658 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



administer this stone in potions and saffron plasters. There are also 

 in this district mines of a stone useful in pain in the side, the bladder, 

 the blood, and the milk ; and another which looks like stone alum, 

 the color of verdigris, which has medicinal value for all kinds of 

 sores and syphilitic humors. 



1722. There is a root called contrahierba which is an effective 

 remedy against the bites of snakes and other poisonous vermin, so 

 much so that when powdered and drunk in water or any sort of 

 cordial, it produces a cure without any bad effect from the bite. The 

 saltwort (paico) counteracts cold humors. Water boiled with the 

 snake-plant ( ?vibora) and drunk is effective for pains in the side 

 and for obstructions to free passage of the urine, and plasters made 

 of the plant itself, for bringing tumors to a head. Chuma, which is 

 a kind of spiny thistle, when sliced and roasted and laid against the 

 sore spot on the goitre (goza) relieves the pain and dispels it ; the 

 Indians make use of the juice of this plant in their superstitions ; 

 they drink it and lose consciousness, and say that they see all that they 

 desire. There is another plant which is all little spines, called 

 chuquicanglia ; its vapor stops the pain of headaches and megrims. 

 The root of the guay plant, when powdered, is an effective remedy 

 for every sort of pain, and it knits and strengthens any broken leg 

 or arm bone. There is another plant which grows a sort of ground 

 trufffes on its roots ; these are an excellent purge and are used like 

 mechoacan ; they call it Robles' purge, because one of his Indian 

 women knew about it. The chamico plant is very medicinal ; it has 

 a white flower like the white lily ; this produces a round fruit larger 

 than a pigeon's egg, thickly covered with tough spines ; inside it 

 has a black seed which the Indians use as a purge, and in particular 

 against witchcraft; with its leaves they cure scrofula (lamparones) 

 and any sort of swelling and tumor ; and if they administer this seed 

 as a potion in wine, water, or other liquid, the persons go to sleep 

 for as long as they plan in regulating the size of the dose ; the anti- 

 dote is to rub the nostrils with a little strong vinegar, which wakes 

 them up. 



1723. The corvincho plant resembles a thistle, and has a white 

 and yellow flower, which produces a small gourdlike fruit with a 

 black seed in it. This is a powerful purge for choleric humors ; the 

 leaf and bark of this plant have the same effect. Its root powdered 

 and drunk dissolves any stone in the bladder. The pincopinco (pingo- 

 pingo) plant boiled in water has the same virtue as sarsaparilla ; the 

 Indians use it for their syrups and in various diseases. 



