oIbrecIts] the swimmer MANUSCRIPT 71 



knee, the wrist, the elbow, etc. — and are not more than 5 to 6 centi- 

 meters long. From six to a dozen of them may be applied, usually 

 parallel, but in some cases half of them may be scratched from left 

 to right, the other half up and down, so that the whole presents a 

 network. 



After any scarification, whatever ''instruments" may have been 

 used, an infusion of very pungent plants (see p. 53) is rubbed over 

 the scarified area; it is undeniable that this treatment is often efiBca- 

 cious to allay the pains caused by neuralgia, nervous headache, and 

 similar complaints. Similar observations have been made by W. E. 

 Eoth^3 and by Prof. J. P. lOeiM^eg de Zwaan.^* 



Generally spealdng, scarification is performed to cure such diseases 

 as are not permanently located in a definite part of the body, as 

 rheumatism, which may be more pronounced in the knee joints one 

 day and in the hip the next; or "pains moving about" (neuralgia), 

 for neuralgia of the teeth, for "pains appearing in different places," 

 etc. 



Fractures. — The knowledge and the professional skill of the medicine 

 men with regard to fractures is scanty indeed. The fractured mem- 

 ber is fitted together as nicely as can be managed and one or more 

 sticks are tied alongside of it; as soon as the patient reaches home two 

 boards are hewn, of which a casing is made, and that takes the place 

 of the sticks. Complete rest is prescribed and a decoction of tsfyu' 

 {Liriodendron tulipifera L., tulip tree, poplar, whitewood) is blown, 

 by means of the blowing tube (see p. 58), on the fractured limb. As 

 the medicine men put it themselves: "If everything has been fixed 

 nicely the bones will grow together again and heal; but often they 

 don't and then the man will not have the use of his limb again." 



If a lower limb has been broken or disjointed and has failed to heal 

 sticks and simple crutches, not different from the simpler forms known 

 to the rural whites, are used. 



A fracture which is fairly common is that of the collar bone; the 

 rough way in which Cherokee ball players handle each other during 

 the game often results in a player being tossed clear up into the air 

 and falling down headforemost. To avoid falling on his head, or 

 brealdng an ann, the head is held on one side, and the arms are held 

 horizontally extended. A broken collar bone is often the result. 



Here again no other method of curing is attempted than blowing a 

 decoction of poplar bark on the shoulder and breast. The patient is 

 ordered to keep his arm at an angle of 45° in front of his breast, i. e., 

 to take the position which in our hospitals is enforced by the suspen- 

 sion bandage. Most cases heal successfully. 



^^ "An Inquiry into the Animism and Folk-Lore of the Guiana Indians," 

 Thirtieth Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn. (1915), p. 280. 

 ""Die Heilkunde der Niasser," den Haag 1913, p. 135. 



