Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Nov.,  1878. 
Plants  Used  by  the  Indians. 
541 
Charcoal  is  manufactured  from  it,  and  it  is  also  made  into  handsome  furniture,  the 
grain  being  very  fine.  It  flourishes  where  no  other  fruit  tree  would  grow,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  useful  trees  of  the  deserts.  It  yields  a  gum  nearly  identical  with  gum 
arabic  for  medicinal  and  technical  purposes,  especially  in  the  preparation  of  muci- 
lage, gum  drops,  jujube  paste,  etc.  In  parts  of  Texas  great  quantities  are  gathered 
for  exportation.  The  Indians  have  long  been  acquainted  with  its  valuable  proper- 
ties, for  they  not  only  eat  it  but  mix  it  with  mud  and  cover  their  heads  with  it  for 
two  or  three  days.  When  washed  off,  the  hair  of  the  oldest  is  not  only  jet  black, 
but  the  unwelcome  visitors  that  previously  lodged  therein  are  all  dead.  The  leaves 
of  this  plant  are  used  by  the  Indians  of  Southern  California  to  give  the  blue  color 
to  their  freshly  tattooed  faces,  the  spines  of  a  species  of  cactus  being  used  to  punc- 
ture the  skin.  The  moistened  leaves  are  then  rubbed  over  the  markings  and  the 
desired  color  is  obtained. 
The  fruit  of  this  plant  is  one  of  the  leading  articles  of  diet  with  the  Utah,  New 
Mexico,  California  and  Arizona  Indians.  It  is  gathered  and  housed  with  great 
care.  Last  winter  I  watched  the  process  of  converting  the  seed-pods  of  this  plant 
into  bread.  A  female  squatted  herself  on  the  ground  by  a  wooden  mortar,  the 
lower  end  of  which  was  some  distance  in  the  ground.  With  a  long  stone  pestle 
she  pounded  the  hard  seed-pods  into  meal.  She  then  took  from  her  head  a  small 
conical  hat,  and  sprinkled  a  little  water  on  the  inside,  and  then  a  little  meal  alter- 
nately, until  the  hat  or  bread-tray  was  filled.  After  being  patted  on  the  top,  it  was 
set  on  the  ground  and  exposed  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  for  some  hours,  or  until 
it  would  turn  out  a  solid  cake  or  bread.  So  little  water  had  been  used  to  wet  the 
meal  that  it  seemed  to  me  that  it  would  not  stick  together,  but  possessing  a  large 
percentage  of  sugar,  little  water  was  necessary.  This  was  rather  chaffy-looking 
bread,  not  unlike  that  made  of  corn  meal  with  all  the  bran  in  it  5  nevertheless,  it 
was  very  sweet.    The  Indians  keep  fat  as  long  as  this  bread  lasts. 
Quercus  Emoryi,  a  rather  common  tree  in  Arizona,  but  the  wood  is  of  no  use 
except  for  fuel.  This  tree  as  well  as  other  varieties  in  the  same  region,  however, 
yields  abundance  of  food. 
In  the  Smithsonian  collection  at  the  Centennial  Exhibition  was  a  sample  of  sugar 
from  the  mountain  oak,  at  McCloud  river,  sent  by  L.  Stone.  The  sugar  or  manna- 
like substance  was  in  small  irregular  lumps  of  a  dull  color,  and  very  brittle. 
^undulata  var.  pungens. — This  is  a  dwarf,  compact  bush,  and  very  prolific.  Its 
fruit  is  as  sweet  and  as  pleasant  as  fresh  chestnuts,  and  is  considered  a  great  delicacy 
by  the  Lower  California  Indians.  So  ripe  are  the  nuts  before  they  fall,  that  nearly 
every  one  germinates  while  still  in  the  cup. 
^  chrysolepis,  the  finest  of  Southern  California  evergreen  oaks,  produces  the 
largest  acorn  and  cup,  but,  though  much  used  as  food,  the  nuts  are  not  considered 
as  good  as  some  others. 
^  sonomensis ,•  a  common  deciduous  oak  of  the  hills  about  Julian,  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, very  productive,  affording  much  choice  Indian  food. 
2>^agrifolia  $  this  beautiful  evergreen  oak  is  very  abundant  in  Southern  California. 
When  deprived  of  its  branches,  it  will  sprout  again  as  freely  as  a  willow.  Its  fruit 
is  considered  by  Indians  superior  to  all  other  acorns.  The  failure  of  the  acorn  crop 
is  a  serious  loss,  and  drives  the  Indians  of  Southern  California  to  hunt  up  every 
