fW^ 



70 



THE MUTAMBA TREE. 



would not be satisfied until she applied the bark 

 of the mutamba tree to my stomach ; or rather 

 the application was made just below the ribs, 

 which she said was to prevent dureza; this she 



en maniere d'etoile, qui font comme un cul de lampe arrondi 

 avec un col plus resserre' et termini par I 'extremity des feujttes 

 qui se renversent en dehors,. Le fond du fieuron est garni et 

 comme renferme entre cinq petitesfoeuilles. C'est du centre de 

 ces Jleurs que Von voit sortir le fruit ; ordinairement il est de 

 la grosseur d'une noix commune d Europe." He says again 

 (after speaking of its purgative quality, which it likewise 

 possesses with that of provoking vomiting), alluding to the 

 separation of each seed into two parts, " Lorsquelle est recente, 

 elle se partage naturellement en deux parties, entre lesquelles 

 on trouve une petite pellicule a qui on attrib'ue une quallte de 

 purger plus violemment qua tout le reste de la noix." My old 

 woman said, that the pinham should not be given, unless the 

 person who prepared it was well acquainted with it, because 

 a certain part of the seed was dangerous ; but she would not 

 show me where the dangerous substance was to be found. 

 Labat continues, saying that four or five of the seeds are a 

 proper dose as a purge, " mais quand on en prend une plus 

 grande quantite, on s'expose d des vomissemens cruels et a des 

 evacuations trop grandes." He mentions a fact which is 

 curious. In speaking of Europeans having oftentimes eaten 

 of this nut without being acquainted with its properties, he 

 says, "une regie gen&ale qu'il faut observer a Vegard des 

 fruits qu'on ne connoit point est de riy point toucher a mains 

 qit'on ne voye qu'ils ont e~te bequetez par les oiseaux." — Nouveau 

 Voyage, torn. hi. p. 300, 301. and 302. 



In Piso, p. 83. an account will be found of the Munduy- 

 guacu, Lusitanis Pinhoes do Brasil, ejusque usu in mecfaciua. 



1 have perhaps quoted too copiously in writing an account 

 of those plants which Labat has described, but I must have 

 followed so nearly what he has said, that my description might 



