TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 58 



stem and the bark of each species, told us not 

 only the name current in the country, but also 

 stated the use, the time of flowering and the kind 

 of fruit. An uninterrupted intercourse with na- 

 ture, sharpens the senses of these uneducated 

 people to such a correct notion of natural dis- 

 tinctions, that they mostly excel, in this respect, 

 the learned European, who has fewer opportunities 

 of contemplating nature. The sertanejo (a coun- 

 tryman) of S. Paulo distinguishes several kindred 

 forms of laurel trees, which he intends to fell for 

 domestic purposes, on a comparison of their 

 leaves, with a certainty that would do honour 

 to a botanist. He is equally distinguished by an 

 accurate acquaintance with the medical plants 

 of his country. The female inhabitants of this 

 province in particular, have the reputation of 

 great skill in the practice of the medical profes- 

 sion. Almost in all the houses, one or other 

 of the women takes upon her the office of cura- 

 deira, which is not disputed with her by any real 

 physicians or surgeons, for at the time that we 

 travelled through the capitania of S. Paulo, there 

 was no regular physician either in the city or 

 in the country. It is an error, to suppose that 

 this practical knowledge of the medical virtues 

 of natural substances, has chiefly descended to 

 the present inhabitants, by tradition, from the 

 American aborigines. A long intercourse with 

 the Indians has convinced us, that the indolence 



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