"It would take some time to enumerate the things camphor is used for. Indeed, there are so many that Raspail, a French chemist, years ago found a system of medicine largely on the camphor plant, claiming that it was nature's universal remedy."
"Here is a sample of plant which we found growing in bushes; there were also a few trees with the flowers. It is bitter to the taste."
"This is the Calisaya, one of the varieties of the plant from which the well-known quinine is made. There are at least forty varieties of the plant. This is indeed a valuable find. But I see you have some beans there?"
"Yes; are they good to eat?"
"In South America, particularly in the Argentine Republic, it is eaten as a fruit, and the seeds are fed to cattle. Our yaks would relish them."
"We saw them everywhere on the other side of the river."
"The dry pulp of the seed is very nutritious, and is supposed to have been the food of St. John while in the wilderness, as it is the same kind of locust bean that grows in Palestine, and in various parts of Asia Minor. The Spanish name is Algoraba, or Carob-tree."
"We have brought only one more sample, and it looks very familiar, but I never saw any beans or pods on it like this."
"Don't you recognize Smilax? Of course, it is somewhat different from the kind you know. The root of this kind of Smilax is called Sarsaparilla, and the bean is good to eat."
"Well, I am going to lay in a supply."