Ethn. Rep. 1887-88, p. 458:—That the medicine man (Shaman) has the faculty of transforming himself into a coyote and other animals at pleasure and then resuming the human form, is as implicitly believed in by the American Indians as it was by our own forefathers in Europe. And page 459: The Abipones of Paraguay credit their medicine-men with power to put on the form of a tiger. The medicine-men of Honduras claimed the power of turning themselves into lions and tigers. Also the Shamans of the Nicaraguans possessed similar power. Hertz, p. 133 fol.:—“In der christlichen Zeit wurde der heidnische Cultus Teufelsanbetung und hier entstand mit dem Hexenglauben die Vorstellung von Menschen, die sich mit Hilfe des Satans aus reiner Mordlust zu Wölfen verwandeln. So wurde der Werwolf das Bild des tierisch Dämonischen in der Menschennatur.”

[67] Ethn. Rep. 1887-88, p. 467:—The medicine-men of the Apache are paid at the time they are consulted, the priest beforehand among the Eskimo. Ethn. Rep. 1889-90, p. 187: “The magnitude of the disease is generally measured by the amount of the patient’s worldly wealth.” Page 416:—Sioux sorcerers prepared love-potions for those who bought them. Ethn. Rep. 1901-2, p. 568:—“The shaman, like the theurgist is usually paid after each visit with calico, cotton, or food, according to the wealth of the family, since it is always understood that these doctors expect proper compensation for their services.” Page 387:—“The Zuñi doctor is paid according to his reputation.” Grinnell, Blackfoot lodge tales, p. 284: “In early days if a man remained sick for three or four weeks, all his possessions went to pay doctors’ fees.”

Ethn. Rep. 1887-88, p. 462 fol.—The American Indian’s theory of disease is the theory of the Chaldean, the Assyrian, the Hebrew, the Greek, the Roman—all bodily disorders are attributed to the maleficence of spirits (that is of animal spirits, ghosts or witches), who must be expelled or placated. Gibberish was believed to be more potential in magic than was language which the practitioner or his dupes could comprehend. Page 468:—The medicine-men are accused of administering poisons to their enemies. Ethn. Rep. 1889-90, p. 416:—Sioux sorcerers were thought to cause the death of those persons who had incurred their displeasure. Ethn. Rep. 1887-88, p. 581:—“When an Apache or other medicine-man is in full regalia he ceases to be a man, but becomes, or tries to make his followers believe that he has become, the power he represents.” The Mexican priests masked and disguised, and dressed in the skins of the women offered up in sacrifice.

So the shaman practiced sorcery, medicine and was a priest. Ethn. Rep. 1887-88, p. 594:—The Indian doctor relied far more on magic than on natural remedies. Dreams, beating of the drum, songs, magic feasts and dances, and howling were his ordinary methods of cure. Grinnell, Story of the indian, p. 210 fol.:—They have “firm confidence in dreams.” “Their belief in a future life is in part founded on dreams,” etc.

[68] Note [67], close.

[69] An example of fabulous invention for pure personal gain occurs Andree, p. 77: If the Greenlanders catch too many seal at one place, the latter will take a terrible revenge. Assuming human form, they attack their enemy in the night at his home. This is the transformation of an animal into a man, but the inventor of the story was no doubt looking towards his own gain. It is the same old fight for seal protection which in another form is still going on to-day. Andree, p. 72. In Siam stories are told of people who by magic formulae become tigers and roam about at night in search of booty. One of the man-tigers was actually a priest.

[70] Ante pp. [7], [8], [9].

[71] Ante p. [12] fol.

[72] See notes [19] and [74].

[73] Grinnell, Blackfoot lodge tales, p. 283: “It is said that wolves, which in former days were extremely numerous, sometimes went crazy, and bit every animal they met with, sometimes even coming into camps and biting dogs, horses and people. Persons bitten by a mad wolf generally went mad, too. They trembled and their limbs jerked, they made their jaws work and foamed at the mouth, often trying to bite other people. When any one acted in this way, his relatives tied him hand and foot with ropes, and, having killed a buffalo, they rolled him up in the green hide, built a fire on and around him, leaving him in the fire until the hide began to dry and burn. Then they pulled him out and removed the buffalo hide, and he was cured. This was the cure for a mad wolf’s bite.”