OBSERVATIONS ON THE CUICHUNCHULLI. 
139 
the former state of his children, and of the results that had 
been effected in each of them by that remedy: 
"I have two children, one a son 22 years of age, the other 
a daughter, 23. Both in their childhood enjoyed perfect 
health, but, before they reached the age of puberty, they were 
each most unfortunately seized with the lazarine malady. The 
disorder attacked the boy with more violence; for, in addition 
to dark coloured patches, enlargement of the ears, disfigura- 
tion of the features, eyebrows prominent and destitute of hair, 
nasal tone of the voice, and loss of the sense of touch, that 
were observed in them both, the lad had entirely lost the use 
of his legs, which were swelled to a monstrous degree, and 
covered with ulceration; and the fingers of his hands became 
contracted. In short, he was in so crippled a state that he 
could not stir a step by himself, and required the help of two 
servants to support him to walk about the house. The girl 
was not so grievously affected; but her menstruation was sup- 
pressed. When they had continued for a long time in this 
deplorable condition, and had taken a thousand drugs without 
any benefit, the account that had been published concerning 
the Cuichunchulli came to my knowledge, and I immediately 
administered to them the plant that grows here according to 
the directions therein given; the dose was afterwards tripled, 
but to no sort of purpose. Being then convinced that the 
plant of this neighbourhood was quite ineffective, I sent to re- 
quest some of that of Canar, a town the climate of which is 
cold; but neither from this was any good effect obtained. 
During that period of trials that proved fruitless I received a 
letter from a friend to whom I had forwarded some of the 
Cuichunchulli of this place, in which he informed me that the 
plant I had sent to him did not possess the properties which 
had been attributed to it, and that he had reason to believe 
that the plant that was sent to Maracaybo must have come 
from the Province of Chimborazo. In consequence of this 
intimation, I wrote to another friend in Riobamba, begging 
him to send me some of the Cuichunchulli growing there. He 
sent it accordingly, and I at once gave it to my children, with 
