ROCKY MOUNTAIN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 89 
syringe made of a bladder with a quill inserted in it 
for a nozzle, through which they forced water or any 
decoction they wished to use for this purpose/^ 
Suction both by the mouth and through tubes is re- 
sorted to for removing foreign bodies from wounds, as 
they wished to avoid enlarging them, and looked upon 
a practice that did so with disfavor. Tubes made of 
stone and other substances seem to have been much 
used, and are frequently found in Indian graves. These 
tubes also served as a sort of cupping instrument and 
for blowing through to cool inflamed parts, to remove 
foreign bodies, and for conveying water forced from 
the mouth in washing out cavities and wounds not 
readily reached. Their surgeons took special care to 
remove all foreign bodies from wounds as soon after 
an accident as possible, which they accomplished with 
care and much dexterity. f 
Numerous instances are recorded of their applying 
dressings of cold water, and also poultices of Indian 
meal, slippery-elm bark, and a variety of roots, herbs, 
and other substances. Dr. Pitcher states that they coap- 
tate and hold in position incised or other wounds by 
means of sutures made of the tendons from the leg of 
the deer. These they introduced with a needle made of 
bone. A slender fiber from the center of the tamarack, 
and also the inner bark of the bass-wood, were used as 
threads for sewang up wounds. The rule was not to 
remove the sutures until after the sixth day. And 
^ Charlevoix, Pitcher, and others. 
f Loskiel's Mission of the United Brethren, p. 112 ; Captain Jona- 
than Carver, p. 257 ; and Father Charlevoix, p. 268. 
