DE PLANTIS TOXICARIIS E MUNDO 
NOVO TROPICALE COMMENTATIONES VII 
SEVERAL ETHNOTOXICOLOGICAL NOTES 
FROM THE COLOMBIAN AMAZON 
BY 
Ricnarp Evans SCHULTES 
Many of our ethnotoxicological observations made 
amongst Indians of the northwest Amazon indicate in- 
teresting uses of plants the genera of which have never 
been chemically investigated. The several species dis- 
cussed below fall very definitely into this category and 
would seem to represent areas profitable for phytochemi- 
‘al enquiry. 
These notes are a continuation of investigations into 
poisonous plants of the New World tropics which I have 
been carrying out since 1941 and which is currently being 
supported by a grant from the National Institutes of 
Health (No. I.M-GM00071-01). 
The voucher specimens cited are preserved in the Gray 
Herbarium, the Arnold Arboretum and the HKconomic 
Herbarium of Oakes Ames of Harvard University or in 
the Herbario Nacional Colombiano. The illustrations 
were prepared by Mr. Josua B. Clark and the late Mr. 
John Stanwell-Fletcher. 
ARACEAE 
No chemical studies appear to have been carried out 
on the genus Urospatha. The juice from the rhizome of 
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