452 NOTES OF A BOTANIST CHAP. 



region, whither it was conveyed from Saniarem 

 and the Mauhes by the long and dangerous naviga- 

 tion of the Tapajoz, it was worth six or eight times 

 as much. The usual form of the sticks was long 

 oval or nearly cylindrical ; but in Martius's time 

 (1820) guarana was "in panes ellipticos vel 

 globosos formatum," and old residents at Santarem 

 had seen it made up into figures of birds, alligators, 

 and other animals. The intense bitterness of the 

 fresh seed is almost dissipated by roasting, and a 

 slight aroma is acquired. The essential ingredient 

 of guarana, as we learn from the investigations of 

 Von Martius and his brother Theodore, is a prin- 

 ciple which they have called guaranine, almost 

 identical in its elements with theine and caffeine, 

 and possessing nearly the same properties. 



Guarana is prepared for drinking by merely 

 grating about a tablespoonful into a tumbler of 

 water and adding an equal quantity of sugar. It 

 has a slight but peculiar and rather pleasant taste, 

 and it affects the system in much the same way 

 as tea. I was told that at Cuyaba the thirsty 

 miners used to resort to the tabernas, in the 

 intervals of their toil, and call for a glass of guarana, 

 just as they would for one of lemonade, or of agoa 

 cloce. The brothers Martius strongly advocated the 

 introduction of guarana into the European pharma- 

 copoeias, and pointed out the maladies wherein its 

 use seemed indicated. In South America I have 

 frequently seen it of late years exhibited in nervous 

 affections, and it has even come to be regarded as a 

 specific against the jaqueca (i.e. hemicrania) which 

 is the fashionable ailment of a Peruvian lady. It 

 has had the reputation of a remedy for diarrhoea, 



