further studies are warranted (Schultes and Hofmann 1979; 
Diaz 1979). 
A species of Lycoperdon is likewise employed by the Tara- 
humara of Mexico in witchcraft (Bye 1979). 
Malpighiaceae 
Tetrapteris Cav. 
The Maku Indians in the northwesternmost sector of the 
Brazilian Amazon prepare a narcotic drink from the bark of 
Tetrapteris methystica R. E. Schult. A cold-water infusion with 
no admixtures has a yellowish hue and induces an intoxication 
with visual hallucinations very similar to that caused by drinks 
prepared from species of the related genus Banisteriopsis 
(Schultes 1954a). Another species, 7. mucronata Cav., has been 
indicated as a source in Amazonian Colombia of an hallucino- 
genic preparation (Schultes 1975). 
No chemical studies have been made of these species of 
Tetrapteris, but, since the genus is close to Banisteriopsis, it 1s 
not improbable that B-carbolines are the active constituents. 
Tetrapteris comprises some 80 species, distributed from Mexi- 
co to tropical South America and in the West Indies. 
Moraceae 
Helicostylis Tréc. 
Takini is the Caribbean Indian name given to species of large 
trees of the moraceous genus Helicostylis found in the Guianas 
and in the northeastern part of the Brazilian Amazonia. The 
bark contains a reddish sap which has mildly poisonous and 
intoxicating properties, and the hallucinations produced by it 
form part of witch doctor ceremonies of the Indians and bush 
negroes of Surinam (Stahel 1944; Ostendorf 1962; Kloos 1971). 
Much difficulty has been encountered in attempts to obtain 
botanically authenticated material for chemical and biological 
studies. The tree has been identified as a species of Piratinera or 
Brosimum of the Moraceae (Hegnauer 1969) or even of the 
euphorbiaceous genus Pausandra (de Goeje 1943). On one 
occasion, material was collected from the wrong tree deliberatly 
by natives, as they did not want to disclose the identity of their 
sacred takini (Buckley et al. 1973). More recently, the trees 
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