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Show 34 BOOK I. H I S T 0 R y 0 F M E X I C o. Arabia; which diftils from a tree of moderate fize that ?t:ows in mounta.·t ns, t h e fir m' t of which is · like an acorn., contrumng th~ 1 d · mucilage within which there ts a finall kernel, nut enve ope m a ' 1 that is ufeful in medicine. Not only thefe two. trees but a~ the others of this clafs, which we cannot here defcnbe, are pccuhar t() warm climates. . The Caragna, and the 'fecmnaca, refins :well ~nown m the apo .. thecaries fuops of Europe, diftil from two Mextcan trees of rather large fize. The trunk of the Caragna (y), is tawny, ~mo~h, fuining, and odorous; and its leaves, though round, not ~tffimtlar to thofe of the olive. The tree of the T ecamaca has large mden ted leaves, and red, ro\ind, a.nd fmall fruit, hanging from the end of the branches. , The Mizquitl or Mezquite, as the Spaniards call it, is a fpecies· of true Acacia; and the gum which diftils from it i:s the true gum arabic, as Hernandez and other learned naturalifts teftify. The Mezquite is a thorny ilirub, whofe branches are m.pft irregularly difpofed; and its leaves fmall, thin, and pinna ted. Its flowers are like thofe of the birch tree. Its fruits· are fweet, eatable fhells, containing a feed, of which anciently the barbarous Cicimecas . made a pafie, which ferved them for bread. Its wood is exceedingly hard and heavy. Thefe trees are as common in Mexico as oaks in J!urope, particularly on hills in temperate countries ( z). Lac, or G omma Laca (as it is called by the Spaniards), runs in li.Jch abundance from a tree like the Mezqu.ite, the branches are covered with it (a). This tree, which is of moderate fi ze, has a· red- {y) The Mexicans gave the Curagna tree, rhe· n11m·c· of T'rahuclilocaquabuiil,. that is~ tree of malignity, not Hahelilocnr as De Boma.re writes it; bc<;:n~fe they fuper!litiouily believed it to be feared 'by evi~ fpiri ts, and a powerful prcfervative againft force!')'. Tho name Tecam~~ea is taken from the Tecomac lhiyac of the Mexicans. (z) There is in Michuncan a fpecies of Mezquite or Acnci:~. wilhout the reafi t·hOFn, and with finer leaves; but in every thing elfe like the other •. (a) Oarzi:l deli'Orto, in his hnlory of the fimples of india, m:1intain-s, from· the accoun~ of. ~erne perfons expe rienced in thefe countrit!s, that Lac is produced by ant s. This opm!<m has been adopt ed by many au~hors ; and Bomnrc does him the hoROllT to believe die faa fully dcmonfirated; but let us examine how far this is from truth . Firll, Thefe boafied ~emonfirations arc but equivocal proofs and fallacious conjeaures, which any one will lie convmced of, who reada the above authors. Second, Of nil the naturnlifh who write of Lac, no one has ever fcen it on the tree, but Hernandez • and this learned and tlnc:ere ••ttaor ·affirms, without the fll)allcft diffidence, that the Lac ia a gum difii"od (lOin the tree • • H l S T 0 R Y 0 F ~ E X I C Q. ~5. .red-coloured trun,k, and is very common in the provinces of the Co- BOOK r. · huixcas and Tlahuica. ~ . Dragon's blood runs from a large tree whofe leaves are broad an~ angular. . It grows in the mountains of <l.!:!auhchinanco, and in thofc: of the Cohuixca' s (b). · The E}laflic Gum, cal~ed by the Mexicans Olin or 01/i, and by the. Sp:mards of that kmgdom, Ule, difiils from the Olquahuitl, wlu~h ts a tree of moderate fize ; the trunk of which is finooth and yellowj{h, the leaves pretty large, the flowers white, and the fr~it yellow and rather rouncl, but angular ; within which there are kernels as large as filberds~ and white, but covered with a yellowilh pellicle. The kernel has a bttter tafte, and the fruit always graws attached to ) the bark of the tree. When the trunk is cut, the UJe which diftils from it is white, liquid, .and vifcous; then it becomes yellow, and la~ly of a leaden colour though rather blacker, which it always re-tams. Thofe who gather it can model it to any form according to the ufe they put it to. The Mexicans made their foot-balls of this gum, which, though heavy, rebound n~ore than thofe filled with air. At prefent, befide$ other ufes to wluch they apply it, they varnilh their hats, their boots, cloaks, and great coats with it, in the fame way as wax is ufed in Europe,. w~ich makes them all water proof: from Ule, when rendered hqUid by fire, they extraCt a medicinal oil. This tree grow~ in hot. countries fuch as Ihualapan and Mecatlan, and is common m the kmgdom of Guatemala (c). The Q£auhxiotl, is a ~re~ which the Mexicans calt, Tzinacancuitla•quahuitl, and confutes the other opinion. fh1 ~dl~ , The c~untry where L.ac nbounds, is the fertile provi nce of the T lahuixchas, ~h~ t c .111 the fruits profper furprtfin ~ly; nnd are thence carried in g1·eat quanti t1es to the c.tpltal •. But fuch a quantity of frutt could not be gathered if th ere were fo many mi)liona of ants ~n that lnnd as would be neceffitry to produce fu ch nn exceffive quantity of L nc, the t r<es bcmg very nume1·ous, and nlm?ll all ~f them full of It, Fourthly, If the Lac is the lltbour of ants, why do they ~ roduce 1t only In thefe trees, and not in any other lpeci es ? &c. Lac was called by the Mextcans, Bat's Dung, from fome analogy which they difcovercd between them. (o) The Mexicans call dragon's blood Ezpatll, which fi gnifies Llood.coloured medicament; and the tree Ezfjuahuitl, that is blood-coloured t ree. There is another tree of the farn.: name in the mou~tains of ~auhnahuac, which is fomething fimil ar, but its leaves are ~ound and rough, 1ta bark tiuck1 and its root odorous , (t" ) In Mtcl\u~can ther~ is a tree, called by the Tarafcns Taralzlntj'ln, of the !ilrne fpecies ae the Olquahuttl; l>ut 1ts le11ves are dift"erent. F 2 middling |