BULLETIN 39, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [6] 



■when known, the date and place of collecting, the name of the collector, 

 the object for which it is used, the name of the tribe, and the partnsed. 

 These facts may, for convenience, be arranged in the following order: 



1. 



Number. 



7. 



Uses. 



2. 



Common name. 



8. 



Part used. 



3. 



Abori<;inal name of plant. 



9. 



Date of collecting, 



4. 



Aboriginal name of derived product. 



10. 



Collector. 



5. 



Tribe. 



11. 



General remarks. 



6. 



Place. 







Descriptive matter. — Specimens labeled as described above do not 

 furnish complete information on the uses of the particular plants that 

 they represent, but they constitute the basis upon which detailed 

 descriptions may be made. Often no one is better able to furnish these 

 descriptions than the observer himself, and this should always be done 

 whenever any additional information can thus be conveyed. The 

 descriptive matter should cover especially the method of manufacture 

 and the method of use, but it is not desired under that heading to enter 

 largely into the customs of the Indians, at least not into their ethno- 

 logical features. The following will serve to indicate the nature of the 

 descriptive matter desired: 



One of the prickly pears, Opuntia basilaris, is used by the Indians, prepared in a 

 peculiar manner. In May and early .June the flat, fleshy joints of the season's growth, 

 as weil as the buds, blossoms, and immature fruit are fully distended with sweet 

 sap. They are broken off with sticks, and collected in large baskets. Each joint, 

 having been carefnlly rubbed with grass to remove the fine, barbed prickles, is 

 exposed to the heat of the sun. WhL'u they are thoroughly dry they will keep 

 indefiuitely, and are prepared for eating by boiling and adding salt. Instead of 

 the drying process another more elaborate is sometimes adopted. A hole, about 10 

 inches in depth and 3 feet in diameter, is dug in the ground and lined with stones. 

 Upon this a fire is built and other stones thrown in. When they are all thoroughly 

 heated, the ashes, coals, and all but one layer of stones are scraped away, and some 

 fresh or moistened grass spread in the hole. Next a layer of cactus joints is added, 

 then more hot stones, and so on, till the pile is well rounded. The whole is then cov- 

 ered with sacking (originally with a mat of sedges), and lastly with moist earth. 

 After about twelve hours of steaming the pile is opened and the nil'-vo, as the 

 cooked cactus is called, is salted and eaten. Prejiared as it is, in larger quantities 

 than can be disposed of at once, a portion is dried and preserved. It is then in 

 texture and appearance similar to unpeeled dried peaches.' 



Fiber materlah, lilius trilohata and Salix lasiandra. — Sumac and willow are prepared 

 for use in the same way. The bark is removed from the fresh shoots by biting it 

 loose at the end and tearing it off. The woody portion is scraped to remove bud pro- 

 tuberances and other inequalities of the surface, and is then allowed to dry. These 

 slender pieces of wood, that they may be distinguished from the other elements of 

 basket mateiials, will be called withes. The second element is prepared from the 

 same plants. A squaw selects a fresh shoot, breaks off the too slender upper portion, 

 and bites one end so that it starts to split into three nearly equal parts. Holding 

 one of these parts in her teeth and one in either hand, she pulls them apart, guiding 

 the split with her fingers so dexterously that the whole shoot is divided into three 

 equal even portions. Taking one of tliese, by a similar process she splits off the pith 

 and the adjacent less flexible tissue from the inner face and the bark from the outer, 



'Amer. Authrop., V, p. 354, 1892. 



