262 Expedition to the 



An individual applied to one of our party to cure him of 

 this pain, but being advised to desist from the indulgence of 

 tobacco smoking, he appeared rather willing to bear with 

 his disease. 



They sometimes say that their liver pains them, a disor- 

 der which they call Ta-pe-ne-a. 



They are not exempt from catarrhs, the consequence of 

 great exposure to sudden vicissitudes of temperature ; a 

 disease similar to the influenza is sometimes prevalent, and 

 known by the name of Hoh-pa. 



A deaf and dumb boy occurred in the Oto nation ; an 

 adult with a curved spine ; and another with an inflexible 

 knee, the leg forming a right angle with the thigh. But we 

 have not observed any one of them with either eye deviat- 

 ing from the true line of vision. 



The medical and surgical knowledge of the Omawhaws 

 is very inconsiderable, and what there is, is so much blended 

 with ceremonies, which to us appear superstitious, inert, and 

 absurd, that it would seem, that, with the exception of a 

 few instances, they have no reasonable mode of practice. 



Sweating baths are in much estimation, and are used for 

 the cure of many ailments. These are temporary construc- 

 tions, generally placed near the edge of a water course ; they 

 are formed of osiers, or small pliant branches of trees, stuck 

 into the soil in a circular arrangement, bent over at top so as 

 to form a hemispherical figure, and covered in every part 

 with bison robes. They are of different sizes, some are cal- 

 culated to contain but a single individual, whilst others af- 

 ford space for five or six at once. The invalid enters with a 

 kettle of water and some heated stones, on which the water 

 is sprinkled, until the steam produced is sufficient for his 

 purpose. When they conceive that his perspiration has been 

 as profuse as necessary, he is taken out, and plunged into 

 the water, and even if the stream be covered with ice, this 

 is broken to admit the patient. He is not subjected a second 



