Beginnings of Naltiral llis/ory in .Inicrica. 369 



beautiful feathered stuffs These last-uieutioiied birds very much resemble our 

 Spauish jays aud are called by the ludiaus quczahs.^ 



The species of sparrows- were very curious, havint;- five distinct colors in their 

 plumage — green, red, white, yellow, blue. 



There were such vast muubers of parrots aud such a variety of kinds that I can not 

 remember all their names ; and geese of the richest plumage and other large birds. 



These were at stated periods stri2)ped of their feathers, that new ones might 

 grow in their place. All these birds had appropriate places to breed in and were 

 under the care of several Indians of both sexes, who had to keep their nests clean, 

 give to each kind its proper food, and set the birds for Ijreeding. 



Ill another place, near a temple, were kept all manner of l)eatitifnl 

 animals, the names of which were not noted l)y Diaz, nor their pecul- 

 iarities described. 



In the building where the lunuan sacrifices were perpetrated there were dens in 

 which were kept poisonous serpents, and among them "a spe^eies at the end of whose 

 tail there was a kind of rattle." This last-mentioned serpent, which is the uiost 

 dangerous, was kept in a ca1)in in which a quantity of feathers had been strewed ; 

 here it laid its eggs, and it was fed with the flesh of dogs and of human beings which 

 had been sacrificed. . . . When all the tigers and lions ^ roared together with 

 the bowlings of the jackals ■> and foxes and hissing of the serpents, it was quite fearful, 

 and you couki not suppose otherwise than that you were in hell. 



This is the first record of the rattlesnake, and brings to mind the cap- 

 tive snakes of the Mokis, their annual .snake dance, and their use of 

 feathers in the .same connection.^ 



I am not yet prepared to believe in the marvelous acpiaria described 

 by Prescott, althouo'h fi.sh ponds there doubtless were. 



I am assured by our fello\v-meml)er, vSehor Aguilera, that tlie loca- 

 tions of the gardens of Monte/.uma are well identified, and that the Mex- 

 ican Indians .still pos.sess a marvelous knowledge of the medicinal virtues 

 of plants, wliicli is handed down 1)}' tradition from generation to genera- 

 tion. From this he infers that in the days of Aztec glory the knowledge 

 of the u.ses of plants must have been very comprehensive. 



W'ho shall say that the spirit of true .science did not inspire the Inca 

 Pachacutec, when many centuries ago he handed down to liis descendants 

 maxims such as this: 



A lierl)alist who knows the names 1)ut is ignorant of tlu- virtues and (|ualities of 

 herbs, or he who knows few but is ignorant of mo.st, is a mere {|uack and mounte- 

 bank, and deserves not the name and re])ute of a jjhysician until he is .skillful as 

 well in the noxi(nis as in the salutiferous cpialities of herbs. 



Iinpre.s,sed with the extent of the knowledge of nature among the 

 aborigines of America, I asked one of the most learned of our aiithro- 



' Trogons, known a-^qiuiza/cs by tlu- ;\Iexican Indians of to-day. Excellent exam- 

 ples of their ])ictorial use of trogon feathers may l)e seen in the United .States National 

 Mu.seum. ~ Cyaiiopirjci versicolor. 



^ Ocelot, juguars, pumas, eyras, jaguarundis. 



■i The coyote [coyotl), Caiiis /a/ra/zs. 



5 John G. Bom-ke, The vSnake Dance of the IMocjuis of Arizona, New York, 1.S.S4. 

 NAT MUvS 97, PT 2 24 



