r dreams, give them protective charms, and satisfy
that desire which is so prevalent among them, of searching into
futurity. ***** When any of the people are ill, the _person who is
invested with this triple character of doctor, priest, and magician,
sits by the patient, &c."--Carver,_ 251, 252.

My opinion is decidedly with Carver, that the two professions are
conjoined. The physician never uses his simples, without invoking, in
his quality of priest, the aid of the Supreme Being.

The appearance which they make, and the dress in which their
incantations are performed, deserve mention for their singularity. The
following passage from Mr. Heckewelder describes their appearance, and
is the original of those in Mr. Cooper's Novels of The Prairie and Last
of the Mohicans: "The dress this juggler had on consisted of an entire
garment, or outside covering, made of one or more bear-skins, as black
as jet, so well fitted and sewed together that the man was not in any
place to be perceived. The whole head of the bear, including the mouth,
nose, teeth, ears, &c., appeared the same as when the animal was living,
so did the legs with long claws; to this were added a huge pair of horns
on the head, and behind a large bushy tail, moving as be walked, as
though it were on springs; but for these accompaniments, the man walking
on all-fours might have been taken for a bear of an extraordinary size.
Underneath there his hands were, holes had been cut, though not risible
to the eye, being covered with the long hair, through which he held and
managed his implements, and he saw through two holes set with
glass."--_Hist. Account,_ p. 288, 289.

He then describes the practice of these medical gentlemen of the forest:
"He approaches his patient with a variety of contortions and gestures,
and performs by his side, and over him, all the antic tricks that his
imagination can suggest. He breathes on him, blows in his mouth, and
often makes an external application of the medicines which he has
prepared, by throwing them over in his face, mouth, and nose; he rattles
his gourd filled with dry beans or pebbles; pulls out, and handles about
a variety of sticks and bundles, in which be appears to be seeking for
the proper remedy; all which is accompanied with the most horrid
gesticulations, by which he endeavours, as he says, to frighten the
Spirit or the disorder away," &c.--_Hist. Acc._. 225.

An Indian physician never applies his medicines withou