pillar cocoons is assumed by those supporting this ety- 
mology. At first, this supposition might not seem im- 
probable. In support of this theory, Safford (22) has 
called attention to a composite, Cacalia cordifolia HBK.., 
cachane, which is known and marketed in Jalisco under 
the name peyot/ (38). This plant has a soft, tuberous root 
with an endument of velvety hairs, in appearance much 
like a cocoon. Hernandez (8) called this plant Peyotl 
Xochimiicensis, specifically emphasizing its febrifugal 
properties and its ‘‘wooly rootlets.’’ The same writer 
described Lophophora Williamsti under the name Peyotl 
Zacatensis, seu radice molli et lanuginosa, calling atten- 
tion again to medicinal and intoxicating properties as well 
as to the lanuginous appearance of the plant. 
Recent investigation has revealed a score or more of 
very dissimilar plants all known under the term peyote. 
Most of these plants have no soft parts which could be 
likened to cocoons. Indeed, several are exceedingly hard. 
Might Hernandez not have called the two plants peyote 
because of some similarity other than the woolliness of 
parts of the vegetative body? The Molina etymology 
does not satisfactorily explain the application of the word 
peyote to the great array of plants known under that name 
in Mexico. 
A more recent etymology has been proposed by B.P. 
Reko (7). It suggests that peyote arose directly from the 
Aztec pi-yauth, in which pi is a diminutive term and 
yauth (or the alternative yolli) is a collective noun signi- 
fying herbs whose action is narcotic.’ In this broad sense, 
peyote would include many plants having, perhaps, noth- 
ing in common in vegetative parts, but all possessing nar- 
cotic (or perhaps medicinal) properties. A survey of the 
many plants called peyote (page 70) indicates that they 
all agree in having a narcotic or supposed medicinal prop- 
erty. This etymology has been carried further (7), as in 
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