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244 BUREATJ OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99
DfHlastGGf'sti I
DD"'4at'si
a'Vt'-'ya' tstDf'oa'.GWu't'a tyu's'ti
(foxglove) (Red oak) meat real that which they are like
sticking on it (1)
tst'oe'sg' so\t-N'3°' tVla' tstDwVe-Da'tlalg*' tsu-'nstf'Ga
that which other and (white oak) it which lying along, H they small
is, H
tst'ki
I na.ski'
Go*'ts5tlti' |
it is this it (sol) put in
with it
This (is) When They are III (by) Those Living in the
Forest
FREE TRANSLATION
Slippeiy elm, sycamore, limetree, foxglove, another (of this kind)
which has one brown stalk (and) which grows in the pine woods, red
oak which is the one that (looks as) if pieces of meat were sticking to
it; and furthermore, the white oak that (looks) as if it had little
(blowgun) arrow tufts; this (all together) has to be put into it.
explanation
This is a prescription for the treatment of diarrhea or dysentery;
this, the medicine men assert, is caused by " those living in the forest,"
i. e., the bear, deer, rabbit, and other game; [only quadrupeds are
held responsible for this disease, in adults. If, however], children
suffer from it, it is ascribed to the influence of birds. (See No. 78,
p. 281.) The prescription here given furnishes a good illustration of
the connection between the disease theory and the treatment as
regards selection of the medicine and the taboo.
The symptoms are described as a frotby discharge from the bowels,
accompanied by griping pains in the abdominal region. The patient
is required to drink for four days a decoction compounded of seven
ingredients—another instance of the combination of the sacred
numbers 4 and 7—which completely purges the system, after which
recovery follows.
The purgative elements of the decoction are Da*'"w9DZt''la, JJlmus
fulva Michx., slippery elm, red elm; k*i;'wtyi;'*sti, Platanus occidentalis
L., sycamore, buttonwood ; fDe'Ja, Tilia americana L., limetree, whitewood,
basswood, of all of which the inner bark is used; while the two
varieties of m''^tlastQGr'sti, Dasystoma virginica (L.), Britton, smooth
false foxglove, are said to have a sedative and healing effect.
The two varieties of oak, Do''"la'tsi, Quercus rubra L., red oak,
t'a^'la', Quercus alba L., white oak, are used solel}^ on account of their
connection with the mythic disease agents, the game animals of the
forest. The red oak, "which looks as though pieces of meat are
sticking on it," is one of which the twigs have numerous excrescences