i miine grasses and underbrush which almost hide it es sight, 
_ The unpracticed eye might pass; by specimens of this plant a 
hundred times without observing them. I once took some of 
_ this Comandra to the man whom I have described as my second- 
best informant, yet doubting whether he knew anything of such 
a rare and, to me, useless plant. Without taking it into his hand 
or honoring it with more than a glance, he named it. I expressed 
some doubts. He replied, “I know it well. It has a blue root.” 
Feeling now positive he was mistaken, I exhibited the root, which 
was a distinct white. Without answering he took the specimen — 
_ out of my hand, scraped the root with his thumb nail, handed it 
back to me and told me to observe it fora moment. To my sur- — 
prise the denuded root changed from white to a delicate cerulean 
tint. 
as 
sA 
— 
È! 
— On another occasion I met the same Indian carrying, in the 
e fold of his blanket, some specimens of Pectis angustifolia, a plant 
which on the dry mesas of New Mexico does not attain a height ~ 
Bo of more than two or three inches, but it has a delightful odor, — 
‘> like that of lemon verbena, and its infusion is used by the Nava- 
a josasa carminative. Their attention has therefore been drawn _ 
to it. The name given for the plant was so peculiar, signifying “a — = 
2 breeze blowing through a rock,” éseganilchee, that I made no delay ~ 
in getting an explanation from him. He-led me to the top of a — 
_ desert mesa where the plant grew fresh. Here he picked up a ~ 
Piece of sandstone about a foot square and three inches thick, and 
_ held it up to yes saying, “ Do you smell anything on = 
a to my nostrils. The agreeable odor was at once distinctly 
Perceptible through the rock. Some minutes later it could be 
detected in all parts of the fragment ; but at first it was perceived 
at a point directly opposite to the point of application. Later he 
betlormed the experiment on a large stone nearly two feet thick; 
the results were the same as with the smaller stone, but more 
€, hence the name. It is possible similar results inci be 
obtained with other odoriferous substances. 
Lele are named from supposed pe virtues, 
