Page talk:Popular medicine, customs and superstitions of the Rio Grande, John G. Bourke, 1894.pdf/4

Tracking down the three species used in traditional cancer treatment could be interesting. According to [1], the samples sent to the museum were:

• w:Smilax sp. = "Colcomicati." Folkloric use of Smilax glabra [2] and Smilax officinalis [3] in cancer has been reported.
• Armadillo shell. Excluded for obvious reasons.
• Maijuau (struck through) Marijuan. Excluded because it is mentioned elsewhere by name.
• Clepa.
• Oreja de Raton. Mentioned elsewhere by name.
• Selaginella Lepidophylla = Flor de Pena. Mentioned elsewhere by name.
• Amarantaceae = Verbena.
• Monarda Sp. = Pelco. or Pelio.

Now, there's a right way to figure out what "Yerba Gonzalez" and "Yerba Cancer" might be, by finding a full version of [4]. But the third one Bourke forgot... that may take some doing. Though in another publication Bourke gives a third plant with the other two as "Guayuli" [5] (but that's not for cancer!) Wnt (talk) 04:49, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

Hmmm... except he donated more samples than these - including Guayuli [6]. The full results (I think) are available by [7]. Wnt (talk) 05:05, 8 July 2012 (UTC)