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NARCOTICS AND STIMULANTS 455
ridiculous certainly less dangerous to the patientthan
those of the Sangrados, Purgons, Macrotons,
etc., portrayed by Lesage and Moliere. If, to
procure for himself fleeting sensual pleasures, the
Indian's "untutored mind' leads him to
poor
sometimes partake of substances which are either
hurtful in themselves or become so when indulged
in to excess, examples of similar hallucination are
not wanting even among peoples that boast of their
high degree
of civilisation.
This does not profess to be a treatise on all
known South American narcotics, or I should have
to speak of a vast number more, such as (for instance)
the numerous plants used for stupefying fish. Some
of these, but especially the Timbo-ac/i (Paullinia
pinnata), are said to be also ingredients in the slow
poisoning which some Amazonian nations are
and on the Pacific side of
accused of practising ;
the Andes the same is affirmed of the Yuca-raton,
which is the thick soft white root of a Leguminous
tree (Gliricidia sp.) frequent in the plain of Guayaquil.
The Curare also would require a chapter to
itself, and must be reserved for another occasion.