preparations are taken by all men of the tribe during 
dances. When the medicine-man employs the narcotic 
for purposes of diagnosis or to enable him to work evil 
on others, he takes a strong preparation of Banisteriopsis 
Caapi alone. The Makunas of the Popeyaca report that, 
in difficult cases of diagnosis, the medicine man will add 
a few crushed leaves of a tree which is abundant along 
the flood-banks of the river: gway-ee-ga-mo-yoo-he-reé 
(‘‘tree of the gill of fishes’’). This tree, represented by 
Schultes & Cabrera 15556, has been determined by Dr. 
R. W. Woodson as probably Malouetia Tamaquarina. 
The leaves contain an abundance of sticky, white latex 
and, as the species belongs to the A pocynaceae, possibly 
are poisonous in large doses. Indeed, there are persistent 
reports in the upper Amazon that the bones of the pa- 
juil are, at the time when Malouectia Tamaquarina sets 
fruit (which this bird is said to eat), highly poisonous to 
dogs which may eat them (86). I have never witnessed 
the use of Malouetia and was not able to corroborate the 
report with those who understand the properties of me- 
dicinal plants either amongst the Makunas or neighbor- 
ing peoples. 
The Indians of the headwaters of the Rio Piraparana 
cultivate caapi in almost every plot around their houses. 
Schultes & Cabrera 17209 from a Barasana Indian site on 
the Cano Teemeefa represents Banisteriopsis Caapi. A 
cold-water infusion of the rasped bark of this plant to 
which was added water in which dried tobacco leaves 
(Nicotiana Tabacum 1.) had been steeped had highly 
narcotic effects. 
Banisteriopsis Caapi is apparently the commonest 
source of the narcotic caapi drink in adjacent parts of 
Brazil. It was from Ipanoré on the Rio Uaupés near the 
Colombian boundary that Spruce collected the type 
specimen of this species. A recent collection, Ducke 153, 
[ 89 | 
