74 PALM TREES 



make, are most generally used among the Indian tribes. 

 When the cylinders are used they are suspended from 

 a strong pole, having been first filled with the grated 

 pulp. A long lever is passed through the loop at the 

 lower end of the "tipiti," by means of which it is 

 stretched, the power being applied by a woman sitting 

 on the further extremity of the pole. The cylinder 

 thus becomes powerfully contracted, and the poisonous 

 juice runs out at every part of the surface and is caught 

 in a pan below in order to be carefully thrown away, 

 for it would cause speedy death to any domestic animal 

 which should drink it. 



This species grows in the Catinga forests of the 

 Upper Rio Negro and on the margins of small streams, 

 climbing over trees and hanging in festoons between 

 them, throwing out its armed leaves on every side to 

 catch the unwary traveller. How often will they seize 

 the insect-net of the ardent Entomologist just as he is 

 making a dash at some rare butterfly, or fasten in his 

 jacket or shirt-sleeve, or pull the cap from his head ! 

 Woe then to the impatient wanderer ! a pull or a tug 

 will inevitably cause a portion of the fractured garment 

 to stay behind, for the "jacitara" never looses its hold, 

 and it is only by deliberately extracting its fangs that 

 the intruder can expect to depart unhurt. 



In some places small igaripes or forest streams are 

 almost filled up with various climbing grasses and 

 creepers, among which the "jacitara" holds a promi- 

 nent place, and it is up these streams that the Indians 

 often delight to fix their abode. In such cases they 



