of oil, which serves for lamps. The pulpy mess into 
which the seeds have now fallen is packed in a basket 
and kept under water 8 days to sweeten; when taken 
out, it has a pleasant taste and no ill smell. It is eaten 
without the addition of anything else and may be kept 
a long time, but if the seeds have not been well boiled, 
it is a quick poison, and Indians have fallen victims to 
its incautious use.’’ Schultes found the Indians of the 
lower Caqueta in Colombia similarly utilizing Cunuria 
Spruceana as a food, and stated (/oc. cit.) that the seeds 
‘apparently contain a cyanide and, according to the na- 
tives, are extremely poisonous when taken internally in 
the crude state.’’ The Indians there ‘‘consume large 
quantities of the seeds in the form of a greyish mash 
which is prepared by boiling the pulp in three waters to 
remove the poison. This mash has a peculiar taste, some- 
what like burnt potato. According to the natives, salt 
must not be added to this mash.’? Ducke reported this 
use for Indians of the Rio Negro (in Le Cointe Joe. cit.). 
Allen 3063 records a comparable use by the natives of 
the Rio Papuri, an affluent of the Vaupés which forms 
part of the Colombo-Brazilian boundary. And, in 1944, 
Baldwin found the seeds used, Just as reported in 1858 
by Spruce, in the upper Rio Negro—Rio Uaupés region. 
Cunuria Spruceana was the first species of the genus 
to be described. An extended description appeared in 
Flora Brasiliensis. The only two illustrations of Cunuria 
have been of this species; the second is a poor copy of 
the first which was published in Flora Brasiliensis. Prob- 
ably because of this emphasis on one species, collections 
of Cunuria have almost always been referred to C. 
Spruceana. This has led to the erroneous assumption 
that Cunuria Spruceana is more widely distributed than 
it really is. As we interpret it, this species occurs, discon- 
tinuously, in an are or crescent from the Casiquiare and 
[ B44 | 
