Page:American Anthropologist NS vol. 1.djvu/92

 mason] ABORIGINAL AMERICAN ZOOTECHNY 73

stupefy themselves with stramonium, which they use also in catch- ing fish. The Gentleman of Elvas says that in Peru great abun- dance of fish were asphyxiated in this way and then killed with clubs. The Indians of southeastern Brazil use a number of leaves, as well as roots and bark, for this purpose. The tribes of the lower Amazon and of the upper Negro poison fish in the same manner. Von den Steinen says that the Xingu tribes do not poison fish.

The use of poisoned arrows by the North American tribes is a

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mooted question and would not apply to hunting ; but in the study of poison in the capture of animals one should not overlook the question of the curari poison in the northern portions of South America, especially among Carib tribes.

An enormous bibliography of this subject is to be found at the Surgeon-General's Library in Washington, and also in the great Index Catalogue of that library.

ACCESSORIES OF CAPTURE

Besides the apparatus used immediately by the hunter to kill or to secure his game, there are a thousand and one accessories thought to be indispensable. In the pursuit he modifies his dress or has special cover or protection from the weather.

John Smith says that the Indians carried mats to kneel on in their canoes when they went on hunting expeditions, and when they landed they used the mats to make huts.

Nelson records the fact that the Eskimo of Norton sound carry wooden plugs in their canoes, and when a seal is stabbed the hunter blows up, with his mouth, the skin of the dead animal, and, thrusting one of these plugs into the hole, renders the animal buoyant so that the hunter may tow it ashore.

Every invention designed to assist the hunter in approaching the game, or dispatching it, or carrying it home, or protecting himself, may go under the general title of accessories to hunting. It is quite possible that in this association the invention of fire

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