THE A M A Z O N - S T O N E .
395
medicine is v e r y considerable. W e see b y t h e w o r k s o f Clusius, that at t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e Conquista, E u r o p e obtained this salutary m e d i c a m e n t from t h e M e x i c a n coast o f H o n d u r a s and t h e p o r t o f G u a y a q u i l . T h e trade in zarza is n o w m o r e active in t h o s e p o r t s which have interior c o m m u n i c a t i o n s with t h e O r i n o c o , t h e Rio N e g r o , and t h e Amazon. T h e trials made i n several botanical gardens o f E u r o p e p r o v e that t h e Smilax glauca o f V i r g i n i a , which it is p r e t e n d e d is t h e S. sarsaparilla o f L i n n æ u s , m a y b e cultivated in t h e o p e n air, wherever t h e mean w i n t e r temperature rises above six o r seven degrees o f t h e c e n t i g r a d e therm o m e t e r * ; b u t t h o s e species that possess t h e m o s t active virtues b e l o n g exclusively t o t h e torrid z o n e , and require a m u c h higher degree o f heat. I n reading t h e w o r k s o f C l u sius, it c a n scarcely b e c o n c e i v e d w h y o u r writers o n t h e M a t e r i a M e d i c a persist in considering a plant o f t h e U n i t e d States as t h e m o s t ancient t y p e o f the officinal species o f t h e g e n u s smilax. W e found i n t h e possession o f t h e I n d i a n s o f t h e Rio N e g r o some o f those green stones, k n o w n b y t h e name o f “ A m a z o n stones,” because t h e natives p r e t e n d , according t o an ancient tradition, that they c o m e from t h e c o u n t r y “of t h e w o m e n w i t h o u t husbands (Cougnantainsecouima), or women living alone (Aikeambenano†).” We w e r e told at San Carlos, and in t h e n e i g h b o u r i n g villages, that t h e sources o f t h e O r i n o c o , which w e f o u n d east o f t h e Esmeralda, a n d in t h e missions o f t h e C a r o n y a n d at A n g o s t u r a , that t h e sources o f t h e Rio B r a n c o are t h e native spots o f t h e green stones. T h e s e statements confirm t h e r e p o r t o f an o l d soldier o f t h e * T h e winter temperature at London and Paris is 4 2 ° and 3'7°; at Montpelier, 6.7°; at Rome, 7.7°. In that part of Mexico, and the Terra Firma, where we saw the most active species of the sarsaparilla growing, (that which supplies the trade of the Spanish and Portuguese colonies) the temperature is from twenty to twenty-six degrees. The roots of another family of monocotyledons (of some cyperaceæ) possess also diaphoretic and resolvent properties, The Carex arenaria, the C. hirta, &c. furnish the German sarsaparilla of druggists. According to Clusius, Europe received the first sarsaparilla from Yucatan, and the island of Puna, opposite Guayaquil. † This word is of the Tamanac language; these women are the sole Donne of the Italian missionaries.