OLBRECHTs] THE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 177 



The medicine men explain that the ghosts of the snakes, or some- 

 times of the fish, in order to take vengeance on those who destroy 

 or offend them, "spoil the saliva" of the offending ones by causing 

 them to dream of snakes and fishes twining and crawling over them, 

 biting them and blowing fetid breath into their faces, until the 

 victims become disgusted with food and lose appetite and strength. 



The medicine is then given to induce vomiting, by which the 

 "spoiled saliva" is dislodged, when the patient recovers. Whatever 

 may be thought of the theory or of the medicine actually used, the 

 principle of the application is undoubtedly correct. 



The first part of the prayer is addressed to the Black Snake above, 

 which is evidently expected to drive out the disease snake. The 

 second paragraph calls upon the Two Little Men — the Thunder 

 Boys, the sons of k^ana-'ti (see Mooney, Myths, p. 242) — to take 

 the disease spirit to the Night Land in the West and put it away 

 in the black boxes or coffins. The reason for invoking these "Two 

 Little Men" here will be explained in Formula No. 20, page 196. 

 The sick man finds relief as soon as the Little Men turn round to 

 come back after accomplishing their task. In one place the medicine 

 man speaks directly to the patient, who, however, has no chance 

 to catch the meaning of the whispered words. "Black boxes" 

 or "coffins" are frequently mentioned in the formulas. They are 

 sometimes "buried out West in the black mud, with a black stone 

 on top of them." The "ever-living bones," synonym of the "ever- 

 living teeth," are referred to in most of the formulas concernmg 

 snakes. The Cherokee, like other Indians, has a great reverence 

 for snakes in general, but for rattlesnakes in particular, and is 

 careful never to offend one, even by word. In accordance with 

 the principle often applied in the formulas of belittfing a serious 

 ailment, it is customary, when a man has been bitten by a snake, 

 to announce that he has "been scratched by a brier." [See p. 14.] 



The medicine used is a decoction of rattlesnake fern [Botrychium 

 virginianum (L.), Sv/.] root, boiled down to a sirup. The medicine 

 man recites the whole formula, then rubs some of the decoction 

 upon the spot where the patient dreams that he has been bitten, 

 and finally blows his breath upon it four times. The whole ceremony 

 is repeated four times, and, in addition, the patient drinks a small 

 portion of the sirup. 



In the absence of the plant named, the medicine man uses a 

 decoction of poplar bark [Liriodendron tulijnjera L.], the root being 

 used in the same way; or he sometimes simply chews some poplar 

 bark or a small portion of the root of u'naste-ts.tt'^Ga [AristolocMa 

 serpentaria L.; Virginia snakeroot] and blov/s it upon the spot 

 after reciting the formula. The medicine may be rubbed on at 

 intervals by some one of the patient's family, but the blowing. 



