130 



THE ADVENTURES OF 



these it breaks up awkwardly. If we could have got near 

 them, you would have seen them plucking berries and toss- 

 ing them in the air, so as to catch them in their immense 

 jaws." 



" What good is its great mouth ?" 



" I can't say ; for the naturalists, who have been as much 

 puzzled as you are by this peculiarity, have been unable to 

 explain it." 



" Then I am more learned than they are," said 1'Encue- 

 rado, with a magisterial air. 



" Do you know, then, why toucans have such exaggerated 

 beaks?" 



" Because they have been made by a wise Creator," re- 

 plied the Indian. 



" No doubt about that," remarked Sumichrast, smiling ; 

 " but the point is, why they were made so." 



" Because their beak, calcined and reduced to powder, is 

 the only efficacious remedy for epilepsy. Toucans are very 

 scarce birds, and if their beaks were no larger than those of 

 other birds of their size, this medicine could never be ob- 

 tained in sufficient quantities." 



L'Encuerado's explanation was perhaps as good as our 

 uncertainty. I remember that the Indians do, in fact, make 

 a great mystery of a powder against epilepsy, and that a 

 toucan's head may often be noticed hanging up to the wall 

 of a hut, as a preservative against J3t. Vitus' dance. 



Instead of resting, Lucien prowled about in every direc- 

 tion, breaking away bark, and lifting stones with all the 

 ardor of a neophyte in entomology. Since meeting w 7 ith 

 the coral-serpent, he took precautions which gave me confi- 

 dence ; for it is quite uncertain how a reptile or any other 

 creature may behave when it is disturbed. The child sud- 

 denly called out to me ; he had just discovered a nest of 

 ecolopendrce, commonly called centipedes, and he was afraid 



