THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 265 
negro (Dioscorea sp.). Coding draughts are prepared from the Ferns, 
Calaluala (Goniophlebium attenuatum, Presl) and Doradilla de palo 
{Goniophlebium incanum, Swartz). Antidotes for the bites of snakes 
are found in the stem and leaves of the Guaco (Mikania Guaco, 
H.B.K.) and the seeds of the Cedron (Simaba Cedron, Planch.). Cuta- 
neous diseases are cured by applying the bark of the Palo de buba 
(Jacaranda Bahamensis, Brown), and Nanci (Byrsonema cotinifolia, 
H.B.K.), and the leaves of the Malva (Malachra capitata, Linn. ). 
The most dreaded of the poisonous plants are the Amancay (The- 
velia nerüfolia, Juss.), Cojon del gato (Thevetia nitida, De Cand.), Man- 
zanillo de playa (Hippomane Mancinella, Linn.), Florispondio (Datura 
sanguinea, Ruiz et Pav.), and Bala (Gliricidia maculata, Kunth). Tt! 
is said of the Manzanillo de playa that persons have died from sleeping | 
beneath its shade ; and that its milky juice raises blisters on the skin, 
which are difficult to heal. The first of these statements must be re 
garded as fabulous, and the second be received with a degree of modifi- 
cation. Some people will bear the juice upon the surface of the body 
without being in the least affected by it; while others do experience : 
the utmost = the difference seeming to depend entirely upon the | 
state of a man’s constitution. Great caution, however, is required in | 
protecting the eyes, for if the least drop enters them, loss of sight and | 
the most acute smarting for several days are the consequence. The 
smoke arising from the wood produces a similar effect; and I remem- | 
ber that, while surveying on the coast of Darien, a whole boat/s crew 
of H.M.S. Herald was blinded from having kindled a fire with the A 
branches of this tree. Whenever the natives are affected by the poison . 
they at once wash the injured part in salt water. This remedy is most | 
efficacious, and, as the Manzanillo is always confined to the edge of the | 
ocean, of easy application. It has been stated that the Indians of the - 
Isthmus dip their arrows in the juice of the Manzanillo. There are, : 
however, various reasons for doubting this assertion; firstly, because - 
the poison is, like that of all Euphorbiaceae, extremely volatile, and, | 
however virulent when first procured, soon loses its power; secondly, . 
because its effect, even when fresh, is by no means so strong as to | = 
cause the death of human beings, it not even producing, as has already | 
been stated, the slightest injury on some constitutions. We may, | 
therefore, consider the statement as an inaccuracy, and rather suppose | 
that the Indians, like those of Guayana, -obtain their poison from | 
