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THE
JOURNAL OF
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE
EDITOR
WILLIAM WELLS NEWELL
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
FRANZ BOA§
T. FREDERICK CRANE DANIEL G. BRINTON
J. OWEN DORSEY
Vol. IIL
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
^^ublij^fjcb for i^z 51Imcrican folk Horc ^ocictp tip
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
LONDON: TRUBNER & CO., 57 LUDGATE HILL
LEIPZIG : K. F. KOEHLER'S ANTIQUARIUM, UNIVERSITATSSTRASSE, 26
1890
I
JG v.h-k
Cop Z.
Copyright, 1890, I3y The American Foi-k-Lore Soqetv.
All rights reserved.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A. Printed by H. O. Hougliton and Company.
/JOT)
THE JOURNAL OF
AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.
Vol. III.— JANUARY-MARCH, 1890. — No. VIIL
FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.
The American Folk-Lore Society held its First Annual Meeting at Philadelphia, on P^riday and Saturday, November 28 and 29.
The sessions of Friday were held at the University of Pennsyl- vania.
The Society was called to order at 11 a. m.
Dr. D. G. Brixton, of Philadelphia, chairman of the Committee on Arrangements, in taking the chair, regretted the absence of the President, Professor Francis James Child, of Harvard University, whose state of health did not allow him to be present. It was in no small degree owing to the labors of Professor Child that folk-lore had obtained some measure of recognition in America. It was the business of the Society to cultivate folk-lore as a branch of ethnology connected with history and archaeology. He introduced Horace Howard Furness, LL. D., of Philadelphia, who had consented to speak a few words of welcome.
In the course of his remarks. Dr. Furness dwelt on the impor- tance which the Society attached to the study of everything that related to traditional customs, as part of the record of human thought, and on the answer which such respectful consideration of ancient beliefs formed to the charge of irreverence sometimes brought against this generation.
The Society proceeded to the transaction of business, the first business in order being the report of the Council, which was read by the chairman, such report having been adopted at a meeting of the Council held previous to the business meeting.
REPORT OF the COUNCIL.
The Council of the American Folk-Lore Society, according to a proposition submitted March 6, 1888, elected Mr. W. W. Newell, of Cambridge, IMass., Secretary, and also empowered him to act as
2 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
Treasurer until that office could be otherwise filled. The Council further appointed Mr. Frank Hamilton Gushing, of the Hemenway Exploring Expedition in Arizona, Dr. James Deans, of Victoria, B. C, and Dr. II. Carrixgton Bolton, of New York, N. Y., Assist- ant Secretaries for that year, their duties being defined as corre- spondence with the Secretary and editors of the Journal, with reference to the collection of material.
The Council empowered the President, together with two Coun- cillors whom he should select, to act as a Committee on Finance, who should have authority to appropriate such sums as might be necessary to meet the expenses of the Journal, and other charges of the Society, with instructions to report at the end of the year.
The Council transmit the report of the Committee on Finance, which has received their approval.
The following measures are recommended to the Society for adoption at the Annual Meeting: —
First. The establishment of some form of life-membership. A desire has been expressed that provision be made for the reception of such members, and it is believed that such arrangement would lead some persons to unite with the Society wdio are not now in- cluded in its number. It seems to the Council that payments for life-membership would be the easiest way in which a fund could be raised ; and they recommend that the fee for such membership be fixed at fifty dollars, life-members to have in perpetuity the same privileges as those now obtained by annual subscription.
Secondly. Provision for a permanent and responsible Treasurer ; to this end they suggest an addition to the rules, according to which a Treasurer shall be elected by the Society at its Annual Meeting, who shall become ex officio a member of the Council.
TJiirdly. The Council advise that members of the Society be en- couraged to establish Local Branches, wherever such action shall be found possible.
FourtJdy. It is recommended that the Society give authority for more extensive publication. The Journal of the Society is obviously inadequate to the presentation in full of the mass of material. It seems desirable that provision be made for issuing a series of mono- graphs, of which at least one volume may be annually issued.
In reviewing the work of the year, it appears to the Council that progress has been made in the direction of encouraging collection of American folk-lore ; and they feel that the field is so extensive, and the time so short, that there is necessity for greatly increased energy. They therefore urge activity in extending membership. It ought not be difficult to procure, among the American people, a thousand members ; such number would enable the Society to exer-
Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society. 3
cise an influence in some degree commensurate with the importance of its object. The Council trust that at the next Annual Meeting they may be able to report a considerable increase in the strength of the Society.
On motion, the report was adopted without discussion.
The report of the Committee on Finance was read as follows : —
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
By a vote of the Council March 6, 1888, it was resolved that "the President of the Society, together with two Councillors whom he may appoint, constitute a Committee on Finance, who shall have power to appropriate from funds on hand such sums as may be nec- essary to meet the expenses of the Journal, and other charges of the Society ; and that such committee report to the Council at the end of the year."
In accordance with this vote, the President appointed to form this committee the Secretary of the Society and Mr. Horace F. Scudder, of Cambridge, Mass. A report was presented at the end of the year, embodying the financial statement submitted below.
The earlier numbers of The Journal of American Folk-Lore were printed from plates. It was the opinion of the committee that a demand would arise which would exhaust the first edition, and that the extra expense of electrotyping would be more than made up by the adv^antage of being able to print additional copies if it should seem advisable so to do. The demand, however, not proving as great as had been expected, and economy appearing necessary, Nos. 6 and 7 have been printed from type, seven hundred copies being the edition ordered. In addition to this number, one hundred copies are divided into separates for authors.
In the opinion of the committee, the choice of a publisher was the wisest which could have been made, the beauty of the work, and accuracy attained in setting up the matter in aboriginal languages which has from time to time appeared in the Journal, together with the advantages offered in the way of distribution, fully meeting their expectations.
The expense of the seventh number of the Journal will probably be met by the amount in the hands of the Secretary at the date of this meeting, together with a further small balance now to the credit of the Society on the books of Houghton, Mififlin & Co., so that there will remain to be carried over, at the end of the year, a sum consisting of such additional collection of membership fees as may be made during the remainder of 1889. A statement of this balance
4 yournal of A merican Folk-L oi^e.
will be printed in the first number of The Journal of American Folk-
Lore for 1890.
Respectfully submitted.
FRANCIS J. CHILD, W. W. NEWELL, HORACE E. SCUDDER,
Committee on Finance. 1888.
Receipts.
From 248 membersliip fees $744.00
Through Houghton, Mifiiin & Co. : —
Subscriptions $68.46
Sales 203.80
Advertising 22.50
$294.76 Deduct commission at 10 per cent. . . . 29.48 265.28
Total $1,009.28
Expenses.
Manufacturing Nos. i, 2, and 3 of The Journal of
American Folk-Lore $783.06
Additional printing (circulars, reprints, binding, etc.) 55-45
Mailing expenses 36.95
Expenses of Secretary for printing, stamps, clerical
work, etc 53-70 929.16
Balance at end of year .... $80.12
On behalf of the Editorial Committee, appointed at the meeting for organization, a report was made, as follows : —
At a meeting held for the purpose of organizing the American Folk-Lore Society, January 4, 1888, Franz Boas, T. Frederick Crane, J. Owen Dorsey, and W. W. New^ell were appointed as a committee " to make arrangements for editorship and publication of the journal of the Society during the current year, and until the date of the next Annual Meeting."
The rules of the Society provide for the establishment of a journal of a scientific character, calculated to promote the collection and publication of tl.c folk-lore of North America. In the original proposal which le 1 to the formation of the Society, the objects for which a journal was to be maintained were defined as two : namely, first, the collection of American folk-lore, in its various branches; and secondly, the study of the general subject, and the publication of the results of special students in this department.
In accordance with these indications, the editors have wished to devote the greater part of the space at their disposal to the publica- tion of original material heretofore unprinted, and obtained from personal observation ; they have not, however, intended to exclude
Annual Meeting of the Aiiterican Folk- Lore Sobiety. 5
valuable material relating to other parts of the world, nor to reject theoretical discussions, when the latter should appear sufficiently scientific in character.
The name which it has been thought proper to give to the journal of the Society is "The Journal of American Folk-Lore." If it had not been for the sake of brevity, the words "and mythology" might hav'e been added. The editors understand that the mythological conceptions of the aborigines of America in particular, and of prim- itive races in general, are included in the scope of the researches of the Society,
They hope that it may be possible to give extension to the Biblio- graphical Department of the Journal. Under the heading of " Rec- ord of American Folk-Lore," it is intended to give an account, as nearly as possible complete, of the progress of collection in North and South America. It seems also desirable that the Journal shall contain a fairly good bibliography of the more important researches made in the different fields of folk-lore and mythology. In order to render this possible, somewhat more space will be necessary, which it is hoped that the growth of the Society will render it possible to provide.
The editors trust that the Journal, conducted with these purposes, may be able to give an impulse to the study of popular traditions in America, and especially to that additional collection which is in their opinion necessary to elucidate many problems of anthropology.
The meeting then proceeded to the election of officers.
The chairman stated that Professor Child wished it to be under- stood that he did not desire a reelection. It would therefore be necessary for the Society to select another presiding officer. In his opinion, in a society composed of members from widely distinct sec- tions of the country, it would be well that the President should hold office only for a year, in order that different interests might be suc- cessively represented in that office. With regard to the Secretary and Treasurer it was different. He thought that these should be elected for a term of five years. As there was nothing in the rules to prevent it, he proposed the following resolution : —
Resolved, That a Secretary and Treasurer be elected at the Annual Meeting, each to serve for a term of five years.
The resolution was adopted.
Nominations being made, William Wells Newell, of Cam- bridge, Mass., was elected Secretary, and Henry Phillips, Jr., of Philadelphia, Pa,, Treasurer ; each to serve for five years.
The meeting then voted that the chairman appoint a committee of three, who should report nominations for a President, and a Coun-
6 yournal of American Folk-Lors.
cil of fourteen members, for election by the Society. The chairman appointed Dr. Franz Boas, of Worcester, Mass., and Messrs. Victor GuiLLoC, of Philadelphia, and William John Potts, of Camden, N. J., to serve as such committee.
The meeting then proceeded to consider the recommendations of the Council, the first matter being the admission of life-members.
Notice having been duly given of an intended change in the rules providing for the admission of such members. Dr. Brixton proposed that the rules read as follows : —
Rule 3. The Society shall consist of life-members, and of mem- bers who subscribe an annual fee of three dollars, payable on the first of January in each year.
Rule 4. Life-members shall become such by the payment of a fee of fifty dollars, and shall be entitled in perpetuity to the same rights and privileges as those possessed by annual members.
The proposition was unanimously adopted.
The next subject of consideration was the editorship of the Journal.
Dr. Franz Boas said that the greater part of the work of the Journal, during the time of its existence, had been done by the Sec- retary of the Society, acting as General PIditor. Pie was therefore of opinion that the name of the latter should appear as editor.
Dr. Brixton suggested that the Journal be directed by an editor, and by an Editorial Committee, who should be named by the Coun- cil. This suggestion having been put into the form of a motion, was adopted.
The question of publication was then taken up.
Mr. Newell said that he had received a letter from Professor Fortier, of Tulane University, who had collected a large amount of lore in that state, lamenting his inability to procure the publication, in a connected form, of his material, which was of much interest and value. Also Dr. Franz Boas, having been unable to find any medium of publication for his great collection of valuable Eskimo matter in America, had recently provided for its publication in Holland. It struck him as very discreditable to American scholarship that Amer- ican matter of the utmost interest should be neglected in the United States, and obliged to seek appreciation and financial support in Holland. He therefore trusted that some means might be found to remove such a stigma on the credit of American liberality.
Dr. Brintox said that it had been thought that, in addition to The Journal of American Folk-Lore, the Society might issue a series of monograi)hs. In this series, volumes dealing with matter relative to aboriginal races might alternate with those treating of immigrant stocks. These volumes might be offered to such members as desired
Annual Meeti7ig of the Americait Folk-Lore Society. 7
to obtain them, at a greatly reduced price as compared with that on which the public would be allowed to procure them. He suggested that the Council be given authority to arrange for such publication.
j\Ir. \V. J. Potts moved that authority be given the Council to provide for additional publication, in so far as the funds at their dis- posal should enable them to take such measures.
The resolution was adopted.
The chairman mentioned, as an additional recommendation, the composition of a QiLestionnairc, or guide to the collection of folk-lore, which might be circulated in pamphlet form. He advised that the Council appoint a committee on publication, which might be divided into different divisions according to specialties, and which should be instrumental in drawing up such a guide to inquirers.
The Council w'as requested to procure the compilation of such a pamphlet.
The matter of local branches coming up, it was stated that the intention of the members in Philadelphia was to form a local organ- ization in connection with the main Society.
A resolution was adopted that the Society deems it desirable that local branches should be formed wherever possible.
No further business coming up, the meeting proceeded to the reception of papers.
Mr. W. W. Newell offered a paper on " Additional Collection a Pre-requisite to correct Theory in Folk-Lore and Mythology," (The substance of this communication is printed below.)
The subject being opened to discussion, and the question of the probable antiquity which might be assumed as probable for native traditions being suggested.
Dr. Brixton referred to the genealogies collected on the north- west coast by F. Boas, some of which go back fifteen or sixteen gen- erations, and to those recorded by H. Hale in the Sandwich Islands, which extend to twenty generations, as examples of permanence of family traditions in rude stages of culture.
Dr. Boas said that it was true that every tribe had its separate sacred language. There was a question, however, regarding the an- tiquity of the traditions contained in these. He had been led to the conclusion that the traditions were by no means necessarily of great antiquity, but that some of them, on the contrary, were of recent origin.
With reference to games symbolizing day and night, alluded to in the paper, Mr. Culix stated that it was well known that the Ori- entals generally attached similar astrological significations to the white and black pieces used in playing the game of Nerd (our back- gammon), and even in Japan, where the game has been known from
8 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
an early time, it is stated on the authority of a native encyclopedia, the Kitm uw dan e tai sci, that the black and white stones with which the game is played symbolize the day and night. (Cf. " Chi- nese Games with Dice," p. i6, Stewart Culin, Philadelphia, 1889.)
Mr. CuLix, of Philadelphia, read a paper on "Chinese Secret Soci- eties in the United States." (This paper will be found printed below.)
Mr. George Lyman Kittredge, of Harvard University, delivered orally the substance of a study on Superstitions connected with Human Saliva.
In the course of discussion —
Dr. D. G. Brinton observed that some portions of folk-lore re- lating to saliva and expectoration find a ready explanation in the sensitiveness of the salivary glands in their function to subjective and objective impressions. Certain odors and even sights stimulate or check the secretion or alter its character. Jean Paul Richter tells the story of a practical joker who disturbed a choir of children by eating a lemon before them, the sight of which excited the flow of saliva. "To make the mouth water" is a familiar saying expressive of the increased response of the glands to sights or even descriptions. Public speakers not at ease before their audiences are often greatly annoyed by dryness of the mouth, the result of cessation of the se- cretion under mental emotion. Disgusting odors affect the glands and prompt to ejection by causing greater viscidity of the sputum. These and similar physiological facts will explain the presence of similar saliva customs in nations remote from each other.
Dr. Boas said that the Indians of the coast of British Colum- bia believe that whenever an enemy gets hold of part of the body of a person, he is able to bewitch him. Now, parts of clothing that are impregnated with perspiration and saliva are the most powerful means ; therefore care is taken that all these parts are destroyed, particularly saliva. When indoors, the Indian always spits into the fire, when out of doors, he covers his expectoration with earth, or rubs it with his foot until it disappears. The natives of Victoria, V). C, believe, that to spit a mouthful of water upon a sick per- son relieves his pain. In legends, saliva is endowed with peculiar powers. To spit into the eyes of a blind person restores his eye- sight. The idea is found in a well-defined group of tales from the North Pacific coast of America. In Eskimo legends, bird dung has the same power. The Indians of the North Pacific coast cut their tongues, and spit the blood upon their hands, when they imagine themselves to encounter a supernatural being or a man endowed with supernatural powers. They believe themselves able, by this means, to avert evil consequences. Saliva, or the excrement of the
Annual Meeting of the Americaji Folk-Lore Society. g
nose, and tears of unfortunate, deserted persons are, in some tales, transformed into a human being, who later on becomes the support of his parent, and is always endowed with magical power. In Es- kimo tales, to spit toward the various points of the compass is a means of producing a dense fog.
At the invitation of the University of Pennsylvania, the members of the Society proceeded to join the College Association of the Middle States in lunch at the refectory of the University.
The Society resumed its session at three o'clock.
The committee appointed to consider nominations for officers made a report as follows : —
President — Dr. Daniel G. Brintox, of Philadelphia.
Council — Hubert Howe Ban'croft, San Francisco, Cal. ; Franz Boas, Worcester, IMass. ; G. Bruhl, Cincinnati, O. ; Thomas Fred- erick Crane, Ithaca, N. Y. ; Alice C. Fletcher, Nez Perces Agency, Idaho ; Victor Guillou, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Horatio Hale, Clinton, Ont. ; Mary Hemenway, Boston, Mass. ; Henry \V. Hen- SHAW, Washington, D. C. ; Thomas Wentworth Higginsox, Cam- bridge, Mass. ; William Preston Johnston, New Orleans, La. ; Otis T. Mason, Washington, D. C.
Vacancies on the Council are to be filled by the Council itself.
These nominations were unanimously adopted.
At the afternoon session, the Secretary read a paper by I\Irs. Fanny D. Bergen, of Cambridge, Mass., on " Some Saliva Charms." (This paper will be found printed below.)
Mr. KiTTREDGE enumerated some additional superstitions relative to the subject.
Remarks were also made by Dr. Boas, and by Rev. I\Ir. Douglass, of Philadelphia.
Mr. Henry Phillips, Jr., of Philadelphia, read a poem entitled " Primitive ]\Ian in Modern Belief," its purport being to exhibit the manner in which superstition, originating in conditions of savage life, continues to influence the thought and life of mankind. (This poem will be found printed below.)
The Secretary read a paper by Miss Mary A. Owen, of St. Joseph, rJo., on "Voodooism in Missouri."
Mr. Newell said that it had lately been shown that the word Voodoo was derived from Vaudois, the unpopularity of these medi- aeval sectaries (the Waldenses) having occasioned the reproach of sorcery to be applied to them, so that the name of Vaudois came to signify simply a witch. The reports concerning the proceedings of the Vaudoux or Voodoos of Hayti and Louisiana were substantially identical with those relating to the P'rench Vaudois of the fifteenth century, and this correspondence had induced him to suspect that
lO yournal of American Folk-Lore.
the American reports were chiefly mythical. However, it might turn out that there actually was among American negroes a worship and organized sect, as well as a system of conjuring, which latter was admitted to exist. In that case, it would probably be found that the superstition was composed of elements derived from many sources, and included European and African contributions. The difficulty was to get any evidence better than hearsay. All the ac- counts of the proceedings of the supposed sect, which had hereto- fore appeared, were based only on popular report, no more to be trusted than tales respecting European witchcraft. Such had been especially the case with Haytian accounts, which, in spite of the au- thority on which they had been promulgated, were merely a tissue of popular talcs.
Observations on the subject were made by Messrs, Phillips, Elwyn, Brinton, Wilson, and Kittredge.
Mr. Stewart Culin read a paper, prepared by himself and Mr. W. W. Newell, containing a collection of paragraphs, consisting of cuttings from newspapers, illustrative of negro sorcery in the United States.
The meeting then adjourned.
In the evening a reception was given to the American Folk- Lore Society by the Penn Club, at their club-house, 720 Walnut Street.
On Saturday, November 30, the Society met in the rooms of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Mr. V. GuilloC, of Philadelphia, being in the chair.
An address on the present state of the study of folk-lore was expected from Professor T. F. Craxe, of Cornell University ; but its delivery was prevented by the indisposition of Professor Crane.
A paper was read by Rev. E. Y. Wilson, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont, on " The Kootenay Indians," of which the following is an abstract : —
The Kootenay Indians (the name being also spelt as Kutonaga) live in the space bounded by the Columbia River, the Rocky Moun- tains, and Clarke River, a wild country abounding in game, con- tained partly in Idaho, partly in Montana, and partly in British Co- lumbia. The Flat Bows, a section of the tribe living in Canada, are canoe Indians, earning their money chiefly by canoeing for the miners. They possess several herds of horses and cattle. Their method of breaking horses consists in catching and tying the ani- mal, then throwing at the beast buffalo skins and other objects, until it is terrified into submission. The women ride astride, quite as well as the men, and children learn to ride as early as to walk. These Indians carry on salmon fishing in the Columbia River, taking great quantities of fish by spearing or in baskets placed below the
Annual Meeting of the America7i Folk-Lore Society. 1 1
falls. Division is made according to the number of women, each getting an equal share. These Indians during the summer, liv-e in teepees or conical huts made of poles and covered with skins, during the winter, in log cabins plastered with mud. The dress of the men consists of a shirt of European manufacture, blanket breech-cloth and blanket leggings, the hips and outer part of the thighs being left exposed ; on their feet they have moccasins, and their necks and ears are adorned with ornaments made of bears' claws and moose teeth. The women wear a loose cotton garment reaching almost to the feet, and confined round the waist by a leathern belt. Most of these people are now members of the Roman Catholic Church. Their most prevalent diseases are opthalmia and scrofula. The bath-house for the steam baths in use among them is made by digging a hole from three to ei'ght feet deep, and sometimes fifteen feet in diameter. This is covered with a dome-shaped roof of willow branches covered with grass and earth. Only a small hole is left, and this is closed after the bathers enter. Stones are heated red hot on the outside and passed within, and water is poured over them. In this oven, they revel for a time, singing and praying, and then plunge into the nearest stream. Sickness is supposed to be caused by an evil spirit, and the effort is to drive out this spirit from the patient. The latter is usually stretched on his back in the centre of a large lodge, while his friends sit round in a circle beating drums. The sorcerer, gro- tesquely painted, enters the ring chanting, and proceeds to expel the spirit by pressing both clenched fists with all his might in the pit of the stomach, kneading and pounding also other parts of the body, blowing occasionally on his own fingers, and sucking blood from the part supposed to be affected. This people are polygamous, capacity for work being regarded as the standard of female excellence. To give away a wife without a price is regarded as highly disgraceful to her family. This tribe, like all Indians, are fond of gambling, which they do by shuflfling sticks, guessing in which hand a small polished bit of bone or wood is concealed, or by rolling a small wooden ring and then throwing a spear in such manner that the ring may fall over its head. But the most common form of sport is horse-racing ; upon the speed of his favorite horse the Indian will stake all his possessions.
Among legends of the Kootenays, that relative to the origin of the Americans is as follows : In ancient times, they themselves and the Pesioux (French Canadian voyageurs) lived together in so much happiness that the Great Spirit above envied their happy condition. So he descended to the earth, and as he was riding on the prairies on the side of the Rocky Mountains, he killed a buffalo ; out of the buffalo crawled a lank lean figure, called a " Boston man," and from
12 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
that day to this their troubles began, and they will never more be in peace until they go to the land of their fathers.
They have also a tradition as to the origin of mosquitoes. Once on a time, they say, there lived on the banks of the Fraser River a bad woman who caught young children and ate them, carrying them off in a basket of woven water-snakes. One day she caught a number of little children, and carried them back into the bush in the basket. The children peeped out of the basket, and saw her digging a pit, and making stones hot in the fire, and they knew she was going to cook them as the Indians cook their meat, so they plotted together what they would do. By and by the old hag came to the basket, lifted them out, and told them to dance around her on the grass, and she began putting something on their eyes so that they could not open them. But the elder children watched their opportunity ; and while she was putting hot stones into the pit, all rushed forward, top- pled her over, and piled the fire in the pit on top of her till she was burned to ashes. But her evil spirit lived after her, for out of her ashes, blown about by the wind, sprang the pest of mosquitoes.
The writer cited two stories from the manuscript notes of Dr. Boas, and also acknowledged his obligations to Mr. M. Phillips, of the Kootenay agency, from whom by correspondence he had derived much of his material.
Dr. Bkinton inquired in reference to the number of hot stones used in heating the sweat-lodge. Among the Lenape there must always be precisely twelve, the number being doubtless connected with some mythological significance.
Mr. Wilson replied that he had not seen so many as twelve used, but had not noted the exact number.
Mr. MooNEY, of Washington, remarked that these baths were in use throughout North America. With regard to the ceremonial detail, he could not say. The sacred number was usually four, or, if not, five. Among the Cherokees it was four or seven.
With regard to rabbit-myths, mentioned by Mr. Wilson,
Dr. Brixton remarked that the myth of the rabbit was well known in ancient Mexico. There it appears to have arisen from the notion of the natives that the figure seen in the full moon is that of a rab- bit. It was called tochtli, the rabbit, and the name was applied to one of the four types under which the years were grouped in the Aztec cycle. The animal was not considered astute, but the reverse, and the gods who presided over the silly stage of inebriation were called totocJitin, the rabbits, and are so portrayed in the Aztec joic- ture-writing.
Mr. James Mooney, of the Bureau of Ethnology, read a paper on the "Cherokee Theory and Practice of Medicine," giving an account
An7uial JMcetiiig of the American Folk-Lorc Society. 13
of the discovery by him among the Cherokees of North Carolina of manuscripts in which the medicine-men of that tribe had written down their medical formulas. Mr, Mooney's researches will be printed in full by the Bureau of Ethnology. An abstract of his paper will be found below.
Dr. Bkixtox read a paper on " Folk-Lore of the Bones." (This paper is printed below.)
Professor Morris Jastrow, Jr., of Philadelphia, remarked that Dr. Brinton's views found confirmation and illustration in the funeral customs of the ancient Babylonians. It has been ascertained that cremation was the method in vogue among the dwellers of Southern Mesopotamia from very early times, but it is still undetermined whether the processs of burning was ever a complete annihilation. At all events, from a certain period on, we find decided evidence that it was incomplete ; no doubt this was intentional, and for the pur- pose of preserving the bones. These were carefully gathered to- gether and placed in jars or under dish-covers (as figured in Perrot and Chipiez, "Hist, de I'Art dans I'Antiquitc," ii. 347, etc.). In time cremation assumed a purely symbolical character, the process be- coming less and less complete, until it finally yielded to the rite of burying. Professor Jastrow thought that the transition from burn- ing to burying could not be explained unless it be assumed that while the former was still in use, a religious idea was gradually developed which occasioned the change, and this idea he found in views regard- ing the sanctity and importance of the bones, which Dr. Brinton had shown to be common to so many nations of antiquity. Possibly, among Babylonians, it may only have been considered necessary to preserve certain bones, and gradually this list may have been ex- tended ; but however this might be, for his own part he believed that at no time, while the custom of cremation existed among them, was it intended to be so complete, but that care was always taken to preserve some part of the body, and this partial preservation being fully as essential as the burning. Burying, according to this view, would be a substitution, which would arise out of cremation in conse- quence of opinions respecting the importance of preservation, wliile correspondingly, cremation, after passing through the symbolical stage, would entirely disappear.
The use of the coffin for burying the dead arises out of tlie same desire to preserve the bones, and in the various shapes of Babylonian coffins we can always distinctly see the original jar or dish-cover to which, as in the course of time a greater part of the body was pre- served, was made an attachment in order better to accommodate the remains. In the coffin now in use among the Arabs and Per- sians of Mesopotamia we still have the circular or oblong opening
14 yournal of Americajt Folk-Lore.
at one end, through which the body is inserted. In this opening we see the survival of the jar, and in this survival the proof for the preservation of some of the bones at a time when "cremation" was still practised.
Finally, in connection with the curse involved in grinding the bones to dust, to which Dr. Brinton has referred, Professor Jastrow called attention to the custom of the Assyrian kings to expose the bones of their enemies to the light of day, as the most dire punishment to be inflicted on them. Thus Assurbanipal relates in his annals (V. Rawlinson, 7, yd), how he opened the graves of the kings of Elam and carried their bones to Assyria. Sennacherib (I. Rawl. 43, 8) speaks of having taken the bones of some of his enemies out of their resting-places, and incidentally, we learn from a passage in another inscription of the king, with what horror the Assyrians regarded the thought of having the bones of the dead "held up to the sunlight " (to quote the Assyrian phrase used in this connection). The eighth chapter of Jeremiah has reference to the custom, and it is evidently this chapter which the author of Baruch, ii. 4, has in mind.
Professor Munroe B. Snyder, of Philadelphia, read a paper en- titled " Survivals of Astrology." (This paper will be found printed below.)
Professor Albert H. Smyth, of Philadelphia, made remarks on the subject of "'Teutonic Folk-Names in America," of which the follow- ing is an abstract : —
The aid rendered by philology to folk-lore has been uncertain and irregular. The explanation of the mcagreness of results, and the mistrust with which conclusions thus derived have been regarded by archreologists, is to be found in the period of agnosticism in philology in which we have been living, and out of which we seem about to emerge. For more than thirty years no student of Teutonic phi- lology has dared to call his soul his own. Of the most successful and aggressive school of y//;/^-^;77;;/;;m///{r;' Wein hold said : "That it remained to be seen whether their wisdom would last longer than a rainbow." But there is now proceeding a codification of knowledge, and our understanding of the'Teutonic past is becoming settled upon surer principles. This fortunate movement in philology will have its fruit in placing beyond question the source and significance of many ancient customs, names, and superstitions, retained by Germanic peoples, and still current in the United States.
It was the mistake of Grimm to seek for the explanation of proper names in mythology ; our simplest proper names, he held, were to be explained as derived from attributes of the gods of the Northern religion. Thus such names as Wiemer, Wymer, Wigmore, Weiger,
Anmial Meeting of the American Folk- Lore Society. 1 5
Wickardt, Wyman, etc., are to be traced not only to Wig, meaning "war," but to Wig, " a designation of a nortliern god, identical with Mars of classical mythology."
There is a mine of folk-lore in baptismal names of German-Ameri- cans. For example, Hilda (the battle-maiden), and Gertrude (the spear-maiden) carry imagination back to the days of Beowulf and the Edda, when, as Weinhold points out in his " Deutsche Frauen des Mittelalters," all women had heroic or warlike names. ]\Iany names have acquired their association in their progress through the cen- turies. Thus the primitive Frederick, which appears in the Gothic "Kalends" as Friothereiks (prince of peace), takes on a strange sig- nification in the Middle Ages, and Wayland or Wieland perpetuates the ancient myth of Weland so universal in old German but so in- frequent in Anglo-Saxon.
The names of weapons and armor have given us groups of proper names. For instance, the ancient Ger (spear), which occurs as the Grundivort in the name of a people {Gar-Dcnas) in the first line of the Beowulf, is reproduced and remembered in Gcrbcrt, that is, Ger- braht, spear-bright), Gerhard (Gerhart, spear-bold), Gertrude, etc.
There are interesting and significant hints of the origin of popular appellations in another group of names represented by Walker or Welker {Tuc/nualkcr, fuller of cloth), around which cling memories of courtly poesy and of Walther von der Vogelweide. Very ancient names like Adolf (atha-ulf), Alphanse, Adalheid, Adalung, etc., which have the venerable Add as the first element in their composition, are the best means of discovering the regulations of the oldest Teutonic sippe.
A large group "of names are derived from popular superstitions of witches, elves, fairies, and demons. Nixon and Nixie from the water- monsters with which Beowulf fought ; Alboin and Alfred from Alb or elf ; the devilish mischief which the elves occasion is called in Dorset, England, "Awfshots," or "elf-madness" and he had, in fact, found this Awfshot and Alfshot as a family name among the Germans of Pennsylvania.
The air of America is unfavorable to the growth of persistence of old traditions. They are found, however, in great numbers lodged in the names that descend almost unaltered from generation to genera- tion. A collection of the proper names of Pennsylvania and Ohio, for instance, would give good returns to the scholar who could bring to their analysis strictness of philological method.
Mr. W. H. Babcock, of Washington, D. C., presented a paper on "The Derivation of P'olk -Tales and Folk-Songs in the United States."
The writer divided the traditional deposit of this sort into fiction,
1 6 jo7imal of American Folk- Lore.
song, and rudimentary drama. According to another principle, they may also be classified into material belonging originally to the Eng- lish language, and that derived from other nationalities, as French- Creole, Spanish, or Pennsylvania-German. English tales may again be separated into those which were developed in this country, and those which were imported in their present form. The latter class have been recorded in sufficient number to prove that they existed in considerable quantity. These talcs are often found attached to localities, and many are related of places along the Potomac and its tributaries. Some of these legends are apparently of Indian origin ; others are connected on one side with European superstition, on the other with local history. Ballads might be divided into those sung by professional minstrels and true folk-songs. The former were little known in this country ; but the writer had a vague recollection of a half-witted person, belonging to the neighborhood of Hartford, Connecticut, who eked out a living by reciting the ballad of Chevy Chase. Of true folk-songs, a good number have been preserved in the older States, for instance in Virginia, generally in a fragmentary form, being remembered chiefly by means of the melody, and often full of allusions unintelligible to the speaker. (See mention of these in the " P^olk-Lore Journal," London, January, 1889.) As to childish games, the language and character of these are almost invariably Old English. The plantation jingles of the negroes do not take any hold on the memory of white children. A number of these games, which arc of a wild and primitive character, may go back to Celtic ante- cedents.
Professor Alcee Fortier, of New Orleans, La., presented a paper on " Louisiana Folk-Lore Stories."
The time for adjournment having arrived, Rev. E. F. Wilson, on the part of visiting members, offered a resolution, thanking the mem- bers of the Society in Philadelphia for the hospitality and attention which had made the meeting one of great profit and interest to all who had taken part in it.
It was also understood that thanks should be presented on the part of the Society to the University of Pennsylvania, and to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, for the courtesy and hospitality offered by those institutions.
The meeting then adjourned, after which the members partook of a lunch at the Stratford Hotel provided by the members of the Society in Philadelphia.
Folk-Lore of the Bones. 1 7
FOLK-LORE OF THE BONES.i
When, a new-fledged medical student, I first applied to my pre- ceptor for directions in my reading, he laconically replied, " Study the bones." I have been following this advice more or less ever since, and it is the result of a part of these studies, not exactly ana- tomical, to which I invite your attention to-day.
The subject may not sound to you a promising one. "As dry as a bone" is a familiar proverb which I have some misgivings you may apply to this paper concerning the folk-lore of the bones ; but I hope that the importance of the subject will make amends for its rather forbidding character.
I claim that it is an important branch of folk-lore, and moreover that it has been a singularly neglected one. There is enough material about it within my reach to fill a good-sized volume without padding ; and yet I have not found a single article in folk-lore pub- lications relating to the subject.
Nothing is more familiar than some of its modern instances. Who of us has not taken his or her share in breaking the " pull-bone " or " wish-bone " of the domestic fowl at the dinner-table .'' And how many young ladies must plead guilty to hanging it above the door that it may point out the first bachelor who enters as a suitor to their hands .■* Its efficacy in both these directions, as a grantor of wishes and an indicator of nuptials, is, I think, derived from its shape, which, like the horseshoe, simulates that of the new moon, and carries us back to the worship of Astarte and Ostara, goddesses of fertility and reproduction.
From the earliest times certain bones were used as amulets, and probably the most ancient fetish in existence is the thigh-bone of a mammoth carried to their cavern by the later cave dwellers of Bel- gium, and now preserved in the Museum of Natural History in Brus- sels. The small bones of the carpus and tarsus were perforated and worn on the person as a charm, some specimens of which may be seen in Mr. Maxwell Sommerville's collections in the University of Pennsylvania. To this day in the south of England, such efficacy is attributed to a small bone obtained from a pig's skull.^ This magical power of bones is a survival from early conditions, and is to-day paralleled in the methods of the rain-makers of Southern Polynesia who employ human bones to compel the clouds ; ^ and by
^ Read at the Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society, November 29, i8Sg. "^ Notes and Queries, 3d series, vol. ix. p. 146. ' Frederick E. Sawyer, Folk-Lore Journal, vol. i. p. 215, VOL. in. — NO. 8. 2
1 8 yottrnal of American Folk-Lore.
the sorcerers of the Ziikis who by the same potent agencies discover lost objects and advise prosperous ventures.^
Very close to these savage notions is the belief which I have often heard in Pennsylvania that the severity or mildness of the winter can be predicted by inspecting the breast-bone of a goose killed in November. If the surface has dark stains, the winter will be bitter ; if the bone is white and clean, an open season may be anticipated.
When our boys on election nights gather around the bonfires of tar barrels, they are perpetuating a very ancient rite connected with the sacredness of bones ; as is illustrated in the word itself, for after much discussion there is scarcely room left for a doubt that " bon- fire " was originally " bone-fire," and referred to a fire in which bones were burned as symbolic of a sacrifice. Not only is the earliest occurrence of the word in English literature " bone-fire " given with its translation into Latin ignis ossiuin ; but the rendering of the word into Irish by an old poet, one of the O'Sullivans, cnaimJi theiiine, has precisely the same meaning.- To this day, in the remoter parishes of Munster and Connaught great fires are lighted on St. John's Eve (June 23), in each of which a bone is burnt,^ a survival of the sacrifices which once celebrated the midsummer night and the summer solstice.
The bone in the bonfire was something more than a symbol. Its presence grew out of and illustrates the deepest and most remark- able phase of osteologic folk-lore. It represented the animal or man burned in the ancient sacrifice, because the notion is nigh universal in primitive mythology and modern superstition that the immaterial part of creatures, their indestructible element or soul, is connected with or resident in the bones. Such a belief has a ready foundation in the durability of the osseous skeleton, and its permanence when the soft parts have disappeared. It was believed that the person- ality of the individual clung to his skeleton, and the terror which is still generally inspired by this object, no matter how beautifully cleaned and mounted, is a survival of this venerable belief. In some parts of Europe, as in the Netherlands, it is still a popular belief that if a person takes a human bone home with him from the grave- yard, the dead man to whom it belonged will torment him until he returns it.^
Very generally among our people a human bone is considered an uncanny and ominous object, not to be kept in houses. The same
^ Rev. Canon Callaway, Religions System of the Amazuhi, p. 332 scq. - See Notes and Queries, 3d series, vol. i. p. 109, and the Ceiitiay Dictionary, sub vcrbo.
^ G. II. Kinahan, '' Notes on Irish Folk-Lore," in Folk-Lore Record, vol. iv. p. 97. * Benjamin Thorpe, Northern Mythology and Popular Superstitions, p. 333.
Folk-Lore of the Bones. 19
feeling led the Chinese to taboo it, and in the ancient law of the Israelites a person who so much as touched a human bone was un- clean for seven days.^ An altar on which one was burned was polluted, and by such action Josiah, king of Judah, desecrated the sacrificial places constructed by Jeroboam, son of Nebat.^
Yet among the ancient Mebrews, as among so many other nations where incineration did not obtain, a very sacred character attached to the bones of the dead. One of the most terrible curses which Jere- miah proclaims as from the Lord against the idolatrous people of Judah is that their bones shall not be gathered or buried, but "shall be as dung upon the face of the earth ; "^ and the chief of the trans- gressions of Moab for which the projDhet Amos fulminates the male- diction of Jehovah is, "that he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime." ^
The secret of this respect was distinctly the belief that the soul continued to dwell in the bones, and that their disturbance or de- struction was construed to be a direct attack on the individual, and very much more than a mere insult to his memory or his relatives.
The fixed opinion that the man continued to live in his bones is abundantly shown in the Old Testament writings themselves as well as in the later Talmudic scriptures. Thus, Elisha, during his life, by stretching himself upon the dead son of the Shunammite woman, restored him to life ; and the dry bones of Elisha, when touched by the corpse of the IMoabite soldier, were still so replete with his miraculous individuality, that the corpse " revived and stood up on his feet." ^
The writers of the Talmud not only recognized the bones as the casket of the soul, but had discovered which particular bone was its indestructible seat. They did not seek it anywhere near the pineal gland, as did with equal acumen the philosopher Descartes, but quite at the other end of the vertebral column, in the ossicle at its lowest extremity, that called the os coccygis, to which the learned Rabbis gave the name "the resurrection bone." This they believed could not be destroyed, and from it the individual should derive his second life. This is illustrated in an anecdote of the Rabbi Joshua ben Chanania which is thus related in the Talmud : —
" The Emperor Hadrian (may his bones be ground to powder, and his name stand accursed) once asked the Rabbi Joshua ben Chanania ' From Vv'hat shall the human body be reconstructed when it rises n:;-aia } ' The Rabbi replied, ' From the little bone Lu::, in the back- bone.' ' Prove this to me,' demanded the Emperor. Then the Rabbi
^ Numbers xix. i6. - i Kings xix. 2 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 16.
^ Jeremiali viii. i, 2. ■* Amos ii. i.
^ 2 Kings xiii. 21.
20 yournal of Americait Folk- Lore.
took the bone Luz and steeped it in water, but it was not softened ; he put it in the fire, but it was not consumed ; he placed it in a mill, but it could not be ground ; he laid it on an anvil, and smote it with a hammer, but the hammer broke, and the anvil was split in pieces." ^
From this anecdote it appears that it was the hardness and seem- ing indestructibility of the bone which gave it the honor of being the seat of the soul. There was difference of opinion among the learned rabbis whether, when in sending the flood the Lord said, " I will destroy man whom I have created," the bone liiz was also destro3'ed. Most of the rabbis believed that it was, and therefore that there is no resurrection in store for the antediluvians.
While the Israelites thus selected one extremity of the vertebral column as the seat of the soul, very many other nations chose the opposite extremity, and looked upon the skull as the bone, or conge- ries of bones, which preserved the individuality.
In pursuance of this opinion a widow in the Andaman Islands will carry on her shoulder the skull of her deceased husband until she remarries, on which event it is incontinently consigned to the refuse heap. In various parts of Africa and America the skulls of ancestors were preserved and honored with a superstitious rever- ence. They were supposed still to contain some flash of their an- cient wit, and at least to be of potency as talismans and charms. This power extended in earlier folk-lore, classical and Teutonic, to the skulls of lower animals. In Greece and Rome the skull of the ass was sacred to Priapus, and was placed in gardens and orchards that their field might be protected from thieves ; while the Germans of the age of Tacitus were wont to erect in fields and on the paths leading into the enemy's country what were called " nith-posts " or "cursing poles," stakes supporting the skull of a horse, which were supposed to exert a maleficent influence on approaching plunderers. Thus in the Saga of l-^gil it is related that Egil planted a stake on a point of rock and placing upon it a Jiorses skull said, " Here I set up a nith-post {nidstajnig) and I turn the curse of it {nid) toward King Erich and Queen Gunhilda." Thereupon he carved the curse in runes upon the post and turned the face of the skull toward King Erich's land. But the genial German ethnologist, Dr. Richard An- dree, has given us so complete a study of the sacred character of skulls that I need not pursue this fertile branch of my theme.''*
The mysterious potency which was held to reside in human bones led to their extended use in medicine. It is a fact that as late as the
^ Hershon, 77/1? Tah?iudk RTiscellany, p. 295.
' See his article on " Schadelcultus " for the above and many other references in his work Ethnographische Parallelen mid Verglcichc, ss. 127-147 (Stuttgart, 1878).
Folk- Lore of the Bones. 2 1
last century pulverized portions of the human skull were adminis- tered in various diseases. The medical virtues attributed to the bones, indeed, would form quite a long chapter. Among other things, they were held to be intoxicants. Writing in England in 1686, Aubrey complained that "cunning Alewives do mix the Ashes of dead-men's bones in their ale to make it intoxicating ;" ^ and so widespread was this superstition that about that date a statute was formally passed in Ireland forbidding the custom. -
Returning to the magical virtue supposed to reside in bones, we find it most prominently illustrated in the belief in the efficacy of the saints' bones, so widely prevalent in the early Christian Church, and which continues to-day in some of its branches. Undoubtedly this was founded on tlie old Jewish notions as shown in the history of Elisha's bones which I have already quoted. In the eighth century it was so generally adopted that at the Synod of Nic^ea {'j'^']) it was commanded that no church should be consecrated which was not in possession of such a relic, under penalty of excommunication.-" The trade in the bones and other remains of the saints was one of the briskest in the IMiddle Ages, and the literature of the subject is very extensive. John Calvin wrote a treatise declaring that great profit might come to all Christendom if there was a careful register kept of all the saints' bones and other relics.^ But Martin Luther had no sympathy with such opinions, and with his usual bluffness declared that these relics were "dead things and sanctify nobody."^
In America, quite as much as in any part of the world, we find superstitions and myths centring around the bony skeleton. The opinion was very general among the native tribes that the soul or immortal part dwelt in the bones, and from these would somehow come to life again. The bones of the departed were therefore treas- ured with scrupulous care. In fact, the Jesuits in Paraguay and the English in Virginia accuse the Indians of worshipping the bones of their ancestors.*^
From this reverence arose the custom of communal bone-burial, to which custom we must attribute the numerous so-called bone- mounds found in the iMississippi Valley and on the Atlantic slope. After the corpse had been buried in the earth for some months, it was disinterred and the bones cleanly scraped. They were then placed in a basket or other receptacle until a number had thus accu-
^ J. Aubrey, Remains of Gentilisme and yudaisjne, p. 165 (Folk- Lore Society's edition). 2 Ibid. p. 239.
* J. Benham, Diciiottary of Religion, s. v. " Relics."
* H. Malcolm, Index of Theological Literature, p. 398. ^ J. Benham, icbi supra.
^ Ruis, Conqiiista Espiritual de Paraguay, p. 48.
22
yournal of American Folk- Lore.
mulated, when they were carried with appropriate ceremonies to a selected spot, where the adjoining earth was heaped over them in the form of a mound. The incidents attending such a tribal burial are detailed at length by some of the early travellers.^
Jn some nations the bones were not interred but cleaned and stored in ossuaries or charnel houses. When the tribe forsook the locality, these ancestral relics were carried with them. As late as the middle of the last century, when the Nanticokes of Maryland were ordered to remove to northern Pennsylvania, the pathetic spec- tacle was presented of the men and women trudging through the mud, heavily laden with the sacred skeletons of their forefathers.^
The oracle of the shamans or native priests of the Carib tribe was a human bone. They wrapped it carefully in cotton, and alleged that the soul of the deceased dwelt in it, and communicated to them their prophecies and spells. To injure an enemy, they would wrap up with this bone something belonging to him, believing that the magical power of the bone could thus be directed against their foes,^ — a close parallel to the horse's bone in the Egil Saga.
It would not be difficult to parallel in native American supersti- tions and myths pretty much all the folk-lore about bones which we may collect in the Old World. In the Popol Vii/i, the sacred book of the Quiches of Guatemala, the dry bones of the four hundred brothers who become the stars of heaven are restored to life by the word of the hero-god, as were those in the valley by the command of the prophet Ezekiel. Grant that both are figurative narratives ; yet bot]i indicate the underlying and far-reaching sentiment that the most durable part of the body of man is the residence of his soul after death.
This is the solution of the wide-spread reverence for, or dread of, human bones ; and it is interesting to discover the same principle at the basis of superstitious stories so extensively disseminated as these whicli relate to osteologic folk-lore.
Devi id G. BriiitoJi, M. D.
A^ote. Since this article was in type, my attention has been called to an inter- esting collection of superstitions regarding bones, which appeared in V Homines April 10, 1887, by M. Paul Scbillot, entitled Les os de mort dans la ISgcnde ct l.i superstition. It contains many references, additional to those which I have brought together, illustrating the prominence of these objects in the folk-lore of widely-separated nations. — D. G. B.
^ For these and other particulars of a like nature see references in my Myths of the A^ezu U^orld, pp. 272-274 (second edition, New York, 1S76).
2 See references in my work The Lcnape and their Legends, p. 23 (Philadel- phia, 1885).
^ Dc Rochefort, Ilistoirc Xaturelle et Morale des lies Antilles., p. 473.
Additio7tal Collection Essential to Correct Theory.
ADDITIONAL COLLECTION ESSENTIAL TO CORRECT THEORY IN FOLK-LORE AND MYTHOLOGY.^
In the few remarks which the time at my disposal will allow me to offer, I desire to emphasize the importance of employing the few years which remain, in order to make, as far as possible, a complete record of the lore of primitive races. Such collection, at the present time, appears to me more important than speculative discussion. In saying this I do not intend to undervalue theory ; it is the object of students of mythology, as of all other branches of research, to unify and coordinate their material by means of correct general views ; but I am of opinion that the material at the disposal of the inves- tigator is not yet adequate to convert hypotheses into accepted gen- eralizations, and that, unless greater activity is shown in using the opportunity which still remains open, many problems of mythology and psychology are destined to continue unsolved.
There is no study in which the vicissitudes of speculation have been more kaleidoscopic than in mythology, and none v/hich is in a more unsatisfactory condition. This state of things, one would think, would induce caution in venturing on too sweeping inductions. Unhappily, the fact is just the reverse. In the kindred pursuit of philology, the writer who thinks he has discovered a new law of language usually presents it in learned form, with abundant refer- ences and citations, in a journal devoted to the subject, or a special treatise, for the eyes of the few whom he thinks capable of passing on its merits ; while in mythology, a subject more obscure and com- plicated, the student who imagines that he has invented a new theory is apt to seek a hearing before the general public, and to present his results in such a form as may be agreeable to the taste of the gen- eral reader. The result is that a mass of phrases, such as sun- myth, Aryan origins, and the like, are caught up by his readers, who are of course struck by his discussion in proportion to its ap- parent singularity and novelty, and who seize upon such catch-words as if they really corresponded to any precise idea. Such treatment of a very obscure and complicated subject appears to me worse than useless, because it posits a general problem where it may well be that none exists, and makes the learner imagine that the value of the study consists, not, as is really the case, in the ascertained facts themselves, but in some speculation about whole systems of con- ceptions which may very likely be in the nature of things incapable of unification and condensed statement.
^ Read at the Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society, November 28, 1S89.
24 yournal of Ajnerican Folk-Lore.
The stress laid by writers on comparative mythology on their special views is the more provoking because the differences of these views are the necessary result of the imperfection of the record, which deficiency a little energy would do much to remove.
If, for example, it is possible to differ regarding the connection of meteorological phenomena with myth-making, it is because it is not yet determined with precision how far an element of conscious sym- bolism enters into the mythologic conceptions of existing savage tribes. A complete account of the myths of a single sun-worship- ping tribe of North America would throw, to say the least, as much light on nature myths, and their relation to hero tales, as researches into Sanscrit, Egyptian, and Assyrian records.
No matter what field of primitive tradition the student attempts to cultivate, he finds his progress blocked by the want of accessible information. Not only are printed accounts inadequate, but they are often positively misleading. Nothing, in fact, requires more patience, honesty, and exactness than this branch of research. How often does a traveler assume as the belief of a race what is the opinion, perhaps misinterpreted, of an individual ! It makes, indeed, all the difference from what source the information is derived. Plato tells us that it was a popular saying in Greece, " The thyrsus bear- ers are many, but the initiated few." ^ So it was then, is still, and and always has been, as much among uncivilized as civilized man. The belief and ritual of the savage, the sacred formulas and songs of the savage, are jealously guarded by him ; his secret societies conceal his worship, as did the secret societies of classic antiquity. A traveler who spent a whole year among a remote tribe of Aus- tralia informed the writer that the people among whom he lived possessed no religious rites. But thus far, in all cases where the right method has been taken, it has been found that there does exist among people in a primitive state of culture a ritual and a my- thology more intelligible and rational than the state of mind of the individual savage would lead us to expect. The roots of religious feeling among primitive tribes are in their nature obscure, and are rendered more difficult to arrive at in consequence of the secrecy with which arc guarded the rites wherewith they are inseparably connected ; but it is in these rites, and the songs and tales which ex- j:)lain them, that the character of early religion must be sought, and a solution of psychologic problems found. It is, however, only within the last few years that anything serious has been accom- plished in the elucidation of such mysteries. The work of Rink and Boas among the ICskimo, of Kubary in the Pelew Islands, of Washington Matthews among the Navajoes, and of J. Mooney among ^ Plticdo, 3S (see Ilcindorf's note).
Additional Collection Essential to Correct Theory. 25
the Cherokees, are worth a score of volumes on the gcncrahties of mythology. It is to the special student of written records, and above all to the investigator in the field, that the main honors are due, and it is by such alone that any real advance is made. The ink of general treatises is not dry before these are made antiquated by new discoveries. Under these circumstances, the least that can be expected is that new hypotheses may be presented in scientific form and for specialists in the first instance, — that it be not assumed that the first comer is qualified to sit on the jury in cases involving obscure problems of psychology.
It is further to be considered, as already intimated, that general conclusions arc barren in proportion to their range, and that most of the wide questions which can be asked respecting the origin and character of folk-lore are in their nature incapable of a reply which shall be contained in a sentence. It is the pleasure of our time to explore sources, and with good reason, since creatures and ideas are comprehended only through their history ; nevertheless, it will soon be discovered that there is a limit in this direction, and that nearly every valuable mental acquisition is to be found in the modest range of special and limited observation, such as escapes the necessity of groping in the chaos of ultimate origins.
These remarks may find an illustration in their application to one of the great problems with which folk-lorists (to use a word now accepted even beyond the limits of the English tongue) are called upon to deal ; namely, the extraordinary correspondences observable between the traditions and superstitions of widely separated races.
To explain these correspondences, three solutions are offered ; namely, the theories of inheritance, diffusion, and independent orig- ination.
Until within a very few years, it has been the first of these views which has found popular acceptance. It has been supposed that the oral traditions of every people, in a simple social state, form a treas- ure bequeathed with little change from one generation to another, and in the main unaffected by contact Avith races of other descent. According to this opinion, in order to determine the ideas of the ancestral stock (every separate race being assumed to have a certain hereditary mode of considering the universe), it would only be nec- essary to compare the ideas of the various offshoots of the same root ; thus would appear the common original element, and thus would be detected the modifications introduced through successive subsequent periods. Such is the method pursued by philologists with respect to language ; by such researches they undertake, for example, to reconstruct the primitive speech out of which branched the Indo-European tongues. The same process, thought students
26 journal of A merle a ti Folk-L ore.
of myth who were versed in philology, could be used in folk-lore. Applied to peoples of the stock named, this doctrine assumes the "Aryan origin," to use a familiar phrase, of whatever is common to the nations concerned. By such methods, V. Rydberg has lately undertaken to reconstruct Teutonic mythology ; similar principles, applied to Semites, have been employed in writing the history of the people of Israel.
This theory, however, has received a rude shock by the recent demonstration that differences of race and language are not neces- sarily an indication of differences in tradition. The Basques of Spain, for example, do not seem to have retained any characteristic talcs or songs which may be supposed derived from their ancient stock, but rather to have assimilated the lore of modern Europe. The Bretons, primitive as is their language and their culture, seem singularly modern in the type of their traditions, which appear for the most part transferred from their French neighbors. The modern Irish, the Scotch Highlanders, have borrowed much from the hated English ; and if they have retained some of the hero tales of their forefathers of six centuries since, those forefathers, in their turn, were influenced by contact with Latin Europe and Christian or Pagan Scandinavia, so that it is quite impossible to construct any- thing like an original Celtic tradition. The labors of S. Grundtvig and of F. J. Child have made it clear that the ballads of the Middle Ages were a common property ; from Italy to Norway, from Spain to Greece, the vine of popular tradition trailed over Europe, striking root now here, now there, alike in Denmark, Scotland, France, and Germany passing itself off as a child of the soil. There is, there- fore, between language and lore no such relation as warrants us in reasoning from one to the other. It does not follow that because certain beliefs and stories are found in ancient poems of Scandinavia, Persia, and India, that their concordance is of necessity to be ascribed to race influence; nor can it be taken for granted that tra- ditions common, for example, to Hebrews and Babylonians, neces- sarily go back to a period before the separation of the former. Such are the relations of studies apparently the most trifling to studies apparently the most important, that investigation into the history of popular songs, nursery tales, and childish games has modified the way in which men are required to reason on the most serious topics of the development of civilization and the history of religion.
It must not be supposed, however, — and this is the point I wish to make, — that in discarding the theory of inheritance as a doctrine, it is therefore to be rejected as a possibility. If modern research demonstrates the changeableness of tradition in some cases, it no less exhibits its permanence in other cases. Some of the ballads
Additional Collection Essential to Correct Theory. 2 7
which here and there still continue to be sung in Europe are known to have had an existence in rhythmical form for eight hundred years. Even in the New World, more than one childish game-formula is still in use which was familiar to Attic youth ^ in the days of Xeno- phon.
It is not proven that the oral tradition of North American Indians or Eskimo is less tough than that of civilized Europeans. If there are songs and tales a thousand years old in the one, so, it would seem, there may be in the other. In native American lore, indeed, there are tokens of very great longevity. Archaic forms, unintel- ligible expressions, abound ; the sacred languages in which the tales are contained are apparently a guarantee of antiquity, in the mass if not in particular instances. What are the two or three hundred years which have elapsed since the arrival of Europeans, compared to the age thus indicated }
It is in the department of folk-tales that this resemblance most clearly appears. The labors of men like Benfey, R. Kohler, E. Cosquin, and T. F. Crane have made it clear that any talc which has achieved popularity in one part of this vast territory is likely to be met with in other parts. Yet this resemblance may be ascribed to literary communication, which has unquestionably had a great influence ; as in fact Benfey did attribute the diffusion of tales prin- cipally to literary channels.
But, as collection proceeds, it becomes evident that a like resem- blance exists in other kinds of lore, which writing has never been instrumental in communicating. This could be extensively illus- trated, but I confine myself to one striking example. Every Amer- ican is familiar with counting-out rhymes of the "eny, meny, mony, ray" type. He will remember the early associations which cling about these formulas ; and by inquiry he will discover that the form used in every locality and by every group of children differs or dif- fered. Now rhymes of this type are common to all European peoples ; not only so, but probably to most Asiatic races. H. Car- rington Bolton, who has made a collection, includes two examples from Japan. China and India will furnish similar formulas. In all this wide territory these rhymes appear to have a common character of meaninglessness. It may be that they are derived from formu- las of sorcery, as is maintained by Bolton and C. G. Leland, but at least that character is not now apparent in the rhymes regarded as a class. Now, there can be no question that these were communi- cated from language to language, while on the other hand it is equally obvious that the tradition, among each people using the method, has a considerable antiquity. Here, then, is an example of diffusion ^ Gatnes and Songs of Ajiierican Children, Tp. 147.
28 Journal of American Folk-Lore,
with which writing has had nothing to do. Thus the practice of children, observed only within a year or two, illumines a point which the most elaborate researches of learned men had not before been able to determine.
The same process of borrowing is exhibited in our negro lore. The tales of Uncle Remus, so called, which Joel Chandler Harris first made known, have been shown to be, in part at least, of Afri- can origin, 1 and some of them are found also in Brazil. But many of these are probably not natives of Africa. Reasons could be given for supposing that some of them, originating in Asia, may have trav- ersed the Dark Continent, and, becoming the property of Negro tribes, have been brought by slaves to North and South America, and there very likely encountered their own kindred in other forms of the same tale which has made the tour of the world in an opposite direction.
I have shown, in a book on games, how the popular game which we call "Jack-stones" (the old English name, like the ancient Greek, was " Five-stones "), having been the delight of youth in Europe for two millenniums, has, within these few years, on this side of the Atlantic, encountered an Asiatic variety of the same amusement, imported across the Pacific by way of Japan. ^
Now, when leaving a field in which it is certain that from a very remote time there has been a continual intercommunication of the traditions of different peoples, we turn our attention to the Ameri- can continent, we find ourselves in a region of obscurity and uncer- tainty.
In a paper just printed. Dr. F. Boas has discussed the origin of the culture of the Indians of Northwest America; he shows the great diversity of peoples inhabiting the Northwest coast, and the variety of their dialects. Comparing l*2skimo life with that of the North- west Americans, he concludes that each has influenced the other ; but remarks that our knowledge of Alaska legends is too defi- cient to discuss the similarity of Indian and Eskimo folk-lore. He concludes his review with the observation that " investigations are everywhere hampered by a lack of accurate knowledge, sometimes even by that of any knowledge."^
If such be the inability of a specialist to draw conclusions respect- ing his limited subject, because of simple absence of information, much more is it hazardous to venture conclusions in regard to the general problem of possible remote connection with the Old World.
^ See Jottrnal of American Folk-Lore, No. iv. p. 79. ^ Otodama : Gavies and So)igs of American Children, 1883, p. 192. ' " The Indians of Biiiish Columbia," by Franz Boas, Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, section ii. 1S88, pp. 47-57.
Additional Collection Essential to Correct Theory. 29
Among Indian tales which are at present collected, a certain number bear evidences of recent influence by contact with the whites. The sifting of the earlier original matter from later ad- ditions is a task which, in the opinion of experts, could perhaps be still performed if adequate collections were at hand, but which has not been accomplished.
When, on considering the mass of material obviously in the main of native origin, it is asked whether the rites, dances, and beliefs possessing apparent antiquity do not indicate some connection with the Old World, the reply must be that this is a question the answer to which at present will depend upon archaeological and biological considerations, rather than on a comparative examination of tradi- tions, a task for which hitherto the material has not existed either in one continent or the other. It may further be added, that in view of the inroads of civilization on primitive culture, and the indiffer- ence shown to the collection of myth, it seems not very likely that the means for such inquiries ever will be adequate.
It is some consolation, however, that the bearing of American myth on the lore of the Old World does not by any means depend on any opinion which may be formed regarding the manner in which similarities have arisen.
I will content myself with citing a single instance illustrating the correspondence between folk-lore of the Old World and of the New, and the manner in which the latter may cast light upon the former.
The boys of ancient Greece were fond of a game known as the Game of the Shell (Ostrakinda). This game appears, from the de- scriptions which have come down to us, to have been played as fol- lows : A line was drawn on the ground, and the children divided themselves into two bodies, one standing on each side of the divi- sion, at a short distance away. A boy who took no active part, standing on the central line, tossed up a shell, of which the inside had been blackened, exclaiming as he did so, " Night or Day } " If the dark side fell uppermost, that party which represented the forces of day, and which stood on the east, took flight, and were pursued by the army of night, encamped on the west, and vice versa. If one of the fugitives was caught, he was called the " ass," obliged to carry back to camp on his shoulders his captor, and, it may be presumed, required to toss the shell in the next turn. This game was so pop- ular that in the fourth century before Christ it had already given birth to a proverb, the phrase " turn of a shell " being employed to denote any sudden vicissitude of fortune.^
^ This description results from a comparison of the following passages : Vo\- \vtx, Onojnasticoji, ix. iii; Eustathius on the Iliad, 1161 ; Scholiast to Plato, Phcedr. p. 59 (Heindorf, Phcedr. 252). With regard to the Greek proverb (also
30 yoiirnal of American Folk-Lore,
This method of deciding who should begin a game may probably have been employed in other sports than the particular one described by Pollux-. It is evident that the practice of tossing up a marked or colored chip or shell antedates the habit of casting a coin, which has been in use from Roman days to our own ; so that our custom of toss- ing a cent has descended, by a continuous unwritten tradition, from that of employing a stone or ^\q.q.q of wood. In confirmation of this I am informed by Mr. Stewart Culin that in India cowries are exten- sively used for this purpose, but in China are invariably replaced by coins.
Now let us see in what manner this use corresponds to the custom of our savages. The observations which enable me to give a partial answer to this question have been printed within the last year ; as far as I know, no other information is accessible.
Among the Wabanaki of the northeast of Maine a similar means of deciding who shall begin a game of ball is in use.^ The player who throws up the chip spits on it; the sides are distinguished as wet or ciry ; and according to the result, one side or the other begins. Probably, if the traditional account of the origin of the game could be obtained, there would be found to be a mythical explanation in- volving some reference to divine inventors of the sport ; heavenly beings arc supposed to engage in it, and the Aurora Borealis is considered to be a divine ball-player.
The terms Day and Night, which do not appear in the Wabanaki custom, do enter, singularly enough, into the manner in which a game is begun among the Navajocs of New Mexico, while at the same time these terms, and the method of decision, are connected with a creation myth of a nature characteristically American. ^
The favorite Navajo gambling game is Kcsitce (the game in which moccasins are laid side by side), which is to some extent of sacred character, and can be played only during the dark hours, it being be- lieved that any player on whom the sun shines while engaged in the
employed by Lucian), the most interestins; passage is Plato, Republic, vii. 521. The philosopher is considering how properly educated political leaders are to be raised up ; and, in order to set forth his doctrine that there is a definite method by wliich the object may be effected, remarks that such education "would not be the spinning of a shell, but the guidance of spirit forth from dusk [literally, a sort of nocturnal day], on that true upward path of being which we will term philoso- phy." In other words, there is from darkness to light a certain path, not tlie acci- dental and sudden change by whicii such transition is effected in the game. The English translators do not make the passage intelligible.
^ Mrs. W. W. Brown, Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, section II. 188S, p. 46.
2 Washington Matthews, " Navajo Gambling Songs," 77ic Atnerican Anthro- pologist, Januar}', iSSg.
Additional Collection Essential to Correct Theory. 31
game will be stricken blind. The game consists in guessing the position of a ball concealed in one of several moccasins. To decide who shall begin, a small, weather-stained fragment of wood is rubbed with charcoal and tossed up. If the black side falls uppermost, the party of night are to begin ; if on the other side, the party of day. The origin of the sport is explained by a myth. In the ancient days there were certain of the animals who could hunt better and were happier in the night, and others who preferred the day ; accordingly, they determined to settle their differences by a game of Kcsitce. If the party of night won, darkness was always to endure ; if the side of day, it should be forever light. Unhappily, the game could never be settled, so that night and day alternated as before.
It would be interesting to know whether this mode of decision is employed also in other Navajo games, and whether there may not be one which corresponds to the Wabanaki.
It is, of course, not to be assumed that the resemblance between the native American and Greek customs implies any historical con- nection ; at the same time the correspondence is sufficiently singular, and it would be in the highest degree interesting to know to what extent a similar custom could be traced through Asia.
However, it is quite in accordance with my present purpose to ob- serve that it is the fact of the Navajo game itself, and not a theory about the source of the game, which is the interesting point. For though the latter may be entirely an independent invention, it casts a broad and interesting light on the state of mind which the opposi- tion of night and day, found in the Attic custom, implies. The mythological trait which introduces the vicissitudes of light and darkness into a game involves a derivation from a time in which religious considerations had a far closer connection with habits of sport than in the days of Plato ; and of that unknown pre- Hellenic antiquity, which the mists of time do not allow us to penetrate, we find a reflection in the mental state of the American Indian of to-day, who is living in a state of culture from which the ancestors of the Athenians of Plato's time had emerged for thousands of years. Sim- ilarly, Egypt and Babylon were six thousand years already in a state of high civilization : what we thence obtain is a literature ; their rites and religious conceptions are already more or less affected by conscious philosophy. Again, the influence of ancient centres 01 civilization extended so far that it has penetrated the Old World, and scarcely in the most remote and secluded tribe, as it seems, can we find a state of mind unmodified by the contact of early culture.
Here, however, in America, we have races until within a recent period unaffected by such influence ; here we can study prehistoric
32 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
man in the conceptions and usages of tribes to the full, for what I can see, as interesting as our much-lauded Aryan ancestors.
What use have we made of this marvellous opportunity ? The white man has been living now for three hundred years side by side with these tribes, whose ideas, until within a very few years, have remained a sealed volume. Aboriginal ritual, and the faith contained in that ritual, we either do not possess at all, or possess only in frag- mentary form. The material is perishing faster than it is recorded ; the knell of this marvelous race is sounded ; the wonderful specta- cle of their existence is about to be removed from our eyes ; we are to be left in a civilized world. With the disappearance of the American Indian will pass away the last opportunity for information ; wiiile we shall hand over to succeeding generations problems which cannot be solved, and doubts which will continue to vex the souls of investi- gators.
W. W. Nezvcll
Wabanaki Game of Ball. — In reply to inquiry, Mrs, Brown makes some additional explanations in regard to the Wabanaki game of ball, above alluded to. Two goals are made, consisting of holes dug in the ground, at a distance depend- ing on the number of players, perhaps, if the latter are very numerous, as much as one hundred yards apart. A circle is then formed by those intending to partake in the sport, in such manner that the circumference of the circle passes through the goals. A person, standing in the centre, tosses up a chip, which he has marked with spittle. Each successive member of the circle says : " I '11 take the wet," or " I '11 take the dry." By this throw is determined to which faction each player should belong; as fast as the choice is effected the circle is broken up, and the players, now divided into parties, arrange themselves in two opposite lines, in front of their respective goals. After this arrangement is complete, a person who belongs to neither party, standing in the centre between the two lines, tosses up the chip, the descent of which determines which side shall begin the game. Victory consists in driving the ball into the goal of the adversaries ; the bat used is a sort of racket, crooked at one end, and interwoven with strips of hide after the manner of snowshoes. The game is now little played.
The Endemoniadas of Qiieretaro. 33
THE ENDEMONIADAS OF OUERETARO.
The belief in diabolical possession, which so long postponed ra- tional treatment of nervous and mental disease, offered a wide field for the perverted ingenuity of those who from various motives w^ere inclined to speculate upon it. Imitation of the crazy performances of the victims of hysteria was not difficult ; the only recognized cure was by exorcism, and the priests to whose ministrations the patient was confided were not skilled in diagnosis. Under proper conjura- tion the utterances of the possessed person were held to be those of the possessing demon, who was constrained by the adjuration to tell the truth, and the wild figments of the half-crazed brain, or the cun- ningly devised falsehoods of the impostor, were sedulously recorded as revealing secrets of the unknown world, or as evidence conclusive upon those against whom they might be directed,
P^eigned diabolical possession was by no means infrequent. In a confidential correspondence between Jesuits in 1635, it is related as a good story that recently in Valladolid a lady of quality, reduced to want, pretended to be a demoniac in order to procure subsistence. Two rival exorcists exhausted themselves in contests over her, and crowds flocked to the church to witness the exhibitions. The per- former at length found herself unequal to the task of prolonging the deception, and confessed it to one of the exorcists. The honor of the church was involved ; he consulted a Jesuit as to the course to be pursued in so delicate a business, and was advised that the sup- posititious demons should be ejected privately. The woman ac- cordingly was announced to be cured and the matter w^as hushed up without scandal or damage to the faith. ^
In this case the fair impostor escaped with great good fortune, for such deceit was a mockery of religion rendering the culprit liable to prosecution by the Inquisition, and occasionally, when publicity could not be avoided, the Inquisition interposed. Among the exist- ing records of the Holy Office of ^Mexico are tw^o trials, out of a number arising from an epidemic of diabolical possession at Quere- taro in 1691, which throw some light on the internal history of such affairs. They also illustrate the frequent connection existing be- tween possession and sorcery, and thus have certain features of re- semblance to the contemporaneous witchcraft craze in Salem. ^
^ Cartas de Jesuitas, Memorial Hisiorico Espanol, T. xiii. pp. 125-138.
^ I owe the opportunity of consulting these papers to the kindness of David Fergusson, Esq., of Seattle, who, during a prolonged residence in Mexico, was enabled to accumulate a rich collection of documents from the scattered archives of the Inquisition.
VOL. in. — NO. 8. 3
34 yoiLr7ial of American Folk-Lore.
In the spring of 1691 two young girls of Oueretaro suffered them- selves to be seduced. One of them, named Francisca Mexia, a child in her fifteenth year, lost her lover in August through a prevailing pestilence. He had promised her marriage, and in despair she threw herself into the river. She was rescued insensible, and on being restored to life explained her act by declaring that she had been seized by the hair, lifted through the air, and plunged into the water. It was a clear case of sorcery and demonism ; the preserva- tion of her secret required her to keep it up, and this probably was not difficult in the nervous exaltation of her condition. She speedily presented the ordinary syraptoms of diabolical possession, and the demons on being exorcised stated that they had been sent by sorcer- esses whose names were not revealed. About the same time, Juana de las Reyes, the other girl, found that her situation could not be much longer concealed. Probably the example of the Mexia sug- gested to her the same means of averting suspicion, and she forth- with commenced a similar series of performances. These were of the kind well known to dcmonologists, — cataleptic rigidity, contor- tions, screams, wild and blasphemous talk, alternating with periods of rest. The sufferers would be scratched all over by invisible nails and be bitten by invisible teeth ; they frequently ejected all sorts of substances from mouth and ears, — stones, mud, wool, pins, paper, toads, snakes, and spiders. One witness gravely declared that while watching one of them she saw the patient's eyes intently fixed on an enormous spider upon the opposite wall ; she crossed the room to examine it, and as she watched, it gradually diminished in size and disappeared without moving from the spot.
Although the demons kept silence as to the names of the sorcer- esses who sent them, the girls had visions in which they frequently saw women. One who repeatedly appeared to them was a ]\Iestiza named Josepha Ramos, commonly called CJmparatones, or Mouse- sucker, employed in an apothecary shop. They did not accuse her of being the cause of their suffering, but the mere fact of seeing her was enough. She was arrested by the secular magistrate and claimed by the Inquisition, which immured her in its secret prison in Mexico, where a chance allusion shows that she was still lying in 1694 with her trial unfinished. I have not the papers of her case and do not know its result, but the Spanish Inquisition was not in the habit of burning witches ; its decision as to the so-called diabolical possession scarce justified Josepha's detention, and she probably escaped after prolonged imprisonment due to the customary delays of inquisitorial procedure. Throe other women were also arrested on suspicion, but do not seem to have been tried.
The first treatment resorted to with the possessed was to call in
The Endemoniadas of Queretaro. 35
certain Indian wise women, who performed inunction with herbs, pro- ducing dehrium and stupor without relief. Then the church was appealed to, and Fray Pablo Sarmiento, guardian of the Franciscan convent, came with his friars, and an active course of exorcism was pursued. The Padres Apostolicos also took a hand. Public atten- tion v/as aroused, and effective means were employed to make the most of the opportunity for the edification of the people. Mission services were held at night in the churches, which were filled with curious and excited crowds, eager to witness the performances of the demoniacs and the impressive solemnities of exorcism ; and as the attraction increased, the mission in the church of Santa Cruz was kept up all day. A great religious procession was organized in which the women walked barefoot, and the men scourged themselves. Every effort was made to stimulate religious exaltation, with the natural result. The patients steadily grev/ worse, and the arts of the exerciser proved fruitless. On one occasion P>ay Pablo imagined for a moment that he had won a victory in casting out two hundred demons who had been sent by sorcerers, but they were immediately replaced by two hundred fresh ones sent by God. What at first was merely imposture doubtless grew to be, in some degree at least, pathological, as the nerves of the girls became affected by the pro- longed excitement. What was more deplorable was that the conta- gious character of the affection was stimulated to the utmost under the most favorable conditions. At almost every evening service of exorcism some one in the crowd would be carried out convulsed and shrieking, to be at once submitted to a course of exorcism and be converted into a confirmed demoniac. The number grew until it amounted to fourteen, — not all of the gentler sex, for we hear of an old man and a boy who were subjected to such active treatment of fumigations of sulphur and incense by the friars that they died, each declaring with his last breath that he was not possessed, which was explained to be merely an astute trick of the demons to create infidel unbelief.
The epidemic would doubtless have been much more severe had all the ecclesiastics encouraged it, but fortunately they were not unan- imous. The Francisans and Apostolicos had succeeded in monop- olizing the affair, and in the traditional jealousy between the vari- ous religious orders those which were excluded were necessarily rendered antagonistic. The Dominicans and the Jesuits even, for a moment, forgot their mortal enmity, and they were joined by the Carmelites, in spite of the deadly battle which at that time was raging between them and the Jesuits over the Acta Sanctonnn and Father Papenbroek. These made common cause in denouncing the whole affair as fraudulent, and they carried with them a portion of
36 yoiLvnal of AmcjHcan Folk-Lore.
the secular and parochial clergy. Passions on both sides were aroused, the pulpits rang with the clangors of disputation, the people took sides with one party or the other, and in the heat of contro- versy serious tumults appeared inevitable. In November and De- cember both sides appealed to the Inquisition of Mexico, asking its interposition in their favor. With its customary dilatoriness it post- poned action until an unexpected development occurred. Fray Pablo Sarmiento testifies that at 8 p. i\r., on January 2, 1692, he vis- ited Juana de las Reyes and exorcised her, when she ejected from her mouth pins and wool and paper, and he left her as one dead. On reaching his convent he was told that a friar had been hastily sent for, as she was dying ; the friar was not long absent, and on return- ing secretly informed Fray Pablo that Juana had just given birth to a boy. At first he was dumbfounded, but became greatly consoled on remembering that the Malleus Maleficaruvi provides for such cases, which are not infrequent, by informing us how the demon succeeds in producing such results in a perfectly innocent demoniac. He hastened to Juana's bedside, and in presence of the commis- sioner of the Inquisition, and of notaries whom he summoned, he questioned her demon, Masambique, and received the most satisfac- tory assurances, more curious than decent, confirming his theory. The demon, moreover, informed him that two other demoniacs, one of them being Francisca Mexia, were in the same predicament, and would bring forth children in about two months. Fray Pablo re- turned to his convent, but had scarce more than reached it when word was brought him that the Mcxia was about to be confined. Naturally provoked at this untoward coincidence, he at first refused to go to her, but charity prevailed and he went. Her demon, Fongo Bonito, confirmed the fact, described a different process which he had employed, and said that the birth would not occur for a couple of months. It proved a false alarm, arising from hysterical tym- panitis, for the Mexia escaped exposure and never had a child.
This conU'eteuips might have been expected to end the delusion, but it only stimulated the good frailes to fresh efforts to maintain their position against the sarcastic comments of their adversaries. The children were all miraculous. The one just born had made all hell tremble as he came into the world ; he was marked with the letter R in token that he was to be named Raphael ; the one to be born of the Mexia would be marked M, to indicate his name of Mi- guel ; a girl seven years of age, one of the possessed, would bring forth another marked 1% whose name was to be Francisco IV., — the worthy successor of the three I-'rancises, of Assisi, Paola, and Sales. All these infants in time were to perform immense service to the church.
The E?ide7iioniadas of Queretaro. 37
It was quite time for the Inquisition to interfere. The combined influence of the Jesuits, Dominicans, and CarmeHtes triumphed. On December 19, a yunta de Calificadorcs had been held, which, al- though it contained two Franciscans, unanimously came to the con- clusion that the demoniacal possession was fraudulent, and that the blasphemies and sacrilegious acts committed by the possessed, and the violent sermons of the friars, were justiciable by the Holy Office. Accordingly on January 9, 1692, a decree was issued peremptorily ordering the cessation of all exorcism, and of all discussion of the subject, whether in the pulpit or in private. The effect was magical. The excitement died away, and the possessed, for the most part, deprived of the stimulus of exorcism and of the attention which their antics had attracted, were speedily cured when left to them- selves. Prosecutions were commenced against four of them, and against a Franciscan, Fray IMatheo de Bonilla, which dragged along perfunctorily for a few years and seem to have been finally suspended.
All, however, did not escape so easily. Some nervous organiza- tions are too susceptible to undergo agitation so profound without permanent alteration. One of the earliest to sympathize with the demoniacal movement was a girl named Francisca de la Serna, then about eighteen years of age. In her simple zeal she had prayed that God's will be done with her, and that she should suffer if it was his pleasure, whereupon Lucifer himself, with a thousand attendant demons, had entered into her. She was one of those against whom prosecutions were directed ; the Inquisition consequently kept an eye on her, and we are able to follow her case. In October, 1692, a report was ordered concerning her, by which we learn that she was in the utmost misery, bodily and mental, — absolutely penniless, in- capable of self-support, and dependent on the charity of one or two neighbors. She is described as being in the same state as before the exorcisms were stopped. Sometimes she lies quiet and speech- less like a corpse ; then she will be furious and blaspheme the Vir- gin and the saints, and talk insanely ; then she will come to her senses, weeping and begging God's mercy and uttering prayers of tender devotion. She was evidently the victim of recurring hysteri- cal attacks, sometimes epileptiform and sometimes maniacal. A year passed away, when in October, 1693, the Inquisition ordered her placed under the spiritual direction of the Rector of the Jesuit College, with power to employ exorcisms, and to report at his conven- ience whether she was feigning, or was possessed, or was suffering from natural disease. After careful examination the shrewd Jesuit, Father Bernardo Rolandegui, reported that she was not and never had been possessed, and that this was now her own belief. She sometimes became suddenly dumb, while retaining all her senses,
38 Jouriial of American Folk-Lore.
but this was attributable to her having at first been told that it would be so, or from some humors that caused it, or from deceit, or from sorcery. No exorcisms, he said, had been deemed necessary. The next we hear of her is in 1699, when the commissioner at Oueretaro applied to the Inquisition for permission to have her exorcised. He describes her as completely under demoniacal pos- session ; the last attack had lasted for ten days ; she is dumb and crippled and suffers acutely. The disease was evidently advancing apace ; but the Inquisition held good, and merely ordered her to be put under the direction of the Jesuit rector, Phelipe de la Mora, who had succeeded Bernardo Rolandegui. Then for ten years we hear no more of her. The last scene of the tragedy is set forth in a peti- tion from the Jesuit rector, Juan Antonio Perez de Espinosa, in 1709, begging to be released from the charge. Three years before he had made this request and it had received no attention. She daily crawls to his church and occupies his time, interfering with his studies and his duties in the confessional. Exorcisms do her no good, but she occasionally finds relief from blowing in her face, or from saliva ap- plied to the eyes or to the heart. Sometimes she is blind, sometimes deaf, sometimes crippled, and always weak-minded. From numer- ous experiments he is convinced that it is not diabolical possession, but the influence of the imagination, unless indeed there may be im- posture to work upon the compassion of the charitable man who has supported her since 1692. Her case had evidently become one of chronic hysterical hypochondriasis, and her end can only have been complete dementia, unless she was mercifully relieved by death.
Henry Charles Lea.
Chinese Secret Societies ift the United States. 39
CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES IN THE UNITED
STATES. 1
In a paper read before the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia in December, 1887,- I gave some account of a secret society, popularly known as the I Jiing, that exists among the Chi- nese laborers in the United States. Since that time I have had an opportunity to visit a hall of this society in New York city, as well as another meeting place that has been established in Philadelphia ; to attend the funerals of two members of the society, and to become familiar with the workings of an independent local secret society, the proceedings of which were exposed in the course of the trial of some Chinese gamblers in that city. I have also had an opportunity to examine most of the not very copious literature upon the subject of Chinese secret societies, especially the work of Gustav Schlegel, entitled "Thian Ti Hwui. The Hung-League or Heaven-Earth- League. A Secret Society among the Chinese in China and India." ^ This valuable book contains copious translations of the records of that society concerning its history, government, alifil- iation of new members, laws and statutes, and secret signs, made from documents placed in Mr. Schlegel's hands by the government of NetherlandsTndia. By means of it I have been able to identify the secret society referred to in my former paper as a branch of the Heaven-Earth-League or Triad Society.
The designation I king, or "Patriotic Rise," is the watchword originally taken by one of the chiefs of the Triad Society,^ and is the name by which that society is officially designated upon its diplomas.^ The name of the lodge in Philadelphia, Hung SJiun T'ong, " Hall of Obedience to Hung," is the same as that of the lodge in Kwantung and Kwangsi, the second lodge of the Hung League.^
The hall of the society in Philadelphia occupies two rooms on the second floor of a house in the Chinese colony on Race Street, where the name of the lodge, Hung Shun T^ong, is displayed on a gilded sign without the building. This lodge is incorporated under a char- ter obtained from the local courts, bearing date of July 7, 1888, as "The Roslyn Beneficial Association." Its rooms are handsomely and expensively furnished in the same manner as the kung sho, or " Public Halls " established by the Chinese merchants of New York
^ Read at the Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society, November 28, 1889.
2 Report of the Proceedings of the N^umismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia for the Years iSSy-Sg. Philadelphia. 1890.
8 Batavia, 1S66. * Schlegel, p. 4.
^ Schlegel, p. 32. 6 ibid. p. 18.
40 yotirnal of American Folk-Lore.
and San Francisco. There is nothing to distinguish them as the hall of the secret society, unless it may be the inscriptions on the scrolls with which the walls are decorated. These scrolls are the red paper hangings, such as it is customary for individuals to present to tradesmen when they open a new shop, and to temples and lodge rooms on festival occasions. They all bear the names of the donor. The tenor of the inscriptions is in harmony with the professed ob- jects of the society.
The walls are also hung with handsomely car\'ed and gilded wooden tablets with felicitous inscriptions, the gifts of certain clans or store companies, or of associated lodges in neighboring cities.
The names of the members of these lodges are written on a long tablet suspended along one side of the room. Some idea of the numerical strength of the order may be obtained from these lists of names, which serve to assist in identifying visiting members from other cities. A complete list of names of the members of the local society, with the amounts of their subscriptions for the decoration of the hall, is similarly arranged upon the opposite side of the room.
The principal object in the hall is the elaborately carved and gilded shrine of the god Kwan, containing a picture of that idol, which faces the north, and occupies the greater part of the inner room. It differs in no observable way from the shrines which are always erected by Chinese guilds in their meeting places.
There is an altar in front of the shrine, upon which are pewter candlesticks, vases, and an incense burner, and the usual objects which are associated with the god worshipped ; on the right, a pack- age wrapped in red cloth, supposed to contain his official seal, and on the left, a small stand of red silk flags inscribed with the charac- ter ling, meaning "warrant, command." In the centre of the stand is a miniature sword, made of wood. There are also the usual implements for divination upon the altar, and a wJiite china bowl^ inscribed Mb Tai tin, "Temple of the God of War." The latter is used as an incense burner.
A small shrine inscribed to the " Chinese and Foreign Lord of the Place," before which a lamp is kept burning, is contained in a closet on the left of the principal shrine. There is a similar closet on the opposite side, the door of which is rigorously kept closed. It con- tains a paper scroll, rudely painted with figures of several person- ages, presumably the founders or patron deities of the order. These rooms are open to the public, but are never visited by Chinese who do not belong to the order, among whom, generally, the society is exe- crated. The first meeting of the society in Philadelphia is recorded as having taken place in September, 1882.2
^ Cf. Schlefjel, p. 42.
^ The Daily Evening Telegraph, Philadelphia, September 16, 1S82.
CJiincse Secret Societies in the United States. 41
The lodge rooms in New York city are now located on Pell Street, and differ little from those in Philadelphia, except that they are larger and more handsomely furnished. Here the society takes the name of Liin I T'ong, or " Hall of United Patriotism," and its name, lux-gee-toxg, is written in Roman letters over the street entrance, and above the door of entrance within the hall.
An elaborate shrine to the god Kwan, which faces the south, is here, as in Philadelphia, the most conspicuous object within the room. Beside it, on the left, is a small shrine for the tutelary spirit, and adjoining this, a door with carefully screened glass Vv^indows which gives entrance to the private shrine of the lodge. Two boards bearing admonitory incriptions, with tigers' heads at the top, are sus- pended beside this door as a warning against unauthorized intrusion. There are no unusual objects within the hall except a small wooden tub resembling a half-bushel measure, which may be the " bushel " referred to by Schlegel as one of the instruments of the lodge.i A small iron safe is noticeable as being fastened with four locks, the keys of which are said to be retained by as many officers of the society.
The sister lodges in Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore arc repre- sented by handsome votive tablets. They and the lodge in New York city were all said to have been founded by the same person, an elderly man who was in attendance.
The funerals of the members of the I Jiiiig, which I referred to as having witnessed, were not distinguished by any unusual ceremonies. At the first the only evidence of the participation of the secret order was a label with the name of the lodge, Hung SJinn 'Pong, pasted on the windows of several of the carriages. At the second, bundles of cotton cloth of three colors, — red, black, and white, — torn in strips of about an inch in width and two feet in length, were carried by each person who attended the funeral, and were fastened conspicuously on the handles of the carriage doors. The coffin was covered with three cotton cloths placed one upon another, the lowest one being white and the top one red. These colors, red, black, and white, constitute the emblematic colors of the society, and are dis- played in the form of a flag over the building occupied by the lodge in Philadelphia, on festival occasions.
In the month of October, 1888, a somevdiat distinguished mcml)( r of the order, named " Lee You Du," died, and was buried in New York city. He was reported in the newspapers at the time to have been a "General of the Black Flags" in China, but in reality was only a poor clerk who had won the regard of the entire Chinese community by the probity of his character. He had held office as
1 Page 41.
42 yoiirnal of American Folk- Lore.
one of the councillors of the f hmg, and his funeral was made an occasion for a great demonstration on the part of the society. As far as I can learn from the newspapers of the time no unusual insignia were displayed or ceremonies performed. The emblems of the eight genii were carried in the funeral procession,^ and the par- ticipants wore mourning bands of black, white, and red cloth, which were afterwards burned, as is the custom, with all the other funeral trappings, at the grave.
An independent local secret society in Philadelphia is, or was, known as the Hip Shin T^ong, or " Hall of United Virtues." It appears from its rules, an original copy of which was presented in evidence in the trial of some Chinese gamblers in a local court,^ to have been merely an association for the purpose of blackmail. Such societies are known as " Highbinder " societies in California. They are frequently confounded with f Jiing, and thus may have been the means of bringing the latter society into its present ill repute. The plan of organization of the Hip Shin T'ong may have been borrowed, at least in part, from the I hing,z.% a receipt for money given a mem- ber of the local organization agreed in form and tenor with that of a similar receipt figured by Schlegel.^ The membership of the Hip Shin T'ong was entirely recruited from the ranks of the I hing.
A large proportion of the members of the //^m^ attend Christian Sunday-schools and profess to be Christians, and Christian and na- tive ceremonies are said to have been alternately performed at the dedication of the society's lodge room in New York city in October, 1887.* I do not regard this apparent leaning towards Christianity as due to any influence from within the order, but rather owing to the fact that the //////^attracts the same classes that are most amen- able to foreign influences ; that is, the ignorant and disaffected, who are least restrained by conservative traditions, and are often desti- tute of those ideas of order and propriety which are always found among the more highly educated.
The / Jiiiig society is said to claim to be affiliated with the Ma- sonic order, and in New York city a Masonic print representing the two pillars surmounted with globes and resting on a tessellated pave- ment, with the square and compass, the eternally vigilant eye, and in large red letters the words " in god we trust," hangs on the wall of the lodge room. The society is usually described to for- eigners by those who speak English as the " Chinese Freemasons," and as such it has become generally known to the outside world. In my opinion the Chinese have been misinformed with reference to
1 The Sun, New York. October 28, 30, 1888.
^ The Dai! v l-lveiiim; Telei^rapJi. June. 1889. » Page 53.
* The Daily Evening Telegraphy October 24, 1887.
Chinese Secret Societies in the United States. 43
the identity of the I Jiing with the IMasonic order. It is a belief in which they would receive much encouragement, as there is a popular tradition that lodges of native Freemasons exist in China, which is creditably received by members of the craft wdth whom I am ac- quainted.
Some thirty years ago a learned iMason from Zurich, Dr. Joseph Schauberg, expressed it as his conviction that the Chinese league was similar to freemasonry in its institutions.^ The subject is re- viewed at length by Schlegel, who shows no disposition to oppose the opinion expressed by Dr. Schauberg. Mr. Herbert A. Giles also discussed the subject from materials, he informed me, obtained from Schlegel's book on the Hung-Leaguc, in a paper read before the Ionic Lodge of Amoy.^
There is no question that many resemblances do exist in the institutions of the two fraternities, but from my investigations in another province of Chinese folk-lore, I am inclined to believe that they are found in ideas which the Chinese borrowed from their neighbors in Western Asia, and afterwards engrafted upon the ritual of their national society.
Stewart Culm.
^ Dr. Joseph Schauberg, Symbolik der Freimaurerei, Zurich, i86i. 2 Freejnasonry in China., Araoy, China, 18S6.
44 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
CHEROKEE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.
One of the most prevalent errors in regard to the Indian is that he knows every plant of the field and forest, and that the medicine man outranks the white physician in his knowledge of the healing art. A moment's reflection must convince any intelligent person that the skill of the Indian doctor, whose knowledge is confined to the narrow limits of a single tribe, and who at best can consult with only half a dozen brother shamans, is not to be compared with that of the educated physician who has devoted years to study under trained specialists, who has the whole world for a pharmacopoeia, to- gether with all the mechanical aids invented by modern science, and whose libraries contain the combined experiences of the nations in a thousand years of medical progress. As a matter of fact, the med- icine man's knowledge of herbal remedies is about on a level with that of the ordinary farmer's wife, while the best of them are far in- ferior to her in regard to nursing and the common-sense care of the sick.
Under the auspices of the Bureau of Ethnology the writer has spent three field seasons — aggregating about a year — with the Cherokees, investigating their botanic and medical knowledge, and studying the theories upon which their practice is based. For this purpose he became intimate with their most noted doctors, for weeks working and sleeping in the same room with them, and mak- ing frequent excursions with them into the mountains for the pur- pose of collecting their medicinal plants. In this way he was able not only to learn about all that could be told concerning the plants themselves, but was finally so fortunate as to obtain also the secret formulas and ceremonies which accompany every application. Nearly seven hundred species of plants (including trees and shrubs) known to the various doctors were collected, with their Indian names and uses, and it is probable that eight hundred species would include all known to the Cherokee specialist. This represents their aggregate knowledge, but from a careful estimate it would appear that no one doctor knew the names of three hundred species, including about one hundred trees and shrubs. Yet these men are the professional botanists of the tribe, and their country — the mountain region of western North Carolina — can probably furnish two thousand spe- cies of plants. Many of the most common plants and the brightest flowers have no Cherokee names, simply because the Indians do not use them for food or mecHcine. It may be remarked here that the Indian seems almost utterly lacking in appreciation of the beauty or fragrance of a flower. Of course they know nothing of the plants
Cherokee T/ieojy and Practice of Medicine. 45
outside the limits of their own tribe. Contrast this with the work of our own botanists, who are famihar with the forms and uses of plants throughout the known world, and who have classified and described fourteen hundred species within the District of Columbia, an insig- nificant tract of ten miles square !
While they generally agree upon generic terms, their specific clas- sification is very defective, owing to the fact that they have never been called upon to define specific differences. Each doctor com- monly knows but a few of the species included under one generic name, and when he needs any of these in his practice he simply goes himself and gets it. If somebody else wants to know it, the doctor gets it and shows it to him. Consequently, when obliged to distinguish different species having the same generic name, they are completely at a loss. Each man is apt to have a different basis of classification, and no one knows how many plants are included under the common name, or w^hat descriptive term will sufficiently distinguish each one from the others. It is only by comparison of the plants brought in by each man that it is found that half a dozen distinct terms are intended to designate the same species. For instance, tobacco is Tsdla, and there are several other plants known as Tsdliyitsti, "like tobacco," from their manner of seeding. One of these is the common mullein, which was described by different au- thorities as the blue, yellow, downy, and large Tsaliyusti. It is called blue because, according to the Cherokee idea, that is the color of its leaves.
The white doctor works upon a disordered organism. The Chero- kee doctor works to drive out a ghost or a devil. According to the Cherokee myth, disease was invented by the animals in revenge for the injuries inflicted upon them by the human race. The larger animals saw themselves killed and eaten by man, while the smaller animals, reptiles, and insects were trampled upon and wantonly tortured until it seemed that their only hope of safety lay in devising some way to check the increase of mankind. The bears held the first council, but were unable to fix upon any plan of procedure, and dis- persed without accomplishing anything. Consequently the hunter never asks pardon of the bear when he kills one. Next the deer as. sembled, and after much discussion invented rheumatism, but decreed at the same time that if the hunter, driven by necessity to kill a deer, should ask its pardon according to a certain formula, he should not be injured. Since then every hunter who has been initiated into the mysteries asks pardon of the slain deer. When this is neglected through ignorance or carelessness, the "Little Deer," the chief of the deer tribe, who can never die or be wounded, tracks the hunter to his home by the blood-drops on the ground, and puts the rheumatism
46 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
spirit into him. Sometimes the hunter, on starting to return to his home, builds a fire in the trail behind him to prevent pursuit by the Little Deer. Later on, councils were held by the other animals, birds, fishes, reptiles, and insects, each one inventing some new disease to inflict upon humanity, down even to the grubworm, who became so elated at the bright prospect in view that in his joy he sprang into the air, but fell over backward, and had to wriggle off on his back, as the grubworm does to this day. When the plants, who were friendly to the human race, heard what had been done by the ani- mals, they held a council, and each plant agreed to furnish a remedy for some corresponding disease whenever man should call upon it for help.
While the great majority of diseases are thus caused by revenge- ful animal spirits, some are also caused by ghosts, witches, or viola- tions of ceremonial regulations. When a child dies, its mother some- times grieves after it and dreams of it night after night. This is because the spirit of the child is trying to take her away to itself in the Darkening Land of the west. To prevent this, the ghost must be driven away by the medicine man, who prescribes a course of treatment for the mother, ending with a ceremonial bathing at day- break in the running stream. Sometimes an enemy shoots an invis- ible splinter into the body of a man, so that the victim lingers hope- lessly, ignorant of the cause of the trouble, and at last dies unless relieved by the medicine man, who places his lips to the skin and sucks out the splinter or pebble, after repeating a formulistic prayer and ceremony. This is the cause frequently assigned for consump- tion, known among the Cherokecs as the " dry cough." Again, a witch may "change the food" in a man's stomach and cause it to sprout within him, or take the form of a frog or lizard. Certain pro- hibitions also cannot be disregarded with impunity. Thus, walnut wood must not be put into the fire, because its inner bark is yellow, and if any of its ashes should go to make the lye used to season their corn gruel, the result to those partaking would be a yellow dis- charge or eruption. It is also held that the evil man does lives after him, and sickness may result from treading upon the haunted spot where an animal has been slain years before.
What is here said of the Cherokees will apply equally well to other Indians and to uncivilized tribes generally, and is not far different from the beliefs held by our own ancestors a few centuries ago. Such being the theory, we can hardly expect the practice to be very effective. Without going into details, it may be safely asserted that, of every ten herbs used by the doctors, one is the best that could be procured, two others help in a lesser degree owing to their soothing or tonic properties, and the remaining seven are worthless. Their
Cherokee Theory arid Practice of Alcdicine. 47
doctors arc chiefly expert in the treatment of wounds and fractures, but with regard to internal ailments they are almost powerless. The herbs used are generally selected from some fancied connection be- tween the plant and the disease animal, and four plants usually go to make up the decoction, four being their sacred number. Thus, for a sickness caused by the deer the doctor compounds a prescrip- tion of four plants known respectively in Cherokee as " Deer Eye," "Deer Ear," "Deer Shin," and "Deer Tongue" {Rudbcckia, Hicra- ciinn, and two other species not yet identified). In applying the medicine he prays to some natural enemy of the deer — usually to the dog — to come and drive out the deer spirit, and the patient is forbidden to eat deer meat for a certain period. If the rabbit be responsible for the illness, the doctor selects "Rabbit Food" (wild rose), and other rabbit plants, and prays to the hawk to drive out the rabbit spirit. If a snake has done the mischief, " Snake Tongue " {Ca^nptosoriis rhizopJiyllus) or " Snake Rattle " {Brune/la vulgaris) is used ; while if the evil spirit be a fish, the ailment must be treated with a decoction of "Fish Scales" {TJialictrwn anemonoides), and the doctor calls upon some larger fish to come and drive out the smaller one.
Again, plants are selected from some connection between their appearance and the symptoms of the disease. Thus biliousness or indigestion — a very common complaint, owing to bad food and irregular meals — is called Dald'in, or "yellow," on account of the yellow bile frequently vomited up. It is treated with a decoction of several plants also called Dalani, from the color of the root, flower, or bark, chief among these being the dye flower or tickseed {Coreop- sis senifolia). In the same way what are called heart troubles, which the doctors say are caused by the lungs becoming wrapt about the heart and thus impeding its action, are treated with a decoction of fern leaves, because these leaves when young are coiled up, but un- wrap as they grew older. Ferns enter also into all rheumatism pre- scriptions, and by a similar process of reasoning are supposed to ena- ble the patient to straighten out the constricted muscles of his limbs. In a formula for treating a snake-bite the doctor is directed to blow tobacco juice into the wound, and to rub his finger around the spot four times, from left to right, "because the snake always coils from right to left, and this is just the same as uncoiling it."
When one dreams that he has been bitten by a snake he must be treated the same as though actually bitten, or the same effects will follow a year or so later.
No special precautions are taken to secure the comfort of the patient during his illness, but great stress is laid upon the Gakt?T''ia, or tabu, which accompanies every important prescription. Salt and
48 Joiirnal of American Folk-Lore.
hot food are the two things usually prohibited, but other regulations are added according to the nature of the case. Thus in scrofulous eruptions upon the throat the patient is forbidden to eat the flesh of the wild turkey, because the turkey seems to have a similar eruption on its throat. In many children's complaints the trouble is ascribed to the influence of birds, and the child is forbidden to eat any bird meat ; while the mother must not allow it to go out of doors, lest the shadow of a bird flying overhead should fall upon it ^n^fan the dis- ease back into its body. In some cases the patient must have a separate chair for his special use. The tabu generally continues four days, — which is also the usual length of the course of treat- ment in slight illnesses, — but frequently lasts longer, and may even continue through life in regard to particular articles of food.
In all serious cases visitors are forbidden to enter the house, not, as one might suppose, to secure quiet, but in order to guard against the entrance of a pregnant or menstrual woman, or of any one who may have had the most remote contact with her, even to eating food prepared by her hands. The entrance of such a person would neu- tralize all the effect of the doctor's medicines. The writer once had a practical illustration of this law of the Gaktft^'ta. An old doctor named Tsiskiua, or Bird, who was far gone in what proved to be his last illness, sent word by his sister that he would like to tell what he knew to the white man. After several such messages the writer, with his interpreter, started one morning, and, after tramping several miles over a rough mountain road, arrived at the house to find that another doctor, called "The Mink," had been called in the same morning, and had just established a four days' tabu against visitors. We could not be admitted into the house, but neither doctor had any objection to our sitting immediately outside the threshold while the sick man lay just inside the open door, so near that he could have put out his hand and touched us, and kept up an animated conversation as far as his failing strength would allow. It was very evident that in this instance, at least, the tabu was not for the purpose of securing rest and quiet to the patient.
The dietary regulations seem to be all prohibitions. No light, appetizing or nourishing preparations, such as are commonly deemed necessary for sick people, are ever recommended, and, indeed, such a thing would be well-nigh impossible with the limited facilities of In- dian cookery. In rheumatic complaints the skin is generally scratched with a bamboo brier or a rattlesnake's tooth before applying the med- icine, which is then rubbed in while the blood is flowing freely. In toothache, pains in the stomach, etc., the ordinary treatment is rub- bing, or simple laying on of the hands previously warmed over the fire. This fire is not the hearth fire, but one specially kindled for the
Cherokee Theory and Practice of Medicijie. 49
purpose. Sometimes the medicine is blown from the mouth of the doctor upon the body of the patient, according to certain rules. In one case, for instance, the doctor blows first upon the right hand, then upon the left foot, then upon the right foot, and finally upon the left hand, thus describing the figure of a cross. In every in- stance a prayer or sacred song accompanies the application.
There are a number of precautionary health-preserving ceremo- nies commonly observed, but these arc religious rather than sani- tary. Chief among them is "going to water," when the one for whose benefit the ceremony is performed goes down to the running stream, accompanied by the doctor, after fasting all night, and then, wading into the water, with his face turned to the sun just rising in the east, stoops down and bathes his head and breast, while the doctor, standing on the bank and holding a red and a white bead between the thumb and finger of his outstretched hands, recites an impres- sive prayer for the health and long life of the patient. This cere- mony is performed before eating the first new corn in summer, after having had bad dreams, and by whole families at each new moon.
Diseases are named from their mythologic cause rather than from the symptoms, and the same physical ailment may be designated in a dozen different w*ays, according to the opinion of the doctor. This renders it extremely difficult to characterize a disease from their description. Thus diseases are classed as " when the dwellers in the forest make them sick " {caused by the large game animals), " when something is making something eat them " (a children's ail- ment, caused by the birds), "when the raccoon makes them sick," "when they dream of snakes," " when their food has been changed " (made to sprout in the stomach by magic arts), and so on.
In the study of this Indian medicine, disappointment at the mis- conceived ideas of disease, and the lack of practical therapeutic results, soon gives way to admiration of the systematic consistency of theory and practice, and respect for the deep religious spirit which animates it all. Every doctor is a priest, and every application is a religious act accompanied by prayer. In these prayers the doctor first endeavors to show his contempt for the disease spirit by belit- tling it as much as possible, so as to convey the impression that he is not afraid of it. Thus if the disease animal be a dangerous rat- tlesnake he may declare that it is only a rabbit. He then goes on to threaten it with the " red switches," and calls in, say, the Red Hawk from the Sun Land (the east) to drive it out of the man's body, and on toward the Darkening Land in the west, " so that it may never turn round to look back." The disease, being driven out, is forced along the black trail toward the west, but halts on reaching a gap in the mountain. The doctor then prays to the Blue Hawk in
VOL. III. — NO. 8, 4
50 yournal of American Folk-Lore.
the north to come and help the Red Hawk, asserting that the disease is "just what you eat." The two hawks drive it on to the second gap, where it again stops, and the doctor calls in the Black Hawk from the Darkening Land to come and help the others. It is now driven on to the third gap, when the doctor prays, " O White Hawk, reposing on high in the leafy tree-tops on Wahali (a mythic mountain in the south), draw near and listen. Arise quickly and drive the Intruder into the great lake in the Darkening Land." The White Hawk hears, and immediately swoops down to the assistance of the Red, Blue, and Black Hawks, and the four drive on the " intruder" to the fourth gap, where, with a final push, it is forced over into the great lake on the other side, from which it is never more to emerge.
James Mooney.
So7ne Saliva Charms. 51
SOME SALIVA CHARMS.
This brief, fragmentary paper forms part of a somewhat extended monograph upon saliva superstitions in the United States. The pages of the article which deal more particularly with the subject of folk-medicine are now in the hands of the editor of the " Popular Science Monthly," and will be published, at his convenience, in the pages of that periodical. When the entire paper appears in perma- nent form, there will be appended a more complete list of references to authorities cited.
Whether or not the superstition still lives, I cannot say, but a well-known scientist tells me that, forty years ago, it was customary, about Portland, Maine, in passing dead dogs, cats, and so on, to spit three times on the carrion, to prevent the passer-by from catching the itch. A lady brought up in Boston relates a similar notion fa- miliar to her in childhood, namely, that if one encountered any dead animal and did not spit three times he would certainly die of its dis- ease. Dr. Buck states that in Suabia it is customary for the way- farer to spit upon carrion that he encounters by the roadside, lest he should become mangy through its influence.^
The Romans, in the time of Pliny, believed that contagion might be repelled by spitting.^ Were these superstitions simple out- growths of the natural impulse one has to spit after encountering an offensive odor ? If so, then possibly an old Aztec saying that one must not spit after meeting a polecat, lest he grow white-headed, may be accounted for by remembering how common it has been and is, among primitive peoples, or uneducated individuals, to distrust as unhealthful or unsafe that which is natural.
An old gentleman, who well remembers the practice, states that in the neighborhood of Salem, Massachusetts, sixty or seventy years ago, boys out bird's-nesting were wont to spit in the palm of one hand and then to strike the saliva a quick blow with the forefinger of
the other, saying : —
Spit, spat, spot, Tell me where that bird's-nest is.
The direction of the most prominent drop of fiying spittle indi- cated the locality of the nest. A similar process is now resorted to in many places all the way from Maine to Illinois in searching for lost articles. Children in Salem, IMassachusetts, to-day in look-
^ Medlcinischer Volksglauben tt7id Volksabcrglaiiben aus Schiuaben, Dr. M. R. Buck, p. 42.
2 Pliny's Natural History, Bohn's edition, vol. v. p. 288.
52 youvjta I of American Folk- Lore. %
ing for anything lost or mislaid, vary the bird's-nesting rhyme above
given into : —
Spit, spat, spo ! Where 'd that go ?
The direction in which the spittle flies points out the whereabouts of whatever is sought. A mnemonic device now found in Salem is to spit on the palm of one hand, or the inner side of the wrist, to remind one where something mislaid may be found. I know of a large business place in that city where you may very often see an aged clerk, when he fails to remember just where he has placed some needed substance or utensil, quickly slip back his cuff and make at least a pretence of spitting on his hand, to assist his tardy memory. A gentleman whose boyhood was spent in a New Hampshire coun- try town recalls a custom as there very common among schoolboys on the ball-ground, thirty or forty years ago, when they had lost sight of their ball. It was, as above described, to spit in the palm of one hand, and strike the spittle with the forefinger, meanwhile re- peating: —
Spitter, spatter !
Which way 's that ball gone ?
From a multitude of superstitions that have come under my own notice, I take it that there still exists in the United States a widespread belief that there is some magic power either in human saliva, or in the act of spitting according to prescribed formulas. It is easy to identify many of our American superstitions regarding saliva as direct descendants of ancient Aryan customs and beliefs ; others are modified forms of the latter ; while still a third class would appear, from the lack of any evidence to the contrary, to be not only indig- enous, but also of recent origin.
A volume might be written upon the origin, history, and ethnical distribution of the many curious mistaken beliefs concerning the powers of spittle. Such fancies appear in various Greek and Roman writers, and they pervade the whole history of magic, through the Middle Ages down almost to the present time. Employed now to bless, now to curse, now to injure, now to cure, by peoples intellec- tually as far apart as the Jews and the South Sea Islanders, mediaeval Christians and the Central Africans of to-day — truly the potencies of this usually harmless secretion have been most widely credited.
The custom of using spittle in some manner, as part of the cere- mony of naming children, or as a lustral rite, appears to have had a very extended range, both geographically and historically. Theoc- ritus says : —
See how old beldams expatiations make ; To atone the gods, the bantling up they take ;
Some Saliva Charms. 53
His lips are wet with lustral spittle ; thus They hope to make the gods propitious.
In pagan Rome, lustration by means of spittle was one of the ceremonies employed in naming a child on the dies nominalis, and this custom has been traced as the probable origin of a similar prac- tice in the early Roman Catholic Church.^ That the Arabs made use of a similar ceremony would appear probable from the following incident, narrated in Ocklcy's " History of the Saracens : " ^ —
" Of Hasan they relate that he was very much like his Grand- father, Mahomet, who, when he was born, spat in his Mouth and named him Hasan." According to Mungo Park's " Travels in the Interior of Africa," in christening Mandingo children : —
"He [the schoolmaster] whispered a few sentences in the child's ear and spat three times in its face."^
Purification of the warrior who had killed an enemy was generally deemed necessary by the various tribes of American Indians. Among the Pimas of Arizona, one feature of the ceremony con- sisted in the transference of saliva from the mouth of the officiating medicine-man to that of the warrior.^
The ancients considered spittle a charm against all kinds of fasci- nation, Theocritus, in describing the demeanor of a city beauty repelling the advances of a rustic wooer, says : " Speaking thus, she spat thrice upon her breast."
Pliny, in many places, shows the high regard of the Romans for the remedial and other virtues of saliva.
According to the Biblical narrative, it was with spittle that Jesus wet the clay with which he anointed the eyes of the blind man. An Oriental belief in the curative effect of human saliva is, in all proba- bility, thus indicated.
Among the early Saxons, saliva was an important ingredient of a holy salve.^
Akin to the belief in the ceremonial value of spittle, and identical with the early Greek and Roman confidence in its efficacy in ward- ing off evil influences, is the faith shown by the practice, mentioned in Ennemoser's " History of Magic," of spitting three times before the house of a witch. '^ In Mungo Park's " Travels " there is an
^ Brand's Popular Atitiqiiiiics, Bohn's edition, vol. iii. p. 259.
^ Ed. of 1 718, vol. ii. p. 100.
^ Op. cit., vol. i. p. 263.
* Report of Captain Grossman, U. S. A., in Smithsonian Report, 1870, pp. 416, 417.
^ W. G. Black's Folk-Medicine.
6 Ennemoser's History of Magic, Howitt's translation, Bohn's ed., vol. ii. p. 201.
54 yoiirnal of American Folk-Lore.
account of the preparation of a charm, or " saphie," to insure a safe journey, by muttering a few sentences and spitting upon a stone laid on the ground.
Spitting in a liole made in the ground constituted one of the cere- monies of making a peace with the Apaches of the Rio Gila, more than half a century ago, as described in Pattie's " Narrative." ^ Nat- urally charms of this character are seriously resorted to only by very superstitious races at the present day, as the Transylvanians, for instance, who spit to keep off the influence of devils, or the Irish peasantry, who overcome evil influences by spitting on the object feared and saying, "God bless it." This spitting must not be done by the person in whose behalf the protection is invoked, but it must be at his request.^
Among the South Sea Islanders it is believed that injuries may be worked upon the producer of spittle, if sorcerers chance to get hold of it, and so the chiefs arc followed about by spittoon-bearers, who collect and bury the dangerous product.
Paul Kane, in his " Artist's Wanderings in North America," writes : " The Columbia River Indians are never seen to spit without carefully obliterating all traces of their saliv'a. This they do lest an enemy should find it, in which case they believe he would have the power of doing them some injury. They always spit on their blan- ket, if they happen to wear one at the time."
Captain John G. Bourke '^ writes me : " In my personal experience, I noticed at an early day that all wild Indians (that is, all who had never been on a reservation) had the custom of carefully spitting in their blankets or mantles."
According to Dr. Buck, Suabian folk-medicine prescribes that one should at once tread into the ground the spittle which he ejects, lest some evil-disposed person employ it for sorcery.'^
These customs are doubtless based upon a supcrstitution not un- like that held by the believers in witchcraft in our own early history, who felt sure that pain could be inflicted upon people by means of images made to resemble them, and then punctured with pins and needles, or otherwise maltreated.
Brand relates a curious custom of boys in the North of England, namely, that of pledging their faith, "their saul," by spitting, just
' Cincinnati, Ohio, 1833, p. 'j'j.
^ Vide Lady Wilde's Anciefit Legends and Superstitions of L'eland, one-vol- ume edition, pp. 72, 130, 141, 193.
^ Autiior of a valuable monograph : Notes and Metnoranda bearing on the Use of Hitman Ordnre and Human Urine /« Rites of a Religious or Semi-Religious Character, etc. Washington, D. C, 1S88.
* Op. cit., p. 42.
Some Saliva Charms. 55
as an American boy will say, " I hope to die if it is n't true." ^ And Newcastle colliers bind a compact, in combining together for pro- tection against their employers, by spitting together upon a stone.^ The scattered illustrations just mentioned may serve as a hint of the great variety and wide distribution of mythical conceptions about saliva.
Countless seems to be the number of spittle charms still prac- tised, either to avert an evil omen or to bring good luck. There is a popular saying of very wide range that to turn any garment that by accident has been put on wrong side out betokens bad luck. In Central Maine it is said that this may be averted by spitting on the garment as you take it off to turn it ; while in Cambridge, Massachu- setts, I find the notion that if one's dress be turned up at the bottom, so as to show the facing or wrong side of the hem, one needs only to spit on the dress as it is turned down to secure a new one.
In St. John, N. B., there is a popular feeling of reluctance to walk under a ladder leading against a building, and so one may often see passers-by furtively spit, to avert misfortune, as they walk beneath a ladder so placed as to make inconvenient a circuit outside of its foot. This counter-charm is in all probability a direct importation from England, where it is common.^
An old Roman counter-charm was to spit into the right shoe be- fore putting it on the foot, or to spit into the right shoe before going into any peril.^ Another, to spit when passing by any place where danger had been incurred.^ According to Pliny, it was a Roman custom to wet a finger with spittle and place it behind the ear to allay disquietude of mind.^ The same writer tells us that the Romans had a prejudice against meeting a person lame in the right leg, and that it was believed that the evil influence of such an un- propitious encounter might be repelled simply by spitting.' We have a pretty widespread and strongly held superstition that it is unlucky to meet one who is cross-eyed, and here again the counter-charm is the old Roman one of spitting as you pass the person. Some peo- ple do the same (for luck they say) when they meet a negro. The Russians say that it is bad luck to meet a priest, and the popular belief is that to avert misfortune one must, in passing, spit on the holy father's beard. Certainly neither a very cleanly nor a very reverent device.
^ Brand's Popular Antiqutties, Bohn's ed., vol. iii. p. 261.
2 Ibid., loc. cit.
' Azotes and Queries, London, 3d series, vol. vii. p. 433.
■* Pliny's N'atural History., Bohn's ed., vol. v. p. 290.
^ Ibid., loc. cit.
^ Ibid., vol. V. p. 284.
' Ibid., vol. V. p. 290.
56 yournal of American Folk- Lore.
The saying, that to spit over the httle finger of the right hand at sight of a white horse will bring good luck, is sent to me from Illi- nois and from various parts of eastern Massachusetts ; also from St. John, N. B. In Peabody, Massachusetts, the general notion of good luck is made definite, and money is promised to one who carries out the ceremony of spitting over the little finger whenever a white horse is seen. A Salem, Massachusetts, charm is to count every white horse you see, spitting at each one, until you have reached a hundred ; after the one hundredth, make a wish, and it will certainly come true.
In Central Maine you will hear it said that if the left hand itch you must instantly spit on it, and rub the side or hip, and you will soon receive money. Indeed, half in jest, half in earnest, you may often see persons from that part of the country go through with this money-getting charm.
A New Hampshire practice is to spit on a piece of money, for luck, before pocketing it. Some one told me of seeing a servant girl in Lowell, Massachusetts, on receiving a piece of silver, quickly spit on it and slip it inside her stocking, nodding meanwhile, and saying "for luck."
In Jones's "Credulities" mention is made of a custom found among the inhabitants of Weardale, County Durham, England, of spitting for luck on the first coin received in the morning, or the first taken in any kind of business.^ This piece of money is com- monly called a handsel in England and in parts of Scotland. The original Anglo-Saxon word from which "handsel" comes meant the act of joining hands, as was the usual old English custom when two parties had concluded a bargain. This sealing of a bargain or sale was further ratified by giving a piece of money as an earnest. I believe the custom still exists in parts of Great Britain ;2 and with us to this day an expression often heard when two people have agreed upon some plan of action or concluded some minor business transaction is, "Let us shake hands on it." Undoubtedly a par- tial survival of the old English usage just mentioned. The name handsel, originally meaning the ceremony of striking or joining hands, at length seems to have been attached to the coin given as a last security that a transfer of property had been effected. English hucksters and fishwomcn much esteem the handsel, or first money taken in a day, regarding it as an omen for further sales. Travelers relate that London venders may often be observed to spit upon their handsel, sometimes to kiss the coin, and to put it in a pocket by
' Credulities, Past and Present, by William Jones. London, iSSo, pp. 544, 545. 2 r.rand's Popular Antiquities, Bohn's edition, vol. iii. p. 262.
Some Saliva Charms, 57
itself as a talisman for business luck.^ In Truro, N. S., Irish women, who go about from house to house selling laces or other small wares, upon receiving money for their first sale often say, " God bless you," and then spit on the money before pocketing it. I do not find that the name handsel has been transplanted to the United States, but the old country superstitious regard for the money from a first sale we find among us. Peddlers generally are anxious to begin to sell, and are sometimes even known to lower prices upon setting out in order to secure a purchaser, feeling that this first money in hand will bring more. Some months since, in Waltham, Massachusetts, a man was going through the streets selling simple microscopes. They were very good instruments, consisting of two lenses conveniently arranged, and gi-ving a good field and excellent amplification. They sold for three dollars each, not an unreasonable price for the kind of glass. The seller, eager to make an opening sale, disposed of one to a gentleman for seventy-five cents. It was known that others afterwards paid the full price, and when friends of this first lucky purchaser tried to get a reduction, and said that they had understood that a glass had been sold as low as seventy-five cents, the peddler positively refused to sell a single other one for less than three dollars.
It was an old French belief that to spit in the fire on rising in the morning was an ill omen.^ A correspondent from Northern Ohio writes me the two following popular notions : If one chance to spit on a stove he will in consequence have a sore mouth, while acci- dentally spitting on yourself means that some one is about to tell an untruth about you. The accident of spitting on any garment has a lucky signification in Central Maine, where it is said to foretell a new garment. A Northern Ohio mode of fortune-telling was as follows : spit on a hot shovel, and the saliva will froth up and dance over the hot iron. The direction taken, if this moving bubble slide off the shovel, indicates " where you will go to live," but if the saliva dry up on the shovel the inference is that you are destined to stay where you are.
The fashion boys have of spitting on their fish-bait to secure a bite, which seems to be pretty general among us, is, I find, very common among the Japanese. Frank Buckland, in his " Curiosities of Natural History," records a practice, among the fishermen of Portsmouth, England, of spitting on the boat-anchor before letting it go, to insure luck and to make the fish bite.^ An allied custom, common among trappers in Central Maine, that of spitting on the
' Brand's Pop7ilar Antiqtiities^ Bohn's ed., vol. iii. p. 262.
"^ J. B. Thiers, Traite dcs Superstitions, Paris, 1745, vol. i. p. 209.
' Curiosities of A'atural History, 3d series.
58 yoiirnal of American Folk-Lore.
bait of the traps which they set for foxes, I have not as yet elsewhere encountered.
We have all noticed how men and boys are given to spitting on their hands before making certain physical efforts, notably in lifting, chopping wood, in handling a hoe, a scythe, or a pitchfork. Black- smiths, too, frequently spit at or on their hands before picking up the sledge, and that this usage among men of their craft, when about to make any unusual exertion, dates back more than two and a half centuries, may be gathered from William Browne's description of a smith shoeing some "stubborne nagge of Galloway :" —
Or unbacked jennet or a Flanders mare. That at the forge stand snuffing of the ajre ; The swarthy smith spits in his buckhornefist, And bids his man bring out the fivefold twist.^
I dare say every one has noticed the catcher on a ball-ground, in making ready to seize the ball, spit on his palms, often hastily rub- bing them together. The habit is very general among ball-players, from small boys to college students. One who attends games on the Cambridge, Mass., base-ball grounds tells me that the Harvard un- dergraduates may often be observed to make use of this very doubt- ful aid to their skill. After questioning a good many people of differ- ent ages and occupations as to whether there is, in their opinion, really any utility in the usage of spitting on the palms of the hands, I find that there appears to be a general latent supposition that the moistening of the hands helps a workman to take a firmer hold of his axe, hoe, scythe, hammer, or what not, that is, may prevent the implement from slipping in his grasp, but I believe that the act of thus moistening the hands (which after all is often a mere pretense) is generally quite involuntary. There are good reasons to surmise that this now involuntary habit is a surviving fragment of very old superstitious beliefs which attributed to human saliva subtle and pecul- iar powers of working charms. For if only the mechanical effect of wetting the hands be desired, why does not the smith touch his hand to the surface of the water in the trough or barrel that stands close by his forge.-*
Then, on a damp day, an axe-helve will hardly slip in the hands because of being too dry, or a scythc-snath in the hands of a mower on a dewy summer morning, or when a heavy fog still rests on the meadow lands, yet the observance of spitting on the hand is not omitted for any meteorological variations. Whether gloves are worn or not seems to make no difference to ball-players in their use of the device. If any real assistance may be gained by workmen who habitually resort to spitting on the hands, it seems as though * Britannia's Pastorals, book i.'p. 129.
Some Saliva Charms. 59
women might have adopted the custom in such work as sweeping and mopping floors ; but as far as I have been able to learn, the prac- tice is in the main confined to men, though now and then a woman does wet her finger in her mouth before putting on her thimble, " to make it stick," she will tell you.
The well-known habit of pugilists, from professionals to village urchins, both here and in Great Britain and Ireland, of spitting on or at the hands before giving a blow to an antagonist, is directly traceable, or at least related, to an ancient Roman belief that a blow could thus be made heavier.^ The converse of this belief does not seem to survive among Americans or the inhabitants of the British Isles, but according to Pliny the Romans also believed that if a per- son repented of an injury inflicted on an adversary, either by some missile or by the fist, and should spit in the palm of the hand which had dealt the blow, all feeling or resentment would thereby be re- moved from the mind of the antagonist.^
Faimy D. Bergen.
1 Pliny's Natural History^ Bohn's edition, vol. v. p. 289. a Ibid., loc. cit.
6o journal of American Folk-Lore.
PRIMITIVE MAN IN MODERN BELIEFS.^
The question 's oft been asked of me,
"What sort of thing may Folk-Lore be?
" What have the folk to do with lore ?
" Is it not left for those who pore
"O'er stones and coins — old, musty screeds —
" Annals of yore — forgotten deeds ? "
Beliefs that ruled man long ago
Within our actions ofttimes show ;
The habits of primeval days
Still close beset our modern ways ;
And thoughts we scorn, with boastful pride,
Our steps, unconscious, often guide.
For man is but a compound vast Of generations, centuries past, Who bears within himself the seed Of fears, ambitions, hate, and greed, That once o'er ancestors bore sway. Though hidden in his soul to-day.
When first the early morning broke Upon the primitive Aryan folk, When from the rising sun the beams Athwart the gray shot golden gleams, The orb blazed out in splendor dread : Men saw with awe-struck, bended head.
Obscure and dense, in dismal gloom. At the same time his home and tomb, On the hard rock his bed was made. On the rough ground his form was laid : In his dark cave no comfort lies, And forth to greet the day he flies.
No mantle clothed his manly form,
Nor cloak nor furs his heart kept warm ;
A scanty girdle 'round his waist,
To save decorum rudely placed.
Was all he wore ; his matted hair
Was shaggy as the unkempt bear.
Now comes the tug, — what shall he eat? He 's fully ready for his meat,
^ Read nt the Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society held in Phila- delphia, November 29, 1S89.
Primitive Ma7i in Modei^n Beliefs. 6 1
But, supper over, none was left ; Is he, then, of all hope bereft ? Off runs he to the neighboring brook, And finds his breakfast with a hook.
He speaks no word and sign makes none ; From out his mouth a sullen moan, Deep-drawn, makes known his feelings true, — To grunt is all that he can do ! And, e'en he spake in accents clear, There 's no one nigh his voice to hear.
From forest dense, from rugged lair,
Comes forth immense the great Cave Bear,
And hungry he ; his food to gain
He rushes savage o'er the plain.
Rocks fly, darts pierce, — smit by a stone,
Bruin falls dead with piteous groan.
But whilst the combat fierce endured, The sky 's with sombre clouds obscured : The lightnings blaze, the thunders crash, The rain descends in watery plash : Poor man is 'whelmed with deadly fear, ' And prays that heaven once more be clear.
The day-god's course at last fulfilled.
With silence vast the earth is filled ;
Swift-gathering Night throws her black pall
O'er sea and sky, and man and all
That lives ; with terror in his breast
Lest dawn ne'er come again, he sinks to rest.
To rest ? Around that stalwart brow Black night doth shadow forth, I trow, Grim spectres, goblins, lemurs, elves, Base simulacra of ourselves, The baleful foes of waking themes To haunt him ever in his dreams.
With frightened mien and bristling hair. He bounds from off his cheerless lair. And scans his den with questioning eye. But finds no ghost is standing nigh. He sighs relief ; the dream has fled. And on the ground he lays his head.
So runs his life from day to da}', To checkered feelings easy prey ; For fear and hope, and mute despair. And cankered sorrows, grief, are there,
62 youriial of American Folk-Lore.
To waft forever 'round his head Their flights of fancy, care, and dread.
* The rainbow shines, the ravens croak, E'en fate is found in whirUng smoke, The circling swallows in the sky, The crickets' song when eve is nigh:' — Omens beset his daily walk. And spectral visions nightly stalk.
Century on century now has sped, — Have superstitions long since fled ? Have we, then, thrown away all fears, The harvest of decaying years, And live exempt from portents dire Of sea and land, of air and fire.^
When midnight clangs upon the ear Within some graveyard dark and drear, When flickering moonbeams hover nigh Where countless corpses mouldering lie, Doth not a shudder pierce the bone. Among the dead to be alone ?
When burning candles sputter free, A coffin in the wick we see ; When flying sparks leap from the fire, 'T is for the sick a presage dire ; And should a dog bay at the moon, A funeral will be ready soon.
When in our face the full moon streams, We '11 answer questions in our dreams, And tell the truth ; indeed, perverse, All dreams must go by their reverse. And when, as some are apt to do, 'Fore breakfast told, they must come true.
All numbers odd are lucky, save When at a feast, or meeting grave, A company of thirteen folk Will find the number sad no joke, For death and sorrow sure attend Those who against this law offend.
If on the grate the sunbeams play,
The flame will quickly die away ;
A quarrel without any fault
Will swift arise from spilling salt ;
If killed a lady-bug, a storm
Will roar and rase from such a harm.
Primitive Man in Modern Beliefs. 63
When ticks the death-watch o'er our head, Death 's waiting grimly by our bed ; Should mirrors break, a doleful fate Must on the careless hand await ; Whene'er a soul parts with the tide The casement must be opened wide.
Such fears oppressed the early man, And those may laugh at him — who can! He knew nought of the modern sneers At all that true to sense appears, That wipe the spirit world away From out the things we fear to-day.
Has superstition lost all hold ?
Do we ne'er shrink at fears untold ?
Alas ! poor man remains a prey
To petty terrors, e'en to-day ;
For mankind 's pretty much the same,
And human nature 't is to blame.
Henry Phillips, Jr.
64 Journal of A merican Folk-L ore.
WASTE-BASKET OF WORDS.
A, An. — At North Chatham, Cape Cod, it is a peculiarity of the ver- nacular not to use the article an, the natives invariably using a before vowels as before consonants; as, for instance, "a hour," " a ounce," "a honest man," etc. — Sylvester Baxter, Boston, Mass.
Beesons. — A name for pine needles, used at Lynn, Massachusetts. — Sylvester Baxter.
CoRPOROsiTY. — See Sagatiatc, below.
CuLCH. — A domestic in my household, from Maine, uses this word as a synonym for rubbish, — " To sweep away all that cnlch.^' Can any one give me the history of this word .'' — Ahhy Langdon Alger, Boston, Mass.
" Old culch " is used in connection with stuff, household goods, etc., which are valueless. Thus, if a house was pretty shabbily furnished, we would say (in Salem, Mass.), " They had nothing in the house but a mess of old culch," or, if in a store the dealer had brought out the old stock with the new, we might say the greater part of the stock was " a mess of old culch." There seems to be a near relative to this word in sciilch, which may be applied in a similar manner, but more in connection with swill. Food unfit to eat we were in the habit of calling sculch. Or if what was good had been kept for some days, so that one had become tired of seeing it in the closet, we might say : " Don't keep that sculch here any longer, throw it away." — Helen S. Thurston, Waltham, Mass.
Drunkards. — At Hyannis this is the name by which the young, tender leaves of the checkerberry are called. These are gathered by the children in the spring, in considerable quantities, and eaten. Perhaps the name was given on account of their pungent taste and almost exhilarating effect ; or, possibly, on account of their use as a leading ingredient in the making of home-brewed beer. — Sylvester Baxter.
Grands'r. — At Essex, Massachusetts, this abbreviation of grandsire is often used instead of grandfather. — Sylvester Baxter.
Lovely, — At Hyannis, Cape Cod, this word was formerly frequently heard among old-fashioned people (and possibly still is) in a rather odd qualifying sense, as " lovely well," " lovely nice," etc. — Sylvester Baxter.
Sagatiate (Segashuate). — I have heard this word employed by a member of my own family (though not by any one else) in the sense of to be in good health or spirits. For example, " How do you sagatiate this morn- ing.''" or, " How does your corporosity sagatiate ? " The latter expression was used, in a jocose way, when a friend came in. I should spell sagatiate rather than segatiate. — Ifelefi S. Thurston, Waltham, Mass. — The word has been very familiar to me, in Central Illinois, from the time of my child- hood.— y. W. Bergen, Ca7?ibridge, Mass. — It may be remembered that the term is employed as belonging to the dialect of Southern negroes, in the talcs of Uncle Remus, where the form is segashuate.
Sculch. — Waste victuals. See Culch.
Folk-Lore Scrap-Book, 65
FOLK-LORE SCRAP-BOOK.
Notes on Eskimo Customs. — A number of interesting letters from Alaska, written on the cruise of the U. S. revenue cutter Rush, by Mr. Wardman, appeared in the " Pittsburgh Dispatch" of 1879. They contain some notes on Eskimo customs and lore. All hunters have their favorite charms to bring them good luck. It will not do to cut up a white whale with an axe. Wood must not be chopped when seals are near at hand. On such occasions firewood must be cut with a knife. A hunter's wife must not taste meat of a moose he has killed himself when it is fresh, but after three days she may have some of it. In some cases, for weeks after a woman has become a mother, she will not be permitted to eat flesh of any kind, else her husband would have bad luck. After a white whale has been caught, numerous ceremonies are performed by the successful hunter. The last of these is the trimming of a narrow strip from the edge of each fin, from the tail, and from the upper lip, before the animal is hauled out of the water. These scraps are carried away by the successful hunter, sacred to his own uses. After the hunter has performed his ceremonies he walks away, leaving those who choose to cut off what they want. During the night there is a great feast, the kettles being kept boiling till morning.
The Eskimo shaman is not born to his profession, as among the Tlingit of southern Alaska. He is the creature of accident or of revelation. He has a dream sometimes, which being verified he goes off alone into some remote place, where he fasts for several days, after which becomes out and announces himself a shaman. Now he is ready to heal the sick, to regulate the weather, and to supply game in seasons when it runs scarce. His manner of curing disease is by incantation no vile drugs being adminis- tered. The cure, if effected, is due to his miraculous influence with invis- ible spirits. If he fail and the patient die, he persuades the mourning relatives into the belief that some other shaman or some old woman be- witched the deceased, and then death is the lot of the offending party who came in between the doctor and the dead.
There is an instance reported here (at St. iNIichael's) of a shaman against whom some prejudice was created in this manner on the Kuskoquim. He was hunted from village to village, finding no resting-place anyv.-here, so far as heard from, till he passed up northward beyond St. Michael's.
Some of these shamans believe in themselves, but as a rule they know they are humbugs. There was one at the mission up the Yukon, who, dur- ing a scarcity of deer, proposed to go up to the moon and get a supply. It should be known that, according to Eskimo accounts, all game comes out of the moon, the origin of which orb and others is thus accounted for : In the beginning there was plenty of land, water, and sky, but no sun, moon, and stars. An Eskimo, who noticed that the sky came down to the ground in a certain localit}', went forward and made holes in it with his paddle. One stroke formed a rent which the sun shines through ; another tore away the curtain from before the moon ; and smaller stabs with the paddle made
VOL. III. — NO. 8. 5
66 Journal of A merican Folk-L ore.
holes \vhich now appear as stars. (This account is somewhat remarkable, as it is known that the Alaskan, as well as other Eskimo, consider sun and moon as sister and brother. The moon being merely a hole through which the light shines from a land where the supply of game is inexhaustible, all a shaman has to do for his tribe is to go up and throw some down through the hole. There is no doubt in the minds of some that they can do this. A shaman at the mission, who volunteered to go up to the moon after game, fastened a rope around his body beneath his arms and about his neck. Then he went down under the floor of the dancing house. He left one end of the line in the hands of some men above, with instructions for them to pull as soon as he got out of sight. They obeyed, and pulled vigorously until they became tired. (It appeared that in this case the enterprising shaman was strangled, but the performance is of great interest, being known by fuller descriptions from the Central Eskimo and from Green- land.)
In order to have influence among the people, it is necessary that the shaman should be possessed of mysterious powers. One of them would present his hands to be bound together with leather thongs behind his back, and would pull the lashings through his body, and show the wrists still fastened in front. But it was indispensable that this miracle should be performed beneath his skin robe. Some of them eat fire ; and one shaman at Pastolik, between the mouth of the Yukon and St. Michael's, permitted himself to be burned alive to satisfy his people that he was not a swindler. He had an immense pyre of logs arranged near the dancing house, in which all of the people were assembled, and at a given signal he took a position in the centre, and the torch was applied. He stood there calm as a mar- tyr, with a wooden mask upon his face, and gazed upon the people as they retired into the dancing house " to make medicine " for him.
In half an hour they came out and saw nothing but the mask in the centre, the logs around it being all on fire. The next time they went out all was burnt down to cinders, and they again returned to the singing house. Pres- ently a slight noise was heard on the roof, followed immediately by the descent of the shaman, mask and all, among them. The effect was won- derful, but one of the shaman's confederates later on explained to a white man that there had been a hole under the logs of the p)Te through which the shaman crawled out, and that the mask seen in the fire was on a pole, not on the shaman's face.
When the Eskimo dies, he goes to that land which the wild geese seek in the winter. It is a long way off, and the entrance to it is a narrow pass, which may be traversed only when the snow is melted out of it. Some men — the bad ones — have greater trouble than others in making the jour- ney, being obliged to go through a long, dark passage, probably under- ground. Once in the promised land, they will find clear skies, warm weather, and an inexhaustible supply of game.
The origin of man and animals, according to the account of the Ten- nanai Indians, is as follows : Man and all animals were created by the eagle and the bluejay jointly. After man was nearly finished, the jay pro- posed to give him wings, but to this the eagle objected, saying that he had
Folk- Lore Scrap-Book. 67
already been made too powerful, and to permit him to fly would be to make him altogether dangerous. Some controversy occurred on this, but the eagle would not give way. That dispute explains why the eagle keeps as far from man as possible, while the jay goes into the camps with impunity, and takes whatever he wants, if he can find it.
Remedy for the Influenza. — A correspondent of the New York "Tribune," January, 1890, favors that journal with a cure for the prevalent influenza : " Coming to the influenza, he believes there is nothing so good for it as a black catskin poultice laid on the breast. ' The cat,' says our valued correspondent, ' should be very black. See that she is killed in the dark of the moon on a cloudy night, as the fur contains more electricity then. Make an ordinary bread poultice and put it on the hide side. A little Spanish-fly will improve it. Apply hot. The electricity, Avhich is life, will pass into the bod}-, driving the good influence of the poultice before it. A little old whiskey taken internally will do no harm. Be sure that the cat is very black and the night very dark.' "
A CORRESPONDENT sends the following, without naming the journal from which the dispatch is taken : —
" New Orleans, August 13. — A big voudoo festival was given last even- ing at the west end of the Lake Pontchartrain suburbs of New Orleans by an assemblage of mixed v/hite and colored. Dr. Alexander, the colored voudoo doctor, presided. The police showed no disposition to interfere. A decided sensation has been caused here by the discovery that voudooism, or rather belief in the power of the voudoo doctors, is increasing, and is accepted not only by the negroes, but by the whites. A raid on Dr. Alexan- der's establishment discovered a large number of women there, most of them whites, who visited him because they believed his incantations im- proved their health. Surprise was increased to horror when it was found these, almost completely disrobed (for a voudoo seance requires the ' pa- tient ' to dance without clothing around the fire or snake which represents the devil), were of respectable middle-class families. Since then the vou- doo belief seems to have spread, and a number of meetings have been re- ported, that last night being the largest yet."
It would seem that there should be little difficulty in obtaining authen- tic accounts of proceedings so well known to the police as these are said to be.
Meeting of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Folk- lore Society. — A stated meeting of the Philadelphia chapter of the American Folk-Lore Society was held on Wednesday evening, January 8, at the parlors of the First Unitarian Church, Chestnut Street, above Twenty- first.
Dr. Carl Lumholtz, the distinguished Australian explorer, delivered an extemporaneous address on the customs and superstitions of the aborigines of Australia, in which he described them as living in temporary huts made of palm leaves, which are constructed from day to day, as occasion requires. They do not like to leave the camp at night. An Australian is gay and happy all day, but when the sun goes down he becomes restless and low- spirited. He is afraid of being killed and eaten by some predatory tribe.
68 yoiirnal of American Folk-Lore.
and he is afraid, too, of a devil whicli he identifies with a cicada that makes a buzzing noise. Some think this devil is a night-bird they call Kvingan. The explorer frequently heard the strange, unearthly cry of this bird, and made several attempts to shoot a specimen, but the natives refused to ac- company him on these occasions, and he was unsuccessful. Besides this devil, the natives are also frightened at night by ghosts. They stand in greatest dread of the ghost of a man who was feared in life, and this feeling is greatest after a lapse of several years from the time of his death. They don't think a man ever dies a natural death unless he is killed in their pres- ence ; otherwise they attribute his death to sorcery. The name of the dead is never mentioned. That is considered most inauspicious. The dead are buried a little distance beneath the surface, the body being protected with pieces of bark from contact with the soil. The Australian native has no idea of a Supreme Being. No Australian has been seen to worship. They have no idols, and are never known to pray. They are not afraid of thun- der and lightning. They stand in awe of foreign sorcerers, whom they think are able to come into their camp, and, after securing a man to a tree, have the power to remove his insides and fill him with grass. Their own sorcerers pretend to be able to restore the man to his natural condition. Certain articles of food are under taboo, especially to the young and to those who are in mourning. The natives in the north have no traditions. They are all keen observers of the stars, and give them different names according to their size.
They have no games whatever. They amuse themselves on cool nights by throwing boomerangs. The returning boomerang is only used as a toy. They have no musical instruments, but accompany their songs by striking two sticks together. Their songs are not distinguished for their melody, but are sung with great attention to time. Songs travel for hundreds of miles, and the natives often learn them without knowing the meaning of the words. The speaker closed his address by singing two native songs, one of which he accompanied by striking two sticks together in the manner described.
A communication from Brinton Coxc, Esq., was read, in which the utility of the work of the folk-lorist was referred to. He especially pointed out how folk-lore could be of use to the Post-Office Department and to railway companies in furnishing names for new post-offices and railway stations.
A general discussion occurred on the subject of the New Year shooters of this city, in response to an inquiry of Mr. Henry Phillips, Jr., in the course of which it was stated by several members that they could remember the custom as having been in existence some forty years ago. The Rev. Mr. Douglass referred to the custom still surviving in parts of INIaryland and Delaware of requiring that one of the family should be the first person to enter the house on New Year's Day.
Dr. Daniel G. Brinton delivered a brief address on the subjects which should engage the attention of the local chapter, outlining a programrhe of work for the chapter in the collection and discussion of the folk-lore of the early English, German, and Swedish settlers, and of the recently established colonies of Chinese, Italians, and other foreign peoples. The subject of
Notes and Queries. 69
Chinese-American folk-lore was cliosen for discussion at the next regular meeting on the second Wednesday in February, and a paper was promised by Mr. Culin. — The Public Ledger, Philadelphia, January 13, 1890.
NOTES AND QUERIES.
Dr. L. Hopf on Animal Oracles.-^ — Facts of folk-lore are often common to both modern and ancient peoples, whether civilized or savage. Under these circumstances their origin must be sought in the mental status of primitive man. Such is the custom, found at every epoch, of drawing oracles from the actions- of animals ; that is, establishing a connection be- tween such actions and the future, with a more or less precise meaning either for good or evil. Folk-lore researches have revealed the presence of such beliefs in modern Europe, and the student of classical antiquity has doubt- less been more than once astonished by the large place occupied by these ideas in public life ; it is sufficient to recall the whole organization of the augurs elevated to the rank of official functionaries.
The character assigned by popular imagination to animals, especially birds, is clearly indicated in tales. For example, in a tale, the hero, who has been deprived of sight by his faithless companion, hears how the ravens sitting on the gallows above his head say to each other : " Yes, if men knew what we know ! "
Beasts, accordingly, occupy an intermediate place between the ignorant world of men and the all-knowing world of the gods This belief of primitive man and of the people in modern times :s the subject of the above-named book by Dr. Hopf.
His work is remarkable, as much for its learned character as its clear- ness of conception. In a first chapter he shows that the fact in question exists in all parts of the globe ; he establishes a scientific division between the many dilferent animals from which the popular mind draws its oracles ; and, finally, he endeavors to fix the primitive ideas which were the sources of the belief. The error in logic which gave birth to them is the old adage, post hoc, ergo, propter hoc. The popular mind feels the necessity of knowing a cause, whether true or false, in order to satisfy its curiosity. In the same manner, popular belief — what is generally termed superstition — is, in many cases, nothing but a rash and unverified explanation of natural phenomena.
I cannot follow Dr. Hopf in an examination of the different ideas by which animals acquire the character of oracle-givers. One objection to the opinions of the learned author I desire to make. On page 224 he speaks of the animals which in mythology are considered as belonging to the household of the gods : " These animals, to which the popular imagi- nation gave a place in the immediate vicinity of the gods, were, on account of this character, supposed to know and be able to foretell the future of man."
^ Thierorakcl tind Orakelthiere in alter und iieucr Zeit. Eine ethnologisch- zoologische Siudie. Stuttgart, 1888. W. Kohlhammer. Pp. xi., 271. (4 Mark.)
70 journal of American Folk- Lore.
I think the proposition ought to be inverted. We may, with good reason, ask which of the two notions is the primitive one ? Was the popular idea derived from the mythological fact, or is the latter to find explanation in the preexisting belief ? I consider the latter explanation as more probable, since the inhabitants of heaven are only the incarnation of popular ideas. The reason why certain animals, and no others, were chosen as compan- ions to the gods, is a question foreign to the point now under consideration. Of course, this choice has not been made without good reason. The clue can only be found in a comparison between the folk-lore of civilized na- tions and facts belonging to savage life which the study of ethnography reveals as living antiquities, comparable to the survivals still extant in our society. Dr. Hopf has, throughout his book, subscribed to this thesis, and I wish to point out this fact as one of the great merits of his work. — Aug. Gittec, Charlcroi, Belgium.
The Evil Eye.^ — The method of averting the influence of the evil eye as practiced in Plorence, Italy, which I have been informed is general in that country, was brought to my attention while visiting the beautiful church of Santa Croce in 1881. A drunken beggar woman accosted our party, following us about the church, telling the usual story of being a widow with six children. She was greatly incensed at my refusal to give her money, and followed us to the carriage, cursing vehemently, and point- ing at the same time with her outstretched hand toward the party, with the thumb and two middle fingers closed, the forefinger and little finger point- ing at us. This was the greatest possible insult, indicating that we had the evil eye, this symbol at the same time protecting her from any bad influence we might desire to cast upon her.
I am informed on excellent authority that this belief in the evil eye and method of protection from its baleful influence is not confined to the un- educated, but prevails among the highest Italian nobility. Within the present generation one of the royal family was said to have the evil eye. At court, when the aristocracy came into the presence, they very carefully protected themselves by holding their hands behind their backs, with the thumb and middle finger closed, and the fore and little fingers extended, as described above, to ward off the evil of his satanic majesty. To do so openly would of course be insulting. The wearing of any kind of coral is said to keep one safe from the effects of the Jeffatiira ; hence the little coral charm, shaped like a hand in this position, so often seen in Italy. The idea of demoniacal possession by an evil spirit which envies the happiness and good fortune of others is most clearly expressed in the passage from the Scriptures, the most ancient reference to the idea that has come to our no- tice, Matthew xx. 15 :" Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own > Is thine eye evil, because I am good ? " — IVilliam JoJui Potts.
Iroquois Dog-Sacrifice. — Lieut.-Col. Henry Dearborn, in his jour- nal while with Sullivan's expedition against the Indians, has the following, which contains some details regarding dog-sacrifice which I have not seen
1 Remarks made at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, November 28, 1SS9.
Notes and Queries. 71
quoted. They seem to me important. " September 19th [1779]," speak- ing apparently of the towns burned before the army arrived at " Kannda- segea," he says : "At several towns that our army has destroy'd we found dogs hung up on poles about 12 or 15 feet high which we are told is done by way of sacrifice. When they are unfortunate in war they sacrifice two dogs in the manner above mentioned to appease their Imaginary god. One of these dog skins they suppose is converted into a Jacket the other into a tobacco pouch for their god. The woman who came to us at Chenesee says the Savages hung up dogs immediately after the Battle of Newls Town." See page 76 of Dearborn's journal, as printed in "Journals of the Military Expedition of Major-General John Sullivan against the Six Nations of Indians in 1779, with Records of Centennial Celebrations, etc. Prepared . . . by Frederick Cook, Auburn, 1887." — Wllliani yoJin Fotts, Cajjiden^ N. y.
Gradual Relaxation of Indian Customs. — In a letter from the Nez Perce Reservation, Idaho, Miss Alice C- Fletcher observes : '' The transi- tion condition of the Indian jDresents an interesting study. One can watch the old customs slowly relax their hold among the people, and finally give way, yet not without effecting a modifying influence upon their successors. Some of these rites and customs yield more easily than others, so that one can in a measure gauge their depth of root in the social soil ; but whether this would indicate a greater or less antiquity for the custom, I am not pre- pared to say."
A Wabanaki Counting-out Rhyme. — In a paper on " Some Indoor and Outdoor Games of the Wabanaki Indians," printed in the " Transac- tions of the Royal Society of Canada," Section IL, 188S, Mrs. W. W. Brown, of Calais, Maine, describes the game of JSl'a-ta-soI-tc-bcn, played by the older squaws as well as children. "After counting out one to act as squaza-oc-fmoos, they form into line by each taking the one in front by the dress between the shoulders. Sometimes ten or twelve will be in this line. The first one plays mother, protecting the numerous family behind her from sqiiaw-oc-fjnoos. The latter keeps crying Bo-wod-man Wa-scs-uk (' I want babies '), and runs first one way, then the other, trying to catch hold of one in the line. To prevent this, the mother tries to keep her always in front, causing those furthest from her to move very swiftly, like a spoke in the wheel, the end near the rim making a larger circle than at the end of the hub in the same time. As the excitement increases, they lose equilibrium and go tumbling over the ground, scrambling to get out of the way of sqnaw-oc-fnioos, as the one caught has to take her place. A person who has never seen this game can little imagine the amount of noise of which female lungs are capable. The counting out is not very different from that of white children. They all place two fingers of each hand in a circle ; the one who repeats the doggerel, having one hand free, touches each finger in the circle, saying, Hoiiy, kee-hee, la-weis, ag-les, hun-tip. Each finger that the hu7i-tip falls on is doubled under, and this is repeated again and again until there are but three fingers left. The owners of these start to run,
72 yournal of A^nerican Folk-Lore.
and the one caught has to play as squaw-oc-fmoos. To the Indian mind 'counting out' has a significance, and even the simple hun-tip is a magic word, bringing good luck, as it lessens the chance of being squaw-oc- fmoos."
The game thus described is identical, in respect of arrangement and action, with a very common game of white children (also played by grown people), usually known as " Fox and Chickens " (" Games and Songs of American Children, No. 102, 'Hawk and Chickens'"). In one of the most familiar forms of the game the pursuer represents a witch, and the dia- logue, which begins with a verse, " Chickamy, chickamy, crany, crow," pro- ceeds : " What are you doing, old witch ? " "I am making a fire to cook a chicken." " Where are you going to get it .-' " " Out of your coop." The chase continues until the last of the line behind the mother is caught, the latter protecting her brood from the witch, as in the Indian game.
It would seem likely that the Wabanaki game is borrowed ; but what is curious is that the witch is a personage of the Indian mythology, '■'■squaw-oc- fmoos^'' or " the swamp-woman," being a personage greatly dreaded. The fungus growing from the bark of trees is known as the " swamp-woman's dishes," and children will not play at toadstools for fear of the swamp- woman.
As to the counting-out rhyme, no such usage has thus far been remarked among native American tribes when not affected by white influence. In this case the mode of counting so closely resembles a method much in use among the whites ^namely, telling ofif words of a rhyme on fingers placed in a circle, as, for example, on the rim of a hat, or simply on the knees of the players — that there seems to be a strong probability of borrowing. The words are five in number, and the last, hun-tip, bears some resemblance to the huwfit or bumfrey which is the most salient feature of the so-called Anglo-Cymric score, a mode of counting proceeding by fives, and now known to have been derived from the modern Welsh, and imported into this country by the early colonists, from whom it was borrov.'ed by Indians, and being found in use among Maine tribes was presumed to be of genu- ine Indian derivation. At the same time, the variation of this simple Wabanaki formula from the type (supposing it to be descended from this root) shows how changed and unrecognizable such rhymes may become.
As an example of the Anglo-Cymric score, used by Indians in Natick, Mass., the following may be quoted from the book on games above men- tioned : —
|
I anc |
6 sother |
II ecn dick |
16 een bumfrey |
|
2 tane |
7 lother |
12 teen dick |
17 teen bumfrey |
|
3 tother |
8 CO |
13 tother dick |
iS tother bumfrey |
|
4 feather |
9 deffrey |
14 feather dick |
19 feather bumfrey |
|
5 fip |
ID dick |
15 bumfrey |
20 gig it |
It must be admitted that the resemblance is so slight as to leave the deri- vation of the A^'abanaki rhyme an open question. If it comes from the formulas in use among the English, it has undergone great change and reduction. But what is interesting is, to observe the manner in which a
Notes and Queries. J^
usage, simply of a social character, being transferred to a simple-minded people, is interwoven with its own mythology, and assumes a mysterious and superstitious character.
Mrs. Brown, having been consulted respecting the game, writes : " The counting-out rhyme begins the game, and those five words of no mean- ing— or none as understood by the Indiatis of to-day — are the only ones used, and I do not agree with you in thinking the game borrowed, — it is too purely Indian in character. Besides, their ideas of sqna-tu-oc-fmoos would naturally suggest such a game to their minds. Again, they never play the game in the woods, or near thick bushes, their dread of the sv»'amp- woman is so great."
It may be remarked that in any case the spirit of Wabanaki represents the original significance of the sport, which undoubtedly in a remote time was connected with mythology among our own ancestors, and represented the actions of a dangerous being who was an object of real terror, just as it now does to the Algonquin tribe of Maine. Indeed, most of our games of chase symbolize the pursuit either of a witch or a wild animal, while some- times, as in the game now under consideration, var}-ing forms represent now the first and now the last of these enemies.
The only way of determining whether these usages are originally Indian would be comparison with the customs of other tribes ; as long as they are isolated, and correspond in outward form t(f white customs, it appears natural to assume their derivation from the latter. I am informed that no use of counting-out rhymes has been observed among the Eskimo.
W. W. N.
Revue de l'Histoire des Religions. — I have recently received a letter from M. Jean Reville, editor of the " Revue de l'Histoire des Reli- gions," in which he expresses his hope and desire of increasing the influ- ence of the Revue through obtaining subscribers as well as contributors from America. Arrangements can be made for the translation into French of articles sent to the editor. The Revue, which appears at intervals of two months, is the only journal at present in existence exclusively devoted to the scientific study of religions. During the ten years of its exist- ence it has acquired for itself an enviable reputation for the excellence of its matter, as well as for its absolute impartiality; all articles of a polemic character, as well as such as treat their subject from a purely theological point of view, being rigidly excluded. In view of the important bearings of the comparative study of religions and religious rites on the study of folk-lore, it is the interest of the American Folk-Lore Society to promote the circulation of the Revue in this country. The Revue is now beginning its tenth year. It appears every second month, the publishing house being that of E. Leroux, 28 Rue Bonaparte, Paris. The subscription for Amer- ica is thirty francs. I shall be glad to receive names of subscribers, or articles intended for publication, and will forward the same to M. Reville. — Morris Jastrow^ yr.. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.
74 Journal of American Folk-Lore.
MississAGUA Place-Names. — Many of the Mississagua place-names in the midland region of Ontario are of interest to students of etymology and of folk-lore. Lake Scugog was called by the Mississaguas Fdidjakoshklwd- kbng (low, muddy place), a name which refers to the shallow muddy state of the lake before the government dams were erected. Scugog, the name by which white people know the lake, is no doubt a corruption of the Indian appellation. Stony Lake is known to the Indians as Kdivdkdnikong (place of the moss), from wdkon, a sort of (edible) moss that grows upon stones. Mud or Chemtcng Lake (which latter means " place of canoes ") is known to the Mississaguas as Shishibdtigweyoiig (place of many inlets and outlets with junctions). The chief river of this region is the O/otiabee, which has preserved its Indian appellation dtondln (mouth-water), a name it received most probably on account of the broad expanse of Rice Lake into which it flows, and whence it again emerges under the name of the Trent. A lake- like expansion of this river near the village of Lakefield is named Kdtchi- wdnnk (steep place where the water falls down). The Indians call Rice Lake (so named from the wild-rice in which it abounds) Pdmttaskwdtaybiig (across prairies), because, years ago, on looking across the lake from the Indian camping-place, one could see as it were rolling prairies. Sturgeon Lake is a translation of Ndmd Sdgdlkoji, the Indian name {sdgdiko7i, or asdgdikon, being the term applied to an inland, land-locked lake). To Lakes Ontario, Huron, and Superior, and sometimes to Lake Simcoe, the name Kltchigdmmg (big water) is applied. To the Mississaguas and Ojeb- ways Lake Superior is also known as Otchipwe Kltchigdmmg (the big- water of the Ojebways), its northern shores having been the region whence the Ojebways migrated to the east. Lake Simcoe has another Indian name, the origin of which is as follows : Long ago some of the Missis- saguas used to live on points of land in the lake (near what is now Beaver- ton) ; no other people dwelt there then. One day a man heard a voice, as if some one were calling {ashiiniuii) a dog. It was a calm day, and al- thouo-h he looked carefully he could see no one, but only heard the voice. So the people named the lake Ashunibng (the place of the calling). The Narrows of Lake Simcoe are called M'ldjikdming (the fish-fence, place where stakes are put in to stop fish), a name which recalls Cham plain's notice of this peculiar contrivance. At the Narrows lived, according to Mississagua belief, the mishlbishi or " lion," to propitiate which sacrifices of tobacco, etc., were often made. To a place in the Scugog River where " rapids " are, the name Pbtdgoning was applied, and the town of Lindsay there situated is still known to the Indians as Fbtdgbning.
A. F. Chamberlain.
Israelite and Indian.^ — The student of anthropology is confronted by two possible theories to account for the correspondences of custom and in- vention which are everywhere found in the track of his investigations. At
1 Israelite and Indian, a Parallel in Planes of Cult7trc. By Garrick Mallery. Address of the Vice-President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Section H. Anthropology. Reprinted from the Popular Sciena Monthly. New York : D. Appleton & Co. 1SS9.
Notes and Queries. 75
each step he is compelled to ask if a given custom, found in distant parts of the world, is the fruit of inheritance and origination from a single centre, or the result of the essential likeness of the human mind by which man is led to adopt similar devices and similar customs under like conditions of development.
Colonel Mallery, as the title of his address indicates, has addressed him- self to this problem, confining the study, however, to two peoples, the Israelites and the Indians, making this selection because his audience was presumed to be familiar with the illustrations drawn from either source.
As the Indians never reached a stage of nationality, were only in excep- tional cases truly sedentary, and had not acquired the art of writing, the author has confined his comparison chiefly to the corresponding culture period, or about the time of the commencement of the reign of kings.
The author cites an astonishing number of Indian customs as practically identical with those of the ancient Israelites, and adds many new and remarkable examples to the long list furnished by Adair, Smith, and others. The interpretation placed by him on such parallelism is, however, quite different from that of the older school, and is, in effect, that such similari- ties merely indicate that in their mental construction the races of the world are akin, and that, given the same plane of culture and similar conditions of environment, the results of mentality are everywhere similar. This, in fact, is the chief lesson of his essay, and is strengthened and enforced by every line of argument.
The religious cult of the Xorth American Indian has proved an interest- ing study from the earliest date of civilized contact. Thoroughly imbued \vith the idea that no people could be so degraded as not to recognize God or a Supreme Deity in some form or other, most of the early missionaries were able to discover in the belief of the Indians at least a glimmering of their own God, and popularly, the " Manito " or " Great Spirit " of the Indians is an accepted fact. Summarizing the ideas of both Israelite and Indian, Colonel Mallery's conclusion is, not that both, but that neither of them, entertained the belief. Both had many gods, or spirits of good and evil, of great and little power. But in the case of the Israelite the idea of a supreme God was not reached until a period later than the one consid- ered, while the Indian never attained it until the Christian's God was forced upon him.
The more advanced of the Indian tribes showed evidences of transition from zodtheism to physitheism ; and the same is true of the Israelites at the latter part of the period selected, though in a somewhat higher degree. As the gods of neither were anthropomorphic, neither worshiped idols in human form.
The totemic system prevailed among both peoples, and in both it was connected with zootheism. Both peoples believed in a passage of the spirit to the home of their ancestors ; but the Israelites had a sheol, for which there was no exact correspondent among the Indians. The religious prac- tices of both were intimately connected with their earlier sociology, and were strikingly similar.
The parallelisms between the two peoples in connection with the subjects
'^^ yournal of American Folk-Lore.
of pollution and purification have strongly impressed all students, but these are explained by Colonel Mallerj^ probably correctly, on principles best expressed by the Polynesian word " tabu."
In considering the subject of sacrifice, many curious customs of the Indians are cited, such as their offerings of maize and animals of the chase, and, in times of danger, the offering of tobacco and other prized objects to the angry water spirits.
Tlie offering of firstfruits, or of the firstborn, by the Semites, is declared to have its analogue in the Indian green-corn dance, which was a ceremony of thanksgiving for the firstfruits of the earth, and in the sacrifice with fire of the first animal killed by the young hunter. The latter practice, however, may be said to be exceptional, since the first animal killed by the youth was usually made the occasion of a feast, to which all the relatives were invited, and at which speeches of congratulation and encouragement were made. Most curious of all the examples cited, however, is the Iroquoian feast of the white dog, the animal before being burned being loaded with the re- pen tings of the people symbolized by strings of wampum.
The origin of the Christian Sabbath in connection with the feast of the new moon is dwelt upon, and connected in origin with the Indian cere- monies of the new and full moon, farther than which Indian usage did not extend.
Circumcision, which has been regarded as a practice peculiar to the Israelite, is shown to be of world-wide distribution and practiced by several Indian tribes.
The totemic or clan system of the Indian is cited in explanation of much that has been mystical in the sociology of the Israelites. The salient fea- tures of this system in both peoples consist of the division of the people into tribes and clans with special rules of government, adoption, protection, punishment, property, descent, and marriage.
The prohibition in regard to certain foods is explained on the totemic principle, in which, originally, no part of the animal taken as the clan totem, and usually assumed to be its ancestor, could be eaten otherwise than sac- ramentally. It may be doubted, however, if the principle here enunciated holds true of all the Indian tribes, however universal its application may be among the Israelites. Certain of the Indian tribes, the Apaches for in- stance, are restrained from eating certain animals, as fish and bears, which are not known to be connected in any way with their totemic system.
Colonel Alallery's denial that either the Israelites or Indians are a pecul- iar people is not likely to prove acceptable to either race. The latter are as tenacious of that belief as the former. But a classification by culture will not only be more useful, but also more intelligible, than one by races.
Altogether, the address of Colonel Mallery is a notable one, and contains the results of much more laborious research and riper scholarship than such addresses are wont to have.
H. W. Henshaw.
Local Meetings and other Notices. yj
LOCAL MEETINGS AND OTHER NOTICES.
The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Folk-Lore Society. — The first local branch of the American Folk-Lore Society established ac- cording to a resolution of the Society at its Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, November 28, 18S9, is this chapter, which has been organized with the fol- lowing officers and rules : Chairfuan, Mr. Victor Guillou, 615 Walnut Street. Secretary, Mr. Stewart Culin, 127 South Front Street. Treasurer, Mr. J. Granville Leach, 2 118 Spruce Street. Committee, Mrs. Cornelius Steven- son, 237 South Twenty-First Street ; Mr. Francis C. Macauley, 2205 Wal- nut Street; Mr. Richard L. Ashhurst, 1830 Spruce Street. Regulations: I. The officers shall be a Chairman, a Secretar}^, and a Treasurer, who shall be elected annually on the second Wednesday in December. 2. The business of the Chapter shall be conducted by these officers, in cooperation with a committee of three members, also elected annually. All recommen- dations for membership, and other business matters, shall be sent to the Secretary, who will lay them before the Chapter. 3. The Chapter shall meet, by notice of the Secretary, not more frequently than once a month, 4. A contribution of two dollars per year will be required of members to meet postage and similar expenses. The stated meetings of the Local Chapter will be held on the second Wednesdays of the months of Novem- ber, December, January, February, March, April, and May.
A meeting of the Chapter was held on January 8, 1890, at which an address was delivered by Dr. Carl Lumholtz (see above, p. 67).
Local Meetings in Boston. — A meeting of members of the American Folk-Lore Society in the vicinity of Boston was held at the house of Miss A. L. Alger, on December 12, 1889. The secretary of this society gave an account of the results of the Annual Meeting, and urged the importance of establishing monthly meetings in Boston. The sense of those present being favorable to such action, it was resolved to meet monthly at private houses. On January 31 a meeting was held at the house of Dr. Clarence J. Blake. Prof. F. W. Putnam, of Cambridge, read a paper on " Evidences of the Existence of Ancient Serpent-Worship in America." Views of the great serpent mound of Adams County, Ohio (recently saved from demo- lition by the generosity of certain ladies of Boston and Newport), were shown, and weight was given to the strong probability that it was built under the influence of a religious idea, similar to that which had occasioned the construction of like mounds in other quarters of the globe. Remarks were made on the proof of human sacrifice which had been obtained by exploration. In the course of conversation, remarks were made on the importance of assisting archceological research by study of existing tra- ditions. The paper of Professor Putnam is to form part of a series by the same waiter, to appear in the " Century Magazine."
7 8 yournal of A merican Folk-Lore.
In Memoriam. William Francis Allen. — At Madison, Wisconsin, De- cember 9, 1889, at the age of fifty-nine years, died William Francis \llen, professor of history in the State University of Wisconsin, and one of the Council of the American Folk-Lore Society. Professor Allen was graduated at Harvard University in 185 1, and after leaving college pursued a his- torical course in Germany, where for a time he was a pupil of the celebrated Mommsen. At the time of his death he was the senior officer in his univer- sity, and charged with a great variety of duties in the community where his lot was cast. During many years his studies were especially directed to- ward a history of Rome, for the use of schools, which he had brought almost to completion. The candid, generous, and unselfish nature of Mr. Allen inspired general confidence and affection, and his loss has been widely and sincerly mourned. Even his friends have been surprised by the warmth and number of the unsolicited expressions of grief which his death has oc- casioned ; while those who were brought much into contact with him agree in mentioning with affection the moral attractiveness and nobility of soul which belonged to his character. He was one of those special students whose minds are open to many interests ; and in him The American Folk- Lore Society loses a good friend and adviser.
Addresses of The Editorial Committee. — These addresses are as fol- lows : —
Dr. Franz Boas, Clark University, Worcester, Mass.
Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, 2041 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
Prof. Thomas Frederic Crane, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, Takoma Park, D. C
The address of the Editor is Cambridge, Mass.
The Folk-Lore Journal. — We understand that this journal is here- after to be edited by Mr. Joseph Jacobs, well known as a student of folk- lore. Very recently, Mr. Jacobs has edited a very valuable edition of The Fables of ^sop, in the form of a reprint of the publication of Caxton, with an elaborate history.^ A review of this book has been necessarily deferred until the next number of this journal.
Hints for the Local Study of Folk-Lore in Philadelphia and ViciNiTV. — The Committee of The Philadelphia Chapter of The American Folk-Lore Society has prepared the following circular for the guidance of local collectors : —
The expressive term " Folk-lore " has been adopted to designate the col- lective sum of the knowledge, beliefs, stories, customs, manners, dialects, expressions, and usages of a community which are peculiar to itself, and which, taken together, constitute its individuality when compared with other communities.
^ The Fables of ^-E sop, as first printed by William Caxton in 1484. with those of Arian, Alfonso, and Poggio, now again edited and indexed by Joseph Jacobs. London : David Nutt. 2 vols. Svo.
Local Meetings and olher Notices. 79
Every community is thus separated from its neighbors by numerous pecul- iarities, which, though they may at first seem trivial, exert in their mass a powerful influence on the life of the individual and the history of the peo- ple in the aggregate, or the " folk." Hence, as a handmaid to the science of history and ethnology, and as an aid to the just appreciation of the various elements which go to make up a nation, " Folk-lore " is a study of very con- siderable importance. It is one, moreover, which appeals to every person, because all can contribute to it from their own experience. It should be the most popular of studies, as its aim is to record the peculiarities in the experiences of every one of us and of our families.
The American Folk-Lore Society was formed about three years ago to collect and preserve the " Folk-lore " of our continent, especially of the United States. The formation of local branches will greatly aid in the accomplishment of this work, and the Philadelphia members of the Society have taken the initiative by creating the Philadelphia Chapter.
It includes both male and female members, and it proposes to devote itself to the special study of the " Folk-lore " of Philadelphia and the region for about a hundred miles around the city.
In order that the scope of its industry may be clearly understood, the Committee present the following schedule of topics, which will be separately discussed at various meetings of the Chapter, and concerning which they urge members to collect all the information within their reach, from news- papers, from private sources, and from personal observation.
Those members w^ho may not care to present