as often as possible with the outside world.  In spite of the great pride this man took in his office, his notions regarding his duties were rather vague.  Being desirous of knowing what was going on among his neighbours, he had no compunction about opening the few letters they got; not that he destroyed them after reading them—­he very coolly handed them over opened.  The people did not like this, and considered it rather high-handed on his part; but then, what was there for them to do about it?

He said he had heard that I could cure people.  When a man is called Doctor, the Mexican peasantry expect him to possess comprehensively all useful knowledge in the world.  Looking at me for a moment, this healthy, ruddy-cheeked man suddenly, without saying a word, took hold of my hand and pressed it against his forehead for a little while; then, all the time in silence, he carried it backward until my fingers touched a small excrescence on his back.  Now was the chance to find out whatever was the matter with him!

On my next visit to his office he received me with a queer, hesitating expression on his face, and suddenly blurted out, “Can you cut out trousers?” For some time he had had a piece of cloth in his house, and he said he would pay me well if I could help him to have it made into trousers.  To cure people, mend watches, repair sewing-machines, make applejack, do tailoring, prognosticate the weather—­everything is expected from a man who comes from far away.  And the good people here are astonished at a confession of ignorance of such matters, and take it rather personally as a lack of good-will toward them.  It is the old belief in the medicine man that still survives in the minds of the people, and they therefore look upon doctors with much greater respect than on other persons.

People who live outside of civilisation are thrown upon their own resources in cases of sickness.  The daughter of my Mexican guide was confined and the coming of the afterbirth was delayed.  I give here, for curiosity’s sake, a list of the various remedies applied in the case: 

1.  The carapace of the armadillo, ground and taken in a little water.  This is a Tarahumare remedy, said to be very effective for the trouble mentioned.

2.  The skunkwort (the herb of the skunk).

3.  The patient to hold her own hair in her mouth for half an hour.

4.  The wood of Palo hediondo, boiled.

5. Urina viri, half a cup.  This remedy is also externally used for cuts and bruises.

6.  Fresh excrement from a black horse.  A small quantity of water is mixed with it, then pressed out through a piece of cloth and taken internally.

7.  Perspiration from a black horse.  A saddlecloth, after having been used on the horse, is put over the abdomen of the woman.

8.  A decoction of the bark of the elm.

9.  Pork fat.

After a number of days the patient recovered.  Whether it was propter hoc or merely post hoc is a matter of conjecture.