HISTORY OF MEXICO. 247 



Monardes, a Sevillian phyfician, on the medicinal arti- 

 cles, which ufed to be brought from America to Europe. 



The Mexican phyficians made ufe of infufions, de- 

 coctions, ointments, and oils, and all thofe things were 

 fold at market, as Cortes and Bernal Diaz, both eye- 

 witneffes, affirm. The moft common oils were thofe of 

 ule, or elaftic gum, Tlapatl, a tree fimilar to the fig, 

 Chilli, or great pepper, Chian, and Ocotl, a fpecies of 

 pine. The lafl they obtained by diftillation, the others 

 by decoction. That of Chian was more ufed by painters 

 than phyficians. 



They extracted from the Huitziloxitl, as we have al- 

 ready mentioned, thofe two forts of balfam defcribed by 

 Pliny and other ancient naturalifts, that is, the opobalfam, 

 or balfam diftilled from the tree, and the xylobalfam ob- 

 tained by decoction of the branches. From the bark of 

 the Huaconex, foaked four days continually in water, 

 they extracted another liquor equal to balfam. From 

 the plant called by the Spaniards maripenda, (a name 

 taken it appears from the language of the Tarafcas) they 

 obtained alfo a liquor equal to balfam, as much in its 

 odour as wonderful effects, by putting the tender ftones 

 of the plant, together with the fruit, to boil in water, 

 until the water became as thick as muft. In the fame 

 manner they obtained many other valuable oils and li- 

 quors, namely, that of liquid amber, and that of the fir. 



Blood-letting, an operation which their phyficians per- 

 formed with great dexterity and fafety with lancets of 

 Itztli, was extremely common among the Mexicans, and 

 other nations of Anahuac. The country people ufed to 

 let themfelves blood as they (till do with the prickles of 

 the maguei, without employing another perfon, or in- 

 terrupting the labour in which they were occupied. 



They 



