172 VEGETABLE PRODUCTS USED BY NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 
a remedy for pain in the breast. The leaves of Psrolea physoides, Dough, are 
used as a poultice. The leaves of PLeuchera cylindrica, Dough, are applied in 
a bruised condition, to boils, by the Nisqually Indians. Prunella vulgaris , 
L., is mixed with grease and applied to swellings. The roots of Trillium 
ovatum , Pursh, are used as a poultice; and an infusion of the roots of Poly- 
podium vulgare , L., being sweet, are used to be drunk with the decoction of 
Berberis Aquifolium formerly referred to. One would think that Conium 
maculatum t, L., would be a dangerous thing to meddle with, yet the Indians 
of some tribes use an infusion of the plant, it is said with good effect, in 
-diarrhoea. The juice, so classically known as a poison, is not used, and the in¬ 
fusion is mild, so that I never heard of any evil effects ensuing. 
Like all superstitious people, they have “ medicines ” to produce mental effects, 
or to make them skilful in their employments. The notion is a very old one, 
and is not yet extinct in Europe, while in Africa and other savage countries 
it is one of the canons of superstition. Shakespeare referred to it in his day. 
Thus, in ‘ Henry IV.’ (part 2) the following passage occurs:— 
“ I am bewitched with the rogue’s company. If the rascal had not given me 
medicine to make me love him, I’ll be hanged, it could not be else, I have drunk 
medicines.” 
A belief in “love philtres” is very common among the Indians. The Tson- 
geisth girls rub themselves with the roots of the orchid mentioned to gain the 
affection of their sweethearts. The roots of Erythronium grandiflorum and 
Ranunculus (P. reptans, L., P. occidentalism Nutt., etc.) are also used with 
a view to the same end. The roots of a species of TJmbelliferce (Conioselinum 
FiscTicri , Weim. and Grab. ?) are also used in this superstition by the Tsongeisth. 
The roots are dried, and then pounded or mixed with some others, put on the 
garments of the person on whom it is desired to operate, or kept in the mouth 
of the person who is employing this piece of witchcraft. They have even a 
plant which is used to make a man cry! Indian girls look upon this as a great 
triumph, but I could never learn what plant produced this lachrymo-poient 
medicine. They have a medicine to help them to be skilful in killing whales, 
and even one to simulate virginity ! I do not think that the northern Indians 
know anything of the action of poisons ; though I have heard of some individual 
who had a box buried near his lodge which contained “ medicine ” with which 
he threatened to poison the whole family of an unwilling bride, if they did not 
yield to his marriage with her. The infusion of the roots of Megarhiza 
Oregana , Torr. and Gray, put into little ponds in the woods is said to be used 
to stupefy deer, which come down to drink, and thus fall an easier prey to the 
Indians. There used to be a scandal in San Francisco, that it formed the 
chief ingredient in “ Stoughton’s bitters!” Pine gum is continually chewed 
by the northern Indian women ; to the use of it may be attributed their beau¬ 
tifully white teeth. The natives make no turpentine, but much is now manu¬ 
factured in Oregon and California, and an experiment was made in Vancouver 
Island which promised success. The “poison oak” ( Phus toxicodendron , L.) 
grows abundantly in many parts of Southern Oregon and California. There 
are several species, but the present one is the most common, and as the effects 
of all the others are similar, these may be considered under its description. It 
thrives best on a moist soil, and in the shade. In a thicket in the shade, witli 
other bushes, it sends up many thin stalks, eight or ten feet high, with large, 
luxuriant leaves at the top; in the shade the leaves are green. In the open 
ground, exposed to the sun, and without support from other bushes, the poison 
oak is a low poverty-stricken little shrub, with a few red leaves. If it can attach 
itself to an oak-tree, it becomes a parasitic vine, and attains a thickness, though 
* very rarely, of four inches in the trunk, and climbs to a height of forty feet.* 
* Hittel’a ‘Calif,’ 103. 
