257 



The note may be thrown in here that although more of the names of 

 Mexican towns have a religious derivation than any other, yet a great 

 many towns and hamlets, especially of the smaller ones, arc named for 

 plants. Among the first class one finds such names as Jesus Maria, 

 Pedro Paulo, Concepcion, and hundreds of names with the prefixes 

 "San" and " Santa." The following places named for plants were along 

 my route: "Colomas," named for a little Arum-like plant of the neigh- 

 borhood; "Tamarindo," named for Tamarindus indica, a widely intro- 

 duced and highly prized tree ; "Aguacote," named for the well-known 

 fruit of the same name, Pcrsca gratissima; " Palmareta," named for a 

 small palm (Sabal) of that region; "Mesquitic," named for a Prosopis. 

 Other such names for towns of this region are "Ranches" (]hjr,somma 

 crassifolia), "Ocote" (Piuus), and San Francisco Mesquital. 



Acacia spadicigeia Cham. A; Sclikcht. 



Among the decorations used by the Cora Indians to ornament their 

 quivers are the large thorns of Acacia spadieigera. 



These thorns are cut into lengths of 2.5 cm. (1 inch) or more and fast- 

 ened by means of agave strings into great clusters of 50 or so. My 

 specimen (EB ISo. 73) came from one of these clusters. 

 Huia crepitans L. Haija. 



This is a large tree belonging to the order Huphorbiaceae. The Mexi- 

 cans use its sap to poison or stun fish so that they may be more easily 

 caught. A series of Vs, one above the other, are cut with a machete on 

 the side of a tree. The sap oozes out front the wounds, runs down to the 

 apex of the V and joins with the contents of the one below, and so on 

 through the series, the entire contents being caught in an earthen ves- 

 sel placed at the base of the tree. One rarely sees a tree without 

 these V-shaped scars. 



South American Indians also use the sap of this for killing fish. 



This tree is known under a great many names, among which are the 

 the following: In the Republic of Colombia, "Tagnapan," "acupa," 

 and "hibillo;" in Guiana, "soliman;" among certain South American 

 Indians, "sablierf in Panama, "javilla;" in Guatemala, ' ; tetereta;" at 

 San Ignacio, "pepita" and " habilla." It is also called "monkey's din- 

 ner bell" and the " sandbox tree." In the State of Sinaloa, on the west 

 coast of Mexico, where I saw the tree, it is called "haba 71 or "hava," 

 ami in other places in Mexico "quahtlatlatzin." Here it is planted 

 along the roadsides, often in long rows beside the fences. Occasionally 

 trees were seen in out-of-the-way canyons, appearing as if native; but 

 this part of Mexico has so long been inhabited that seeds may readily 

 have been carried from cultivated trees of the neighboring region. 



Cactaceae. 



Considerable has been written of a more or less fanciful character 

 regarding plant worship among the Mexican Indians. While I obtained 

 no special information along this line, I succeeded in obtaining speci- 

 mens which have enabled me to identify accurately some of the plants 



