And that was all he had to serve as a comparison with what the Indians used, and in this I prefer that you, kind reader, be the judge. I am not exaggerating but speak only in the light of truth. A great deal of misinterpretation of Indian life has been written by white authors who gathered their information from Indians who knew a great deal but were unable to give comprehensive data to the white writer. Others were there who could have done so, but their lips were sealed where the white man was concerned. This accounts for the mistakes which have been made and whereby _Datura meteloides_ has failed to gain recognition for its meritorious medicinal value. It is worth knowing that the plant is antivenin and will effect cures of rattlesnake and tarantula bites. What improvement has the hard-shelled scientist made to counteract the deadly poison of the tarantula? None, of course!
Not so long ago a man in New Orleans, La., gave up his life for want of a serum that would counteract the poison of a tarantula which had bitten him. Three doctors, equipped with all the white man's knowledge of medicine and chemistry, strove desperately hard to save the man's life but finally gave up in despair and frankly admitted that to date no serum had been discovered to conquer the poison of the tarantula!
Yet there is one and it behooves the medical profession to get acquainted with _Datura meteloides_.
A practical and effective demonstration was given in the presence of a group of mission friars at San Gabriel, California, in the year 1828. The friars, having heard that _toulache_ was used by the Indians to cure rattlesnake bites, lost no time in watching attentively the procedure followed by the Indian in charge--Genio Guana-pia-pa was the medicine man. The patient was seated before them well-covered with a blanket, with only an opening remaining around the neck in order to permit _Datura meteloides_ to be poured over his body. All this, of course, was very simple. But what of the process used to extract the poison, when, and what compounds? Yes, there is just one other which belongs in the formula, a formula which has cost me thirty-two years of waiting to finally wrest it from my uncle, Chief Pablo of Pe-we-pe and Guana-pia-pa who gave me access to the ancient historical records of the Indians of California, records which many historians, archaeologists, and practically all men of science would welcome.