A YOUNG NATURALIST. 193 



and the petals, before they are full-blown, assume the form 

 of a cross, and afterwards that of a splendid star. The In- 

 dian did not fail to remind us that an infusion of the glit- 

 tering leaves of the yoloxochitl is a remedy against diar- 

 rhoea, and that its flowers, as their shape indicates, cure pal- 

 pitation of the heart. A little farther on we recognized a 

 nutmeg-tree, a shrub about ten feet in height, and covered 

 with half -formed fruit. The nutmeg is not cultivated in 

 Mexico, and the tree that produces it is rather rare. The 

 Indians, however, use an enormous quantity of the Moluc- 

 ca nutmegs, either as a remedy or as a condiment — nut- 

 megs, camphor, and asaf oetida being the principal Indian 

 remedies. I next pointed out to my young companion a 

 plant named the blue herb, the leaves of which stain the 

 water in. which they are soaked with a lovely azure tinge. 

 In Mexico a variety of this vegetable is cultivated, in order 

 to extract from it the coloring matter commonly known un- 

 der the name of indigo, * 



" But how do they manage," asked Lucien, " to obtain 

 from a plant those dark-blue stones that I have seen sold 

 in the market?" 



u About the month of March," I answered, " are gather- 

 ed the fresh leaves of the indigo-plant, which is one of the 

 leguminous family, and pound them in mortars made out 

 of the trunks of trees. The sap which results from these 

 leaves, when subjected to a heavy pressure, is of a greenish 

 tinge, and sometimes even colorless ; it does not become 

 blue until after fermentation in the open air. The Indians 

 then boil it in an immense copper, and, the water evapora- 

 ting, the indigo is left in the form of a soft and gelatinous 

 paste, which is subsequently dried in the sun." 



On approaching the foot of the mountain, I found that it 

 would be impossible for us to climb it the next day, the 

 slope being too steep. I sat down on the trunk of a fallen 



9 



