Dec. 1893.J BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 55 



from 25-35 per cent, of the former, and from 11 to 16 

 per cent, of the latter. It is almost unnecessary to say 

 that hidden in so attractive an envelope as this, the seeds 

 nre encased in hard woody sheaths well calculated to carry 

 them safely through the digestive canal of herbivorous 

 animals. 



During the Algaroho season, i.e., during December and 

 January, these pods form a very important factor in the 

 food supply of the Toba and other Indians of the Gran 

 Chaco. The women go out during the day to collect the 

 fallen ripe pods from under the Algarobo trees. The pods 

 are pounded up in a kind of rude mortar made from the 

 upright base of a dead palm stem, and on separating out 

 the hard seeds a kind of meal is obtained, which forms a 

 very nourishing and staying article of food — Patai, while 

 stirred up in water it affords a most refreshing drink. 

 The Tobas, however, take further advantage of the large 

 quantity of grape sugar present. The pods are roughly 

 pounded and steeped in a considerable quantity of water in 

 large calabashes, and left to stand overnight (or in the cold 

 weather, for a couple of nights). Brisk fermentation 

 ensues, and the result is a comparatively mild but at the 

 same time very insidious alcoholic beverage, colourless and 

 with a sourish taste, known to the Tobas as LuHagd — to 

 the Provincial Argentines as Aloja. 



Peosopis RusciFOLiA, Griscb. 



Hab. — Eio Pilcomayo. 



Prov. Arg., Vinal ; Toba, Nedasll'. 



The Vinal is one of the more conspicuous trees of the 

 Chaco, conspicuous alike from its large size, and from its 

 habit of growing alone and solitary in the open palmar. A 

 large specimen measured 50 feet in height by 10 feet in 

 girth at 4 feet from the ground. In general aspect the 

 Vinal is much branched, wide-spreading, gnarled, and 

 knotty. Its rough bark is deeply furrowed vertically ; 

 its heartwood hard and reddish. 



On the Chaco frontiers the fruit of the Vinal is much 

 used for feeding cattle, while a decoction of its leaves is 

 of high repute as a remedy for ophthalmia. An Argentine 

 chemist has found that the leaves contain a special 



