302 THE ZUNI INDIANS [kth. ann. 23 



heap. The doctress afterward placed by the sand heap the l:)o\vl of juniper water, 

 ill which the yucca suds had been deposited to bathe the infant, and proceeded to 

 bathe the young mother, who Avas now at the other end of the room. The girl 

 kept on her camis, which soon became thoroughly wet. The doctress poured water 

 over her by the gourdful. The girl washed her own legs, standing while she did so. 

 Twenty minutes were consumed in this bath, though the large room, except near 

 the fire, was very cold. No cloth was used to dry the body. A soiled camis was 

 slipped on her as she dropped the other, and, wrapping a heavy blanket around 

 herself, the young mother walked over the cold stone floor in her bare feet, which 

 were still swollen, and took her seat by the fire. Within twenty minutes after the 

 bath the mother's pulse was 82. She seemed perfectly well and declared that she 

 felt so. An excellent meal was served, but the grandfather was too absorbed to leave 

 his work of attaching buckskin thongs and loops to the new cradle, which was a 

 present from the paternal uncle Mauretio. On the cradle, just where the head of 

 tlie infant should rest, was a perfectly round turquoise of excellent color. Inlaid 

 below and close to the neck rest were three turquoises. When the cradle was com- 

 })leted, the child was strapped to it. In folding the wi-ajis around the child care was 

 observed first to bring around the piece of cotton from the right side of the child so 

 as to prevent the arms from coming in contact with the body, the cloth passing 

 under each arm. The other side of the cloth was then brought over both arms. 

 The blanket was folded around and tied in two places. On the 27th the mother's 

 pulse was 82. She was sitting up, dressed, and apparently perfectly well. The 

 infant took the mother's milk for the first time. The pulse was the same on the 

 28th and 29th. The mother was up and sewing on the 29th, and the child took 

 uuich notice and appeared brighter and more observing than any civilized child of 

 the same age known to the writer. 



Another obstetrical case observed was that of an unmarried girl of 16. She received 

 the same attentions as if the child had been born in wedlock, and the writer did not 

 detect any difference in the ceremonies because of illegitimate birth. The parents 

 of this girl were dead. The relatives with whom she lived were very tender with her, 

 though they expressed deep regret at her misconduct. Her brother, who was an 

 associate shi^wanni (rain priest), acted kindly toward her and was as pleased with the 

 infant as if it were his own. This girl was in labor twenty-four hours, but most of 

 the pains were slight and she had a comparatively easy delivery. Her pulse imme- 

 diately after the birth was 96. During the day following her confinement she sat 

 up for two hours. She had no dropsical symptoms. On the second and third days 

 after confinement her pulse was 96; after that it was normal. 



The worst of a number of cases of laceration observed was that of a girl about 

 18 years of age who lived at a farming district 15 miles from Zuni. The infant, 

 her first t'hild, was strangled by the umbilical cord at its birth, which occurred on 

 October 18, 1896, and on the 22d the father of the young mother was notified that 

 she could not live. On the 23d he and his father, Nai'uchi, went at once for the girl 

 and brought her to Zuni through one of the severest rain storms of the season. They 

 traveled in a covered wagon without springs, the young mother lying on blankets 

 spread in the bed of the wagon. They arrived late at night, and in the morning 

 Nai'uchi made an examination in the presence of the writer. The patient was very 

 low, the pulse being 125. The perineum was terribly lacerated and the labia majora 

 were swollen to enormous size, the flesh being almost black. As the labia majora 

 were depilous the condition was the more readily observed. Nai^uchi pulled off the 

 sloughs, some 2 inches in length and as thick as the finger. The invalid showed 

 no signs of suffering at this time, except to frown as the diseased flesh was removed. 

 The writer had the parts bathed in a solution of carbolic acid, five drops in a cup of 

 boiled water, and it was with the greatest difficulty that she induced the doctress 

 to use fresh aseptic gauze instead of a filthy cloth for the bathing. Nai'uchi sat 



