554 MEDICINE-MEN OF THE APACHE. 
of all the notes upon the subject can not fail to convince the reader that 
the use of just such medicine cords prevailed all over the world, under 
one form or another, and has survived to our own times. 
First, let me say a word about rosaries, the invention of which has 
been attributed to St. Dominick, in Spain, and to St. Bridget, in Ireland. 
Neither of these saints had anything to do with the invention or intro- 
duction of the rosary, although each in his or her own province may 
have adapted to new and better uses a cord already in general service 
among all the peoples of Europe. The rosary, as such, was in general 
use in parts of the world long before the time of Christ. Again, the 
Fic. 439.—Four-strand medicine cord (Apache). 
cords of the various religious orders were looked upon as medicine 
cords and employed in that manner by the ignorant peasantry. 
In this chapter I will insert notes showing the use of such cords by 
other tribes, and follow with descriptions of the uses to which the cords 
of St. Francis and others were put, and with references to the rosaries 
of different races or different creeds; finally, I will remark upon the 
superstitions connected with cords, belts, and strings, knotted or un- 
knotted, made of serpent skin, human skin, or huinanhair. The strangest 
thing about it all is that observers have, with scarcely an exception, 
contented themselves with noting the existence of such cords without 
making the shghtest effort to determine why they were used. 
