PHARMACAL PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE. 
51 
individual in the normal state or condition might dislike or abhor, as is 
clearly indicated by the practices of the Indian doctors. The actions 
and contortions of the dancing doctor are primarily for the purpose of 
frightening away the cause of the disease. The so-called sucking 
doctors are somewhat more scientific, as benefit often results from their 
practices, but after sucking the affected part with great force, acquired 
through experience, the doctor vomits, which is said to bring up and 
out the pain-producing matter, in which notion the patient may have 
full confidence, but it is likely that the doctor is more than half con- 
vinced that he is practicing deception. The medicine makers, both 
male and female, not only treat actual disease, but make medicines for 
a great variety of purposes, as for childbirth, for hunting, fishing, to 
subdue the enemy, to ward off evil, to bless, to find lost articles, etc. 
Their field of action is well-nigh limitless. It is needless to state that 
their pretensions are the merest absurdities, and are to be compared 
with the deeds of our modern faith healers, soothsayers, and other 
fakirs. 
Our most reliable information regarding Indian medicine is traceable 
to the few intelligent, well-educated observers who have lived among 
the aborigines for some years ; as, for example, missionaries and teachers 
who have Avorked among them long enough to learn their language, 
thus enabling them to ascertain the true inwardness of their habits and 
customs. Unfortunately, excessive sentimentalism too frequently tints 
the reports of otherwise keen and accurate observers, resulting in a 
misinterpretation of ulterior motives. 
Army officers, with the exception of a few post physicians with a 
keen thirst for facts, are too much taken up with routine duties, and 
hence do not make extensive or reliable records. There are many keen 
observers Avho make accurate and reliable observations, but fail to make 
records which can be preserved for future reference. Prospectors and 
miners, as a rule, give little attention to Indian practices, excepting 
such as concern them directly in their dealings with Indians. The 
information given out by them is, as a rule, very fragmentary and very 
inaccurate. Explorers, collectors, and travelers are generally excellent 
and accurate observers, and, as a rule, take notes on the spot, but the 
information thus gained loses in value because of the brevity of the 
time of the observation. Opportunity for verification is \^ery often 
wholly lacking, and too frequently single erroneous observations are 
recorded as being established facts. The most accurate information of 
all is no doubt that given out by intelligent, well-educated members of 
the tribes, but since these are few in number, and as a rule difficult of 
access, it is not an easy matter to secure the desired information. Fur- 
thermore, the language of the educated, civilized savage is superlatively 
