[2] “Teo-nanacatl [has] ... the same properties as _ololiuhqui_ or _peyote_, since when eaten or drunk, they intoxicate those who partake of them, depriving them of their senses, and making them believe a thousand absurdities” (_Manual de Ministros_; in Safford, _An Aztec Narcotic_, 309-10). [3] “Peyote of Zacatecas, or soft and lanuginous root. The root is of nearly medium size, sending forth no branches nor leaves above ground, but with a certain wooliness adhering to it, on which account it could not be aptly figured by me” (_De Historia Plantarum_, 3:70; in Safford, _An Aztec Narcotic_, 295. See also Rouhier, _Monographie du Peyotl_, 43-44). [4] “Nearby [the leader] was placed a tray filled with peyote, which is a diabolical root [raiz diabolica] that is ground up and drunk by them so that they may not become weakened by the exhausting efforts of so long a function” (Ortega, _Historia del Nayarit_; in Safford, _An Aztec Narcotic_, 295). [5] Those interested in the taxonomic problem should consult the numerous botanical references in the bibliography. Britton and Rose, in their four volume work on the Cactaceae classify peyote as _Lophophora williamsii_, which will be followed in the present study. [6] The most succinct and complete description of the plant is found in Britton and Rose, _The Cactaceae_, 83-84. Peyote’s range is comprehended within an irregularly-shaped lozenge from Deming, New Mexico, to Corpus Christi, Texas, to Puebla, Sombrerete, Zacatecas, and back to Deming. That is, the valley of the Rio Grande (north), Tamaulipecan Mountains (east), the watershed of the affluents of the right bank of the Rio Grande de Santiago and Rio de Mezquital (south), and the foothills of the Sierra Madre, the Sierra de Durango and the Sierra del Nayarit (west). It prefers the calcareous and argillaceous soils of the Cretaceous formation in the north of this region. [7] In Safford, _Aztec Narcotic_, 295; see also _Narcotic Plants_, 401. [8] Parsons, _Taos Pueblo_, 63. [9] The best histological account is in Rouhier, _Monographie_, 34-42; the work of Dr. Helia Bravo, _Nota acerca de la Histología_, is more recent. Richard Schultes at Harvard has also pursued histological studies. It is noteworthy that the Indians ordinarily take only the upper portion of the plant, which contains a larger proportion of the alkaloids according to Rouhier. [10] Rouhier, _op. cit._, 25. I am persuaded that many such insights would be afforded us in ethnography if we had a less cavalier attitude toward native science and history: for after all even our own science grows from criticism of traditional notions.