M. MATERIA MEDICA, THERAPEUTICS, AND HYGIENE.595 



cy, and that they recover from them much more readily than 

 those fed upon fresh milk. 8 (7, June 9, 1870, 181. 



CUNDUEAXGO. 



Many of our readers have become quite familiar during 

 the past few months with the name of cundurango, a tree 

 found in Ecuador, the young stems and roots of which are 

 claimed to be a specific cure for cancer and other diseases. 

 A quantity of this was sent by the government of that coun- 

 try to the State Department in Washington, to be experi- 

 mented upon by some physicians of that city, and the result 

 of the inquiry having been satisfactory, a special expedition 

 was sent out to obtain an increased supply. Much contro- 

 versy has arisen, however, as to the real virtue of the plant, 

 many physicians denouncing the whole movement as savor- 

 ing of quackery and humbug. The precise botanical rela- 

 tionships and character of the plant have been until recently 

 unknown ; but we now learn from the Andes, of Guayaquil, 

 of July 29, in a communication from Dr. Buyon, that it be- 

 longs to the order JEJupatoriacece, and species Mikania guaco 

 of Endlicher, and that its name of cundurango, in the Quichua 

 language, means vine of the condor. It is the same plant 

 that is called guaco in Colombia. According to the tradition 

 of the country, when the condor is bitten by a poisonous ser- 

 pent it swallows the leaves of the guaco plant, and experi- 

 ences no harm. In Colombia there are said to be three va- 

 rieties of the guaco green, purple, and white the purple 

 variety being intensely bitter, the white less so and more 

 aromatic, while the green has more astringency. 



Dr. Bliss, of Washington, is understood to be the great 

 champion of the cundurango, and claims to have accomplished 

 several notable cures upon prominent personages, and consid- 

 ers it to be as reliable a specific in cancer, and scrofula, and 

 other blood diseases as cinchona and its alkaloids have proved 

 to be in zymotic diseases. It is quite certain that for many 

 years this plant has been brought forward in tropical Ameri- 

 ca as an invaluable cure for a variety of diseases. As the 

 Mikania guaco is found abundantly in South America, it can 

 readily be obtained without going into the interior of Ecua- 

 dor, should it answer all the expectations of its partisans. 

 Panama Star and Herald. 



