91 



Wfyz Crca£ur« of 23otaiti?. 



[aeis 



The roots of other species are used in 

 the United States for the same purposes, 

 as A. hastaia auAA.tomentosa ; and several 

 kinds are employed in Brazil for their 

 stimulant properties. Many of these 

 plants, besides those above mentioned, are 

 said to be useful in effecting the cure of 

 snake bites, not only in tropical America, 

 but also in the "West Indies, Hindostan, 

 and Egypt. It is stated that the Egyptian 

 jugglers use some of these plants to 

 stupify the snakes before they handle 

 them ; and Jacquin relates that the juice 

 of the root of A. aaguicida, if introduced 

 into the mouth of a serpent, so stupifies 

 it, that it may be handled with impunity. 

 If the reptile be compelled to swallow a 

 few drops, it perishes in .convulsions ; 

 hence it is perhaps, on' homoeopathic 

 principles, that the root is affirmed to be 

 an antidote to snake bites. A. bractcata 

 and A. indica are both used for similar 

 purposes in India, so that there is the 

 concurrent testimony of the natives of 

 different quarters of the globe as to the 

 peculiar property of these plants. The 

 two kinds just named are bitter plants, 

 used as purgatives and vermifuges, and 

 for other purposes in India. 



In Central America one or more plants, 

 called Guaco by the natives, are held in liiuii 

 esteem for the cure of snake bites. It is 

 conjectured, with much probability, that 

 the Guaco is some species of Aristolochia. 

 So satisfied are the natives of Peru, Central 

 America, and Mexico of its extraordinary 

 medicinal powers and specific virtues in 

 cases of snake bite, that every Indian or 

 Negro who has to traverse the country, in- 

 variably has a supply of this friendly plant 

 in a dry or prepared state, to meet any 

 accident that may befall him, by inadver- 

 tently placing his foot upon one of these 

 dreaded and deadly foes of mankind. Mr. 

 Temple, to whose account of this plant, 

 published in the Journal of the Society of 

 Art* for the year 1855, we are indebted in 

 drawing up this notice, states that he em- 

 ployed the tincture in four cases of snake 

 bite with complete success. He also gives 

 a strange account of the way in which 

 the Guaco is reported to have been first 

 discovered, the substance of which is as 

 follows :— A traveller passing through a 

 forest observed two formidable snakes en- 

 gaged in deadly encounter ; after a short 

 time one was severely bitten and fled from 

 ! the scene of conflict, until it reached a 

 i creeping plant, of the leaves of which it 

 ; partook with greediness — that plant was 

 i the Guaco. He secured the reptile, and 

 brought away the plant the leaves of which 

 it had eaten. The snake, although bitten 

 by one of a most deadly species, quite re- 

 covered. Another report, as probable as the 

 other, is that snakes have been observed 

 carefully to avoid localities where the plant 

 grows. Many persons are so firmly per- 

 suaded that the snake will not approach 

 the Guaco, that when travelling in the 

 bush, they carry a small piece of the root 

 of the plant in their pocket. So then, this 

 ■wonderful plant prevents the access of 



snakes, stupefies them, and kills them if 

 | they do come, and cures them if bitten by 

 '■ a fellow snake, and likewise cures human 

 beings bitten by these venomous reptile-. 

 j There can be no doubt of the partial truth 

 of some of these statements, and hence, 

 not only the botanical history, but the 

 medical properties of Guaco, demand accu- 

 rate investigation. 



Aristolochia gigantea. 



Several different kinds of Aristolochia 

 are cultivated in hot-houses for the singu- 

 ; larity, and in some cases for the handsome 

 ! appearance, of their flowers, albeit their 

 I colour is usually of a dingy hue. The 

 j flowers of A. glauca act as a sort of fly-trap : 

 the flowers are bent in the middle, and 

 lined with hairs pointed downwards, so 

 that ingress is easy but escape impossible 

 to the unlucky insect, which thus, it may 

 be unconsciously, aids in the ripening of 

 the seed. A. Sipho, a native of the Alle- 

 ghany mountains, is cultivated as a climb- 

 ing plant, out of doors, for the sake of its 

 large, heart-shaped leaves ; the flower is 

 curved like a siphon, hence its name ; it has 

 also received the name of Pipe-vine, from 

 a resemblance in the form of the flowers 

 to that of a tobacco-pipe. [M. T. MJ 



AE.ISTOTELIA. A genus of the natural 

 family Tiliacece. There are four species 

 known : shrubs or small trees with opposite 

 or ternate stalked leaves, which vary much 

 in size and form. The flowers are small 

 and white, arranged in axillary fascicles 

 or in racemes ; the berries roundish, vary- 

 ing in colour from pink to black, and in size 

 from that of a small pea to a cherry. The 

 wood of A. Macqui, a native of Chili, is 

 used for making musical instruments, its 

 tough barkformirg the strings. Theberries 

 are acid but eatable, and a wine is made 

 from them by the Chilians which is given 

 in malignant fever. ' It was employed by 

 Dombey in Chili during the plague of 1782, 

 with boasted success.' Two species are 

 found in N. Zealand : the berries of A 



