lO SMITHSOXIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 94 



far back into pre-Conquest times. The Nahuatl or Aztec Empire 

 drew from its conquered peoples, the Toltecs and the Mayas, for 

 much of its cultural background. Of these two peoples only Mayan 

 medical texts have come down to us. All of these were written long 

 after the Spanish Conquest and are believed to post-date the writing 

 of the present Aztec herbal. To gain an adequate idea of the signifi- 

 cance of much of the data of this herbal it is necessary to reach back 

 into Aztec times and at the same time turn to our most recent writings 

 in the field of tropical medicine and botanical research. 



For the most part the materia medica deals with methods of treat- 

 ment empirically derived. There are no incantations and only a few 

 references to charms. The first chapter deals with head ailments, such 

 as heat and cold in the head, abscess of the head, scales or mange, 

 scabes. falling hair, and fractured head. The second chapter includes 

 a treatment for sore eyes, fever, blood shot eyes, cataract, eversion 

 of the eyelid, swelling of the eye, insomnia and a remedy to repel 

 drowsiness. The third chapter deals with ear infection. 



As a typical example of the method of treatment of the text, 

 chapter four, because of brevity, permits of publication here. It 

 reads as follows : 



Fourth Chapter 



Concerning catarrh, medicine to be instilled in the nose, herb for the blood. 

 Catarrh 



Below this title are depicted two herbs, the Tzonpilihuizxihuitl and 

 the Atochietl. An etymological analysis of the former name gives 

 us the usage of the plant. Tzonpilihuiz-xihuitl is a compound word 

 derived from the Aztec verb Tzompiliui (Simeon, p. 666) " meaning 

 " to have a cold in the head " and the suffix, -xihuitl (Simeon, p. 699) 

 meaning " plant " ; so we may refer to Tzonpilihuizxihuitl as " cold 

 in the head plant," or briefly "catarrh plant". Jimenez" (book i, 

 chap. 3) refers also to the use of catarrh medicine (Tzompilihuitz- 

 patli), and Hernandez" (p. 29) refers to Tzimpalihuiz-patlin and 

 gives the variant name Texaxapotla, which he identifies as Ptarmica 

 iiidica. but this does not agree with the picture in the Badianus manu- 

 script. The extract of Tzonpilihuizxihuitl is also used as a vermifuge 

 (Bad. Ms., p. 51). 



"Simeon. Reni, Dictionnaire de la Langue Nahuatl. Paris, Imprimerie Na- 

 tionale, 1885. 



"Jimenez, F., Quatro Libros de la Naturaleza .... Mexico. 1615. 



" Hernandez, Francisco, Rerum Medicarum Novae Hispaniae Thesaurus 

 1651. 



