Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/240

228 vation that the bird eats of their leaves, and even spreads the juice of the same on its wings, during contests with its prey. The disputes that have arisen as to what is “the true guaco” are to be attributed mainly to the fact that the names of the American Indians for all natural objects are generic, and their genera not always in coincidence with those of naturalists. Thus any twining plant with a heart- shaped leaf, white and green above and purple beneath, is called by them guaco (R. Spruce, in Howard’s Neueva Quinologia, “Cinchona succirubra,” p. 22, note). What is most commonly recognized in New Granada as guaco, or Vejuco del guaco, would appear to be the Aikanta Guaco of Humboldt and Bonpland (Pl. Equinox., ii. 86, pl. 105, 1809; D. C., Prodr., v. 193), a climbing Composite plant of the tribe Hupatoriacee, affecting moist and shady situa- tions, and having a much-branched and deep-growing rvot, variegated, serrate, opposite leaves, and dull-white flowers, in axillary corymbs, The whole plant emits a disagreeable odour. J. Fauré (Journ. de Pharm., xxii. 291, 1836) obtained from leaves of a Mexican guaco, besides a wax- Jike matter, a substance analogous to tannin, and other bodies, a light-brown bitter resin, guaciz, soluble in alcohol and partly so in water, and stated by Pettenkofer to possess emetic properties, and to give off an intoxicating odour when triturated with sulphuric acid (Watts, Dict. of Chem., ii. 945). Guaco has been highly recommended for the treatment of bites of venomous reptiles and insects, and in cholera, chronic dysentery, gonorrheeal and syphilitic affec- tions, atonic deafness, abscess, sciatica, sprains, gout, and other complaints. Its efficacy against poisoning by snakes, first carefully experimented on by Mutis about 1787, has been frequently since attested; and in parts of New Granada much infested by those pests, a kind of inocula- tion witb it is practised by some persons, the juice of the leaves being applied, at intervals of a fortnight during several months, to incisions in the hands, feet, and sides of the chest, two large teaspoonfuls of the same juice having beforehand been administered internally. It is stated that the Indians of Central America, after having “ guaconized” themselves, z.e., taken guaco, catch with impunity the most dangerous snakes, which writhe in their hands as thongh touched by a hot iron (B. Seemann, [/ooker’s Journ. of Bot., v. 76, 1853). The odour alone of guaco has been said to cause in snikes a state of stupor and torpidity; and Humboldt, who observed that the near approach of a rod steeped in guacojuice was obnoxious to the venomous Coluber corallinus, was of opinion that inoculation with it imparts to the perspiration an odour which makes reptiles unwilling to bite.

1em 1em  GUADALAJARA, a province of Spain, in New Castile, bounded on the N. by the provinces of Segovia, Soria, and Saragossa, on the E. by Saragossa and Teruel, on the 8. by Cuenca, and on the W. by Madrid. In the north are some of the loftiest summits of the Guadarrama range, having their culminating point in the Peiia de la Bodera ; the rest of the province, forming the upper basin of the Tagus, and watered by its affluents the Alblanqueja, Tajuiia, Henares, and Jarama, is comparatively level. The soil varies con- siderably, but is generally of a good character. Pasture occupies the larger part of the surface on the higher tracts ; and the mountains, though unduly denuded, still bear con- siderable forests of oak and cork. The plain around Tamajon is specially adapted for cereals; and the neigh- bourhood of Alcarria matures all kinds of crops proper to the latitude. Iron and lead are the only minerals; the former is very abundant and has been worked from the remotest periods ; the latter occurs but in smal] quantities. Tbe principal productions are wheat, barley, oil, wine, silk, saffron, and flax; but the chief wealth of the province consists Iu sheep and wool, Manufactures and trade have been declining for many years. The province is divided into nine administrative districts; but besides Guadala- jara, the capital, it has no town of importance except the episcopal see of Siguenza. The area is 4869 English square miles; and in 1870 the estimated population was 208,638.

, a city of Spain, capital of the pro- vince of the same name, is situated on an elevation not far from the eastern bank of the river Henares, which is here spanned by a stone bridge built on Roman foundations in 1758. It isa station onthe Madrid and Saragossa Railway, 38 miles N.E. from Madrid, and 2395 feet above the level of the sea. It hasten churches, several convents, including that of San Francisco, founded originally by Doiia Beren- guela for the Templars in, handsome town and county buildings (casas consistoriales) built in, and a college of engineers ; besides the usual hospitals, barracks, and schools. There is also a fine palace of the ducal house del Infantado, built in ; and the Panteon or burying- place of the dukes of Mendoza, begun in 1696 and finished in 1720 at a cost of £180,000, rivals in its richness the tombs of the Escorial. An extensive Roman aqueduct supplies public fountains ; and there are four alamedas or promenades. The principal manufactures are soap, earthen- ware, and woollens. The cloth manufacture, which was