326 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 



pleasant climate, there can be no doubt of its general 

 healthiness when one sees how many very old people 

 are in it. On the i6th of the present month an old 

 lady died here at the age of one hundred and eleven \ 

 Her living descendants, including some great-great- 

 grandchildren, are said to be exactly as many as the 

 years of her life. 



Piura is considered the sovereignest place on 

 earth for the cure of " rheumatic " (lege " syphilitic ") 

 affections. Many wonderful cures are reported ; 

 but the treatment is rather severe. It is as follows : 

 First, you pay the priest to say " novenas " -that is, 

 masses on nine consecutive days on your behalf; 

 on each of these days you drink copiously of a warm 

 decoction of sarsaparilla towards midday, and then 

 your friends take you outside the town and bury 

 you up to the neck in the burning sand, shielding 

 your head with a broad straw hat and an umbrella. 

 There you perspire in such a way as to bring out 

 all the mercury you may have taken, and to reduce 

 your swollen joints to their proper dimensions. 

 Now you may see the use of the masses, for if you 

 survive the operation (which is not always) they 

 serve to express your thankfulness ; and if you die 

 under it, you will need not only those nine masses, 

 but several additional ones for which you make 

 due provision in your last will and testament to 

 secure the repose of your soul. 



Piura is perhaps the most superstitious place I 

 have seen in South America, although Quito is far 

 gone that way ; but I can tolerate even superstition 

 when it is harmless and picturesque. As I write, 

 at 8 P.M. of the eve of " Nuestra Senora de los 

 Dolores," the bells are ringing to call the devout 



