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Another source of information that is still very useful for verification and research in the country itself, 

 is the mention of the native name. There are many species that carry in the country the well known 

 name and that the natives know in general very well. For example you already know, after reading my 

 notes the Garambullo, el Tetejo, la Chiotilla ( that I considered synonymous to the Cereus Dumortiehi; 

 later on I found this one close to Queretaro. The Chiotilla is very distinct); the Toconostle, the Pitaya, 

 the Pitahaya, etc. If you ask a native anywhere to show you a Garambullo, he will not hesitate for one 

 instant. Some globular species, also have distinct names. For example if you ask one of the natives to 

 show you the Peyote, he will invariably show you the Anhalonium (Echinocactus) Wüliamsii. He will 

 then show you the Anhalonium prismaticum and he will make you observe that it is a variety of Peyote, 

 but not the real one ( you see in passing, that the natives recognized before you and I, the close 

 resemblance of the Echinocactus Wüliamsii and the Anhalonium). 



However it is mainly in the study of the Opuntia and mostly in the cultivated variety that the indigenous 

 name would be most important. Regretfully they did not have time to disentangle the difficult 

 Synonyms. In the meantime 1 was able to note many native names and was reassured that they always 

 mean the same species or variety. The names of Mazul orMazula (Opuntia stenopetala), Quija 

 (pronounce the J like in German) (Op. Dillenii); Coionostle (Op. Imbricata); Tarajillo 9 Opuntia 

 frutescens); Clavelina (Opuntia triacantha), Duraznillo (Opuntia fulvispina), Toconostle (type of acid 

 fruit like the Cireus of the same name); Alfajayneca (Op. Maxima); canucosa (Op. Crassa?) and among 

 the cultivated species more or less in the vicinity of the Opuntia ficus indica: la Pelona, la Bianca, 

 Amarilla , Mansa, Ceniza, Chavena, Tuna de Castilla, etc. Then the famous Cardona fron San Luis 

 Potosi (new species?), etc.etc. All these names are well known to the natives and it would be importanat 

 to not them and to find their Synonyms in the future. 



It is not that I lacked enthusiasm to establish a general frame, a basic structure, in which some details 

 could be missing, but that could be replaced easily by future explorers and mostly by the native scholars. 



In the first place as I have already mentioned, my medicai duties do not allow me enough freedom to 

 make lengthy and frequent excursions. Then the official Cooperation, that is to say, the facilities that 

 could have been made available to me, by the military authorities, were nearly completely absent. 



It is time that a scientific commission was organized in Paris for the exploration of Mexico. We had 

 great illusions that Mexico should be known as in the past, scholars accompanying Bonaparte made 

 Egypt well known. But this commission was not able to organize themselves. In the expeditionary army 

 they could have found a certain number of studious and sufficiently instructed men to furnish precious 

 materials. However scientific studies are not honored nor are they encouraged in the French Army. The 

 Commission in Paris does not have a Single member that went to Mexico. They were content in sending 

 scholars of 4th or 5th category, who were not part of the army and therefore did not have the facilities to 

 march through the land with military columns; therefore they stayed comfortably in Mexico City or 

 other large cities. 



Botany was represented by a courageous and dignified man, Mr. Bourjaud who was employed in the 

 herbarium in the Garden of Plants in Paris. He admitted that he did not know one word of botany; his 

 specialty was to collect all the plants that he found putting them in a paper folder. He was very good in 



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