Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 75, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 March 1920 — Vision Caused by “Cohoba.” [ARTICLE]

Vision Caused by “Cohoba.”

Dr. W. D. Safford, of the government plant bureau, recently identified the mimosa-like tree, which grows In Haiti, Porto Rico and other islands of the Antilles, aS the producer of a queer powdered drug called “cohoba,” which the natives used when Columbus first arrived at the island of Haiti. The seeds of this tree are yielded in pods, which are roasted and ground to powder, which is sometimes mixed with lime frem calcined snail shells. lie tribal wizards, or priests, while under the Influence of “cohoba,” were accustomed to hold communications with unseen powers, and their mutterings were construed as prophecies and revelations of hidden things. The powder was used as a snuff, and was ini haled through a forked wooden tube. The forks were inserted In the nostrils and the lower end of the tube . burled in a little heap of the snuff, which was held on a tray of carved Wood. Sometimes large snail shells were used as snuff boxes. The natives used the snuff on ceremonial occasions. It produced a sort of hypnotic state, with visions supposed to be supernatural. The chemical properties of the dm— -re still unknown so that its ii l ' n 8 principle remains a myst«