SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS

VOLUME

94, NUMBER2

CONCERNING THE BADIANUS MANUSCRIPT, AN AZTEC HERBAL, "CODEX ^BARBERINI,

LATIN ^241" (VATICAN LIBRARY)

(With FourPL.vrES)

BY

EMILY

WALGOTT EMMART

TheJohns Hopkins^University

(Publication 3329)

CITY OF

WASHINGTON

PUBLISHED BY

THE

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

MAY

18, 1935

BALTIMORE,UD.,C.S.A.

FOREWORD

The

present pamphlet is pubhshed to

make known

the discovery of the Badianus Manuscript in the Vatican Library and to give an ideaof the vahieandinterestofthisuniqueAztec herbal Itisbeheved tobe the earhest herbalproducedonthis sideof the Atlantic,and

from

this consideration alone it deserves all the notice that it v^ill un- doubtedly receive. It isa matterof regretto the Smithsonian Insti- tution that funds are not available to publisha facsimileof the full

manuscript withits 91 color sketches of plants.

Such

a publication, inthe usualedition issuedbythe Institutionand with91 colorplates, would involve a considerablesum.but the text with blackand white illustrations and a few color plates could be published for a com- paratively moderate amount. If there are those

who would

be suf- ficientlyinterestedtocontributetowardthepublicationofthisvaluable manuscriptasawhole orin such modified form, I should be glad to have

them

communicate withthe Institution.

C. G. Abbot,

Secretary, Sniithsonian Institution.

COxNCERNING THE BADIANUS MANUSCRIPT. AX AZTEC HERBAL,

^"

CODEX BARBERINI, LATIX

241^"

(VATICAN LIBRARY)

Bv EMILY WALCOTT EMMART

The Johns Hopkins University

(With

Four Plates)

The

Badianus manuscript is a sixteenth century

Mexican

Herl:)al

composed

inthe year 1552 ⁱⁿ the famous College of Santa Cruz at Tlaltelolco,

Mexico

City. Thisbeautiful manuscript haslongbeen in thepossession of theVaticanLibrary,

where

itsrealidentityhasbeen obscured by thetitle "

Codex

Barberini, Latin 241 ^". Except fora few scholars/"^ it

was

practically

unknown

until 5 years ago, when,

'Ina personalcommunication (Mar.16, 1930) toDr. C. L'.Clark,Mrs. Zelia Nuttall suggests that^"CodexBarberini,Latin 241^"might bethe ^"smallbook^"

sent by Munoz Camargoto King Philip. It containeda ^"demonstracion. pro pinturas y colores de ^sus formas y hechuras y propriedades^" of the flowers esteemed by the Indians (Munoz Camargo, Historia de Tlazcala, editionissued inTlazcala,Imprentode Gobierno, 1870).

^Thorndyke, Lynn, Vatican LatinManuscriptsin theHistory ofScience and Medicine. Isis,vol. 13,1929-30.

"This sixteenth century manuscript is a work on medicinal herbs of the Indiaswhichan Indian physicianoftheCollegeofHolyCrosscomposed,taught bynoreasons,butbyexperienceonly,intheyear 1552.

"There is a dedicationbyMartinde la Cruz^to Francisco de Mendoza, and the work closes with a letter of John Badianus, the Latin translator, to the reader.

"Barberini 241, paper, 63 ^fols., Libellus de Medicinahbus Indorum Herbis quernquidamIndus CollegiiSanctae Crucis medicuscomposuit, nuUis rationibus doctus, sedsolisexperimentis edoctus Anne Domini Servatoris 1552."

Ina personal communication from Dr. C. U. Clark, theauthoris informed that Dr. Gabrieli, of the Corsini Library inRome, discovered a copy of the Badianus manuscript,inItalian hand, in theRoyal LibraryatWindsorCastle.

Gabrieli, G., Duecodici iconografici dipiante miniate nella Biblioteca Reale di Windsor.

A

propositodi Cimeli Lincei. Rend. Ace. Lincei,ser. 6,vol. 10, 2sem.,fasc. 10, November 1929.

Smithsonian MiscellaneousCollections, Vol. 94, No.2

2

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

throughthe irencrosityof

Ambassador

Charles G. Dawes,the Smith- sonian Institution sent Dr. Charles U. Clarkto

Europe

in search of earlv Latin

American

texts.

Through

the courtesy of the \^atican Library. Dr. Clark

was

able to obtain photographs of the original manuscript,and itis

from

thesethat thepresent translation hasbeen made.

The

manuscript is a complete herbal consisting of 6t, folios approximately 6 by 8^ inches in size, clearly written in Latin and Aztec. It is divided into 13 chapters, each representing an attempt to group maladies of either similar type or similar location of the body.

The

first eight chapters follow the latter arrangement, begin- ning with thehead andcontinuingtothefeet;inthelastfivechapters anattempt has been

made

togroup themaccordingto subject matter.

The

text is exquisitely illustrated with pictures of 204 ^herbs and trees,andtheseillustrationsstilltoday retain their brilliancyofcolor.

Through

the kindness of Dr. Charles G. Abbot, of the Smithsonian Institution, the original water-color sketches for the colored plates,

made

by Mrs. Missonnier, niece of

Mgr. Eugene

Tisserant. Pro- Prefect,VaticanLibrary, have been obtained,and ^{it is}hoped that it willbe possibleatalatertimetopublish the herbalincolored facsimile withatranslation.

The

herbal is the

work

of two Aztecs

who

were educated at the College of SantaCruz. It

was

first written in Aztec and then, with the exception of the

names

of the plants, stones, andanimals, trans- lated intoLatin within thesameyear.

The

exacttitlereads as follows

:

A

bookof Indian Medical Herbs composed by a certain Indian physician of the Collegeof Santa Cruz,whois nottheoretically learned,but is taught only byexperience. In the year ofour Lord Saviour 1552. [PI. i.]

There seems little doubt that the principal author of the

manu-

scriptis one MartindelaCruz,

whose name

appears inthe firstline of the dedication;the second author isJuannes Badianus. the trans- lator,

whose

signatureappearsinthe postscript attheendof the last chapter. Both of these

men

were ^nativestaught in the firstcollege erected for the Indians, the College of SantaCruz.

The

manuscriptisfittinglydedicatedto

Don

Francisco de ]\Iendoza, son of

Don

Antonio de

Mendoza,

the first viceroy to

New

Spain.

Althoughthe dedication isaddressedto

Don

Francisco de

Mendoza.

it is none the less a tribute to the first viceroy. That it is not ad- dressed directly to the viceroy

may

be explained by the fact that

Don

Antonio de

Mendoza

had been transferredto Peru 2 years be- fore. Since history recordshisdeathonJuly21, 1552, thedaybefore

NO. 2

THE BADIANUS MANUSCRIPT EMMART

₃

the completion of thetranslation, it iscertain that he

was

not aware of the well-deserved^tribute which reads as follows:

For the most eminent Don Francisco de Mendoza, most excellent son of

DonAntoniode Mendoza,^firstviceroyof thisIndia, hisunworthyslave,Martin delaCruz, praysforthe greatest healthandprosperity."

Sincein youthe graces and adornmentsofeveryexcellence, andtheaccom- plishments of the good, which are desired by everyone, shine fortii

O

most magnificent Master, I do not know, indeed, what quality of yours to praise especially. Indeed, I donotsee by what praises I may extol your remarkable love, bywhat words ^I mayexpress gratitude foryourunsurpassable kindness.

ForI cannot express in wordshow your father,amanatoncemostchristian and mostdevoted,has been aboveall others

my

benefactor,forwhatever Iam, whatever I possess, and whatever renown I have, I owe to him. I can find nothing equal to, nothing worthy of his benefits. I can give great thanks, indeed, to

my

Maecenas,butlittlerepayment.

On

thataccount,Ioffer,dedicate, andconsecrate myself,whateverIam,tobeyourproperty. Notintruthtohim alone,butalso toyou

my

mosteminent master, asamost supplicanttokenand testimony of

my

singular devotion.

The

herbal

was

writtenattherequest of

Don

Franciscode

Mendoza

and

was

intended as a gift to "His

Holy

Caesarian Royal Catholic Majesty^"

—

^{Charles V. It is} evident that

Don

Francisco,

who

fol- lowedin his

famous

father'sfootstepsin fostering the protection

and

education of the Indians,wishedto

commend

the

work

of theIndians andto enlistHisMajesty's support of the College ofSantaCruz.

The

latter part of the dedication reads as follows

:

Indeed I suspect thatyoudemandthis little book ofherbsand medicaments so strongly fornoother reasonthan tocommend usIndians,eventhoughun- worthy, tohisHolyCaesarian CatholicRoyal Majesty. WouldthatweIndians couldmake abook worthy ofthe king's sight, forthis certainly is most un- worthyto come before thesight of so muchmajesty. But you will recollect that wepoor unhappy Indians areinferior toall mortals,and forthat reason ourpovertyand weaknessimplantedinusbynature merityourindulgence.

Now

accordingly, Ibeg thatyou will takethisbook, which by everyright I ought toinscribe with your name, mostmagnificent Master,inthespirit inwhich it is offered, or, what would not surprise me, that you cast it out whither it

deserves. Farewell. Tlatilulci. In the yearofourLordSaviour1552.

Your Excellency'smost humbleservant.

'In the space betweenthis item and the followingappears ^"Exlibrisdidaci Cortavila." The handwriting is entirelydifferentfromthatof themanuscript, sowecan surmise that the bookwasonceinthe possessionofsomeone by the nameofCortavila.

4

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

Whether

thisbeautiful Httle manuscriptever

came

into the hands of Charles

V

^is not known, but Mendieta^* records the fact that His Majestycontributedto the support of the College

:

His Majesty gavetothe CollegeofSanta Cruz,wheretheyweretaught Latin a thousand pesosfor each yearfor certain years.

To

those whotaught inthe Chapel of Santa Jose to read, write and sing and play instruments of the church, threehundredducatswasgivenforsomeyears.

To

illuminatetheHoly Sacramenthecommandedtogive toeachmonastery sixmeasuresineachyear, onehalf measure^{for eacli}month. Forcelebrationofmass inthemonastery he commandedwine.

and inaddition

we

read

—

for the hospitals of St. Francis of Mexico and convent of Los Angeles loo pesosperyear.

And

inorder that thesickIndians should not remainuntreated, he ordered to be built a royal ^hospital near Saint Francis of Mexico where theywerecared for.

Entirely apart from wishingto enlist HisMajesty's support of the college which, after the early prosperousperiod,

was

always inneed of funds,

Don

Franciscoundoubtedly hadakeeninterest intheherbs andmedicalknowledgeof

New

Spain. Verification of

Don

Francisco's personal interest in herbsis to be found in the quotation

from

the

Frampton

translation of

Monardes

:

'

Don Frauncis De Mendosa, Sonne unto the vise Roye, Don Antony de Mendosadidsowe inthenew Spaine Cloaves, Pepper, Ginger,andotherspices, ofthosewhicheare broughtfromthe OrientallIndias, andthatwhichebyhym was begonne wasloste,by reasonof hisdeath,onelytheGingerdidremain,forit

did growe veriewell inthose partes, and so thei bryng it greene from newe Spainandother partesofourIndias,and somethey bringdrie,afterthemaner of that ofthe EastIndia.

Besides the personal interest of

Don

Francisco in herbs and his desiretofosterthe education of the Indians,athird

and more

force- fulinfluencegave impetus tothe writing ofthis herbal;namely, the

demand

on the part of Europeans for herbs and medicaments.

The

expansionof the

West

had beenstimulated bya desireto find a shorter trade route to the spice-producing countries of the East.

The

talesandaccounts ofvoyagesof

Columbus

(1492-1502).X'espucci (1499-1503), Balboa (i512-13) and Magellan (1519-22) andothers hadalready

awakened

Europeanstothevalue ofspicesandherbsfrom

*Icazbalceta,Joaquin Garcia, 1870.

Mendieta, Fray Geronimode Mendieta-Historia EclesiasticaIndiana. Publ.

Mexico,1870. AntiquaLibreria, portal deAugustinos no.3. 1870.

'"'Frampton,John, 1577

—

^{Joyfull Newesofthe}

^Newe

^{FoundeWorlde. . . .tr.}

of Monardes, Nicholas,vol.2,p. 5, Introductionby Stephen Gaselee, Constable andCo.,Ltd. London, 1925.

NO. 2

THE BADIANUS MANUSCRIPT EMMART

₅

the

New

World.

With

the

coming

of Cortezandthe fallofTenoch- itlan in1521^,

news

of the medicalknowledgeof theAztecsdriftedback to Europe. In a letter to Charles

V

^{concerning the district of}

Tlaltelolco, the marketplace of Tenochitlan, Cortez mentions espe- ciallyastreetof^"herbsellers

where

there areall

manner

of rootsand medicinal plants that are found inthe land. There are houses as it

wereof apothecaries

where

theysellmedicines

made from

theseherbs both for drinkingand for use as ointments and salves."

'

Theseletters, accounts of ship captainsand explorers,even at this earlydate carried

news

to

Europe

ofaknowledgeof the use of herbs and medicaments which appeared ^{to rival that of the}

Old World.

Thisinterest isreflected in accounts oflater historiansandtravelers, and in the

works

of

some

of the great

European

herbalists of the sixteenth century.

Of

the translatorJuannes Badianus,

we

havebriefbut precise data inthelast

two

pagesofthe

volume

(pi.2),

where

headdsa

word

of explanationto the readerwhich is self explanatory

:

JuAXXES Badiaxus,tiik Translator, to the Gextle Reader

Ibegagainandagain,mostexcellent reader, thatyouconsiderthatIhavewell employedthe laborthatwent intothetranslation,suchasitis,of thislittlebook of herbs. For

my

part, I preferred tohave^thatlabor gofornothing thanto undergo your most exacting judgment. Further be sure that I put somany spare hours onthis edition, not to show off

my

own talent, which is almost nothing, but only because of the obedience which I very rightly oweto the priestof thisMonasteryofSt.Jacob,^theapostleofthe Spaniardsand

my

most excellentpatron,andverymuch tohissuperiorthereverend Franciscanfather, brotherJacobode Grado, wholaid this task upon

my

shoulders. Farewell in Christ the Saviour. At Tlatilulci in Collegeof the Holy Cross, on thefeast day^of SaintMary Magdaleneduring theHolyHolidays,A.D. 1552.

EndoftheBookofHerbs,which Juannes Badianus bynationan Indianofthe Xuchimilcanuscountry, reader ofthesamecollege,translatedinto Latin.

Glory be ever tohim by wliose gift I translatedthis Book which you per- ceive,Good friend Reader.

Badianus

was

apparently a native Indian

from

the district of Xochimilco, and he

was

undoubtedly

among

thosefirststudents

who

attended the college after it opened in 1535. ^{It is} most fitting that the translator

was

a native of the district of the floatinggardens of Xochimilco, whichhadlongbeenthe gardensoftheAzteckings and princes. Centuriesbefore theconquesttheAztecshad broughtflowers andherbs

from

thelowlandsand had developeda truly botanicalgar-

°Cortes,Hernando.Fiveletters, 1519-1526. TranslatedbyF. BayardMorris, RobertM. McBride

&

Co.,

New

York,1929. Secondletter, p.87.

6

SAriTHSOXIAX

MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

den of plants

from many

districts in Mexico.

The

historianJuan de Torquemada,"

who was

for a time a

member

of the faculty of Santa Cruz, tells us that "

Montezuma

kept a garden of medicinal herbs

and

that the court physicians experimented with

them

and attended thenobility. Butthe

common

people

came

rarely to these doctors for medical aid, not only because a fee

was

charged for their services, but also because the medicinal value of herbs

was common

knowl- edge and they could concoct remedies

from

their

own

gardens."

These gardens were undoubtedlyflourishingingoodconditionatthe time the manuscript

was

written, and even today they furnish all the flowersandvegetables for

Mexico

City. Itis quite within reason that both Martinus de la

Cruz

and Juannes Badianus were familiar with thefloraofthis district

from

early childhood.

Of

" theReverend Franciscan ^father, Brother Jacobode

Grado

^", no otherhistoricalreference hasas yet been found

—

^amost singular fact since he held the position of superior at the convent at a time

when

both the historians Fray Bernardino de

Sahagun and

Fray

Torquemada

wereinMexico,^theformer Fray Bernardino de

Sahagun

being a

member

^oftheGoverning

Board

of the

Order

of Franciscans atthetime of thecompletionof thismanuscript.

As

tothe origin of thefamousCollege of Santa CruzofTlaltelolco (Tlatilulci), both the

modern

writers

Bourne' and Merriman

^" ac- credit its founding to Bishop

Zumarraga

in the year 1535.

Bourne

adds^{: "}Besides theelementary branches, instruction

was

offered in Latin, philosophy, music,

Mexican

medicine,andthe native languages.

Among

the faculty were graduates of the University of Paris and such eminent scholars as Bernardino de Sahagun. the founder of

American

anthropology,and Juande

Torquemada,

himself aproduct of

Mexican

education,

whose Monarquia

Indianaisa great storehouse of knowledge ^of

Mexican

antiquities and history.

Many

of the graduates ofthiscollegebecamealcaldes and governorsinthe Indian towns."

'Torquemada, Juan ^de, Monarg. Ind., lib. 14, chap. 14: "El emperador Moctezuma teniajardinesde yerbas medicinales, ymandaba asus medicosque hiciesen experiencias conellas,y curasen a los senoresde su corte. La gente comi'inoccurria raravez alosmedicos,por excusarse de pagarles,y porque era general el conocimiento de varies remedios, con los cuales se curaban, conio podian, de sus enfermedades."

"*Bourne, E. G., The American Nation

—

^{a history,} vol. 3, p. 309, Harper

&

Brothers,

New

York, 1904.

"Merriman, R. B.,Theriseofthe SpanishEmpire, vol.3, p.663, Macmillan

Co..

New

York, ig.'S.

NO. 2

THE DADIANUS MANUSCRIPT EM MART

/

If

we

returntothesixteenthcentury

work

of the historianMendieta.

who

went to

Mexico

19 years after the founding of thecollege, a

more

intimate picture

may

be obtained. Before the opening of the College of Santa Cruzin 1536,"" the Indiansweretaught in the con- vent of S.Franciscoof

Mexico

inthe chapel of S.Jose.

Here

^"the good father and guide Fr. Pedro de Gante" instructed

them

in

"Christian doctrine and in all the arts and exercises^{". "}

The

first teacherin

grammar was

Fr.Arnaldode Bassacio, a

Frenchman

anda greatlinguistofIndian language, with

whom

they

made

such progress thatthefirstviceroyAntoniode

Mendoza,

true father of the Indians, noting their progress gave the orderthat theyshould build a college inthe principalsuburbof

Mexico

a quarter of a league

from

S.Fran- cisco (where we,thelesser friarshaveasecondconventof the

name

of the apostle Santiago,inthesuburbwhichiscalledTlaltelolco). [PI.

4.] In order that the guardian of that convent should have in his chargetheadministration of thecollege,andthat this

work

should not burdenthebrothers of the principal convent, the viceroy

Don

Antonio himself builtthecollege at his

own

expenseand gavecertain estates and farms which hehad,inorder that the rent of

them

mightsustain theIndiancollege."

The

students at the tenderage of 10 to 12 years were carefully selected

from

the ^"sons of gentlemen^" of the principal towns and larger provinces of this

New

Spain. ^"

The

priests of their native

town

selected only those

who

appeared most able, and thus were gathered togetherabout a hundred children and

young

men."

The

ceremoniesof the dedication of thecollegewere impressive.

Among

those present were the viceroy, Antonio de

Mendoza,

Bishop of Mexico,

Don

Fr.Juan Zumarraga,theBishopof S.

Domingo,

D. Se- bastin Ramirez and^"with

them

all thecity^".

The

ceremonies began withasermon preached byDr. Cervantesattheconventof S. Fran- ciscoof Mexico.

Then

a greatprocessionmarched totheConventof Santiago,

where

a second sermon

was

preached by Fr. Alonso de Herrera anda thirdand^lastbyFr.PedrodeRiverointhe refectory of the Friars of the Convent of Santiago

—

where, adds Mendieta,

"

The

gentlemenate atthecostof the

good

Bishop Zumarraga."

Mendietaalsogivesus the

names

of the teachers

who

taughtduring those earlyprosperousyearsand

who

quiteprobablyweretheinstruc- torsofthe

two

authors of ourherbal. Fr.Arnaldo de Bassacio,

who

firsttaught Latin,

was

followed by Fr. Bernardino de

Sahagun

and

""Mendietagivestheyear ofthefounding ofthecollege one yearlater than

thatgivenby Bourne andAlerriman.

8

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

Fr.

Andres

de Olmos. Allthree of these weregifted scholars of the Aztec language, and undoubtedly gave instruction in the writing of Aztec.

(The

Nahuatl

grammar

of

Olmos

isstilltodaythebackground forallrecent studies of the language.) Fr.Juande

Gaona

alsotaught rhetoric, logic,andphilosophy.

And

inaddition

we

read^"

For

a short time they taught also Medicine to the Indians, which they still use in their knowledgeof herbsand roots and other things which they applyin their illnesses."

The fame

of the college

grew

and flourished to such an extent thatbythe time of thesecondviceroyD. LuisdeVelasco (1550-64), the rentsof thecollegewerenotsufficienttosustainso

many

students.

Through

the intercessionof the viceroy, theEmperor, PhilipII,aided each year with

two

to three hundred ducats.'" But after his death, thecollege lost favorwithboth the church and the governors.

For

a while the Indians themselves

made

^an attempt to support the col- lege,and

we

read the following notes

from

Mendieta^{: "}

The

convent of Santiago ofTlaltelolco (in theboroughof

Mexico)

has sustained itself veryabundantly withthealms of the Indians, havingcontinu- ouslyagathering of Indian guests." . . . . "Indian butchersbrought meat to the convent of Tlaltelolco on Saturday as their offerings."

But bythetimeMendieta

was

completingthis history,approximately in 1598,

we

find

him

writing: ^"

But

thisall is finished, and

now

the college serves for little

more

than to teach the Indian children

who

gatherthere,

who

are from the

town

of Tlaltelolcoitself,good

man-

nersand toreadandwrite."

Of

all those

who

taught inthe College of SantaCruz, Friar Ber- nardinode

Sahagun was

themosteminent.

Of

hislonglifein

Mexico

(1529-1 590), a large part

was

spentat Tlaltelolco.

He was

the first of the Europeans to gather together data onnative materia medica.

For

the most part this

was

assembled in books 10 and 11 of his

"Historia General delas Cosas de

Nueva

Espaiia^". In a note of especial interest attached to theend of book 6 (Codice Florentino, libro6lam. 17), he tellsusthathe obtained hisknowledge of Aztec medicine

from

eight native physicians of the district of Tlaltelolco, Santiago,and includes their signatures as follows: Caspar Mattias, Francisco

Symon,

Felipe Hernandez, Miguel Garcia,

Pedro

de San- tiago, Miguel Damian, Pedro de Raquena,

and

Miguel Motolinia.

Book

6

was

assembled in the year 1547, one year after the great plague,but the majorpart of allhiswritings onnativemedicine

was

notcompileduntilafter 1557,

when

FrayFrancisco Toral, Provincial of the FranciscanOrder,

commanded him

to puthisvast

amount

of

'*Icazbalceta (tr. ofMendieta),p.415.

NO. 2

THE BADIANUS MANUSCRIPT EM MART

9

information into

two

volumes.

To

complete this

work

he w^as sent tothePuebloof Tepeopulco, of thedistrict ofTexcoco, where with the assistance of lo or 12 Indians

who

were former ^{students, the} w^ork

was

completed in 1569."

A

reviewof the

known

dates ofhislife showsthathe

was

teacher of Latinat the College of Santa

Cruz

between 1536

and

1540. Be- tween 1540 and 1545 he

was

visitingcommissioner to variousFran- ciscan convents. In1545 he returnedtotheTlaltelolcoand

was

there until 1546, the year of the great plague.

While

nursing hisbeloved Indians he acquired the infection and

was

himself

removed

to the mother convent in

Mexico

City proper.

The

nextyear he returned to Tlaltelolco.

Between

theyears 1547 and 1552his residence is not known,but sincein 1552.asa

member

of thegoverningboardof the Order,

we

^{find his} signature affixed to aletter to the Emperor, this would seemtoindicatethathe

was

inallprobabilityinor near

Mexico

Cityatthetime. Itispossiblethathe

was

inresidence^at theConvent of Xochimilco. since

we know

that he

was

superior in that convent aboutthistime.

As

mightbe expected, the medical writings of

Sahagun

and text of the Badianus manuscript are closely related in subjectmatter as well asintheetymologyof theAztec words.

However,

theformeris

writteninthe

manner

of anotebook while the latter is a completely organized treatise. Also the Badianus manuscript deals with

many more

plants than the Sahagun.

The

illustrations are superior to the

Sahagun

manuscriptbothin

number

and inanatomicaldetail.

The

use of Aztec symbols to assist inthe identification of plants

is tobe found inboth manuscripts. In theBadianus manuscript the Aztec water symbol is sometimes

drawn

under the roots of plants to indicate that it

grows

byflowing water.

Where

the water is not flowing thebackground aroundthe roots of aquatic plants is painted blue.

The

use of the stonesymbol,whichisalsofoundinthe

Sahagun

m.anuscript, becomes a highly developed art in the Badianus

manu-

script, where^itoccurswithvarious modifications of

form

andcolor.

Inallcasesitisfound beneaththe roots ofplants.

In attempting to identify the various infirmities under the Latin titleitis necessarytokeepin

mind

thatthe manuscriptisadescrip- tionof diseasesandailments of natives of

Mexico

;andinadditionthat it dealswith the materia medica ofa people

who

lived in atropical country atan^altitude of approximately9,000 feet. Althoughit

was

written within 31 years of the Conquest, the subject matter reaches

" Bandelier, F. R., Ancient Mexico. Fisk University Press, 1932.

lO

SMITHSOXIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

far back into pre-Conquest times.

The

Nahuatl or Aztec

Empire drew

from its conquered peoples, the Toltecs and the Mayas, ^for

much

^of its culturalbackground.

Of

these

two

peoples only

Mayan

medical textshave

come down

to us. All of these werewritten long after the Spanish Conquest

and

are believedto post-date the writing of the presentAztecherbal.

To

gain an adequateidea of the signifi- cance of

much

of the data of thisherbalit isnecessarytoreachback intoAztectimesandatthe

same

time turntoourmostrecent writings inthefieldoftropicalmedicineandbotanical research.

For

themost part the materiamedicadeals with methodsof treat-

ment

empirically derived. Therearenoincantations andonly a few referencestocharms.

The

firstchapter deals withheadailments, such as heat and cold in the head, abscess of the head, scales or mange, scabes. falling hair,

and

fractured head.

The

secondchapter includes a treatment for sore eyes, fever, blood shot eyes, cataract, eversion of the eyelid, swelling of the eye, insomnia and a

remedy

to repel drowsiness.

The

third chapter deals withear infection.

As

a typical example of the

method

of treatment of the text, chapter four, because of brevity, permits of publication here. It readsas follows

:

Fourth Chapter

Concerningcatarrh,medicine to beinstilled inthenose,herbforthe blood.

Catarrh

Below

thistitleare depictedtwoherbs, the Tzonpilihuizxihuitland the Atochietl.

An

etymological analysis of the former

name

gives us theusageof the plant. Tzonpilihuiz-xihuitl is a

compound word

derived

from

theAztecverbTzompiliui (Simeon,p. 666)^"

meaning

"tohaveacoldinthehead^"andthesuffix, -xihuitl(Simeon,p.699)

meaning

^"plant^";so

we may

refer to Tzonpilihuizxihuitl as ^"cold in thehead plant," or briefly "catarrh plant".

Jimenez"

(book i,

chap. 3) refers ^{also to} theuse of catarrh medicine (Tzompilihuitz- patli), and

Hernandez"

(p. 29) refers to Tzimpalihuiz-patlin and gives the variant

name

Texaxapotla, which heidentifies as Ptarmica

iiidica.butthisdoes not agree with the pictureintheBadianus

manu-

script.

The

extract of Tzonpilihuizxihuitlisalsousedasavermifuge (Bad. Ms., p. 51).

"Simeon. Reni, Dictionnairede laLangue Nahuatl. Paris,Imprimerie Na- tionale, 1885.

"Jimenez, F., Quatro Libros de la Naturaleza .... Mexico. 1615.

" Hernandez, Francisco, Rerum Medicarum Novae Hispaniae Thesaurus 1651.

NO. 2

THE BADIANUS MANUSCRIPT—EM MART

II

For

the Atochietl. thesecondplant

shown

onthesamepage,

we

have but a single reference in which it is described asan aromatic plant, thepennyroyal (Simeon,p.37).

The

text for the treatment of catarrh reads as follows

:

Gravedo

Qui narium distillatione seu coriza infestatur herbas atochietl. et Tzompili- huizxihuitlolfacietet itagravedini subveniet. [Thosetroubled witha dripping nose or cold areto sniffthe herbsAtochietl and Tzompilihuizxihuitl andhelp the cold thus.]

A

second

remedy

in the fourth chapter is entitled "Medicine to be instilled into the nose."

The

following

remedy

for a headache reads, ^"

The

^root of the herb Yztac pahtli [lit. "white-medicine "]

istobe bruisedinalittle clear waterandthe licjuorpoured into the nostrils drop by dropfor those sufifering

from

a headache."

The

herbdepictedabovethe textis of the familyMimosaceae,be- longing tothe genus Acacia farnesiana Willd.*'

An

ointment

made from

theflowersis used todayin

Mexico

asa

remedy

for headache.

In addition an infusion of the flowers is used for dyspepsia.

The

chaptercloseswitha

remedy

to stopnosebleeding.

The

plant Atzitzicaztli, orwater nettle, is used also for maladies of the neck

(Simeon,p.664).

The remedy

reads as follows:

The juice of nettles ground with salt in urine and milk poured into the nostrils, stops bleeding.

Two

of the most interestingplantsused asacure for pain are the Tolohuaxihuitland ^the

Nexehuac

(pi. 3). Bothof these are Daturas (Solanaceae).

The

first of these, Tolohuaxihuitl or Tolohua plant, is referred to by

Hernandez

as D. stramonium.

Sahagun

^'" and Clavigero^{^'}refertoit asToloache. Both thewhite-floweredand pur- ple-flowered forms of this species occur in

Mexico

as well as in the United States; the purple forms are usually called D. tatiila.

The

white-flowered forms

may

beareither smoothor prickly capsules, the smoothvariety being called D. iiiennis."'

The

adjacent plant, called

'^Standley,P.,C.,TreesandshrubsofMexico. Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb.,vol.

23,pt.2,p.378, 1922.

^'Sahagun,HistoriaGeneral delasCosasdeNuevaEspana (1590). Publicase con fondesde lasecretariade instrucion publica y bellasartes de Mexico,por Francisco del Paso y^{Troncoso. Publ.} Madrid Tototipia de Hauser y Menet, 1905-07.

''Clavigero,F. _J., HistoriaAntiguade Mexico. London, 1826.

''Safford,

W.

E., Narcotic Daturasof theOld and

New

World. Ann. Rep.

SmithsonianInst. 1920,Publ.2644,1922.

12

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94

Nexehuac (Nexeua —

^{the rambler}

—

^{Simeon, p.} 307), is depicted as an erect, white-flowered

form

with purple, smooth-skinned fruit re- semblingthistype.

The

flowers are

drawn

aserect,thefruitspendant, but since all the arborescent Daturas have

unarmed

fruits

we may

considereitherthedrawingor the etymological derivation misleading.

Itssmooth pods would probablyplaceitas a variety ofD. stramonium

known

^asD. incrmis Jacq.

Varieties of Datura have been usedthe worldover for their nar- cotic properties, the effect being due to the presence of the drug atropine.

Besides these remedies just discussed in detail, there are others for dysentery, skin disease, gout, pain in joints, various helminth infections,andafflictionssuch asburnedbody, cracksinsolesof feet,

and wounds

of various types, and a

number

of other items. It is

worthytobenotedthat fear, fatigue,and feeblemindednessarelooked

upon

asdiseasesandtreated as such.

In chapter 10

we

finda referencetoa

charm

for gettingacross the riversafely;chapter 11 isdevotedto afflictionsof

women

;chapter 12 refers to remedies for children; and the book closes very fittingly with

two

pages entitled "

Of

certain signs of approaching death."

The

identification of plants depends to a large extent

upon

the etymological analyses, which frequently give the usage, the place of habitat, or a description of the plant itself.

A

^{completeanalysis of}

allthe313 Aztecor Nahuatl

words

hasbeen

made

inthepreparation of thetext forpublication ofthismanuscript.'"

About

40 percent of theseare

new

words

—

^{thatis, they}donotoccurinthe early sources, Molina,™ Sahagun, Hernandez, or in the standard

Simeon

Aztec- French dictionary.

From Simeon

however,the roots have been de- rived, so that it has been possible to give a translation based

upon

theetymological sources of the word.

This systemof the Aztecsof building

up

a descriptive

compound noun

results inthe grouping of plants as to theircolor or form or as aquatic plants, eatable plants, sweet or bitter plants, fragrant, spinous, or medicinal.

Examples

of these

when

divided into their respective roots are as follows: A-caca-pac-quilitl (an-agreeable- eatable-water plant), Aca-mallo-tetl (water-plant captive (in) stone),

^"Thewriter acknowledges the assistance of Dr. John P. Harrington, eth-

nologist,oftheBureauofAmericanEthnology,inverifying the etymologies of theAztecplantnames.

^_Molina, Fr. Alonso, Vocabulario dela Lengua Mexicana, compuesto porel P.Fr.Alonsode Molina. Publicado denuevoporJulioPlatzmann,Leipsig, 1880.

NO. 2

THE BADIANUS

MANUSCRIF'T

EM MART

I3

Caca-matlalin (blue-colored herb), Chichic-xihuitl(bitterherb),Colo- mecatl (trailing cord), Hahuiyac-xihuitl (fragrant plant).

The

credit for this as a system of plant identification

was

first recognizedby Francisco Flores,'^eminent

Mexican

medical historian,

who

mentioneditinhis" Historia delaMedicinaen

Mexico

^" (1888)

,

but he does not give such ananalysis. Insteadhegroups Aztecplant

names

according tousage, such as tonics,antispasmodics, stimulants, etc. Until the translation of the presentvolume, as faras is

known,

no completeanalysis ofAztecplant

names

hasbeen undertaken.

The

recognition of the

modern

botanical classification ismost dif- ficult.

Without

an analysis of the Aztec nouns, the usages of each plant and the colored-plate identification

would

be impossible. In additionit has been necessary to cross-reference every Aztec plant

name

with sixteenth century Aztec-Latin botanical texts. Again, without Standley's important volumes on the trees and shrubs of

Mexico

andthe flora of Yucatan, this

would

have been impossible.

Of

the sixteenth century Aztec-Latin sources, only

two

are of the greatest importance.

The

first, volumes 10and 11 of the

Sahagun

manuscript,is themost important, since the

work

is both contempo- rary with,anddeals with plants of the

same

districtas. theBadianus manuscript.

The

second is thegreat

Hernandez

volume, which

was

written inthe latter half of the sixteenth century, and although not published until 150years later,

was

one of the greatest herbals of the sixteenth century.

The

excellent illustrations of the

Hernandez

volume have been invaluable in checking the

more

primitive Aztec drawings in the Badianus manuscript.

Besides the use of plants, animals, stones, and various kinds of earth, salts and carbon were usedintheconcoction of Aztec medical formulas.

Of

the stones,pearlsofvarious kinds, theeztetl (jasper), the tetlahuitl (precious ocre stone), and the tlahcalhuatzin are the most frequently used.

Numerous

references are found to theuse of bezoarstones, whichthey obtained

from

10ditiferentspeciesofbirds.

Earths of variouskindsclassifiedaccordingto theircolor wereused, as well assoda

and

salt.

The

latter

was

obtained in cakes

from

the saltlake of

Texcoco

and, intheAztec

Empire

period,

was

oneof the chief articles of trade.

Animal

charcoal

was

used then as it still is

today

—

^{although in} apurer

form —

ⁱⁿ the preparation of bitter prin- ciplesfor infusionsandtinctures.

Of

the animals used, the greater partwere birds,although the stag, dog, fox, jaguar, monkey, and

many

other kinds were included.

"_{Flores,FranciscoA.,}Historia delaMedicinaen Mexico. OficinaTipdela Secretaria de Fomento, vols, i, 2, and 3, 1886.

14

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. 94 Medicaments wereeithertakeninternally orusedas lotionsand un- guents,and

modes

of treatments,intervalsbetweendosages,and symp- toms are also included. In

many

respects the treatments compare favorably with those ofEurope. That Aztecmedical knowledge

was

considered superiorisobvious

from

the factthatit

was

taughtatthe College of Santa Cruz in preference to

European

medicine. It is especially significant that Philip II sent Dr. Francisco Hernandez, vmder the title of Protomedico of Spain, to

New

Spain with the commission to gather together the knowledge of native plants and their usage. Parts of his great

work

were collected by Dr.

Nardo

Antonio Recchi and published in one great volume by the

Lyncean

Societyin 1651.

The

interestofEuropeans inAztec medicineis also reflected in the writings of Dr. Nicholas Monardes,

whose work

on the medical knowledge of the Occidental Indies

was

published in 1569 and ^{translated into} English in 1577 by John Frampton.

The

works of Carlos Clusius, Caesalpinus, and others all reflect the in- troduction of Aztec medical knowledge into Europe.

The

extent to which Aztec medical knowledge influenced the medical practices in

Europe

can only be judged by a careful examination of the later sixteenthandseventeenth centuryherbalists in

whose work

references to

Mexican

plants occur.

All these latter works of

European

authors present a picture of Aztecmedical learning as it appeared

when

viewed through theeyes ofEuropeans.

The Sahagun

manuscripts alone

show

aclosekinship totheBadianusmanuscript. This

would

beexpectedbecause of both the timeof writingandthe source ofmaterial.

The

Badianus manuscript holds the unique position of being the earliest writtenAztec herbalas well as being the onlyonewritten by the Aztecs themselves. It

marks

the beginning of herbal literature onthis sideof theAtlantic.

To

^thelist of native Aztec students of the College of Santa Cruz

who

distinguishedthemselves in thefield of letters,

we

add the

names

of Martin de la Cruz and Juannes Badianus.

The

volumeisalasting tribute totheteachings of Fr.Ber- nardinode

Sahagun

and the brothers of the Franciscan order

who

taught at Tlaltelolco during the first 50 years of its existence.

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL.94,NO.2,PL.

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"Against pain inthe side. TheappHcation ofthe herbs Tolohuaxihuitl and Nexehuac, groundinwater takesawaypainsintheside."

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