this bed to the depth of from 7 to 8 inches, after which, having made 

 the sick man lie down on this mattress entirely naked, he covers all his body 

 with the same moss, so .that only his face appears. Then these alcxis put burn- 

 ing charcoal under the bed which they smother with herbs which they have 

 boiled and surround the bed with coverings. The smoke of these herbs passing 

 through the moss excites in the sick iierson an abundant sweat, for it may be said 

 that they are not at all sparing, and that they make him sweat in spite of himself 

 and to excess. Moreover, when he comes out of this bath they have no need 

 of towels to wipe him. The corner of the hand performs that office and makes 

 rivulets of sweat run over his entire body. If after this remedy the sick per- 

 son is not at once absolutely cured, he at least receives much relief and ordina- 

 rily some days afterward he recovers his health perfectly.^ 



" Du Pratz, Hist, de La Louisiane, ii, 60. 

 "Ibid.. 61-62. 



<^ Dumont, Mem. Hist, siir La Louisiane, i, 110. 

 <* Du Pratz, Hist, de La Louisiane, n, 60-61. 

 " Compte Rendu Cong. Intemat. des Amc^r., l.">th sess., i, 50. 



f Sweating is also referred to by Dc la Vente, Compte Rendu Cong. Internat. des 

 Amer., 15th sess., i, 50. 



