YEIiMIN. 



57 



a man's thumb ; it is marked with black, white 

 and red stripes transversally. The general opi- 

 nion is that it is venomous.* 



But the snakes do not cause so much an- 

 noyance as the smaller species of vermin which I 

 am about to mention, because the former seldom 

 enter the houses, nor are they very frequently to 

 be seen in the paths or roads. But the aranha 

 cara?iguejeira, or crab-spider (aranea avicularia), 

 the lacraia, or scorpion, and the piolho de cobra, 

 or snake-louse (scolopendra morsitans), are to 

 be met with in the houses and in all situations. 

 They should be carefully avoided, for their bites 

 are painful, and are said to cause inflammation. 

 An instinctive recollection of the chance of 



* I have seen Pise's account of the snakes of Brazil ; and 

 although the description which I have given of those which 

 I saw, and of which I heard, differs somewhat from his, I 

 have allowed mine to remain as it originally stood. Piso 

 mentions the root of the jurepeba plant as being efficacious in 

 curing the bites of snakes. Is this the jurubeba ? If so, it is 

 surprising that it should not now be used for this purpose. 

 The jurubeba is to be found in almost all situations ; a small 

 shrub which yields a fruit resembling the potatoe apple. A 

 decoction of the root is taken frequently at the present day 

 for coughs and colds. 



Piso likewise speaks of the caatia, or caiatia, or caacica 

 plant, which, he says, has deservedly obtained the name of 

 the kerva de cobras ; his description of it at p. 102, agrees in 

 some respects with that of the herva cobreira, of which I have 

 spoken at Chapter XII. ; but it can scarcely be the same, for 

 mine would have been more plentiful if it had been indi- 

 genous. 



