March 23, il 



?•] 



SCIENCE. 



137 



Ihe back of his neck, and one on top of his head. As the order 

 -approached, the mountain-Uon arose and advanced, angry and 

 growling ; but upon the presentation of the plume-sticks, with 

 which the order was provided, and their sprinkling upon him sacred 

 meal, he became gracious, and invited them to enter into the house 

 of his chief. Five other animals, sentinels, had to be propitiated in 

 like manner — the bear, badger, white wolf, eagle, and mole — 

 ■ere the Order of Wood reached the presence of the great priest. 

 The)' were welcomed by Po-shai-yan-tka, who told them they must 

 remain with him for a time, and be taught by him. Many years 

 had elapsed since he had separated from his people in the far north- 

 west, and there were many villages surrounding the home of the 

 priest. Po-shai-yan-tka, desiring that others of the Shiwina or 

 Zuni should also be taught, commanded their presence through his 

 messenger, the Lightning. Upon the arrival of the orders, Po-shai- 

 yan-tka commanded all to gather into groups and listen attentively, 

 for he was about to instruct them in all the medicine songs and 

 •dances, the songs to be sung in winter, and the songs for summer. 

 The winter songs must not be sung when the sun was hot, nor 

 must the summer songs be sung in winter time. Each group was 

 provided with a pottery drum, vase-shaped, the opening covered 

 with hide. But one drum-stick, the Nit-tsi-tKi, was used to each 

 drum. This drum-stick was brought from the interior worlds by 

 Po-shai-yan-tka, and, like all articles that came to this world with 

 -the Zuni, is of special value and significance. 



" The leader of each group beat upon his drum. All the Shiwina 

 •or Zufii paid special attention, and heard the songs straight, and so 

 remembered them. But the people of the many villages did not 

 hear straight : therefore the songs sung by the Zufii at the present 

 time are the only authentic songs of Po-shai-yan-tka. He also gave 

 to them all altars of wood and sand, instructing the people how to 

 make them. The medicine and songs came from other animals, 

 -but knowledge of the altars sprang directly from Po-shai-yan-tka. 

 In the heart of Po-shai-yan-tka the knowledge of all earthly things 

 originated. The altars were strictly guarded by the animalsduring 

 the season of instruction, and the people were commanded to have 

 the altars they made guarded m the same manner, the animals as- 

 suming relative positions. And since that time these altars have 

 been guarded by stone animals which were once living, but were 

 converted into stone by the great fire that swept over the earth. 

 Trees were likewise converted into stone. The size of the image 

 depends upon the length of time the animal was subjected to the 

 fire : the longer it burned, the smaller it became. Thus these 

 people account for the diminutive size of their animal fetiches. The 

 Zufii returned to their home, bearing with them the promise of Po- 

 shai-yan-tka's return. Po-shai-yan-tka then commanded the lion 

 to make his home in the north for all future time, as the protector 

 of the north. The bear he sent as protector of the west, the badger 

 to the south, the white wolf to the east, the eagle to the heavens, 

 and the mole to the earth. All other animals he scattered over the 

 face of the earth." 



The lack of space forbids giving in this abstract Mrs. Stevenson's 

 -exceedingly interesting description of the ceremonials of the differ- 

 ■ent orders. Gaining the entire confidence of the Zufii, she adopted 

 their dress, painted her face, and witnessed all their secret rites. 

 Speaking of the necromancy or magical arts of the Order of the 

 Ooh-hoo-hoo-ooh-que, she says, — 



" One of their tricks is for two persons to draw a rope to and fro 

 .across the body of another until it appears on the opposite side. 

 Another is to pass two breast-feathers of the eagle through the 

 ■flame of a lamp, bringing out two charred bits, and, after manipulat- 

 tng for a time, pressing the bits to their nude breasts, reproducing 

 the feathers in all their original beauty. Mush is made and rolled 

 into small balls, which are passed to the members of the order to 

 ■eat. The presiidigitateitr then dips two eagle-plumes in medicine- 

 •water, and sprinkled it upward, calling upon the eagle-god of the 

 heavens to convert the mush into stone. The balls are again 

 passed, when they are found to be as hard as stone. Again the 

 plumes are dipped into the medicine-water, and sprinkled to the 

 fire, with the request that the goddess reconvert the stones into 

 mush. Hot water is made cold by the same process, with the 

 feathers, and again heated by calling upon the goddess of fire." 



The Wood Order are very clever at legerdemain. Mrs. Steven- 



son says, " When I first witnessed the swallowing of the knife, I 

 was inclined to think it a ready trick. A youth approached the 

 altar, and dipped the ends of two eagle-plumes into medicine- 

 water, and, after touching his breast with the plumes, he danced 

 wildly before the altar ; then he reached behind the altar for his 

 knife, which he held upward while he danced, at times distorting 

 his body, and throwing himself almost prostrate ; then he would, 

 with a graceful gesture, turn and suddenly fall on the left knee, 

 immediately in front of the gayly decorated altar, with his back to 

 the altar, he facing the east, and, throwing his head back, run the 

 sword down his throat, leaving nothing but the handle to be seen. 

 This feat was repeated three times, when the eagle-plumes were 

 again dipped into the medicine-water, and touched to the mouth. 

 To convince myself the knife was genuinely put down the 

 throat, after long persuasion, I induced a youth belonging to the 

 order to swallow the knife. This was done in secrecy. The youth 

 removed his head-kerchief, and took off his leather belt and pouch, 

 and, after repeating a long prayer, he placed the knife in his mouth, 

 running it down the throat to the handle. I am told death is 

 sometimes the result, but this is always attributed to a bad heart." 

 In closing, Mrs. Stevenson said, "The brief account which has 

 been given of the medicine orders of the Zufii is perhaps sufficient 

 to convey an understanding of this interesting phase of the pueblo 

 life of North America. The dignitary, who is usually called the 

 ' medicine-man ' among our Indian tribes, is something more than 

 the term implies in civilization. The medicine-man is both priest 

 and doctor, and, by reason of his priestly office, he sometimes be- 

 comes a judge. The mythical beings with whom he holds con- 

 verse are the gods of his people. They are the persons who bring 

 evils, or preserve from evils : they bring health or disease, they 

 bring peace or war, and they bring plenty or want at harvest time. 

 Thus in all respects the gods are supposed to hold within their 

 power all prosperity and all adversity. So the priests stand be- 

 tween the people and these gods, and by means of ceremonies, in- 

 cantations, and many prescribed observances, the gods are induced 

 to preserve from evil and bring happiness. The medicine practices 

 of the Zufii are therefore religious observances and rites ; and the 

 daily life of the Zufii, under the guidance of their priests through 

 the agency of the medicine order, is so controlled that every act of 

 life assumes something of a religious character. To them their 

 religion is fraught with much fear ; to them it brings many trials, 

 many privations, and much suffering. Notwithstanding this, they 

 derive from it much amusement and great joy, and in it all their 

 hopes and aspirations are centred." 



Early Stages in the Life of Taenia Pectinata. 



Thousands of sheep and lambs perish every winter on the 

 ranches west of the Missouri River. They are not apparently 

 afflicted with any disease. They are weak and lean in the fall, and 

 simply seem to be unable to withstand the severity of the blizzards. 

 The Bureau of Animal Industry, of the Agricultural Department, 

 has been engaged in an investigation to ascertain, if possible, the 

 cause of the weakness of the animals that perish, and Mr. Cooper 

 Curtice visited the West in the prosecution of this work. An ex- 

 amination of the viscera of slaughtered sheep and lambs, fat and 

 healthy ones as well as those that were weak and lean, disclosed 

 the fact that they were almost without exception infected with tape- 

 worms, which were found in the duodenum and gall-duct. In the 

 latter they were frequently so numerous as to close it up, and cause 

 a suspension of its functions. 



For the purpose of continuing his studies', Mr. Curtice brought 

 from the West a number of lambs, which were killed at intervals 

 and their viscera examined ; and this material having been ex- 

 hausted, and it being inconvenient and expensive to obtain more, 

 he turned his attention during the past winter to a study of the 

 early stages in the life of the Taenia pectinata (common unarmed 

 tape-worms of the rabbit). In studying these, Mr. Curtice thinks 

 that he has made some interesting discoveries, which he presented 

 to the Biological Society of Washington at a recent meeting. 



The variety examined is found abundantly in nearly all rabbits in 

 this locality. The life-history of the armed tape- worms of man 

 and dogs has long been written ; but that of the unarmed species 

 inhabiting our domestic animals, especially cattle and sheep, is as 



