The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-05-05

string" is plant growing wild in vir.
having remedial virtue. Its roots Are very
| tough and because Of this quality or sig
nature" they were used in decoctions as
a hair wash to prevent the breaking OF
lotion to be rHSBed on ~ the as limbs ssea
ball-players and to tougher the sinews.
The Cherokee Indians had a theory for
the cause of intermittent fever which
from the most recent step in the develop
ment of modern medical science. was not
very far from the truth. They believed
| mat intermittent fever was q disease of
| the blood, caused by colonization of
| malicious insects or worms, which some
how got under the skin. In their treat
| ment they took the bark of the wild cher
~. infused 1t in water, into which were
cropped seven live Goals of fire. The pa
tient was placed with his face to the ris-
| ing sun. while the Medicine Man stood in
| front of him. With the medicine cup in
| MS hand the doctor invoked in succession
the spirits of the air, the mountain, the
| forest and the water. After each invoca-
tlon he took mouthful of the liquid and
| oiew II over the patients head. right
shoulder, left shoulder, and breast. This
| was repeated for four days. when the pa
| tient was supposed to be freed from the
visitation of malevolent spirits.
| Inc Cherokees called jaundice the
| black yellowness." They believed the
disease was due to the spirit of a revenge
| ful turtle which had crept into its vic
| tim. The medicine man first sang an in
| cantation and then plunged his hands into
a solution of wild cherry and vigorously
| rubbed the breast and abdomen of the pa
| tent, calling meantime on the two lit
| tie men to come and take the vicious
turtle back to the lake from which he
| came.
Another signature" idea was enter
| tanned by the Cherokees in their medical
| therapeutics which is of amusing inter-
| est There is weed known as "beggar's
| nee which has very sticky burr. The
4 .na1r
| this burr and took it internally to aid the
| memory. In other words the idea they
wished TO remember would. from their
point of view, stick in their memory If
they absorbed the prickly properties Of
| the burr of this weed.
The Indian medicine man had. as part
OF his professional paraphernalia, hol-
| low bone tube. with which he sucked the
| poison from his patient. This act was al
ways accompanied by the beating of
drums. shaking of rattles, and chanting
OF incantAtions. In this ceremony the rat
tie played star part. A common form
of rattle is the raven rattle. 1t Is made
of hollow piece of wood in the form of
raven containing some hard pieces of
stone or other substance. This is supplied
with handle which is the ravens tail.
On the back of the hollow bulb at the
end of the handle is carved the figure of
a man lying on his back with the beak
of another raven brewing the materially
ed spirit of the disease from the mans
mouth.
The American Indian medicine is magic
medicine of a pure type. Disease. to them,
is the evidence of the entrance into the
body of evil spirits, especially revengeful
spirits of slain animals, and witchcraft.
The medicine man exercised the malig-
nant spirits by intimidation or cajolery.
or by invoking the intercession of friend
ly spirits more powerful than the male
violent one annoying his patient. Drugs
are regarded by them nearly adjuncts
to exorcism. They are looked upon as
fetiches; that is the material form or
dwelling place ofspirits capable of assist
ing or expelling. the spirit OF disease.
The walnut presents in its entire struc-
ture an excellent illustration of sigma
ture.' The nut when it leaves the tree is
surrounded by a shuck or shellbark which
is hairy and fibrous. Then comes the shell
proper and finally the kernel. The walnut
resembles the human head. and its struc-
tural arrangements to a striking degree,
~ DAYS. The bark or shuck. with its
hairy structure was selected as remedy
for scalp and hair diseases purely from its
resemblance to that portion of the head.
\ decoctiOn was made from the walnut
shuck and preserved in spirits of wine.
and administered as a lotion on the head
to prevent the breaking and falling out
of the hair and for the cure of scalp dis
eases. A slight examination of the kernel
will show its remarkable resemblance to
the brain structure, with its longitudinal
assure and convolutions. This was taken
internally for insanity and all other brain
diseases. Crossius speaks of the nuts vir-
tue in the following quaint terms:
Walnuts have an entire signature of
the head. The exterior rhinde or herby
encompassm of the pericranium, where
salt of this rhinde, is good for wounds of
the scalp. The shell is the signature of
the Uranium. The thin skin encompass
of the brain. The kernel itself when TAX
en- with the spirits of wine, wonderfully
comforteth the BRAIN.
A host of charms or amulets were worn
hNy a "a nrtn niY lIN-
ives of disease and evil influences. Among
these is the rabbits foot to ward OFF
rheumatism, the peony root carried In the
pocket as a defence against insanity con-
vulsions, and epilepsy An iron nail was
used for the toothache. The aching gum
was scarified by the nail, which was aft
erward driven to the head into piece of
woor or q tree. This latter was to prevent
the ache from coming back.
Magic still has Its hold on people. 1t
is not generally known, but is neverthe-
less a well-asSartained fact, that since
the invention of the electric arc light
new magic-medfcine thought has cropped
out among many of our otherwise up-to-
date citizens. Perhaps there has nothing
been discovered of late in the way of in
vention which has worked upon the i'm
agination of Americans as the recent de-
velopments in electricity. Especially is
this true of electric lighting. The mar
velous always appeals to the imagination.
and many people still look upon electricity
as something almost supernatural They
er without being able to see the thing it
self. This, in some. appeals irresistibly to
latent superstitious faint which has been
inherited from our remote ancestry. and
which civilization has not as yet entirely
eradicated. The electric arc light, there
fore, has been the means of calling into
action this erstwhile dormant relic of our
former barbarous estate. Many modern
business men and women carry in their
pockets or concealed about their persons
cast-off fragments o: the carbon pencils
used in the arc lamps. Medical property is.
in the minds of these people, given 10
these fragments by the passage of the
electric current over the carbon pencils
and has dynamicised the pencils with a
curative property which, when worn on
the person, will cure existing diseased con-
ditions or so vitalize the system as to en-
able the organism to resist the encroach-
ments of disease elements. Such things
seem inexplicable when viewed in the light
of modern knowledge. and yet they do ex-
list to an extent that is astonishing.
Superstitious ideas are not confined TO
the ignorant. however, for it frequently
happens that well-educated people are alb
solutely controlled by such ideas. There
is living in Washington today woman
who is richly endowed mentally. Not
only is she well educated but she has that
rarer charm. understanding; which at
times rises TO positive brilliancy. Yet that
woman is a slave to number of super
stitions which control her so completely
as to inspire-pity and concern in her
many friends She was one of a party
of four which went to the theatre one
night some weeks ago and when passing
the Ebbitt House on Fourteenth Street,
one of the party passed on the outside of
the trees in front of the hotel. which grow
in the centre of the sidewalk The rest
of the party started to pass ION the in
side of the trees This superstitious wom-
an became Instantly greatly alarmed and
springing forward, seized them by the
arms and appealed to them to return and