MISBELIEFS ABOUT THE ELK 351 



Dahms accepts Bujack's statement in this matter 

 without comment. In a previous chapter, how- 

 ever, the present writer has ventured to question 

 the independent origin of the behef in America.^ 



The hoof was not the only portion of the elk 

 which possessed medicinal virtues. He was a 

 walking drug store. His antlers, if secured about 

 the first of September, were efficacious in cases of 

 epilepsy; rings made from the antlers were worn as 

 preventives of headache and vertigo; while still 

 growing, and hence tender, slices cut from the 

 antlers and steeped with herbs and spirits produced 

 a remedy for snake-bites. The bone of the elk's 

 heart,^ burned or pulverized, was prescribed for 

 ailments of the heart; the fat yielded a valuable 

 salve; his marrow, his blood, his bones reduced to 

 ashes, — all had their uses in the healing art; his 

 nerves dried and wrapped around an arm or 

 leg suffering from cramp would prevent further 

 attacks — and so on through a long and entertaining 

 list. 



No doubt all these remxcdies would be as effica- 

 cious today as they were two hundred years ago, 

 and no doubt the hoofs and horns of the moose 

 possess curative properties not surpassed by those 

 of the elk of northern Europe. 



See pages 263-267. ' See page 268. 



