=4.= This interesting passage lets in considerable light on the claims and practices of the nagualists. Not the least important item is that of their use of the intoxicant, _peyotl_, a decoction of which it appears played a prominent part in their ceremonies. This is the native Nahuatl name of a certain plant, having a white, tuberous root, which is the part employed. It is mentioned as “pellote” or “peyote” in the _Farmacopea Mexicana_ as a popular remedy, but its botanical name is not added. According to Paso y Troncoso, it is one of the Compositæ, a species of the genus _Cacalia_.[7-*] It is referred to in several passages by Father Sahagun, who says that it grows in southern Mexico, and that the Aztecs derived their knowledge of it from the older “Chichimecs.” It was used as an intoxicant. “Those who eat or drink of this _peyotl_ see visions, which are sometimes frightful and sometimes ludicrous. The intoxication it causes lasts several days. The Chichimecs believed that it gave them courage in time of danger and diminished the pangs of hunger and thirst.”[7-†] Its use was continued until a late date, and very probably has not yet died out. Its composition and method of preparation are given in a list of beverages prohibited by the Spanish authorities in the year 1784, as follows: “_Peyote_: Made from a species of vinagrilla, about the size of a billiard ball, which grows in dry and sterile soil. The natives chew it, and throw it into a wooden mortar, where it is left to ferment, some leaves of tobacco being added to give it pungency. They consume it in this form, sometimes with slices of _peyote_ itself, in their most solemn festivities, although it dulls the intellect and induces gloomy and hurtful visions (sombras muy funestas).”[7-‡] The _peyotl_ was not the only herb prized as a means of casting the soul into the condition of hypostatic union with divinity. We have abundant evidence that long after the conquest the seeds of the plant called in Nahuatl the _ololiuhqui_ were in high esteem for this purpose. In the Confessionary of Father Bartholomé de Alva the priest is supposed to inquire and learn as follows: “_Question._ Hast thou loved God above all things? Hast thou loved any created thing, adoring it, looking upon it as God, and worshiping it? “_Answer._ I have loved God with all my heart; but sometimes I have believed in dreams, and also I have believed in the sacred herbs, the _peyotl_, and the _ololiuhqui_; and in other such things (_onicneltocac in temictli, in xiuhtzintli, in peyotl, in ololiuhqui, yhuan in occequitlamantli_).”[8-*]