492 TROPICAL WILD LIFE IN BRITISH GUIANA 



their uses. There is nothino- niahcious about them, and we 

 mav safely state that tliey are harmless. The cuts and 

 scratches do not fester, for tlic caladiiims act as styptics; 

 it is therefore not real inoculation. It has been hinted to me 

 that perhaps there may sometimes be se])tic matter on the 

 tuber. Possibly this may be so, but it must be yery rare. 



• • • 



The acrid princi])le of the beena is antise])tic, and as in the 

 case of moka-moka, which is allied to tlie caladiums, tlie juice 

 is decidedly usefnl in cuts and wounds. 



We may say that beenas are medicines. If a man fails 

 in his hunting and fishino-, there is somethino- wrong; he is 

 weak and requires a "pick-me-up." This is at least part of 

 the work of the beena, for it stinndates the man to put out 

 all his energies and to overcome difficulties. They are the 

 foundations of hope and trust. 



Beenas differ from charms and amulets in the fact that 

 they are not worn by Indians; the^' are rubbed on the skin, 

 with or without cutting, taken with food, or, as in the case 

 of the nose beena, used as ordeals. The poor dog has to suf- 

 fer much before it can become proficient as a hunter. The 

 maiority are varieties of Caladium hicolor, those lovely 

 ])lants which are suffused with crimson, blotched and spotted 

 with white, red and violet, or lined on the veins. They vary 

 in shape from sagittate to ovate and generally ])eltate. On 

 their forms and markings depend their "signatures." 



This idea of "signatures" seems to have belonged to 

 primative man; it was prominent in Old World INIedicine. 

 The idea, as formulated by the herbalist, was that every me- 

 dicinal plant was marked in such a way that, if we could only 

 perceive the sign, it would tell us its use: For example, the 

 adder's-tongue evidently pointed to its virtue against snake 

 poisoning, as does the labaria plant to our Indians. The 

 "signature" is not always so plain as in these cases, but can 

 often be discovered when a hint is given. INIany of the beenas 

 haA'c suggestive forms and markings that might be thought 

 purposive. 



