DENS MORE] PLANTS USED IN ARTS 379 
were used in making the frames on which berries were dried, the stiff, 
clean Phragmites communis being used for this purpose. It was 
desirable that rushes, bark and similar materials be kept somewhat 
moist, and a dark, cool shed was adapted to this purpose. PI. 48, c.) 
The leaves of the bearberry and the inner bark of red-osier dog- 
wood were smoked for pleasure. (PI. 49.) The plants smoked as 
charms are noted in the section on that subject. 
Coverings for dwellings were made of sheets of birch bark sewed 
together with basswood twine, these being used on the dome-shaped 
wigwam. Sheets of jack pine or of elm were used on the dwellings 
shaped like the white man’s cabin. Cedar boughs were used for 
bedding. The leaves of the burdock were sewed together or sewed 
on a strip of birch bark as a head covering for those obliged to work 
inthe hot sun. (PI. 50,a.) The juice of puccoon was used as a paint 
for reddening the cheeks. A brown fungus (Bevista pila B. and C.) 
was used in painting the faces and garments of the dead, preparatory 
to their joining the dance of the spirits where the Northern Lights 
are shining. The flaring lights in the north were said to be the 
motion of the spirits in their dance, and a woman in a trance saw the 
spirits paint their faces with this material. 
Spruce gum was considered best for use in calking canoes and 
birch-bark pails. It was prepared by boiling the gum in a wide- 
meshed bag which retained the bits of wood and bark, allowing the 
gum to pass into the water. It was skimmed from the surface and 
stored until a convenient time when it was mixed with charcoal made 
from cedar. Slippery elm bark was chewed and used occasionally 
to calk small containers made of birch bark. 
Tamarack roots were used in sewing the edges of canoes and in 
making woven bags. 
Rushes were tied in small bundles and used for scouring utensils, 
the two varieties thus used being Hguisetum hiemale L. and Equi- 
setum praealtum Rat. 
Toys were made for children from many sorts of plants. The 
children themselves cut the stems of the wild onion and made little 
whistles. The stem, or “top,” was allowed to dry a little and a 
sound hole was cut in the side, after which a sound was produced by 
blowing across the end. The leaves of the pitcher plant were called 
“ frog-leggings” and used as toys, or filled with ripe berries. Red 
berries were strung and used as necklaces. Dolls were made from the 
broad leaves of trees, the leaves being fastened in place with little 
wooden splints and sometimes a collar of birchbark added. 
(Pl. 50, 6.) Flat dolls were cut from the stiff inner bark of slippery 
elm, or formed of twigs covered with the same sort of willow used 
for baskets. Dolls were also made of grass. It is interesting to note 
