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in London, in the year 1699. Its use, as an antidote for snakes, and 

 place of growth, are there distinctly stated ; but whether on the autho- 

 rity of the natives, or accidentally discovered by the pirates, does not 

 appear. If the former was the case, they must have learned it while 

 on some of their cruizes on the Magdalena, for in the Isthmus the 

 very existence of the tree was unsuspected until about 1845, when 

 Don Juan de Ansoatigui ascertained, by comparison, that the Cedron 

 of Panama and Darien was identical with that of Carthagena. The 

 virtues of its seeds, however, were known, years ago, from those fruits 

 imported from the Magdalena, where, according to Mr. William Pur- 

 die, the plant grows in pi'ofusion about the village of San Pablo. In 

 the Isthmus it is generally found on the outskirts of forests in almost 

 every part of the country, but in greater abundance in Darien and 

 Veraguas, than in Panama. The natives hold it in high esteem, and 

 always carry a piece of the seed about with them. When a person is 

 bitten, a little, mixed with water, is applied to the wound, and about 

 two grains scraped into brandy, or, in the absence of it, into water, is 

 administered internally. By following this treatment the bites of the 

 most venomous snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and other noxious ani- 

 mals, have been unattended by dangerous consequences. Doses have 

 also proved highly beneficial in cases of intermittent fever. The Ce- 

 dron is a tree, from twelve to sixteen feet high ; its siAiple trunk is 

 about six inches in diameter, and clothed on the top with long pin- 

 nated leaves, which give it the appearance of a palm. Its flowers are 

 greenish, and the fruit resembles very much an unripe peach. Each 

 seed, or''cotyledon, I should rather say, is sold in the chemists' shops 

 of Panama for two or three reals (about Is. or Is. 6d. English), and 

 sometimes a much larger price is given for them. 



" Highly interesting is the Anta, a species of vegetable ivory {Phy- 

 telephas sp.) distinct, probably, from that of the Magdalena. It 

 grows in low damp localities, principally on the banks of rivers and 

 rivulets, and is diffused over the southern parts of Darien, and the 

 vicinity of Portobello, districts which are almost throughout the year 

 deluged by torrents of rain, or enveloped in the thick vapour that is 

 constantly arising from the humidity of the soil, and the rankness of 

 the vegetation. It is always found in separate groves, seldom or 

 never intermixed with other trees or bushes, and where even herbs 

 are rarely met with, the ground appearing as if it had been swept. In 

 habit it resembles the Carozo Colorado, or Oil Palm [Elais melatio- 

 cocca, Gsertn.) ; so much, indeed, that at first sight the two are easily 

 mistaken for each other. Both affect similar localities, and have 



