244 BUREATJ OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99 



DfHlastGGf'sti I DD"'4at'si a'Vt'-'ya' tstDf'oa'.GWu't'a tyu's'ti 



(foxglove) (Red oak) meat real that which they are like 



sticking on it (1) 



tst'oe'sg' so\t-N'3°' tVla' tstDwVe-Da'tlalg*' tsu-'nstf'Ga 



that which other and (white oak) it which lying along, H they small 



is, H 



tst'ki I na.ski' Go*'ts5tlti' | 



it is this it (sol) put in 



with it 



This (is) When They are III (by) Those Living in the 



Forest 



FREE TRANSLATION 



Slippeiy elm, sycamore, limetree, foxglove, another (of this kind) 

 which has one brown stalk (and) which grows in the pine woods, red 

 oak which is the one that (looks as) if pieces of meat were sticking to 

 it; and furthermore, the white oak that (looks) as if it had little 

 (blowgun) arrow tufts; this (all together) has to be put into it. 



explanation 



This is a prescription for the treatment of diarrhea or dysentery; 

 this, the medicine men assert, is caused by " those living in the forest," 

 i. e., the bear, deer, rabbit, and other game; [only quadrupeds are 

 held responsible for this disease, in adults. If, however], children 

 suffer from it, it is ascribed to the influence of birds. (See No. 78, 

 p. 281.) The prescription here given furnishes a good illustration of 

 the connection between the disease theory and the treatment as 

 regards selection of the medicine and the taboo. 



The symptoms are described as a frotby discharge from the bowels, 

 accompanied by griping pains in the abdominal region. The patient 

 is required to drink for four days a decoction compounded of seven 

 ingredients — another instance of the combination of the sacred 

 numbers 4 and 7 — which completely purges the system, after which 

 recovery follows. 



The purgative elements of the decoction are Da*'"w9DZt''la, JJlmus 

 fulva Michx., slippery elm, red elm; k*i;'wtyi;'*sti, Platanus occidentalis 

 L., sycamore, buttonwood ; fDe'Ja, Tilia americana L., limetree, white- 

 wood, basswood, of all of which the inner bark is used; while the two 

 varieties of m''^tlastQGr'sti, Dasy stoma virginica (L.), Britton, smooth 

 false foxglove, are said to have a sedative and healing effect. 



The two varieties of oak, Do''"la'tsi, Quercus rubra L., red oak, 

 t'a^'la', Quercus alba L., white oak, are used solel}^ on account of their 

 connection with the mythic disease agents, the game animals of the 

 forest. The red oak, "which looks as though pieces of meat are 

 sticking on it," is one of which the twigs have numerous excrescences 



