A Little 21st Century Witchcraft

The bedrabbled stranger stumbled out from the jungle, bursting into the coastal tribe�s semi-civilisation. Malgra, the medicine man, sensed his illness and�after providing a good, hot meal�set to work.

Clearly, the stranger had eaten little for many months. To ease his beriberic symptoms, Malgra decided to acetylize a pot of cnidaria, add a pinch of erysiphe, and acetometrically re-analyse the results until satisfied. Lastly, a few obscure words spoken in Yucateco�and he pronounced the concentrated brew complete. Once diluted in the traditional fashion (nonhygroscopically, and without adding water), his patient imbibed.

�Gee whillikers! It worked like magic!�