Note 492 — Chapter IV · CALIFORNIANS.

'The only medicine I know of is a root used for poultices, and another root or plant for an emetic.' The Shastas and their Neighbors, MS. 'The root of a parasite fern, found growing on the tops of the fir trees (collque nashul), is the principal remedy. The plant in small doses is expectorant and diurtetic; hence it is used to relieve difficulties of the lungs and kidneys; and, in large doses, it becomes sedative and is an emmenagogue; hence, it relieves fevers, and is useful in uterine diseases, and produces abortions. The squaws use the root extensively for this last mentioned purpose.' Hubbard, in Golden Era, March, 1856.