574 EEPORT — 1892. 



For consumption, coughs, colds, sore chest, &c. : Strong decoctions of 

 the various tea-plants, luii'mdfl, mii'ttil (^Mentha canadensis), &c. ; the grease 

 in the tail of the otter ; plasters made of the leaves of the tea-plant. 



For horses the plant dqhinu'htltt' qonCtl Eka (Bigelovia graveolens)\& used. 



For belly-ache : Gd'imdwitstla'kpeh (Spircea hetulifolia) boiled in 

 water; na'md'H (Ahitis). 



As a purgative : A decoction of the root of the ndho'kdwdk, or Oi'egon 

 grape plant. 



For wounds, cuts, bruises : Qd'tl (BalsamorrJdza sagittata) boiled and 

 applied to hands, &c. ; the leaves of the dtlu'mdtl (^Populus tremuloidea) 

 macerated, boiled, for burns, &c. ; the pounded and macerated bark or 

 leaves of the various tea-plants ; the gum or resin of several of the 

 coniferae.' 



Disease (^sd'nitlqo'mi, he is sick). 



A very stringent and well-enforced law of the Province, which has the 

 cordial approval of the settlers and of the Roman Catholic missionaries, 

 keeps the curse of liquor from the Kootenays, and not a little of their pre- 

 sent good character is due to this fact. By the common consent of travellers, 

 missionaries, and settlers, the morality of these Indians is veiy high, and 

 they are practically free from venereal diseases, and the licentiousness 

 prevalent amongst some of the coast tribes is unknown. The experiences 

 of Mr. Robert Galbraith, who for some years acted as the medical adviser 

 to these Indians, bears out to the full this statement. The institution of 

 the sweat-bath and other helps to personal cleanliness has its good results. 



The Indians suffer most from consumption and allied affections, and 

 diseases of the eye. The latter are mostly caused by the smoke of the 

 lodges, and terminate not infrequently in complete blindness. Scrofula is 

 also prevalent. Some cases of goitre have been noted (one, that of a 

 woman, came under the writer's observation), due, it is said by the settlers, 

 to the immoderate use of snow-water. The Indian dogs are stated to be 

 subject also to goitre. 



Running sores on the face and neck and in the ears are rather com- 

 mon, especially with the children, and the cause of a recent death was given 

 as cancer of the brain supervening upon a sore in the ear. Some of the 

 Indians are disfigured by warts ; one deaf and dumb individual had his 

 hand covered with them, and in the case of a little boy the face, thick 

 with warts, was gradually being eaten away by cancer. 



Toothache, though very rare, is not unknown, and Mr. McLaughlin 

 stated that he had known several Indians to suffer terribly from it. 



Besides their numerous native remedies, the Indians have frequent 

 recourse to the supplies of the white man and the Chinaman. 



The writer met with two deaf mutes and two blind Indians. Amongst 

 the Lower Kootenays there is said to be an hermaphrodite, who keeps 

 constantly in the society of the women. 



Illustrations of Articles of Kootenay Manufacture. 



The drawings which accompany this report I owe to my brother, 

 T. B. A. Chamberlain, who made them, at my request, from the originals. 



■ For the determination of the scientific names of plants, &c., the writer is in- 

 debted to the courtesy of Professor John Macoun, of the Geological Survey, Ottawa, 

 Canada, to whom he begs to return his thanks. 



