VENEZUELAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 149 
^ 
let him put a putrid liver, no matter from what animal, into sucli <i 
decoction, nnd in twenty-four hours it will be found fresh and sound." 
(Pompa, * Coleccion de Medicamentos indigenas,' 3rd edit., Caracas, 
) 
13 
loc. cit. 398). A decoction of the bark or the leaves is used like 
Species pectorales in Europe. The fruit is astringent, and stops 
diarrhoea. 
Calabaza {Luffa actdanffula^ Ser.). Several times I have seen the 
at'rieros, or donkey-drivers of the interior, rubbing the skin of their 
beasts with the leaves of this plant, to keep off the flies. A paste is 
made of the seeds, of which an ounce and a half is taken before break- 
fast, followed by a glass of linseed tea, and two hours after by two 
ounces of castor-oil. This is said to expel tape-worm. 
CalaJiuala (GoniopJdebium attenuatum^ Presl). A decoction of the 
candex is diuretic, and with a little salt enters into the composition of 
a cooling draught, taken by the lower classes after heavy falls, blows, 
or contusions. (See " Alcornoque.") 
. Camasa {Crescentia Cnjde, L.). The pulpy substance of the fruit is 
frequently used for poultices in inflammation of the skin, (See also 
'•Totmno.") 
Cambure {Mnsa sapient um, L.). The Mnsa Faradisiaca, L. (Plaiano) 
does not produce ripe fruit at Caracas, the temperature being too low. 
The Cambure is cultivated to a height of nearly 6000 feet above the 
sea. In Los Teques, a small place about fifteen miles from Caracas, 
but more than 5000 feet above the sea, 3L sapienium does not pro- 
duce fruits. The astringent juice of the stem is sometimes applied as 
an injection in dvsenterv and ulcerations of the rectum, or as a lotion 
for external ulcers. The juice of the unripe fruit produces indelible 
stains on linen. The ripe fruit is considered by some as aphrodisiac. 
Eoasted Avith almond-oil it is an excellent external remedy for sore- 
throat ; this I can affirm from pergonal experience. 
Cancanapire {Croton hirtits, L*Her. and other sp.). An infusion of 
the bark or leaves is used as a tonic in nervous attacks. 
Cana amarga {Gynerium saccharoides, H. B. K,)j and 
Cana de Malojo {Zea Mais, L,). A decoction of the young stems 
is taken in urinary complaints. 
Malojtll 
From the aromatic 
