55 
MYRICACAE 
Myrica Gale L., Sweet Gale 
Bella Coola: Branches, secured at any time of the year, pounded 
with their bark, boiled, and the decoction taken internally for gonor- 
rhoea. A diuretic. The decoction, which was kept in a box made of 
red cedar wood with a little cover to keep out the dust, soured in two 
or three days and became useless. 
Southern Carrier: Not used. 
BETULACEAE, BIRCH FAMILY 
Alnus sitchensis (Reg.) Sarg., Green Alder 
Bella Coola: Cones used as a remedy for some unspecified com- 
plaint. 
Alnus tenuifolia Nutt., Mountain Alder 
Bella Coola: Cones used as a remedy for some unspecified com- 
plaint. 
See also black cottonwood (page 54). 
Southern Carrier: Not used. 
Gitksan: Pistillate catkins crushed, and the mass eaten raw as a 
laxative. 
Pistillate catkins and shavings eaten raw, or else boiled in water 
and the decoction taken internally three times a day, as a diuretic for 
gonorrhoea. Said to effect a cure in one week. 1 
Alnus rubra Bong., Red Alder 
Bella Coola: Bark boiled, and a cupful of the decoction taken 
internally as a purgative. 
Southern Carrier: Sap applied to cuts. Not used for a medicinal 
decoction. 
Northern Carrier: Inside bark ground, steeped in water, and in- 
jected with a syringe made from the crop of a bird, for biliousness. 
Gitksan: Bark and roots boiled for about six hours and the 
decoction drunk in the morning for a cough. 
Bark from the stem, but not from the roots, scraped, mixed with 
water, and the infusion taken internally, as an emetic and purgative, 
for headache and many other maladies. 
URTICACEAE, NETTLE FAMILY 
Urtica Lyallii Wats., Western Nettle 
Bella Coola: Used for a form of paralysis where the patient had 
been unable to walk for a long time. Limbs stung daily, causing 
sores and gradual revival of sensation. In one case said to have 
effected a cure in ten days. 
See also western dock (page 56). 
Southern Carrier: Not used. 
Gitksan: Entire plant boiled, and the decoction taken internally 
for many illnesses, including hemorrhage and bladder troubles. 
Stinging not used. 
1 A Gitksan informant stated that the Tsimshian of the coast made a decoction of this tree which acted as an 
emetic, purgative, and diuretic, and was used for poisoning caused by eating sea-urchins. 
