286 



PRODUCTIONS. 



syphilitide, ideo mercurio vegetal sl quibusdam dicitur. Cortex interior 

 et omnes partes herbaceas amaritudine nauseosa, fauces vellicante, pol- 

 lent. Dosi parva resolvit, majore exttirbat alvum et urinam ciet, abortum 

 movet, venerium a morsu serpentum excutit ; nimia dosi tanquam vene- 

 num acre agit. De modo, quo bauriri solet, conferas Martium, in Buchner 

 Eepertor Pharm. XXXI, 379. Apud nonullas Indorum gentes in regions 

 Amazonica habgtantes ejus extractum in venenum sagittarum ingre- 

 ditur." 



Its virtue in rheumatic affections was mucb extolled ; and, as I was 

 suffering from pains in the teeth and shoulders, I determined to try its 

 efficacy ; but, understanding that its effects were powerful, and made a 

 man feel as if a bucket of cold water were suddenly poured down his 

 back, I begged my kind hostess, Donna Leocadia, to make the decoction 

 weak. Finding no effects from the first teacupful, I took another ; but 

 either I was a peculiar patient, or we had not got hold of the proper 

 root. I felt nothing but a very sensible coldness of the teeth and tip of 

 the tongue. Next morning I took a stronger decoction, but with no 

 other effect. I think it operated upon the liver, causing an increased 

 secretion of bile. I brought home the leaves and root. 



The root of the murapuama, a bush destitute of leaves, is used as an 

 analeptic remedy, giving force and tone to the nerves. 



A little plant called douradinha, with a yellow flower something like 

 our dandelion, that grows in the streets at Barra, is a powerful emetic. 



A clear and good-burning oil is made from the Brazil nut ; also from 

 the nut of the andiroba, which seems a sort of bastard Brazil nut, bear- 

 ing the same relation to it that our horse-chestnut does to the edible 

 chestnut. Both these oils, as also the oil made from turtle-eggs, are 

 used to adulterate the copaiba. The trader has to be on the alert that 

 be is not deceived by these adulterations. Another very pretty oil or 

 resin is called tamacuare ; its virtues are much celebrated for the cure 

 of cutaneous affections. 



The banks of the rivers and inland lakes abound with wild rice, 

 which feeds a vast number of water-fowl ; it is said to be edible. 



The Huimba of Peru — a sort of wild cotton, with a delicate and glossy 

 fibre, like silk, and called in Brazil sumauma — abounds in the province. 

 It grows in balls on a very large tree, which is nearly leafless ; it is so 

 light and delicate that it would be necessary to strip a number of these 

 large trees to get an arroba of it. It is used in Guayaquil to stuff 

 mattresses. I brought home several large baskets of it. Some silk 

 manufacturers in France, to whom Mr. Clay, our charge d'affaires at 

 Lima, sent specimens, thought that, mixed with silk, it would make a 



