DBNSMORB] 



PLANTS AS MEDICINE 



333 



been cut with 15 or 20 gashes about a quarter of an inch long. This 

 treatment was given for a sprain, her elbow having swollen to twice 

 its natural size. The most common use of this treatment was for 

 headache, as described below, but it was used for any inflammation. 

 A remedy for the bite of a snake was administered in this manner, 

 the plant being identified as Plantago major L. 



(3) In connection with the incisions above described there was a 

 small horn (pi. 46, e) if the treatment was for headache. In this 

 treatment about six very short, deep incisions were made on the 

 temples with the flint or glass, after which the doctor placed the 

 larger end of the horn over the incisions and applied his mouth to 

 the smaller end, sucking until the blood came to the surface. He 

 then quickly removed his lips from the horn, placed his finger over 

 the small end of the horn and lowered it so that the blood would 

 run into it. When enough had been removed he wiped the skin and 

 applied a healing medicine, as noted above, or some remedy for 

 headache, or he might place a moist compress or " grease " over the 

 cuts. This cutting of the temples was also used for inflammation 

 of the eyes. 



(4) An instrument for applying medicine beneath the skin consisted 

 of several needles fastened at the end of a wooden handle (pi. 46, /). 

 This was used in treating " dizzy headache," neuralgia, or rheuma- 

 tism in any part of the body. In giving the treatment the medicine 

 was " worked in " with the needles. If only a small part were to be 

 " gone over " it was customary to hold a knife in the left hand and 

 to use the blade as a guide for the needles. These were " worked up 

 and down " close to the blade, " which kept the medicine from spread- 

 ing." The remedy used most often in this manner was made as 

 follows: Hazel stalks or cedar wood was burned to a charcoal and a 

 small quantity of the charcoal (or ash) was mixed with an equal 

 quantity of the dried gall of a bear. It was mixed well and placed 

 in a birch-bark dish. When used it was moistened a little with water 

 and stirred, after which a little was taken on the blade at the end 

 of the wooden instrument and laid on the affected part. It was then 

 " worked in " with the needles. The dark spots seen on the temples 

 of many Indians are left by the charcoal in this medicine. A remedy 

 for rheumatism was applied in a similar manner. The plant was 

 identified as Trillium grandiforum (Michx.) Salisb., and it was used 

 in the form of a decoction. 



(5) The use of a knife in amputation was mentioned by Mai'rj'gans, 

 whose limbs were amputated below the knee, the only instrument 

 used being a common knife. When he was a boy his feet and limbs 

 were badly frozen and in a hopeless condition. The pain was so 

 intense that he begged a man to amputate them in this manner, and 



