POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



569 



plants and animals; the botanical instruc- 

 tion beginning with such exercises as draw- 

 ing and describing various forms of leaves, 

 and advancing to flowers of gradually in- 

 creasing difficulty. In zoology, the most fa- 

 miliar animals, and those which the pupils 

 can see alive, should be studied first, then 

 the common, and finally the more obscure 

 forms. The collection of specimens should 

 be encouraged, and the specimens should be 

 made the subject of object-lessons. Human 

 physiology and hygiene being of immense 

 practical importance, their rudiments should 

 be taught in the grammar and even the pri- 

 mary schools. Rudimentary courses in phys- 

 ics and astronomy should be introduced in 

 the highest grades of the grammar school. 

 Physical geography, phsenogamic botany, and 

 human physiology should be included in the 

 classical courses in the high school, and re- 

 quired for admission to college. 



The Son-Dance of the Blackfeet.— The 



most important sacred festival of the Black- 

 feet Indians is the sun-dance, which is called 

 also by the whites the medicine-dance. The 

 tradition runs that it originated in the thank- 

 offering of a woman for the recovery of her 

 sick child ; accordingly, it is usually instituted 

 by a woman who has come successfully out 

 of some trial. It is generally held when 

 the wild fruit is ripe, in July or August, in 

 a lodge especially constructed for it, and 

 may continue for seven days. The cere- 

 monies have been described by the Rev. 

 John McLean, who witnessed them at the 

 Blood Indian camp in Alberta Territory, 

 Canada. The sacred fire was burning in the 

 sun-lodge, and was used by the people for 

 lighting their pipes. The fuel was supplied 

 exclusively by young men who had performed 

 some valorous deed, such as stealing horses 

 from a hostile tribe, and thought the duty 

 an honorable one. Two bundles of birch- 

 wood brush were placed in the form of a 

 cross on the sacred pole. A bower of brush- 

 wood by the side of the lodge was occupied 

 by the woman who had instituted the cere- 

 mony, her husband, and a medicine-man, 

 fasting and praying. Prayers were offered 

 at stated times by virgins. Dramatic repre- 

 sentations of heroic adventures were given, 

 and sham fights presented representations 

 of actual battles ; these were succeeded by 



feasts of berries cooked in fat, smoking, and 

 conversation. A young man who had been 

 successful in a horse-stealing expedition came 

 up, in fulfillment of a vow, to make himself a 

 sacrifice to the god. An old medicine-woman 

 cut off one of his fingers, held it up to the 

 sun, and dedicated it to him. Two young 

 men presented themselves to be consecrated 

 for admission to the noble band of warriors. 

 One of them stretched himself upon a blanket 

 on the ground. An old man made a speech 

 over him relating his brave deeds, each inci- 

 dent of which was received with applause 

 and music. Then four men held him while 

 a fifth made incisions in his breast and back. 

 Wooden skewers were inserted in the breast 

 incisions, and connected by lariats with the 

 sacred pole, while an Indian drum was fast- 

 ened to the skewer in the back. "The 

 young man went up to the sacred pole, and 

 while his countenance was exceedingly pale 

 and his frame trembling with emotion, 

 threw his arms around it and prayed earnest- 

 ly for strength to pass successfully through 

 the trying ordeal. His prayer ended, he 

 moved backward until the flesh was fully 

 extended, and, placing a small bone whistle 

 in his mouth, he blew continuously upon it 

 a series of short, sharp sounds, while he 

 threw himself backward and danced until 

 the flesh gave way and he fell. Previous to 

 his tearing himself free from the lariats, he 

 seized the drum with both hands, and with 

 a sudden pull tore the flesh on his back, 

 dashing the drum to the ground amid the 

 applause of the people. As he lay on the 

 ground, the operators examined his wounds, 

 cut off the flesh that was hanging loosely, 

 and the ceremony was at an end." 



The Selkirk Mountains and their Gla- 

 ciers. — The Selkirk Mountains are situated 

 in the southern part of British Columbia, 

 west of the main range of the Rocky Mount- 

 ains, within the great bend of the Columbia, 

 and are crossed by the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway at the height of 4,313 feet above 

 the sea. As seen from the Columbia be- 

 tween the two ranges, they rise in gentle 

 slopes and tiers of foot-hills richly clad in 

 pine forest, and cleft by far-reaching valleys, 

 while the Rockies, on the other side of the 

 observer, tower up " from almost barren 

 benches of white silt, with a sparse sprink- 



