792 BUREAU OP AMEiRICAK ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 137 



they parch the leaf in a deep earthen pan, and when it is well parched they 

 pour water over it, and while it is still boiling they draw it off and drink it hot, 

 and again pour water over it : its odor is like that of lye : these Indians and the 

 Spaniards drink it in the morning and they say that it is of benefit against the 

 stone, and that because it makes him urinate no Indian has that disease: I 

 drank it several times in the house where I stayed in St. Augustine, and it pro- 

 duces the effect they claim and does not have a bad taste, but it cannot be used 

 as a dainty like chocolate: this (cacina) is the common drink of Spaniards and 

 Indians, and there is no remembrance that they used sassafras except in sickness. 

 I was told afterwards that they mixed sea water with the cacina with which 

 the Indians regaled us so as to be able to vomit it out, and they do not eat that 

 day until they have vomited it: but I do not hold this as absolutely assured, 

 because afterwards I saw an old Christianized chief named Don Felipe, a name 

 adopted by him from that of the king, who always vomited after he had taken it 

 without having had any sea water, and so it may be that the vomiting is only by 

 the grave men among them and not by others. (Garcia, 1902, pp. 196-197.) 



In Florida we find the customary relations between priest, prophet, 

 and medicine man : 



They have their priests, to whom they give great credit, because they are 

 great magicians, great soothsayers, and callers upon devils. These priests 

 serve them instead of physicians and surgeons; they carry always about with 

 them a bag full of herbs and drugs, to cure the sick who, for the most part, are 

 sick of the pox. (Laudonniere, 1586, p. 8; Swanton, 1922, p. 385.) 



Ribault mentions, among the presents which his people received 



from the Indians, "roots like rinbabe (rhubarb), which they hold 



in great estimation, and make use of for medicine" (French, 1875, 



p. 177; Swanton, 1922, p. 386). And Le Moyne thus describes their 



method of treating disease : 



Their way of curing diseases is as follows : They put up a bench or platform 

 of sufficient length and breadth for the patient . . . and lay the sick person 

 upon it with his face up or down, according to the nature of his complaint ; and, 

 cutting into the skin of the forehead with a sharp shell, they suck out blood 

 with their mouths, and spit it into an earthen vessel or a gourd bottle. Women 

 who are suckling boys, or who are with child, come and drink this blood, 

 particularly if it is that of a strong young man ; as it is expected to make their 

 milk better, and to render the children who have the benefit of it bolder and 

 more energetic. For those who are laid on their faces they prepare fumiga- 

 tions by throwing certain seeds on hot coals; the smoke being made to pass 

 through the nose and mouth into all parts of the body, and thus to act as an 

 emetic, or to overcome and expel the cause of the disease. They have a cer- 

 tain plant, whose name has escaped me, which the Brazilians call petutn 

 ipetun), and the Spaniards tapaco. The leaves of this, carefully dried, they 

 place in the wider part of a pipe; and setting them on fire, and putting the 

 other end in their mouths, they inhale the smoke so strongly, that it comes out 

 at their mouths and noses, and operates powerfully to expel the humors. In 

 particular they are extremely subject to the venereal disease, for curing which 

 they have remedies of their own, supplied by nature [pi. 106]. (Le Moyne, 

 1875, pp. 8-9; Swanton, 1922, pp. 385-386.) 



An account of the different orders of shamans and medicine men 

 among the Creeks has already been given. It was noted that there 



