308 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [kth. a.sn.I9 



iidvixncos it disappears and is hclicvod then to have tui'iiod into a giga- 

 tsulia' li lizard, the change l^eginning at the liead and tinishing with the 

 tail. It is probably the (.'auijKiKtdiiia or stone roller, which is con- 

 spicuous for its bright coloring in early spring, but loses its tints after 

 sjjawning. The meat of the sluggish hog-sucker is tabued to the Imll 

 player, who must necessarily be active in movement. The fresh-water 

 mussel is called ddgu'nd, and the same name is applied to certain pim- 

 ples upon the face, on account of a fancied resemblance. The ball 

 player rubs himself with an eel skin to make himself slippery and hard 

 to hold, and, according to the Wahnenauhi manuscript, women 

 formerly tied up their hair with tlie dried skin of an eel to make it 

 grow long. A large red crawtish called tx/'sh/gl//, much resembling 

 a lobster, is used to scratch young children in order to give them a 

 strong grip, each hand of the child being lightly scratched once with 

 the pincer of the living animal. A mother whose grown son had 

 been thus treated when an infant claimed that he coidd hold anything 

 with his thumb and finger. It is said, however, to render the child 

 quarrelsome and disposed to bite. 



Of insects there is more to be said. The generic name for all sorts 

 of small insects and worms is fx(/th/</. and according to the doctors, who 

 had anticipated the microbe theory by several centuries, these tsgaya 

 are to blame for nearly every human ailment not directly traceable to 

 the asgina of the larger animals or to witchcraft. The reason is plain. 

 There are such myriads of them ever\'where on the earth and in the 

 air that mankind is constantly destroying them by wholesale, without 

 mere}' and almost without knowledge, and this is their method of 

 taking revenge. 



Beetles are classed together under a name which signifies " insects 

 with shells." The little water-beetle or mellow-bug {I) hhrnU-s discolor) 

 is called (Mt/un/'st. " beaver's grandmother," and according to the 

 genesis tradition it l>rought up the first earth from under the water. 

 A certain green-headed beetle with horns (PJhuhi'us carnlfcr) is spoken 

 of as the dog of the Thunder boys, and the metallic -green luster upon 

 its forehead is said to have been caused b}- striking at the celebrated 

 mythic gamlder, Uiitsaiyi', "■ Brass" (see the story). The June-bug 

 {Allor]iin(t niiida), another green beetle, is to/it, but is frequentlj' 

 called by the curious name of tii'ya-dl'skalaivstl'sM, "one who keeps 

 fire under the beans." Its larva is the gi'ubworm which presided 

 at the meeting held by the insects to compass the destruction of the 

 human race (see the story, ''Origin of Disease and Medicine"). The 

 large horned beetle {Dijna.sfi-x f/'ti/i/si) is called fshtu'im, "crawfish," 

 (I wi', "deer," or ijdUuji'na^ " l)uck," on account of its branching horns. 

 The snapping beetle {Alai'.'< oadufmi) is called fuhl-n'nyi., ''one that 

 snaps with his head." 



When the led a or jar-tl}- (C'/'a/dii indtfvs) begins to sing in niidsum. 



