We do not know how widespread ts this use of Latua, 
although it must be known to most of the mac/is in the 
region in view of their familiarity with the medicinal 
flora. It is of interest to note the Christian influence 
which has been incorporated into a primarily indigenous 
ceremony. This mixture of religious elements is reminis- 
cent of shamanistic practices in other areas, such as the 
ceremonial use of ayahuasca and San Pedro in Peru, 
magic mushrooms and peyote in Mexico. Latwa must 
now be appended to the growing list of plants used in 
magico-religious rites for hallucinogenic purposes. 
MX PERIMENTAL 
Material 
The numbers of the voucher specimens given in the 
table and legends to figures refer to the collection num- 
ber of ‘FT. Plowman. Voucher specimens have been de- 
posited in the Kconomic Herbarium of Oakes Ames, 
Botanical Museum of Harvard University. 
Isolation of Alkaloids 
20 g. of the powdered plant material and 10 g. of dia- 
tomaceous earth were stirred with 30 ml. of chloroform 
and 10 ml. of a1 M solution of sodium carbonate to 
form a homogeneous mixture. ‘The mixture was packed 
ina glass column (1.7 x 60 em.) and eluted with 800 ml. 
of chloroform (flow rate 1 ml./min.). The eluate was 
passed through another column of the same size packed 
with a mixture of 15 g. of diatomaceous earth and 2 ml. 
of 1 M phosphoric acid. The alkaloids were eluted with 
250 ml. of chloroform saturated with ammonia and passed 
through a column (1.7 x 8 cm.) containing 10 g. of alu- 
minium oxide (flow rate 1 ml./min.). The chloroform 
extract was dried with anhydrous sodium sulphate, fil- 
tered and evaporated to dryness(Pharmacopoea Nordica, 
1964). 
[ 82 ] 
