by many Missionaries and Spaniards, who often purchase the teeth of these animals at a high price. I have known Spaniards who thought themselves secure from the bites of serpents when they had a bit of deer's skin about their body. There are persons who rub their feet and hands with the juice of a radish, and believe themselves fortified against poisons. I should not take upon me to despise these safeguards, because they are approved by the experience of the Americans; but it is the part of a prudent person never to place such entire confidence in them as to lay aside caution, and lose sight of danger, which, in regard to serpents, lurks where none appears. For this reason I constantly exhorted the Americans to circumspection; when they had to rest in the plain at night or mid-day, to choose a situation free from bushes, reeds, and caverns, and at a distance from the banks of pools and rivers; to take a survey of the spot; to examine the tall grass, decayed trunks, and recesses of shrubs and rocks, before they sat or lay down. The Indians, who neglect these precautions, are constantly liable to the bites of serpents. Throwing themselves carelessly on the ground, they sleep soundly without a fear or a thought about serpents, and are often awakened with a scream by the bite of one. When travelling bare-footed they employ their eyes in watching birds in the air and monkeys in the trees, when they ought, at every step, to examine the dangerous ground they are treading. The Abipones, from being an equestrian people, and more circumspect, seldomer suffer from serpents than the Guaranies, who always walk on foot, and use less caution. In the town of St. Joachim, where the climate is very hot, and the land is surrounded with marshes, rivers, and woods, venomous animals are unusually numerous. Scarce a week passes that some Indians are not bitten by serpents. During the eight years that I spent in this town a vast number of persons were bitten by various serpents, but, with the exception of two youths who were killed by a rattle-snake, not a single individual died: all were healed by the use of one and the same remedy. Now listen attentively whilst I make you acquainted with that celestial, and almost miraculous, medicine, which is as unknown out of Paraguay, as it is useful to the Paraguayrians. It is a very white flower, extremely like a lily in its leaves, stalk, blossom, and scent, except that it is smaller. The Spaniards call it _nard_. It grows in all soils, flourishes at every part of the year, and is neither destroyed by long drought, nor by hoar frost. I never could meet with this flower either in European gardens, or in books treating of flowers, and have found the most scientific herbalists utterly unacquainted with it. After diligently examining every species of nard, I perceived that the Paraguayrian nard could not be referred to any of them. The root of this flower, either dried or fresh, is cut into small pieces and steeped in brandy.