[599] 'For Gonorrhœa they used a strong decoction of an herb that grows very plentifully here, and is called by the Spanish "chancel agua," and wild pigeon manure, rolled up into pills. The decoction is a very bitter astringent, and may cure some sores, but that it fails in many, I have undeniable proof. In syphilis they use the actual cautery, a living coal of fire applied to the chancer, and a decoction of an herb, said to be something like sarsaparilla, called rosia.' Hoffman, in San Francisco Medical Press, vol. v., p. 152-3.
[600] I am indebted for the only information of value relating to the medical usages of the southern California tribes, to Boscana's MS., literally translated by Robinson in his Life in Cal., pp. 310-14, and also given in substance in Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., pp. 378-9, and to Reid's papers on the Indians of Los Angeles County, in the Los Angeles Star, also quoted in Cal. Farmer, Jan. 11, 1861.
[601] See Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., pp. 377-8, and plate, p. 248, and Hoffmann, in San Francisco Medical Press, vol. v., p. 152.
[602] 'The same custom is now in use, but not only applied to deaths, but to their disappointments and adversities in life, thus making public demonstration of their sorrow.' Boscana, in Robinson's Life in Cal., pp. 314-15.
[603] California Farmer, May 22, 1863.
[604] Reid, in Los Angeles Star.
[605] The latitude of which he fixes at 34° 33´.
[606] Fages, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1844, tom. ci., pp. 173-4. Quoted almost literally by Marmier, Notice, in Bryant, Voy. en Cal., p. 230.
[607] Boscana, in Robinson's Life in Cal., p. 317.
[608] In spelling the word Shoshone, I have followed the most common orthography. Many, however, write it Shoshonee, others, Shoshonie, either of which would perhaps give a better idea of the pronunciation of the word, as the accent falls on the final e. The word means 'Snake Indian,' according to Stuart, Montana, p. 80; and 'inland,' according to Ross, Fur Hunters, vol. i., p. 249. I apply the name Shoshones to the whole of this family; the Shoshones proper, including the Bannacks, I call the Snakes; the remaining tribes I name collectively Utahs.