685 



iiillo. There are, however, various reasons for doubting this asser- 

 tion ; first, because the poison is, like that of all Euphorbiaceae, 

 extremely volatile, and, however virulent when first procured, soon 

 loses its power ; secondly, because its effect, even when fresli, is by 

 no means so strong as to cause the death of human beings, not even 

 producing, as has been stated, the slightest injury on some consti- 

 tutions. The statement may therefore be considered as an inaccu- 

 racy, and it may rather be supposed that the Indians, like those of 

 Guiana, obtain their poison from the two species of Strychnos com- 

 mon throughout Panama and Darien. The fruit of the Amancay 

 {Tlievetia nereiifolia, Juss.) is also considered very poisonous, but its 

 dangerous qualities have probably been over-rated. There is a 

 gentlemen in Panama who, when a boy, ate four of these fruits, with- 

 out experiencing any other effect than mere griping. The leaves of 

 the Bala, or, as it is also called, Madera negra [Gliricidia maculatay 

 Kth,), are used to poison rats. The Florispondio {Datura sanguinea^ 

 Ruiz et Pav.) appears to have always played, and still continues to 

 play, a prominent part in the superstition of tropical America. The 

 Indians of Darien, as well as those of Choco, prepare from its seeds a 

 decoction, which is given to their children to produce a state of ex- 

 citement in which they are supposed to possess the power of dis- 

 covering gold. In any place where the unhappy patients happen to 

 fall down, digging is commenced ; and, as the soil nearly everywhere 

 abounds with gold-dust, an amount of more or less value is obtained. 

 In order to counteract the bad effect of the poison, some sour Chica 

 -de Maize, a beer made of Indian corn, is administered. 



" Many indigenous plants bear eatable fruits, some of most delicious 

 flavour. ****** Several spontaneous productions ai-e used as cu- 

 linary vegetables. The Marathrum foeniculaceum, H. B. K., a plant 

 resembling some of the finer sea-weeds, and growing in most rivers 

 of Veraguas, is estimated so highly by the inhabitants that they have 

 called it Passe came, i. e., excels or surpasses meat ; and, indeed, its 

 young leaf-stalks, when boiled, have a delicate flavour, not unlike that 

 of French-beans. The leaves of the Naju de espina {Peirescia Bleo, 

 DeCand.) are eaten as salad, either raw or boiled, like the youug 

 branches of several Opuntias in Mexico ; and in a country where, 

 from the nature of the climate, the rearing of lettuces is attended with 

 difficulty, they form a tolerable substitute. The foliage of the Col de 

 Nicaragua {Jatropha multifida, Linn.) affords another culinary vege- 

 table, losing, apparently, as do most Euphorbiaceae, its poisonous 

 qualities by boiling. The seeds of the Chigua {Zamia Chigiia, Seem.), 



