GAMELEIRA PRETA. 



71 



descib cd as a hardness immediately under the 

 lower rib of each side, which sometimes was 

 produced by the ague, and which, if precautions 

 were not taken in time, ended in dropsy. I did 

 not suffer her to continue the mutamba for many 

 days, for I found that I was well, and wanted 

 no more nostrums. The mutamba is a small 

 tree, having a straight stem ; it grows to the 

 height of eighteen or twenty feet, and to the 

 diameter of twelve or eighteen inches. The 

 bark is easily torn off, and is extremely glu- 

 tinous. 



The Gameleira preta (black), so called from 

 the dark colour of its bark, is a large tree which 

 grows in low marshy grounds ; the stem con- 

 tains a white juice, which is much sought for 

 as a medicine in all eruptive complaints and in 

 dropsy ; it is likewise given inwardly. The 

 juice is obtained by making an incision in the 

 stem, and leaving a vessel into which the liquid 

 may drop. There is another species of the same 

 tree, which is distinguished by the name of 

 white gameleira, and this is useless. 



I was obliged in September to forsake my 

 house for three days, from a most unexpected 



have been supposed to have had his for its basis. Perhaps 

 these plants need not have been described at all, but to some 

 readers a confirmation of what other travellers have said may 

 afford satisfaction. 



F 4> 



