= into the mull, and thus the Niopo is snuffed up the nose. —. 
: KEW GARDEN MUSEUM, 215 
177. Apparatus for making and taking Niopo snuff, procured from 
Guahibo Indians, at the cataracts of Maypures. The Niopo of Vene- 
zuela is the same as the Paricé of Brazil, and is used on the upper 
Orinoco, Guaviare, Vichada, Meta, Sipapo, etc. There is no doubt of 
its being prepared from the Acacia Niopo, Humb., which is perhaps 
not different from Piptadenia peregrina, Benth. My specimens of the 
Paricá-tree from the Barra are referred to the latter species by Mr. Ben- 
tham. I did not see the tree from which the Guahibos obtained their 
Niopo, and which they told me was planted in their cunucos near the 
head-waters of the River Tupáro; but the Paricá I have seen on the 
Amazon and all the way up the Rio Negro planted near the villages, 
belongs to but one species, which, on passing the Venezuelan frontier, 
takes the name of Niopo. 
"soi preparing the snuff, the roasted seeds of the Niopo are placed in 
a shallow wooden platter, which is held on the knees by means of a 
broad handle grasped in the left hand; then crushed by a small pestle 
of the hard wood of the Palo de Arco (Zecome sp.), which is held 
between the fingers and thumb of the right hand. 5 
The snuff is kept in a “ mull” made of a tiger's bone, closed at one 
end with pitch, and at the other stopped with a cork of Marima. It 
hangs from the neck, and has attached to it the tuberiferous rhizomes 
of some Cyperacea (? Hypoporum nutans, Nees), which are. slightly 
odoriferous. These, or the tubers of some allied species, are used 
throughout the Amazon, Rio Negro, Uaupós, ete., among Indians of 
the forest, With a piece of Piripirióca (the name given to them in 
Lingoa Geral) about the person, one is safe from the bad wish and 
evil eye. 
The instrument for taking the snuff is made of birds’ bones, and 
differs somewhat from that used by the Catauixi Indians (see Journ. 
Vol. v. p. 246). Two tubes end upwards in little black balls (the en- 
docarp of some species of Astrocaryum), which are applied to the nostrils, - 
While the single tube on which they unite at the lower end is dipped 
I enclose a piece of Caápi, from which the Indian, who was grinding : 
Niopo, every now and then tore a strip with bis teeth, and chewed with 
evident satisfaction. It had been slightly toasted over the fire. “ With 
a chew of Caápi, and a pinch of Niopo,” said he to me, in as ete 
Spanish, “one feels so good—no hunger—no thirst—no tired!” A 
