Directions for collecting specimens and information illustrating the aboriginal uses of plants / by Frederick V. Coville.

  • Coville, Frederick V. (Frederick Vernon), 1867-1937.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Directions for collecting specimens and information illustrating the aboriginal uses of plants / by Frederick V. Coville. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    leaving a pliant, flat strip of young willow or sumac wood. This is hero designated a strand. Both withes and strands may he dried and kept for months and probably even for several years, but before being used they are always soaked in water.1 It is hardly possible to go too much into detail in description when the detail is based upon actual observation. Finally, the observer should always remember that a single positive fact or series of facts derived from actual observation among the aborigines themselves has a greater and more permanent value than an indefinite amount of infor¬ mation made unauthentic by the uncertainty of its origin or by care¬ lessness on the part of the one who records it. ABORIGINAL USES OF PLANTS. The following list will suggest to the collector the principal uses to which plants are applied by aboriginal races in North America: Food: Foods proper— Farinaceous—Seeds, nuts, starchy roots, tubers, bulbs. Saccharine—Sugar-pine exudates, maple sugar. Herbaceous—Pot herbs, mescals. Fleshy fruits—Berries, plums, cherries. Condiments—Red pepper, sassafras. Drinks— Simple aqueous drinks. Acid drinks. Fermented drinks. Distilled drinks. Narcotic drinks. Clothing: For protection and use—Hats, bark dresses, moccasin thread. For ornament—Necklaces, hair ornaments, paints, dyes. House and furnishings: House building— House frames—Timber, poles. House coverings—Bark, mats, thatch. House furniture— Beds—Blankets, mats. Domestic utensils— Food utensils—Baskets, sieves, mortars. Water-holding utensils—Baskets. Washing utensils—Soap. Child-rearing utensils— Cradles—Frames, coverings, stuffing materials. Heating, cooking, and lighting: Matches—Fire sticks. Tinder—Punk, moss, cottony substances. Fuel—Ordinary wood, resinous woods and bark, vegetable oils. Fire receptacles-^Stoves, candlesticks, lamps, lamp wicks. Manufacture: General tools—Drills, mallets, ax and hammer handles. Special tools—Sewing tools, arrow-making tools, net-making tools; in short, the tool chest or outfit of any craft whatever.