THE MOOSE IN INDIAN MYTH 263 



to hang about their Chlldrens Neck when they are 

 breeding of their Teeth/'^' 



The behef that elk (or moose) were subject to 

 epilepsy, and could cure themselves by scratching 

 the ear with the left hind hoof till it drew blood, 

 was current in northern Europe and in America 

 two hundred or three hundred years ago. Human 



c:ings who suffered from the same disease were 

 accordingly made to hold the hoof of a moose in 

 the left hand, and rub the ear with it, as a means 

 of cure. 



Joseph Jouvency, a priest of the Society of 

 Jesus, wrote a history of the society in Latin, 

 which was printed in Rome in 1710. In vol. xv., 

 part v., he describes the country and manners of 

 the savages of New France. This is reprinted, 

 with an English translation, in the Jesuit Relations, 

 Describing the moose, which, he says, is called 

 the "great beast" by the natives, Fr. Jouvency 

 tells us: 



"The savages eat its flesh, are clothed with its 

 skin, and are cured by the hoof of its left hind foot. 

 In this hoof there is a certain marvelous and mani- 

 fold virtue, as is affirmed by the testimony of 

 the most famous physicians. It avails especially 



Josselyn, New Englands Rarities Discovered (London, 1672), p. 20. 



