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42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 99
from more than one disease; he may have infracted more than one
taboo; he may have offended more than one animal spirit. At the
time of the diagnosis the medicme man was satisfied when he had
found one cause, whereas there were two. Hence repetition of the
diagnosis and begiiming of another treatment. There may be yet
other explanations—a complication may have set in, in that the
ailment was due to a mere breach of taboo at its outset, but has since
been aggravated by the machinations of an enemy or a witch. Or,
again, maybe the patient has not paid heed to the taboos while under
treatment. Maybe a change of medicine man would do no harm?
It is possible that the changes that are expected in the patient's
condition after a set number of days (officiaUy four or seven, accord-
ing to the Cherokee sacred number) coincide with the crisis of certain
ailments. Some such facts the Cherokee have not been slow to
observe, although their explanation of them is, of course, always in
keeping with the general trend of their beliefs. I feel sure, for in-
stance, that it is the phenomenon of the rising temperature of certain
patients toward nightfall that has contributed considerably toward
the clever explanation of the "witches wallving round at night,"
tormenting the sick and the feeble. Hence the special care with which
a patient is surrounded after dusk by his friends and relatives.
The favorite phrase used when prognosticating is that the patient
"will soon be able to walk about"; but "soon" and "w^alk about"
as used by the Cherokee medicine man are both very vague and
elastic expressions. Occasionally the death of a patient may be pre-
dicted, but this in no way influences the treatment. Even in the face
of a losing battle the medicine man bravely and pluckily sticks to
the job.
After aU, the most common and the most "efficacious" means of
prognosis is the one by the beads, the beads being the instruments
"par excellence" for discovering the truth, in prognosis as in diag-
nosis, as they are, indeed, in all ceremonies of a divinatory nature.
(See p. 132.)
List of Spirits
The Cherokee pantheon of disease-causing spirits is quite consider-
able and the number of spirits that are called upon to eat, pull out,
carry away, destroy, or in any other way eliminate disease is even
greater.
Since in the aboriginal belief as well as in the formulas these spirits
always appear and behave accordmg to most rigidly circumscribed
patterns, a complete survey can best be given in an index, in which
the particular traits of each of these beings are listed analytically.
As for the method of finding out which particular spirit or what
agent has caused the disease, see Diagnosis, p. 139.