Botanical Gazette, vol.

21(3), :146-154, 1896

The purposes of ethno-botany.

J. W. HARSHBERGER.
World
tion of objects obtained through the liberality of Mr. Hazzard
by the Wetherill brothers in the Mancos canon, Colorado,
Never before in the history of American archeology had such
a complete series of objects been brought together for study
and comparison. The University of Pennsylvania was fortu-
nate in securing through the efforts of
Mr. CuHn the loan of
the entire collection, which stands
unrivalled in showing a
large series of interesting things;
plant products in the form
of food, dress, and household
utensils being very largely rep-
resented. It is to the description and plant
of the plants
products that this article is directed.
Before describing, however, the
objects which have been
manufactured from plants, it is expedient to make a fewpre-
iimmary observations on the m
importance of ethno-botany
general.
I. The study of
ethno-botany aids in elucidating the cul-
tural position of the
tribes who used the plants for food, shel-
ter or clothing. The well-known classification of men into
savage, pastoral, agricultural serve
and civilized will roughly
our purpose The term pastoral could hardly be applied to
the tribes of North
America. They were a roving people-
trave ing from place
to place in search of game and settling
only long enough to plant
a little corn, beans and pumpkins
to break the monotony Where
of a too strict animal diet.
they did not pursue see ^
agriculture, they subsisted on the
of wild grasses and prob-
herbs. The cliff dwelling peoples,
ably driven to the I^ft
mountain fastnesses, had practically
the hunter stage and
g|.^
- had begun .Wr
agricultural
be^un to enter the agricu
Ac ed

"t^"^"'^"^'^' =iage, wtien chief dependence is f"--

upon *i/
the returns of the With th^
soil under cultivation.
;^J^^<>"dition. new implements were dcyiseA
hI'^^'^kT"
new methods of field labor .'ni-.^,!....!^ a .^.mmation^^
introduced. An
Ur
cember Archaeological Associatioo

[146J
 i.] Purposes of Ethno- Botany. ia-t

the objects in the Hazzard collection clearly shows that they

accomplished much by the use of very simple implements.
The corn was planted by a pointed stick and hoed by a
stick
broadly flattened at one end.
An
examination of other man-
ufactured articles of vegetal
origin shows that these people
were extremely provident;
nothing was allowed to go to
waste. It was too difficult a
thing to carry the objects from
below up the face of
the cliff to their dwellings above, and
they therefore
exercised great care in putting everything to
" ^^^^^'^ served one purpose, it was devoted to an-
otner -M
"t^"
Mr. Gushing has shown that
this care was due to certain
uperstitions which they
held concerning the soul of objects,
nimate and inanimate.
For example, when the hollowed
ut pumpkin
no longer served the purpose of a jar it was-
roKen into pieces
and the charred fragments served as a scrap-
ig instrument.
The worn out fibers of Yucca were also con-
served and
made useful.
husbanding of their resources may be directly
tral^ M^^'^^^"^
'^ ^^"^ causes; first, it was difficult to carry large
and h t
^'^'*^'^s ^'om the level of the caiSon to the rocky
shelv/ K
peroenH-
7^' ^'^'' ^"
'"^"y cases. steps had to be cut in the
^ ,^^^ '^^' climbing being facilitated by
wooden Sk-
""'^^"^ crooks, which afterwards were used by their
descend
an arid
^"e^Ios, ceremonially; second, they lived in
rious
^^^^^ *^^ materials ready at hand for the va-
us'^^^^^^J
%^estic life were extremely limited, and where
tfie
vtq\
supply was limited by the water supply,
^hich in
"^ seasons was very small. The panniers and
caskets "!f
*ere verv
^ ^^ ^^"^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^ carrying frame attached,
^.^"^^'^^^^^e in transporting seeds and fruits from
'lie
camn

J'^'cca t
,'?""^s of which are bound to the uprights by
fib'

*"ination^^ [V
^^^'^ essentially the same purpose. An ex-
tothe use ^^^^^^ction also shows that they had advanced
f
^l^em
emn? ^ ^"tIe lever of the second class, for we find
^*ys Were ^ P^'^ ^^ ^^^^^ forceps which Mr. Gushing
^!r^ 1

^ P^*^^ ^^c<^i' to,'3 prickly to be gathered in the

^J'nary ^^

"^actured
^" ^^^* ^ \2lX^& number of the objects as man-
f^^*
Plants shows that they had made considerable
P'"?'"ess i/f?
^^ uncert
^^^^' ^"*^ dependent, therefore, on
^^^^ ^^^^
^ fishing T ^"PP^y of food afforded by following hunting
In other
words, they were to a certain extent in-
 ^4^ The Botanical Gazette. [Marcl

dependent of their surroundings and could, by

planting crops
which they afterwards harvested and stored
in granaries, ek<
out an PVlQf-f*nr-^
existence.
2. An ethno-botanical study throws
light upon the past dis-
tribution of plants. I have at some length shown^ that a
study of the native uses of maize,
etc., leads to the belief that
Indian corn was a native of
southern central Mexico and from
there by trade and barter was
carried to the farthest points in
Worth and South America.
Another example is found in to-
bacco which was universally
distributed throughout the Ameri-
can continents. The distribution of tobacco, however, is

coniplicated by there being

two or three species, which were
used in different parts of
the western hemisphere. One spe-
cies {Nicotiana rustica) " -
was cultivated by the Indians Neff ii

Mexico and Arizona, as observed

by Dr. Edw. Palmer, An-
other species {Nicotiana
quadrivalvis) -

Indians from Missonr? tn n.-^^^.,

gon. One A
or two species are
recorded as having been
cultivated in California. ^ One quo-
tation will show that
it was cultivated Hernandezde
widely.
^'' ''Historia general de de-
las Indias" (iS3S)
?cr!h^M"
P^^"t ^" Sto. Domingo,
y^v\ "^VT^^"^^
Kalebasse
nnlu ^^ ftillten die Indianer mit einem Krauter-
"'^ Cohobba Oder Guioja nannten. In die Kalebass^
ItZ'
o^rlf V
Oder beide M^*^^^'^^
gabelformige ""^^^
Rohren. so dass
Oeffnungen in die Nasenlocher passten; denndie
In.ulaner rauchten
cine

ihren Tabak durch die Nase."*

^^^^e^ar was considerable. Cedar was used to

maW.".?
."' P''^^^'"'' "^^^ b^^k was twisted into headbands
wnvL^
woven into mats and
used in the broken up form as tinder.
^^^"^ ^" of
^^^ ^^^tern states, for in a collection
obLc ;n .r!"^
""'^ersity museum taken from the Ohio mound?
,

is an? . t
^

dreds^or/eafs
' J^-^-^ log although buried for ban-
^

?'
^^^macroscopic examination shows the sev
era! cA\ ft

^^^'^ examples, with numerous otheJ^

that mio-hf K ! ;

eS
the
Li Sr
'f
^"" ^'"""^ European archeology, for instant
\P^^""^^ v-Jety of barley in the lake d.e!
o f

^botanical and Labora'"^

Uni^tf Pa^ economic study. Contrib. Botan.

2?'- Rep. 1886: 76.

-^S'-
'a' B ^^'^-CH. DiePflanzen r,
bak 2.

im Dienste der Menschbeit. l-^^^'
 '^^I Purposes of Ethno- Botany,
149
J

is of importance as deciding upon the original home and past

distribution.

3. An ethno-botanical study helps us to decide as to the

ancient trade routes. I have shown that maize was intro-
West
America
nved the cereal from the tribes living adjacent to the Rio
(jrande and tributaries.
Considerable difficulty, however, is
experienced in the study
ot a single
isolated plant, for the trade routes may
have been
various but when we introduce as evidence
two or at least
nail a dozen
plants, we can determine with greater accuracy
the mam trade
routes.
There cannot be any
doubt that such trade routes existed.
used to narrate stories of the Indians that
It
P
^fJ'^^f'^^'^
ssea his father's house
in central Pennsylvania on their way
*^^ Virginia. I remember seeing the trail
tbM^ f^^
aued southward
through his woodland, as used by Chief
%an and his band of hunters.
zard r n
^"^^^
^""^^""^ ^^
^''^^^ ^'*-
^^ catlinite in the Haz-
^^^"^ ^^^^ ^^^^ *^^ Indians of the southwest-
ern U ^4^
c"'
^^^ intercourse with the tribes residing in
what i l^^^^
'^p^ ^^^^^ ^ Minnesota. Mr. Joly says with re-
lation t
archaeology; "How far the commercial
relation f*i?^^^"
routes fh
,fP""^itive people of Europe extended and what
that of s
^^^^^^ ^s ^ question the solution of which, like
"^^"^ others,
as yet merely guessed at.
is How
ver th
P^'esence of amber from
Mm:.._
Med it the Baltic, and of whit.
.^^" ^^'"^^ ^" Switzerland, Italy and elsewhere, of
carved fl
<Joes
'".^^""^^"ce
in the Isle of Elba where this rock
not
'"^ ^^^ natural state,
^^'^sidian ?c
'^
arrows made of the black
. '^'"'a. found in the same island and in that of
^'^nosa th
Gets- ^^^^ ^""^ ^^ Pauillac in the department of
th t
Sreenturr^- ^"^'^^5 ^ Auvergne found in Brittany; the
^''e
^^ Brittany discovered in several dolmens in
south fp^
"material
^^"^^'
^^ ^^^^q articles of which the rough
^^^
is f
^''atfrotn
^ *^^ country where they are found, prove
th^'^^^^"
^ ^^''^'^st ages more or less commercial relations
^'''sted
am
"^^* ancient inhabitants of Europe." The
*^"^^PnncM^
''^^ious ^ ?^^^^ ^^ ^^^ discovery of plant products in
part of the globe.
^^^Woodfr^ Commerce very early carried
"^ Rhine country to the Baltic, where the tree
ia_v ,
150 The Botanical Gazette, [Marci,

was Wends
not found.
The step in deciding upon the ancient trade routes
first is

to ascertain (i) what plants were used by the cliff dwelling

Indians, for example, of the Mancas canon in Colorado, (2}
to systematically tabulate the distant and local plants and (3}
to discover, if possible the home of the non-indigenous plants,
When
cient data with which to map out the Indian trade routes.
There are several ways by which the plants as used bytk
cliff dwellers can be determined, {a) By a direct botanical
determination of the species of plant used. This is possible
in many when we have seeds, nuts, tubers,
cases bulbs, and
berries used as food; also by a botanical analysis of the pot

herbs which may have the leaves and flowers preserved. An

examination of the human excrement might disclose by means
of the undigested voided seeds, the plants that were used as
food. In dealing, however, with the raw materials of manu-
facture, it is often very difficult to determine from what veg-
etal source they were derived, {b) A microscopic examina-
tion of the plant product will reveal much; for example, if"'
be a piece of wood, its woody characters. We could deter-

mine by such an examination whether the stem was that ofaj

angiosperm or that of a gymnosperm. piece
In case the
wood shows a gymnospermic structure, it is quite possible
use of knowledge already gained to determine whether it d
^
s

yew wood or that of the pine, the fir, the larch and the jun'- I

per. A microscopic examination of a dicotyledonous stem \

would also help us in identifying the wood.

We have a piece of wood before us which we cut in orde
to determine its microscopic appearance. Astriking feat"jj

m such a section is the concentric circle of ducts in the tm

spring growth of wood; in the thick rings sometimes the^
are two or three rows of ducts, of small
the third one being |

size than the others. "The first row forms in the sprmg^ \

the leaves are opening." The ro""

largest duct is usually
and o. 13 of an inch in diameter; some are smaller and otnc_
flattened or elliptical. these d"^
Except when first forming
are never open, as usually with dene
stated, but are filled
tyloses. Surrounding these whic
small cells,
ducts are
termed tracheids. having minute thin places in their si '

the middle lamella of the cell,

however, being not visibly P
 '^^J Purposes of Ethno- Botany, 151

forated. Some
containing starch are also intermingled
cells
with these tracheids. In an annual layer of vigorous growth
large bundles or masses of hard, dense fibers are seen just
out of the concentric circles of ducts, and when fully formed
extend through the outer part of the layer. These fibers
vary in diameter from .006 to The medul-
.0075 of an inch.
lary rays run through the
bundles and at frequent intervals
are intersected by
running parallel to the axis of the
cells
tree, thus dividing a
I
mass of hard fibers into small rectangles.
Such a detailed description
coincides with the structure of the
white oak, and after applying
further tests we can rest assured
that the wood is
from one of the most valuable of our forest
trees.

" the study of

the microscopic structure leads to no defi-
nite conclusion
as to the nature of the wood, then we
might have recourse
to other methods. (i) The specific
gravity of the
specimen can be readily calculated whether the
jvood is heavier

ted in this way

or lighter than water. piece of wood A
showed a sp. gr. of 0.4504. Upon com-
paring this figure
with that of the tables in Sargent's volumi-
nous work
on the North American forest trees we find the
k ' correspond with that set down for chestnut wood.
^^An ash determination
U is also a means of discovering the

*^^^od per cubic

foot in pounds, and its fuel value
arc !
e^lso means
of deciding as to the kind of tree used,
"^ seven important facts concerning our piece
of wo d^^^

5;s
geographical habitat.
\
2- its specific
gravity.
; "' "Microscopical structure.
4- Its fuel
value.
""^sistance to transverse strain and compression.
i \^
*" pounds per cubic foot.
7- Its ^l'^^^

an exa
^"^^^ ^^ ^ the past meteorological conditions by
is to
" ^^ '^^ annual rings of wood, but the difficulty
det'"^^-
in the ri^^"^'"^
i" the case of such woods as are to be found
collected
^^^ ^"^^tion, the year in which the wood was
^^^^^^'^ at once or after the piece had lain on the
ground f
valuable -J
.^'^"^^ time. have, We
however, in the wood a
indication as to the and excesses of
years of drought
 152 The Botanical Gazette, [Manb,

rainfall. A
recent writer in Forest Leaves (5: 51) describes
the irregularity of growth very forcibly and gives tables sup-
porting his statements. He says: "Having observed, in cut-
ting various timber trees, the irregularity of growth at different
periods of tree life, and being interested in the striking coin-
cidence of these irregularities with the occurrence of certain
forest fires, an examination was made. On counting baclc

the rings to where these irregularities occur, it was found that

these checks, scars and decreased growth of rings denoted an
interference with the regular healthy life of the tree, the
result of forest fires occurring at these periods."
Having determined the wood as used by the Indians, tk
next thing is to determine whether the plant is indigenous
or introduced into the locality.
The place from which it

came can in most cases be definitely located by botanical

explorations.
4- Ethno-botany is useful as suggesting new lines of man-
ufacture at the present day.
especially true of woven
This is
stuffs. Mr. F. H. Gushing has shown that by unraveling the
woven frabrics a clue can be obtained as to the manner of
weaving. He has succeeded in imitating skilfully a large
number of Indian stitches and has discovered many interesting
and suggestive facts in connection weaver's art.
with the early
The especial province of ethno-botany is to study micro-
scopically the nature of
the fiber employed, as in many
cases new methods of
obtaining raw materials from hitherto
undeveloped sources might be we have
suggested. Not that
not iniproved on the methods
of our ancestors, but the seden-
tary Indians of the arid were ex-
districts of our country
tremely ingenious and put round
to the best use all the plants
about them. Again, we may learn by this study new usesol
plants of which we were
tonic new to materia
in ignorance. A
stimulant and nerve

medica has been discovered in this way.

Ur. D. Webster Prentiss
popularly known as mescal
discovered the action of the
A\
M
button, which is yielded by
halomum Lewinii. He obtained agen
the supplies through
James Mooney of the U. S.
Bureau of Ethnology, who reside^
among the Indians of the the Kloway^'
southwest, especially
for many years.
It is to the use of by tb
the mescal button
Kioways in their religious ^^
ceremonies that the white
owes his present knowledge
of the drug.
Ihe Indians assemble in , ,
Sat-
their council tents usually on

'^^1 Purposes of Ethno- Botany.

153

urday night,and seat themselves each with his supply of but-

tons, about a larg^e camp fire, which
is kept burning brightly.
Button after button is swallowed from
sundown until three
o'clock A. M. Throughout the ceremony, there is no dancing
or singing, but a continual
monotonous beating upon drums
IS kept up by the attendants. The Indians sit in a blissful
reverie for hours, enjoying
the beautiful visions of color and
other manifestations
caused by the resulting intoxication. In
tact, most of
the plants which the new world afforded were
made known in this way;
.tobacco, chocolate, the potato,
maize, and tomato
were first used by the Indians of North
and bouth America
and afterwards borrowed by white men.
Une of the principal features
of the equipment of every eth-
nological museum
where ethno-botany is to be studied should
De a collection
of seeds, kept in glass bottles, and
caly arranged.
systemati-
The identification of all kinds of seeds col-
^ "^^"^ sources is impossible without such a
collectio'n'"

'The seed collection

i
of the Division of Botanv. U. S. De-
"''^' ^^ glass specimen t
witlinnf ^ ,
P"^ "P '"
of two sizes, one 5'Mong and '"
lamef "S''^^',^"d 1.5 in
'"" ^^"^
one or tw ^^
V 3'". In addition to the seeds,
possible p?^^'? ^ ^^^ ^'y ^'"'t^ ^'^ inclosed whenever
"^^"""^^^
a Dre.l . ^^/ "^tive wild plants are kept in
-^ "'"^ ^ '^"^^ ^^"^- Seedlings of economic
plants in
" 7^""^^ ^^^&es of germination are also
hoi for kept in alco-
covered 5
!'^"''^ ^"^ '^"'^>^- ^he
bottles are placed in cloth
the smalW
K .Ti ,
^ ^^^''>' binder's board. The trays for
^^'^ ^^ specimens. These are placed in
ne case
Iw^-
'^ <^"tain also, so far as possible, herbarium
'Specimens rfS *t
^ard
index t f,
P^^"^^ ^""O"^ which the seeds were taken. A
'^^^liection is of great assistance in finding
specimens. "5
Th
'^"^^ "^ ^^ complete without a series of
""'c^oscolli!? ^-T^
and .P''^P^''^^ to show longitudinal, transverse,
taneentili
^ indexed ! "f
"^^'""^ ^^ ^" <^"r native
woods. These should
*^^ilable for ^ catalogued in such a
'?^P^''^tive use.
way
"^ as to be 'easily
^
Lastly an
''^" ^^.^"^-^otanic garden should surround the mu-
buildJn
^'^h the
^. P/""^^^^ "viug
^ving plants lor
pidncs for stuay
study in m
connection
Year g
e oh-
obierf t
i^^;^;_ofve getal origin
displayed in the museum.
P^""*! * ^ Agriculture 1894: 408.
oJt?vi'^2RGER ^Mn?.
^^' 26.
^uum and Garden. The Philadelphia Evening
,i^l Telegraph.
 154 ^^^ Botanical Gazette. [Mard,

Only aboriginal American plants should find a place in such a

garden. No plant can be found more graceful than maize, a

grass associated with the myth of the aboriginal races o!

America and worthy the place as our national emblem. This
plant has been little thought of for decorative purposes In our
gardens. Yet it is decidedly ornamental and worthy of es-
teem. The sunflower, too, ought to be grown. The Indians
recognized its value, for the Moquls and Supais planted it for
food, and used the ground seed mixed with cornmeal as a
dainty. The tobacco plant should not be forgotten, as it is

decidedly ornamental.
The tomato with its crimson fruit, the pumpkin vine, the
bean and the potato should find a place in some corner of the
aboriginal American garden. The oak, yielding acorns, and

the willow, dye stuffs, can be planted with good effect, while
a pond, in which grow the arrow-leaf {Sagittaria varialM
and yellow lotus {Nelumbium luteum\ both furnishing aborig-
inal root-esculents,water cress, a salad plant, and wild rice,

{Zizania aquaticd), would serve to break the rigid outlines o'

the formal beds.
The plants should be arranged with reference to the Indian
tribes which cultivated them. Algonqui"
The plants of the
should stand apart from those of the Iroquois, those of the
Aztecs from those of the Pueblos. Such a geographic arrange-
ment IS most desirable for educational purposes.
An arrangement according to the uses of the plants ough'
also be made. The strictly agricultural plants, such as com.
\

beans, pumpkins, etc., the fiber

ought to be sown in one bed;
plants, like basswood [Rhut ar^;
{Tilia Americana), sumac
mattca), willow {Salix plant {Mar^
lasiandraX unicorn
dye
prohoscidea), yucca {Yucca the
brevifolia), in another;
oke.

lytii

'ptis)
plants and medicine the
plants are important also, as showing J
culture of the aborigines. be cJ
They should by no means
eluded from this
garden. ..

There can be no doubt, ethno-bota"

therefore, that such
gardens would stimulate
greatly the interest in Indian f"^
scient
" '^"^^ '^^y w"I<i be of the greatest
v^f
value. xT^'f
Nothing of the kind has ever been tried along
^

I
hnes suggested, and beco^
such a garden would soon
Mecc lanB
-f

and their uses among

IX
r

the aborigin es.

University of Pennsylvania. J