In case of a rheumatic swelling of a joint,—the knee, for instance,—or some tumefaction in any of the glands, it is taken for granted, that, whatever other remedy be applied, the envelope for the limb or part affected must be of a medicinal colour, and consist of black wool, or something of a dark woollen texture. In short, so far has this general idea concerning the antiphlogistic nature of black been carried, that few natives dispute its accuracy: nor are we prepared to say that it may not have some foundation in fact and observation (though often laughed at by strangers as a puerile prejudice); for it is well known to scientific men, that the free radiation of heat is much influenced by the differences of colour in the radiating surfaces of bodies. With respect to food and drink, the division into cold and hot is never overlooked. A “_traguito_,” or little dram of Italia, a colourless brandy made on the coast, the old men consider as _fresco_, or cooling, when taken immediately after dinner; and when they take the “_traguito_,” which they do not every day, it will probably facilitate the digestion of the greasy food which they are commonly accustomed to eat, and in this manner deserve the name of a _fresco_. But, again, though at their entertainments they allow wine to be a safe and good drink after the “_helados_,” or ices, which they like exceedingly, still they use wine sparingly on other occasions, as they consider it too heating for general use. There are fruits after which the natives do not think it safe to drink either wine or spirits; of this sort is the short plantain, called “platano de guinea,” after which a mouthful of spirits would be considered quite poisonous. Foreigners do not seem to attend to this strict rule observed by the natives; nor is the violation of it, as far as we know, attended with any serious consequence to them. Various kinds of fruit and vegetable juices, which are considered cool in their qualities, are not rarely most heating in their effects, according to the condition of the system when taken. The melon is in reputation for its cooling nature; but, though the impression made by it on our alimentary organs is at first very refreshing, the muleteer who journeys from the Cordillera to the coast, and has but once in his lifetime been attacked with a gastric tertian, in consequence of cooling his parched fauces by eating of the melon, can give a lively account of the internal heat, agitation, and oppression experienced by him on the occasion. There is no cooling fruit safer than the granadilla, which is most grateful and refreshing to the feverish patient, or thirsty traveller in the scorched and rock-bound ravines and narrow valleys of the interior, where this fruit is often abundant, as it is also on the coast in its proper season.