538 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1908. 



brownish yellow, with the faste of molasses candy, and of a soft pasty 

 consistency. But the subject of the tuna as a food staple has been 

 so ably discussed by others, that I will not here repeat what has been 

 already said.*^ 



Near the city of San Luis Potosi is situated the Cerro de Peotillos, 

 one of the localities celebrated for centuries as a collecting ground 

 for the narcotic f)eyote, or mescal button {Lojyhoiyhora icilliamsii) , 

 to which I have already referred (pi. 3, fig. 5). To this hill and 

 to Real de Catorce, farther north, the Huichol Indians of the moun- 

 tains of northern Jalisco used to resort annually to obtain their 

 supi:>ly of peyote, which was regarded by them with superstitious 

 veneration.^ The natives of San Luis Potosi do not use it as a nar- 

 cotic, but value it as a remedy for fevers. Another curious little 

 cactus {Pelecyphora aselliformis) (pi. 14, fig. 6), called "peyotillo," 

 or " peotillo," has similar virtues attributed to it, and is sold in the 

 drug markets of the city. Many species of cactus have been collected 

 in the vicinity of San Luis Potosi, by Palmer, Pringle, Purpus, and 

 other collectors; but it will be impossible to enumerate them in this 

 paper. One of the most interesting is a large viznaga, Echinocactiis 

 palmeri Pose (pi. 13, fig. 1), specimens of which I saw growing on 

 the hills about the presa, or reservoir, from which the city receives 

 its water supplj^ This plant, commonly known as Echinocactiis 

 saltiUensis, was rechristened by Doctor Rose, whose figures I here 

 reproduce (pi. 8), because the specific name saltiUensis had pre- 

 viously been applied to another species of the genus.«^ Closely allied 

 to this are the giant viznaga of southeastern Puebla, Echinocactus 

 grandis^ common between Tehuacan and Esperanza ; E. ingetis of 

 Queretaro; E. visnaga of San Luis Potosi; and E. wislizeni of Ari- 

 zona, from which dulces are made. 



While at San Luis Potosi I had the pleasure of meeting Don 

 Javier Espinosa y CucA^as, owner of the celebrated Hacienda de 

 Angostura, at which, in 1878, Doctors Parry and Palmer were guests 

 while making their collection of Mexican plants, and where later 

 Mr. C. G. Pringle was entertained.'^ I met also Don Octaviano 

 Cabrera, president of the Centro Agricola de San Luis Potosi, and 

 the distinguished Don Luis Cuevas, to whom I am indebted for many 

 favors. It gives me pleasure to mention the courtesy of a yx)ung 



° See Palmer, Edward. Opnntia Fruit as an article of Food. West American 

 Scientist, Vol. 6, p. 67. 1889. 



Griffiths, David, and Hare, R. F. The Tuna as Food for Man. Bur. of Plant 

 Industry Bui. No. 116. 1907. 



^ See Diguet, Leon. La Sierra de Nayarit et ses Indigenes, p. 55. 1899. 



<" Contr. Nat. Herb., Vol. 12, p. 290, pi. 23. 1909. 



^ Pringle, C. G. Notes of Mexican Travel. ■ Garden and Forest, Vol. 6, p. 182. 

 1893. 



