tentatively referred them to one of the following species: 
Virola elongata, V. peruviana (A.DC.) Warburg or V’. 
calophylloidea. His Indian informant stated that there 
are several ‘‘kinds of wewna, some with leaves larger than 
others’, but that the tree with the smallest leaves is 
‘the cu ucuna’, 1.e., Meaning probably the Virola 
employed to prepare the hallucinogen. These Virola 
leaves which Calle collected are now preserved in the 
Economic Herbarium of Oakes Ames and appear to me 
possibly to represent /’. calophylloidea.’ 
The data concerning the admixture which Calle re- 
ports are perhaps even more interesting. In preparing 
the pellets for ingestion, the Muinane informant stated 
that the Virola-bark, freshly stripped from the tree, is 
crushed and boiled in water, until the liquid is thick and 
of a honey-like consistency. This syrup is then mixed 
with ashes of the rind of fruit of a species of Theobroma 
or of the dried leaves of a palm, Mawritiella aculeata 
(H Bk.) Burret. The mixture is then rolled into soft, 
brownish pellets. 
It would seem, thus, that there is some variation in the 
methods of preparing the drug. Further field work in the 
original home region of these Indians will be necessary 
fora full understanding of this interesting hallucinogen. 
Interest inthis newly discovered hallucinogen does not 
lie wholly within the bounds of anthropology and ethno- 
botany. It bears very directly on certain pharmacological 
matters, and, when considered with other plants with 
psychotomimetic properties due to tryptamines, this 
new oral drug poses problems which must now be faced 
and, if possible, toxicologically explained. 
It is generally accepted pharmacologically that the 
pure compound N, N-dimethyltryptamine is inactive 
* Comisaria del Amazonas, 8 km. north of Leticia. Muinane name: 
kutruku. April 1969. H. Calle sin. num. 
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