FEWKES] RELIGION HI

theirbreath,and,havingsiiekeilitseveral times,theypersuade^tliepatienttliat liv thatmeanstheyhavegot outallthevenom whichlay in hisl)odyandcausedliini tolanguish.

^Iedicixk Practices"

Among

the Borinquefio.sas

among

allprimitive peoples thepriests had developeda theoryof eurativemedicineinwhichthe doctrine of signaturespla3'edanimportantrole.

The

cure of thesick

was

supposed tobeaccomplished

by

themagic

power

of the tutelary

god

whichthe hoi) believed theycould control for the goodof the patients.; these primitivemedicine

men

alsobelievedthemselvesable,throughsorcery, toinflictsicknessonthose

whom

the^*wishedtoharm. Inadditionto the use of magic, these priestswere acquaintedwitharich phai-ma- copceia ofherbswhich were used empirically.

A

knowledgeof these herbs

was

not, as inother primitivemedicinepractices,confinedtothe priests.

Pane

gives the followingaccount of the treatment of the sick

by

the Ijiihuitihiuor doctors,which is corroboratedby Benzoni

(p. 82). Accordingtothese authorities the herb most employed was tobacco,*orattimesmerelythe

smoke

wasused.

When

theygotovisitanysickbody, beforetheysetout fromtheirhouse,they take thesootoffapot,orpoundedcharcoal,andblackalltheir face, tomakethe sickmanbelievewhattheypleaseconcerninghisdistemper. Thenthey takesome small bones,andalittleflesh,and wrappingthemallupinsomethingthattheymay not drop, put them in theirmouth,the sickman being before purged with the powderaforesaid.

When

the physicianiscomeintothesick man'shousehesits

downand allpersons aresilent,and^ifthere areanychildrenthey putthemout, thattheymaynothinder theBuhuUihuinperforminghisoffice;nor does there remaininthehouseanybutoneortwoofthechief persons. Beingthusliythem- selves,they takesomeoftheherb^{6r(tii'a. . .} broad,andanother herb,wrapped upin thewebofanonionhalfa quarterlong;oneoftheGioia's,andthe othertheyhold, and drawingitintheirhandsthey bruiseitintoapaste,andthen putitintheir mouths^tovomitwhattheyhaveeaten,thatitmaynothurtthem; then presently begintheir song,and lightinga torch,take the juice. This done, havingstaid a little,theBuhuitihurisesup,andgoestoward thesickman,whositsallaloneinthe middleofthe house,ashasbeensaid,andturnshimtwice about,ashethinksfit;

then stands before him, takeshimbythelegs,andfeelshisthighs,descending by degreesto hisfeet;thendrawshard,asifhewouldpullsomethingoff;thenhegoes tothedoor,shutsit,andsays,be gonetothemountain, ortothesea,orwhither thouwilt;and giving ablast,asif heblowed somethingaway, turns about,claps hishandstogether,shutshismouth,his handsquakeasif hewerecold,heblows onhishands,andthendrawsin hisblast asifsucking themarrowofa bone,sucks thesickman'sneck,stomach,shoulders, jaws, breast, belly,andseveralotherparts ofhisbody. Thisdonethey begintocough,andmakefaces,asif theyhadeaten somebitterthing,andthe doctorpullsoutthatwesaidheputinto hismouth at

home,or bythe way,whetherstone,flesh,or bone,asabove. If it isanvthing eatable,he saystothe sick man,take noticeyou haveeaten something thathas a Restricted tocuringsickness. Inceremoniesforrain orgrowthofcropstheterm"medicine"is also used,andinbothapplicationswe^tindthesametheoryofmagicalinfluence.

!>H.Ling Roth. AboriginesofHispaniola. Jnurnalof thr Anthropological Inslilule of Great Ilritnin

andIreland,xvi, 247-286, 1887.

62

THE ABORIGINES

OF

PORTO

RICO [eth.ANN. 23 causedthis ilistemper;geehowIhavetakenitoutofyour body;foryour Cemihad putitintoyoubecauseyoudid not praytohim, or buildhim sometemple, or give him someof yourgoods. Ifitbe astone,hesays,keepitsafe. Sometimesthey takeitforcertainthat those stones aregood and helpwomenin labor;wherefore they keep them very carefully, wrapped up in cotton, putting them into little baskets,givingthem.«uchastheyhavethemselvestoeat,andthesametheydoto the Cemies theyhavein their houses. Uponany solemnday,when they provide muchtoeat,whetherfish,flesh,or any^otherthing,they putitallintothehouse oftheCemies,thattheidol'mayfeedonit. Thenextdaythey carryallhomeafter theCemi haseaten. AndsoGodhelp them,astheCemieats of that,or anyother thing,they being inanimatestocks or stones.

HeiTera(Dec.^i,hook^iii,chap.4,page69)gives acondensed account oftheprocedureof these aboriginaldoctor.s incuringdisease:

When

anyleadingman^issickhecallsa medicineman,whoisobligedtoobserve thesamedietaryasthepatient. Thedoctorisaccustomedtopurge himself withan herb that he takesin hisnoseimtilhebelieveshimselfinspired, inwhichcrindition hesaysmanythings,givingthesick tounderstandthatheistalking withanidol.

Thenthe Indians are accustomedtoanointtheir faceswith^oilandto jnirgethesick, allstandingbyin silence.

Thedoctorfirstmakes twocircuitsabout thepatientandpulling him bythelegs goestothe doorofthe house,which heshuts, saying: "Returntothemountainor whither you wish; blowand join hands and tremble, and close the mouth."

Breathingonhishands,hethen sucks the neck, the shoulders,andstomach,and otherparts ofthebody^ofthesickman,coughingand makinggrimacesandspitting into hishandssomethingwhichhehadplacedinhismouth,.sayingtothesick

man

thathe hadtaken fromthebodythatwhich wasbad;hiszemihadgivenhimit

becausehehadnotobeyed him. Theobjectswhich the doctors take from their mouths wereforthem'ostpart stones, forwhichtheyhavemuchdevotionforusein childbirthorforotherthings,andthey preservethemasrelics.

This

method

of procedure,withunessentialvariations,mighthe par- alleled in accounts of almost all the

American

Indians, the theory heing that

some

sorcererhas^afflictedthesickb}'shootinginto

him

an object withmagic power, and^thatthe doctor, havinglocateditinthe body

by

directionofhistutelary god,removes itbyhismagic

power

{2emi)andthatof the god.

The same

^author(Pane)

makes

an interesting statementregardingthe fateofthe doctorⁱⁿcaseofthe death ofhispatient. Should^{the sick} persondie, thedoctor nothaving him.selfproperly observed the pre- scribeddiet,the Indians,inordertodiscoverwhetherthe deathwas due tothehitter'snegligence,gatheredthejuiceof a certainherbandopened al)loodvesselof thedeadper.son; then, cuttingoffthe hairaboutthe forehead of the deceased, they

made

a

powder from

it and, liaving mixedwithitthe juiceofthe herb, they presented the mi.xturetothe

mouth

of the corp.se,forit to drink,then to ^itsnose,asking

many

timeswhetherthedoctorhad observedthepropercourse of treatment, untilthe

demon

repliedas clearlyasif the patientwerealivethatthe doctor had notdoneso.

Thereupon

the corpsewas returnedtothe grave.

Then

therelativesofthe deceased seized the doctorand gave

FF.WKES] RELIC4I0N <)3

him iimn\- strokes with :i stick, breaking his arms or legs. Others gougedout^hiseyes or laceratedhisprivateparts.

NARCOTICS

Under

theabove title theauthor includes herbs and intoxicating drinks used to create certain ecstatic conditionsasa preliminaryto religious rites and ceremonies. Inthis category

may

be considered the practice ofsmoking, snuffing,and chewingtobacco,calledeohiha,"

andthe use ofanintoxicatingdrink ofcorn]uice,called chU-chia.

Tobacco ⁱⁿa

number

of different formswas

commonly

used inall ceremonies. Its

smoke

wastheincensewithwhichthepriestsaccom- panied theirpraj'ers totheirgods; andwithsnuff,or powdei'ed tobacco, theysometimessprinkled theheads of theiridols.

The

^hoiistupefied themselveswiththis herb

when

they consulted oraclesindivination, and byittheycuredthe sickinmedicinal practices.

The

process of inhalingthe

smoke

throughthenostrilsismentionedin sevei'al early accounts, and,accordingto

many

authorities, specialtables onwhich theherb

was

placedstood before theiridols.

The method

ofinhaling

was

as follows: Partiallydried tobacco was first spread on a half- lightedbrazier,afterwhich a tube

was

placed in the

smoke

andthe otherextremit}',provided with

two

branches, insertedinthenostrils;

the

smoke

was then snuffed up,mountingquickly to thebrain.

The

user generallysuccumbedtothe narcoticand remained where hefell, stupefied.

A

cacique thus affectedwas raised bya

woman

and car- ried tobed. If during this drunkenness or stupefaction he had a dream, it

was

regardedasa vision

"from

heaven."

The

aboriginal

method

of

smoking

ceremonially,accordingtoanother author,wastoplacethe

powdered

herlionasmall brasiercalledatahlu andsnuffitthrough a tube.

The powder

wasusedalsotosprinkle the idols before which the fahla stood,in the

same way

that the

Hopi

sprinkletheir idolswithmeal andpollen. Itwould be interesting to discoverwhetherin this

method

ofeohiba thetobacco

was smoked

or not.

While

there canbeno doubt that in

some

cases the herbwas ignited, in

many

other instances thereisnoevidence that the tobacco was burningorgivingoff

smoke when

thus used,anditseemstohave been simplysnuffed into the nostrils.

A

bifurcated tube, evidently one of those by whichtheherb(snuff)orits

smoke was

taken into the nostrils,is figured liyOviedo, but no specimen of this kind of Antilleanpipeis

known

inanycollection that has been

made

onany oftheislands.

The

forms^ofpipe

common among

theNorth

American

Indians are not mentioned in the accountswhich have

come down

to us in the oTheAntillean-words fortheplantXicatiana,calledby Europeanstobacco,arecohilia, ror/iba, cof/nba. C'lrjioha, coliut.etc. Theaboriginesapplied thenametobaccotoapipeorrollofdriedleaves calledacigar. Ceremonialsmokinghas thesamenames.