Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-13
SNAKE IN MOUTH
TOOTHACHE CURE.
Weird Custom of Cherokee
Indians Reported to Smith
sonian Institution.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Here is a sure cure for toothache, &C
cording to those who have tried it:
Catch an ordinary green snake, hold
it horizontally extended by the neck and
tail. and run it seven times back ana
forth between the teeth. Then turn IL
loose. Eat no food containing salt for
four days afterward.
DR.. Frans M. Olbrechts of the Univer-
sity of Brussels, who reports 1t 10 the
Smithsonian Institution, OF which ne Is a
collaboration, is not so sure OF the EN-.
cacy of the treatment, which ne tou1o
among the Cherokee Indians OF the
Carolinas. But it is the sovereign
remedy of the medicine men, not only
relieving pain, but protecting the teetn
in the future.
Magic dentistry, DR.. Olbrechts reports.
is about the most colorful phase OF
Cherokee medicine and surgery. Tne
snake is supposed to carry the tootnacne
away with it. Toothache, the medicine
men hold, is intimately bound up with
various natural phenomena and can pc
kept away entirely If a person observes
proper precautions. Whenever one sees
a shooting star, for example, it is neces-
sarv to spit at once. otherwise tooth
Will be lost in the near future. Also one
must be careful not to spit anything
that has been in the mouth such as To-
bacco or the Feelings of apples, into the
fire. They have been in contact with
the teeth and sort Of magical connec-
ton is made between the teeth and the
fire. The latter will "eat out" the
former.
Tobacco in Cavities.
If tooth becomes decayed the cavity
is plugged with chewing tobacco. II, IN
spite of this and the green snake COM
bined, the tooth continues to acne the
medicine man knocks it out with stone
or a hammer A tooth abceSs which
causes swelling is attributed to an In
sect having crawled through cavity
and the procedure is to suck 1t out with
special instrument. Neuralgia Is
treated by scratching the jaws, cheeks
and temple with a flint arrowhead, or q
comb made of briars or laurel leaves.
The Indians take no precautions, DIT
Olbrechts reports, except against con-
tagious diseases. Against these some
medicine men believe that the best rem
edy is the odor of q skunk. Their fol-
lowers hang the body Of q skunk over
the doorway until the odor has pene-
trated every corner of the house.
Others believe, with considerable rea-
son in the logic of sympathetic magic
that the best protection is afforded by
killing a buzzard and suspending the
body in the house until it decays. The
| buzzard, the medicine men reason, eats
all sorts of carrion and trash where con-
| tagious diseases are supposed to De
| found. The bird suffers no nl-ef1ects
Therefore it must have some immune
principle which, according to the Tor
| mulas of magic, viii flow out OF 1t into
objects with which it comes in contact
So it will protect the house and, by the
further diffusion of the immune princt-
pie. the members of the household.
While disease may come normally IN
the Cherokee philosophy, the Ill effects
such as permanent disability or death
are always considered due to witchcraft
DR.. Olbrechts reports. The Indian rea-
sons that the malevolent wizard espe-
cially directs his power against SICK
persons because they are less able 70
withstand it. Consequently the medi-
cine man and his aids guard constantly
the cabin of an Ill person from sunrise
to sunset. There is an infallable formula
to tell when the wizard-who may as
sumo any human or animal shape or
remain entirely invisible-is approach
ing. The ashes on the earth are raked
into the shape of cone and handful
of dried leaves of wild tobacco is scat
tered upon it. When some Of this blazeS
up on q side Of the cone from the effects
of the smouldering cones underneath II
means that the witch Is approaching
from that side of the house.
Descending From Sky.
Sometimes the witch will circumvent
| this by descending vertically out OF the
/ sky and coming through the roof. In
| that case the tobacco on top OF the cone
| will blaze up. If there is good blaze
it is believed to be fatal to the wizard.
A variant OF this practice, DR.. Oh
brechts reports, is for the medicine mar
to walk constantly around the house
from east to west, smoking the wild to-
bacco. which is very rare AS he walks
he blows a puff of smoke to the foul
points of the compass, to the sky anc
against the ground. It forms barrier
over which the wizard cannot pass. TIT
object, DR.. Olbrechts says, Is not TO cur
the patient but to prevent the witch
from making the sickness any worse.
Generally, he reports, white doctor
are blamed for introducing epidemi
diseases among the Indians, in an effor
to wipe them of the earth. When sucl
a disease breaks out in neighborin
community an Indian village will hol
great medicine dance to prevent tn
spread.
Specific remedies, he reports, are rar
in the tribe. One such is g.. decoctio
made of leaves of one OF the wild pars
lev family, which is given to all childre
when there Is an epidemic Of whoopin
cough. At each full moon all the babe
of the tribe are bathed in a decoctio
made from the waterplant goldenclub.
The prescribed remedy for boils Is
swallow a live daddy-longlegS after fir:
pulling out the legs.