On the Eupntoriuni Huaco. 285 



*' There are only two men who possess the secret," (of inocula- 

 ting;) "one lives at Turmero, (betv/een Maracay and San Mateo) 

 and the other at Victoria. — The one at Turmero imparted it to the 

 other. The inoculation is performed by making an incision in the 

 flesh, with the tooth of the snake, into which place is rubbed some- 

 thing which is a profound secret. They also administer a kind of 

 medicine, made of an herb called ' Guaco' (or Huaco) which grows 

 in the valleys, but how it is prepared and what is the quantity taken 

 are also mysterious, which they cannot be induced to reveal. In 

 the interior, it is customary to carry some of the Guaco about the 

 person, and it is affirmed that no snake will attack one who has it. 

 Mr. Alderson knows this to be the custom, as he has repeatedly seen 

 it worn." 



" The doctor said, that inoculation does not always secure peo- 

 ple from some of the bad effects of a snake's venom ; but it is nev- 

 er mortal, to those thus guarded, as in no instance has any one who 

 had been moculated, died of a wound inflicted by a snake however 

 venomous ; and as to their handling them with perfect security, we 

 have all seen it too often to doubt the fact. Even after we all saw 

 the rattlesnake at Valencia deprived of its fangs by Martines, the 

 men who were with him drew back In terror from the terrific crea- 

 ture, while he took it up, caressed it, suffered it to coil itself around 

 his arms and body, and carried it away in his hand." 



From the remark of Dr. Chabert respecting the neutralizing of 

 snake venom, by a simple application of Huaco to the exterior wound, 

 it should seem likely that the South American remedy about which 

 so much mysterious secrecy is preserved, is no more than a portion 

 of the same plant which is administered internally in the form of de- 

 coction. However this may be, there can be no doubt of the facts 

 above stated, as the source, whence the communications proceeded, 

 is entitled to implicit reliance. 



Observation hy the Editor. — Since the preceding piece was put 

 into type, a friend has called our attention to a paper by Dr. Honcock, 

 published in the English Quarterly Journal of Science, for July, 

 1830. The contradictory statements of the two papers, ought to 

 elicit additional observations, in a case so interesting to mankind. 

 In the paper cited from the English Journal, the curative and anti- 

 poisonous properties of the Huaco are denied- 



Vol. XXIV.— No. 2. 37 



