StjF E 1. Itll ffiibrara Nortli (Carolina ^tatP llmuFraitg Special Collection v,2 This book was presented by Monroe Gardner /:)v'?i.. <=^ v-^v-^ v.^-% THIS BOOK MUST NOT BE TAKEN FROM THE LIBRARY BUILDING. AMEBICAN MEDICAL BOTANY. VOLUME II.— PART I. » AMEBIC AN MEDICAL BOTANY, BEIXG A COLLECTION OF TUB NATIVE MEDICINAL PLANTS OP THE UNITED STATES, CONTAIJTIIfG THEIK BOTANICAL HISTORY AND CHEMICAL ANALYSIS, AND PROrERTIES AND USES IN MEDICINE, DIET AND THE ARTS, WITH COLOURED ENGRAVINGS. BY JACOB BIGELOW, M. D. RUMFORD PROFESSOR ANP LECTURF.R ON -MATERIA MEOICA AND BOTANY IN HARVARD TJNITERSITT. YOL. II. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY CUMMINGS AND HILLIARD, AT THE BOSTON BOOKSTORE, NO. 1 CORNHILL. CMVERSITY PRESS. ...HILLIAHO AND METCALF. 1818. DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT : District Clerk's Office. BE it remembered, that on the twentj' elp^htli day of October, A. D. 1818, and in the forty third year of the Independence of the United States of America, Jacob Bif^low, M. D. of the said dis- trict, has deposited in thb office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the uordsfoUoAviiig, viz. " American Medical Botany, being a collection of the native medicinal plants of the United States, coiitaining their botanical history ai:d chemical analysis, and properties and uses in medicine, diet and the arts, with coloured enpva\ing-s. By Jacob Bigeiow, M. D. Rumfoi-d Professor and Lec- turer oil Materia Medica and Botany in Harvard University, Vol. II." In confbrmiij to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled " An Act for the en- couragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copi. s, during the times therein mentioned :" and also to an act entitled, " An act sup])!ementary to an act entitled, an act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts an,l books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned ; and extending tie benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching historical aud otbcr prints. JOHN W DAVIS i ^''''■^' "f'^'^ District JOHN W. DAV1!>, ^ ^j. Massachusetts. ADVERTISEMENT. Upon presenting to the public the portion of this work, whicli completes one half of his labours, the author of the American Medical Botany feels himself bound to offer some report of the progress and prospects of his undertaking. The plan of this work was formed and announced at a time when such a subject was wholly novel, and when coloured bo- tanical engravings, from the difficulty and expense of their exe- cution, were almost unknown in this country. It was endeav- oured that the plan should be such as in some degree to insure, what both authors and their friends should desire, extensive cir- culation and permanent utility. An edition of a thousand copies was printed, and that the work might be generally accessible, the price was fixed at a lower rate, in proportion to the number of plates, than works of the kind have ever been placed at in this country ; a rate whicli the probable sale of the whole edition could alone justify. As permanent utility was esteemed of more importance than ephemeral success, the work has not been hur- ried in any stage of its execution, even though some temporary advantages might have been obtained by its earlier appearance. The autlior has not willingly adopted the opinions of others in bot- any or medicine without examination, and has thought no delay in- jurious which might lead to the establishment of truth or the de- tection of error. He has been desirous, in adding the results of his own experience, that the book should have, in some degree at Yl ADVERTISEMENT. least, the character of an original work, rather tlian of a compi- lation ,• at the same time that it should present a fair view of what is known on the subjects of which it treats. The figures of the plants have, in every instance, been made from original drawings, which were executed by himself, with the exception of two or three presented by his friends. The style of engraving is wholly new in tliis country, and is one which has been suc- cessfully attempted only by the first artists in France. It gives him pleasure to state, that the reception of the work, in all parts of tlie United States, has exceeded his anticipations, that the subscription is already more than sufficient to defray the expense of publishing, and tliat its regular increase renders it probable that the whole edition will be taken up at an early period. He avails himself of this occasion to return his acknowledg- ments to those correspondents who have obligingly assisted him by the communication of specimens for the work, and of the re- sults of their own researches and experience. Particularly he would express this remembrance to Zaccheus Collins Esq. of Philadelphia, a gentleman whose active kindness has repeatedly supplied his botanical necessities j and whose extensive erudition has enabled him to afford counsel, which would not have been sought at a less respectable source. To Professor Ives of New Haven, a zealous and intelligent cultivator of the American Ma- teria Medica, he would express the obligations derived from his communications and correspondence. It would be unjust to for- get that many medicinal plants of the Southern States, with ob- servations on their properties, were furnished expressly for this work, by the late Dr. James Macbride of Charleston, S. C. a ADVERTISE3IENT. VU j)hysician and a botanist, whose premature deatli lias terminated a career of honourable usefulness and of active, liberal and eflicient prosecution of science. His friends cannot remember without I'e- gret a man, who had the rare quality of being learned without ostentation, who was ambitious of uscfuhiess more than of fame, and who sought rather to be valuable to others than just to him- self. As the materials for the rest of the American Medical Bota- >iy are now principally collected, and most of the drawings finished ; the remaining numbers will be issued with as much promptness and regularity, as is consistent M'ith their faitliful execution. PREFACE TO THE SECOND VOLUME. As frequent use is made in tliesc pages of observations drawn from the auxiliary sciences, as affording some light on the medicinal properties of plants, it may be proper to examine how ftir tes- timony of this kind is entitled to receive credit in our inquiries and examinations. There can be no question, that the actual op- eration of medicines upon the human system, gathered from positive experience, is, in the pres- ent state of our knowledge, the only criterion by which we can pronounce, with universal certainty, on their properties. There are nevertheless many things to be learnt from chemical analysis, sensible qualities, and botanical affinity, which may afford us, in some instances certainty, and in most others presumptive evidence of the medicinal characters of vegetables. The correspondence in these respects is frequently so striking, that we can hardly resist the belief, that an entire har- mony of properties exists, which, if we are unable 3 X PREFACE. fully to comprehend, it is rather owing to the im- perfection of science, than to the irregularity of nature. A few illustrations of this point, taken from generul facts already ascertained, will place the subject in a clearer light. The chemical substances, known by the names of Gum Mucus and Fcecula, are constantly emol- lient, demulcent, and nutritious. They manifest these qualities even when extracted from acrid and poisonous vegetables, as in Arum, Calla, and Jatropha. Sugar is nutritious and demulcent. When subjected to a spontaneous chemical change by the vinous fermentation, it is universally a strong diffusible stimulus. Flawed oils are emollient and laxative. Also nutritious. Volatile oils on the contrary are acrid, stimu- lating, heating, and antispasmodic. Tannin and the Gallic acid are uniformly an- tiseptic and powerfully astringent. The Acetous, Citric, Tartaric and similar veg- etable acids are refrigerant and antiseptic. Bitter Ejotractive substances are usually tonic. Resins, which are bitter and acrid, are com- monly cathartic. PREFACE. XI Emetine, as separated by Pelletier and Magen- die, is powerfully emetic. Morphium, obtained by Serturner, is a very strong' narcotic. The foregoing are some of the examples, which the present state of Chemistry allows us to ob- serve of affinity between chemical and medicinal characters. With a few exceptions they will be found to be strictly true. Yet the analysis of vege- tables is at present but imperfectly known, and an extended investigation is continually bringing new principles to light. We can hardly expect that the business of generalization should be attempted with complete success, until the constituent facts are better understood. From what we already know, however, it is not chimerical to pi edict, that if the chemistry of vegetables were as per- fectly knoAvn in all its parts, as in those which we have detailed ; tlieir medicinal properties might be inferred, with at least as great certainty, as that which now attends most inferences in the conjectural science of medicine. In regard to the botanical affinities of plants, as affi)rding evidence of their medicinal powers, much has been said and written. Petiver, Hoff- man, Linnseus, Hasselquist, and recently the learned Professor Decandolle have bestowed much XU PREFACE. investigation on this subject. It is regarded as a desideratum by all, and as the consummation of botanical science by many, that plants should be so arranged, as that then* assemblages should agree, not only in external forms, but in internal qualities and operative powers. Certain general agreements of this kind evidently prevail through- out nature ; yet they are so varied, and subject to so many exceptions, that it is difficult to establish them by general scientific descriptions, and when they are rendered too minute they seem to lose much of their importance. It is perhaps as easy to know the properties of plants from their exter- nal habit, as to understand the characters of man- kind from their physiognomy. Accurate obser- vers know more than they can communicate the means of knowing to others, yet the most accu- rate are liable to be mistaken. Many vegetables of the closest affinity and resemblance, even spe- cies of the same genus, differ wholly from each other in their effects. AVitness the species of Cucumis, Convolvulus, antl Solanum, some of wliich are salutary, and others higbly deleteri- ous. Nevertheless there are many general truths, or at least general probabilities, by which every one would be influenced, and which have so much importance, that they will never be forgotten. PREFACE. XIU No botanist, even if in danger of starving in a wilderness, would indulge his hunger on a root or fruit taken from an unknown plant of the nat- ural order Luridce, of the Miiltisiliquw, or the um- belliferous aquatics. On the contrary, he would not feel a moment's hesitation in regard to any of the Gramina, the fruit of the Pomacew, and several other natural families of plants, which are known to be uniformly innocent in their effects. The sensible properties of plants afford another clue to their influence on the human system. It is true, that observations derived from tliis source will not serve us in forming very minute distinc- tions. They are, however, almost always adequate in vegetable productions, to enable us to distin- guish what is innocent and salubrious, from what is noxious and virulent. The brute creation de- pend wholly upon the powers of sense in selecting their food, and this reliance does not often betray them. In regard to mankind it almost uniformly happens, that what is sweet, delicious, or aromat- ic, proves nutritive or salutary ; while on the oth^ er hand, vegetable poisons are nauseous, acrid, and disgusting. It has been observed, that it would have been a sort of treachery in nature to have made it otherwise. Considering the univer- sal dissemination of poisonous plants, and the XVI PREFACE. number of them, which frequent the vicinity of human habitations, this arrangement of Provi- dence, by making ungrateful what is dangerous, has furnished ahnost the only safeguard from harm, to the inexperienced and unwary. These remarks have been offered on account of an impression which many persons entertain, that collateral evidences of the characters of plants are worthless and undeserving of attention. Even if the community were composed exclusively of physicians, such an opinion could not be wholly correct. Every one may be called on to form hasty decisions on subjects where his experience is deficient, and where an acquaintance with aux- iliary facts might lead him to a correct issue. It is not only curious and instructive to perceive the harmonies of nature, but to every inquirer among her works it must be practically useful. It can no where be more useful, or more deserving of study, than in a new country, where the face of nature presents an ungathered harvest, and where every clue to useful discovery derives importance from its influence and tendency. 2X1 3 4^ 3 G 7 a 9 JO ' Jl JZ 23 AMERICAN MEDICAL BOTANY. PYROLA UMBELLATA. Winter Green, PLATE XXL JL HIS most beautiful of the species of Pyrola is extensively diffused throughout the northern hemisphere. It inhabits all latitudes in the Unit- ed States, and extends across the continent to the shores of the Pacific ocean. It is also found in the forests of Siberia, and in several of the northern and temperate countries of Europe. It only grows in shady woods, where it is protected from the sun, and nourished by the peculiar soil formed from the decomposition of leaves and wood. The most common appellations, by which it is known in the United States, are Winter green and Pipsis- sewa. It flowers in June and July, being some- what later than most of the other species of its family. •16 flllULA LxMBELLATA. J3y rursli and some other American botanists, this species and one other have been separated from the genus Pyrola, to constitute a new family by tlie name of Chimaphila. As the grounds of distinction, however, between them are not suffi- cient to render it certain tliat this genus will ul- timately stand ; I have preferred retaining the original Linnsean name.* * It is somewhat remarkable, that the genus Chimaphila was first established upon characters, which hardly exist in either of the plants it is intended to comprehend. The principal grounds of distinction, suggested by Michaux and adopted by Pursh, seem to consist in a sessile stigma, and anthers opening by a subbivalve foramen. Now the stigma is not sessile, since that term implies the absence of a style, and the anthers do not open by any subbivalve foramen, differing from {he rest, but by two tubular pores, precisely as in the other spe- cies of Pyrola. ]Mr. Nuttall, in his interesting work on North Ameri- can gelnera, has amended the character of Chimaphila, by bringing into view the calyx, filaments, &c. while he has added to the char- acteristics of Pyrola, a downy connexion of the valves of the cap- sule. In the calyx, however, the two species of Chimaphila are at different extremes from each other ; one of them having a five leaved calyx, the leaves overlaying each other at base ; the other having a five toothed calyx only, while the remaining species of Pyrola, being five parted, come between them. I have not been able to find the tomentum spoken of by Mr. Nuttall, in all the spiked species, and par- ticularly in P. secunda. If the genus Pyrola were ever to be dismembered, it should be into at least four distinct genera, as follows j 1. Style declined, stigma annulate. P. rotundifolia, P. asarifolia, &,c. WINTER GREEN. 17 The genus Pyrola belongs to the class Be- candria, and order MonogynicL It ranks among 2. Style straight^ stigma peltate. P. secunda, P. uniflora, &c, S. Style incrassaied, calyx Jive leaved, P. maculata. 4. Style immersed, calyx five toothed, P. umbellata. If we go farther and take into view the direction and form of the filaments, and the other parts of flower and fruit, with their various combinations ; we shall have nearly as many genera as there are now species, since it is well known that many of the most important spe- cific distinctions in this genus are taken from the fructification. On these accounts there can be no doubt that the genus Pyrola had better remain entire. In habit it is certainly one of the most natural genera we possess. All the species are humble evergreens, growing in woods, with creeping roots, ascending stems, and nodding flowers. All of them have their leaves in irregular whorls, flower with reversed anthers, and retain their style until the fruit is ripe. In inflorescence, one is solitary, two somewhat corymbed, and the rest spiked. The leaves of P. secunda, umbellata and maculata are usu- ally in two or more whorls ; those of most others in one radical whorl or aggregate. One species is said to be leafless. In the dissections accompanying the figure of P. umbellata I have endeavoured to represent the evident gradation of the style from the species in which it is longest, to that in which it is shortest. In the same plate are added some of the varieties of the calyx and stamens. The following remark of Sir James Edward Smith, the learned president of the Linnaean society, is from Rees' Cyclopedia, ,3rt. Pyrola. " We can by no means assent to the establishment of that able writer's (Tursh's) Genus Chimaphila, there being surely no di- versity of habit to support it, nor any character but a difference ia the length of the style ; which the other species of Pyrola shew to af- ford admirable specific, but no generic distinctions. 3 iS PYROLA UMBELLATA. the Bicornes of Linnseus and the Ericce of Jus- sieu. The generic character is as follows. Calyx mostly jive parted ; petals jive ; anthers inverted^ opening by two tubular pores ; capsule jive celled, jive valved. The species umbellata has its leaves wedge shaped and toothed, jiowers somewhat iimbelled, calyx jive toothed, and style immersed. Its more minute description is as follows : Koot woody, creeping, sending up stems at various distances. The stems are ascending, somewhat angular, and marked with the scars of the former leaves The leaves grow in irregular whorls, of which there are from one to four. They are evergreen, coriaceous, on very short petioles, wedge shaped, subacute, serrate, smooth, shin- ing, the lower surface somewhat paler. The flowers grow in a small corymb, on nodding pe- duncles, which are furnished with linear bractes about their middle. Calyx of five roundish suba- cute teeth or segments, much shorter than the corolla. Petals five, roundish, concave, spreading, cream coloured, with a tinge of purple at base. Stamens ten. Filaments sigmoid, the lower half flesliy, triangular, dilated, and slightly pubescent at the edges ; the upper half filiform. Anthers WINTER GREEN. 19 two celled, each cell opening by a short, round, tubular orifice, which points downward in the bud, but upward in the flower. Pollen white. Germ roundish, depressed, furrowed, obscurely five lobed, with a funnel shaped cavity at top. Style straight, half as long as the germ, inversely conical, insert- ed in the cavity of the germ, and concealed by the stigma. Stigma large peltate, convex, moist, ob- scurely five ra^ed. Capsules erect, depressed, five celled, five valved, the partitions from the middle of the valves. Seeds linear, chaffy, very numerous and minute. This plant, like the other species of Pyrola, is very difficult to cultivate, when transplanted from its native soil ; although it thrives luxuriantly in the shade and rich mould of the forests where it originates. The leaves of Pyrola umbellata, when chewed, communicate to the mouth a taste which partakes of both sweet and bitter. The stalk and roots possess the same taste, combined with a moderate degree of pungency. A Dissertation " De Pyrola umbellata," published at Gottingen, by Dr. Wolf, in 1817, contains an elaborate chemical examina- tion of this plant. As the result of his trials, tliis author concludes, that 100 parts of Pyrola umbel- lata contain about 18 of a bitter extractive princi- aO PYROLA TJMBELLATA pie, S.04 of resin, 1.38 of tannin, a slight portion of gum, and the rest of fibrin a and earthy salts. The resin is adhesive, brownish, readily soluble ia ether and alkalis, burning with flame and a res- inous odour, and leaving a white cinder. From my own trials the quantity of resin in this plant appears to be very small. A saturated tincture of a deep brown colour does not give a precipitate on the first addition of water. It is only after some time standing, and partly perhaps from the evaporation of the alcohol, that a turbid- ness begins to appear in the solution. It is prob- able that spirit is a better menstruum than water for the soluble portions of this plant, although the latter is capable of extracting the greater part of its virtue. The Pyrola umhellata, though scarcely known as a medicine until within a few years past, has at the present day acquired a reputation of con- siderable extent in the treatment of various dis- eases. Its popular celebrity seems to have origi- nated in its application to the treatment of fever and rheumatism ; but the attention of physicians has been chiefly drawn towards its use in otlier complaints. The instances in which this plant hay received favourable testimonies on medical authority, of its successful use, both in America WINTER GREEN. 2i and Europe, arc principally tlie following. 1. As a palliative in strangury and nephritis. 2. As a diuretic in dropsy. 3. As an external stimulant, susceptible of useful application to various cases. In the first of these cases, the Pyrola is entitled to attention and confidence. Some practitioners in this country have employed it with advantag*e in the same cases, in which the Arbutus Uva ursi is recommended*. Dr. Wolf, the German writer lately cited, has reported a number of cases of ischuria and dysuria, arising from various causes, in which the Pyrola, given in infusion, produced the most evident relief, and took precedence of a variety of remedies which had been tried. His method of administering it was to give a table spoonful of a strong infusion, with a little syrup, every hour. In all tlie cases he has detailed, small as the dose was, it gave relief in a very short time. In one case its effect was so distinctly marked, that the disease returned whenever the medicine was omitted and was removed on re- suming its use. A tonic operation attended its other effects, so that the appetite was improved and digestion promoted during the period of its employment. * See Dr. Mitchell's Inaugural Dissertation. Philailelphia, 1803. %& PYROLA UMBELLATA. The diuretic properties of the Pyrola umbel- lata, seem to have been fully illustrated by Dr. W. Somerville in a paper on this vegetable, pub- lished in the 5th volume of the London Medico- Chirurgical transactions. The facts presented by this physician afford satisfactory evidence of the power of this medicine to promote the renal excretion, and to afford relief to patients afflicted with dropsy in its various forms. The most dis- tinguished case presented by him, is that of Sir James Craig, the British governour in Canada, who was labouring under a general dropsy, which in its progress had assumed the forms of hydro- thorax, anasarca and ascites, and which was com- bined with different organic diseases, especially of the liver. After having tried with little or tempora- ry success, almost every variety of diuretic and ca- thartic medicines, and submitted twice to the operation of tapping, the patient had recourse to a strong infusion of the Pyrola, in the quantity of a pint every twenty four hours. Although the case was altogether an unpromising one, yet the plant gave relief, not only in the first, but in the sub- sequent instances of its use. It increased the urinal discharge, and at the same time produced an augmentation of strength and an invigorated appetite. WINTER GREEN. 83 Several other cases of dropsy are detailed in Dr. Somerville's paper, in which tlie Pyrola was administered hy himself and by other practioners with decided advantage. Dr. Satterly and Dr. Marcet are among those who have added their observations to the testimonies in its favour. Dr. Somerville found his patients to remark, that an agreeable sensation was perceived in the stomach soon after taking the Pyrola, and that this was followed in some instances by an extraordinary increase of appetite. He considers it as having in this respect a great advantage over other diu- retics, none of which are agreeable to the stomach, and most of them very offensive to it. He fur- ther states, that no circumstance had occurred within his own experience or information, to for- bid its use in any form, or to limit the dose. Dr. Wolf has given one very satisfactory case of the utility of our plant in ascites. He also found it to alleviate altogether the ardor urinse attendant on gonorrhea. Such are the most important facts wliich to my knowledge have been published respecting the internal use of the Pyrola umbellata. I have administered this plant on various occasions, and attended to its mode of operation. In a number of dropsical cases, when first given, it made a dis- 84 PYROLA UMBELLATA. tinct and evident impression on the disease, com- municating an increased activity to the absorbents, followed by a great augmentation of the excretion from the kidnies. The benefit, however, with me has been in most instances temporary, and it was found better to omit the medicine for a time and to resume it afresh, than to continue it until the system had become insensible to its stimulus. After suspending it for a week or two, the same distinct operation took place on returning to its use, as had been manifested in the first instance. It proved in almost every instance, a very accep- table medicine to the patient, and was preferred both for its sensible qualities and its effects on the stomach, to other diuretics and alteratives which had been prescribed. The Pyrola has been considerably employed as an external application in tumours and ulcers of various descriptions. It first acquired notice in consequence of some newspaper attestatioiis of its efficacy in the cure of cancer. Those persons who know how seldom genuine cancers occur in comparison with reputed ones, will be more ready to allow it the character of curing ulcerous, than really cancerous affections. There are undoubt- edly many ulcers, and those frequently of a malig- nant kind, which are benefitted by antiseptic WINTER GREEN. 25 Stimulants ; and to such the Pyrola may be useful. But of its efficacy in real cancer we requu'e more evidence than is at present possessed, before we ascribe to it the power of controlling' so for- midable a malady. Dr. Miller of Franklin informs me that he has used a decoction and cataplasm of this plant with apparent success in various chronic indurated swellings. It acts as a topical stimulant, and when long continued, not unfrequently vesicates. Tumours of long standing have in several in- stances disappeared under its use. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Pyrola umbellata, LiPf. Sp. pi. GxYIeliiv, Flora Sihirica. Roth, Flora Germanica. — But. Mag. t. 7TS. — Michaux, Flora Americana, i. 251.— Pyrola fruticans, Paekinson, Theatrumf 509. — J. Bauhin, Hist, plant, iii. 5S6, — Chiniaphila corymbosa, PuRSH, i. 300. — NuTTAii., Genera, i. 274. MEDICAL REFERENCES. Mitchell, Inangural Dissertation. — Somerville, Medico- Chirurgical Transactions, vol. v. — Wolf, Dissertatio Inaugnralis. PLATE XXI. Fig. 1. Fyrola umbellata. Fig. 2. Pistil of Pyrola rotundifolia. Fig. 3. Pistil of Pyrola secunda. Fig. 4. Pistil of Pyrola unrjiora. Fig. 5. Pistil of Pyrola maculata. 4 26 PYROLA UMBELLATA. Fig. 6. Pistil flfPyrola umhellata. Fig. 7. Section of the same, shelving the length of the style. Fig. 8. Five toothed calyx of P. umhellata. Fig. 9. Five leaved calyx and incrassated pedicel of P. ma- cnlata. Fig. 10. Anther magnified of P. secunda. Fig. 11. Ditto of P. rotundifolia. Fig. 12. Stamen magnified of P. umhellata. Fig. 13. Ditto of P. maculata. :c£iz i f « 3^5 % lJ (l^///uA(H^^'' <■ /ri^a^ /ar/^?/^('.j ICTODES FCETIDUS. Skunh Cabbage. PLJITE xxir. JLhis is one of our most noticeable plants, both from the frequency of its occurrence and the peculiarity of its sensible properties. Scarcely a swamp or meadow is found in the middle and northern parts of the United States in which this vegetable may not be discovered at a distance, es- pecially in the spring season, by its large tufts of rank, crowded leaves. Its singular flowers are among the first which break from the ground, after the rigours of winter, appearing in diiferent latitudes, from February to April. The vegeta- tion is rapid, so that in most instances the fruit is ripe and the leaves wholly decayed before the end of xVugust. From this precocity of the plant to- gether with the depth to w hich the roots pene- trate the earth, it seems calculated to bear the 6 42 ICTODES FtETIDtS. cold of high latitudes. I have found the flowers a second time formed, and shooting from the ground in November. The strong and unpleasant odour which ever J part of the plant emits on being broken, and which is precisely similar to that of the Viverra mephitis ; has given it by an almost common consent, in every part of the country, the appellations of Skunk weed and Skunk cabbage. The structure of this singular vegetable has caused it successively to be assigned to the gene- ra Arum, Bracontium and Pothos, with none of w hich it fully agrees. Of the Aroidese, to which it is related, it approaches most nearly in its flow- er to Pothos ; while its fruit has more aflinity to Orontium. The Tie v. Dr. Cutler many years ago, in the Transactions of the American Academy, pointed out the distinctive characters of this plant, and pronounced it a new genus. No name, how- ever, substantiated by a character, has to my know 1- edgc been given it, in any botanical work, except the name of Sijmplo carpus, a term lately adopted by some xlmerican botanists on the alleged au- thority of Mr. Salisbury. As this name by its ety- iiiolojicy implies a resemblance of the fruit to Symplocos, a genus with which the plant has not the least affinity ; it appears to me inadmissible. Although I am averse to multiply the confusion SKUNK CABBAGE. 43 of synonyms, with which our science is already too much burdened, yet in the present instance an appropriate name, which shouhl not he at va- riance with the character of the plant, appeared to be required. With the advice of the venerable Dr. Cutler, I have translated, as nearly as possible, the common English appellation for the plant. The name Ictodes from tfcrig, viverra, and c^o, oleo ; is sufficiently expressive of the property from which its common name is derived. The genus Ictodes has for its character a hooded spathe, spadicc covered with perfect Jfow- ers, calya? tviih four segments, petals none, style pyramidal, seeds immersed in the spadi^r. Only the present plant can be assigned to this genus. It belongs to Tetrandria, monogijnia ; and is found among the Piperita of Linnaeus and Aroidece of Jussieu. The root is large and abrupt, with nu- merous, croAvded, fleshy fibres. The spathe which emerges from the ground some time before the leaves, is ovate, swelling, various in width, cucul- late, spotted and sometimes nearly covered with dull brownish purple, the top acuminate and in- curved, the edges infolded, auriculate at base, and at length coalescing. Within this is the oval spadix, on a short peduncle, covered with perfect tetrandrous flowers, and of the same colour ^vitli 44; ICTODES FCETIDUS. the spathe. Calyx leaves four, fleshy, wedge shaped, truncate, the top and edges inflected, the whole crowded together so as to form a compact covering for the spadix. Stamens four, opposite the calyx leaves, with subulate filaments equal in length to the calyx, and oblong four celled anthers. Style four sided, tapering ; stigma minute, pubes- cent ; germ roundish, concealed within the spadix. After the spathe decays, the spadix continues to grow, and with it every part of the flowers except the anthers. When the fruit is ripe, the spadix has attained many times its original dimensions, while the calyx, filaments and style are larger, very prominent and separated from each other. Within the spadix at the base of each style is a round, fleshy seed, as large as a pea, white, tinged with green and purple, invested with a separate membranous coat, and with a prominent corcu- lum situated in a depression at top. The leaves which spring up some time after the flowers are numerous, large and crowded, ob- long heart shaped, acute, smootli, with numerous fleshy veins of a paler colour. They spring from the root on long petioles, hollowed in front, and furnished with large oblong slieaths. They con- tinue to increase in size for a month or two after the flowering period is past. SKUNK CABBAGE. 45 3Ir. Nuttall, who lias observed the germination of this plant, informs us that the seed does not ap- pear to possesss any other cotyledon, than a sheathing stipule, similar to that whieh is after- wards produced in the plant. The principle hulk of the seed is formed hy >vhat he considers a vitellus, having the emhryo exactly resembling the future plant, situated in an umbilical depres- sion at its top. The attachment of this body to the embryo is at first by a minute funiculus, which enlarges and becomes more distinct dur- ing the progress of germination ; but the most sin- gular cu'cumstance respecting it is tlie length of time for which it continues attached to tlie grow- ing plant, apparently inert at the base of the can- dex for twelve or even eighteen months. The oifensive and powerful odour which char- acterizes this plant is not peculiar to it. The fruit of some of the ^orth American currants, and particularly Bihes rigens of Michaux, a species often met with on the high mountains of the East- ern States ; emits when bruised a scent exactly similar to this vegetable. The odour of the Ictodes resides in a princi- ple which is extremely volatile. I have not been able to separate it by distillation from any part of the plant, the decoction and the distilled water be- 46 ICTODES FCETIDUS. ing in my experiments but slightly impregnated with its sensible character. Alcohol, digested on the plant, retains its odour for a time, but this is soon dissipated by exposure to the air. An acrid principle exists in the root even when perfectly dry, producing an effect like that of the Arum and Ranunculi. When chewed in the mouth, the root is slow in manifesting its pe- culiar taste ; but after some moments, a pricking sensation is felt, which soon amounts to a disa- greeable smarting, and continues for some time. This acrimony is readily dissipated by heat. The decoction retains none of it. The distilled water is impregnated with it, if the process be carefully conducted, but loses it on standing a short time. A resinous substance is dislodged from the alcoholic solution of the root by the addition of water, the solution becoming moderately turbid. A gummy or mucous principle is also present, and fills the mouth with mucilage when the root is chewed. It is separated from the decoction in small /loccuii wlien alcohol is added. The spadix consists of a fleshy cellular sub- stance, which shrinks very much in drying. The seeds when dry are reduced to half their former size, and in this state they have a tough waxy SKUNK CABBAGE. 47 Consistence and an animal odour. They contain fixed oil in abundance, which is easily forced out from them by expression. Their principal bulk appears to be alhumen, and when reduced to powder they are less easily soluble in boiling water, than grains which are less oleaginous. They burn with an oily smoke, leaving behind a large coal. The sensible properties of the Ictodes having a strong affinity with those of assafcetida and the other foetid gums, practitioners have been led to expect from it a similar antispasmodic power. Experience has justified these expectations in a variety of disorders of the spasmodic and nervous kind. The Eev. Dr. Cutler of Massachusetts was the first who recommended its use in asth- matic cases. In his account of indigenous Amer- ican vegetables, he tells us that the roots dried and powdered form an excellent remedy in asthma, and often give relief when other means prove in- effectual. It may be given, he says, with safety to children as well as adults ; to the former in dos- es of four, five or six grains, and to the latter in doses of twenty grains and upward. In a private letter he states, that he made use of it in his own case of asthma for several years, and generally found relief In the winter he used the dried 48 ICTODES FCETIDUS. ^ root in powder, and in summer, the fresh grated root. It continued to afford more reUef than any other remedy, so long as the paroxysms remain- ed under the influence of any medicine. Since the recommendation of Dr. Cutler, many country physicians have employed the root in asthma, catarrh and chronic coughs, with evident benefit. A number of cases have fallen under my own ob- servation of the catarrh affections of old people, in which a syrup prepared from the root in substance has alleviated and removed the complaint. Dr. Thachcr informs us on various authorities, that the powdered root has given immediate relief in hysteric paroxysm, that it has afl'ected the cure of dropsy, and that rheumatic patients have found great benefit from its use. Its strong and pene- trating acrimony would lead us, a priori^ to ex- pect advantage from it in these complaints. Even in the more formidable disease of epilepsy, it has appeared to do good. Some caution, hoAveyer, is requisite in its man- agement, as serious inconvenience may ensue from an over dose. In delicate stomachs I have found it frequently to occasion vomiting even in a small quantity. In several cases of gastrodynia Avhere it was given with a view to its antispas- modic eflect, it was ejected from the stomach SKUNK CABBAGE. 49 more speedily than common cathartic medicines. I have known it in a dose of thirty grains to hring on not only vomiting, but headach, vertigo and temporary blindness. Other practitioners have given it in larger quantities without any evil of this kind, but I think such an exemption must be attributed to the age and deteriorated quality of the root. Its active ingredients being more or less volatile, it must necessarily be impaired in strength by long keeping, especially in a pulveriz- ed state. To insure a tolerably uniform activity of this medicine, the root should be kept in dried slices and not reduced to powder until it is wanted for use. It may then be taken in pills or mixed with syrup in doses of from ten to twenty grains. These may in most instances be repeated three times a day. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Arum Americanum, Catesby, Car. ii. t. 71. — Dracontium loetidum, Lin. Syst. pi. — W111.D. ii. 288. — Pothos foetida, Mi- CHAUX, Amer. ii. 186. — Pursh, ii. 398. — Bot. Mag. 836. — Sym- plocarpus foetida, Nuttalx, genera, i. 105. MEDICAL REFERENCES. Cutler, Trans. Amer, Acad. i. 407. Thacher, Dispensa- tory, 150, 7 50 ICTODES PCETIDTJS. PLATE XXIV. Fig. 1. Idodes fxtidus inflow er, the spathe inclosing the spadicc. Fig. 2. The spadix taken out of the spatke. Fig. 3. The leaves, stalks, ^c. Fig. 4. The spadix in Jridt, one quarter being ciit away to shffw the seeds. Fig. 5. A flower magnified. Fig. 6. The same opened. Fig. 7. Petal and Stamen. Fig. 8. Style, Fig. 9, 10. Seeds, "^ ///ur. Petals spatulate, ohtuse, longer than the calyx, pale bluish purple. Stamens inserted in the claws of the petals, anthers heart shaped. Germ small, ohovate, with five ascending styles shorter than the stamens. Seed oblong, invested with the persistent calyx. The root, which is the officinal part of the Marsh Rosemary, is one of the most intense and powerful astringents in the vegetable materia medica. It communicates to the mouth an high- ly austere and astringent taste, combined with a good deal of bitterness. Few vegetable substan- ces, when chemically treated, give more distinct and copious evidence of the presence of both tannin and gallic acid. The sulphate of iron strikes a fine purple colour with the solution, and soon deposits a precipitate, which, on expo- sure to the air, becomes of an inky blackness. Gelatin also throws down a copious, whitish, in- soluble precipitate. Eesin hardly exists in this root, nor any thing else exclusively soluble in al- cohol. The impregnation with sea salt is readily made obvious. Dr. Mott, Professor of Surgery in the Univer- sity of New York, has published an interesting 56 STATICE CAROLINIANA. and valuable investigation of the properties of this plant in 1806. He informs us that the astringen- cy, indicated by the sulphate of iron, was greater in the tincture than in the infusion under experi- ments precisely similar ; from which it may be inferred, that alcohol is a better solvent for this root than water. He also found the cold infusion more powerful than the hot, a circumstance prob- ably to be accounted for by the escape of a part of the gallic acid by evaporation. The astringen- cy w as found fully equal to that of galls, and ink made from equal quantities of the two, similarly treated, was equal in blackness. The Statice Caroliniana possesses much me- dicinal reputation as an astringent, and large quantities of it are annually consumed in different parts of the United States. In Boston it is reg- ularly kept by the druggists, and larger quantities are sold, than of almost any indigenous article. It is principally sought for as a topical remedy in aphthse and other ulcerative affections of the mouth and fauces. From its astringent and an- tiseptic quality, it is peculiarly suited to correct tlie state of these local maladies, and its applica- tion is commonly follow ed with success. It is much better suited to such complaints than the Coptis trifolia or gold thread, with which it is MARSH ROSEMARY. 57 frequently combined, and which is only a tonic bitter without astringeney. Dr. Baylies of Dighton, Mass. employed a de- coction of the root, both internally and externally, in the Cynanche maligna, a disease which has at times been epidemic and very destructive in dif- ferent parts of our country. It proved very suc- cessful not only under his own observation, but under that of other physicians in this dangerous complaint. Br. 3Iott informs us, that in the chronic stages of dysentery, after tlie inflammatory diathesis, great tenesmus, ^c. are removed ; a strong de- coction of the root has restored patients to health, after various tonics and astringents had been used to no effect. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Statice Caroliniana, Waiter, Flora Car. 1 1 8. — Pursh, i. j212. — NuTTAii, i. 206. — Statice limonium, Muhlenberg, Cat- aloguCf S3. — Elliott, Carolinaf i. 374. MEDICAL REFERENCES. MoTT, Inaugural Dissertation. — Thacher, Disp. 345. — Bay- lies., Papers of the Mass. J)Ied. Society, vol. i, 8 58 STATICE CAROLINIANA, PLATE XXY. Fig. 1, Statice Caroliniana, Fig. 2. A Jlower magnijied. Fig. 3. Calyx ditto. Fig. 4. A petal and stamen ditto. Fig. 5, Germ and styles ditto. I'-HT ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA. Butterjly Weed, PLATE XXVI, F EW genera are more curious and intricate in their structure, than that to which our present article belongs. The plants which constitute tlie family of Asclepias are so peculiar in their habit, that they are easily recognized even by the inex- perienced botanist, while their minute structure is so complicated, as to require not a little atten- tion for its perfect development. This fine race of plants are so abundant in the United States, that every month of the summer season presents us a number of beautiful species. By far the most rich and gaudy of these in appearance is tbe Asclepias tuberosa, known by the vulgar names of Butterjly weed and Pleurisy root, and found in dry, sandy soils, pine woods, ^c. from Massachu- 60 ASCLEPIAS TURBEllOSA. setts to Georgia. It is the Asclepias decumbens of Walter. This genus has a jive parted calya^ ; a five parU ed rejiexed corolla ; a nectary of five erect, cucul- late leaves, each producing an brflected horn from its cavity ; stamens united, with ten pollen masses hanging by pairs in their cavities. The species tuberosais ha'ry, its leaves alternate, oblong-lance- olate ; its branches cymose. Class Pentandria, order Digynia, Natural or- ders Contortw, L. Apocinece, Juss. The root of tliis plant is large, fleshy, brancii- ing, and often somewhat fusiform. It is only by comparison with the other species tisat it can be called tuberous. The stems are numerous, grow- ing in bunches from the root. They are erect, ascending or procumbent, round, hairy, green or red. Leaves scattered, the lower ones peduncu- lated, the upper ones sessile. They are narrow, oblong, hairy, obtuse at base, waved on the edge, and in the old plants sometimes revolute. The stem usually divides at top mto from two to four brandies, which give off crowded umbels from their npper side. The involucrum consists of nu- merous, short, subulate leafets. Flowers nume- rous, erect, of a beautifully bright orange colour. Calyx much smaller than the corolla, live parted, BUTTERFLY WEED. 61 the segments subulate, reflexed and concealed by the corolla. Corolla five parted, reflexed, the seg- ments oblong. The nectary or stamineal crown is formed of five erect, cucullate leaves or cups, with an oblique mouth, having a small, incurved, acute horn proceeding from the base of the cavity of each and meethig at the centre of the flower. The mass of stamens is a tough, horny, somewhat pyramidal substance, separable into five anthers. Each of these is bordered by membranous, reflect- ed edges contiguous to those of the next, and ter- minated by a membranous, reflected summit. In- ternally they have two cells. The pollen forms ten distinct, yellowish, transparent bodies, of aflat and spatulate form, ending in curved filaments, which unite them by pairs to a minute dark tuber- cle at top. Each pair is suspended in the cells of two adjoining anthers, so that if a needle be in- serted between the membranous edges of two an- thers and forced out at top, it carries with it a pair of the pollen masses. Pistils two, completely con- cealed within the mass of anthers. Germs ovate, with erect styles. The fruit, as ^in other spe- cies, is an erect lanceolate follicle on a sigmoid pe- duncle. In this it is green, with a reddish tinge and downy. Seeds ovate, flat, margined, connect- ed to the receptacle by long silken hairs, liecep- taclc longitudinal, loose, chaflTy. 63 ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA. The down or silk of the seeds, in this and oth- er species, furnishes an admirable mechanism for their dissemination. When the seeds are liberat- ed by the bursting of the follicle which contains them, the silken fibres immediately expand so as to form a sort- of globe of branching and highly attenuated rays, with the seed suspended at its cen- tre. In this state they are elevated by the wind to an indefinite height, and carried forward with a voyage like that of a balloon, until some obstacle intercepts their flight, or rain precipitates them to the ground. The down of different species of Asclepias is susceptible of application to various useful and or- namental purposes. If the fibre were sufficiently long to admit of its being woven or spun, it would ap- proach more closely to silk in its gloss and texture, than any vegetable product we possess. As it is, it has been substituted for fur, in the manufacture of hats, and for feathers in beds and cushions. When attached by its ends to any woven fabric, this down forms a beautiful imitation of the finest and softest fur skins, and is applicable to various purposes of dress. The Asclepias Syriaca, from its frequency and the large size of its pods, has been most frequently employed for the foregoing purposes. [JSTote A.] BUTTERFLY WEED. 63 TJie root of the Butterfly ^vecd when dry is brittle and easily reduced to powder. Its taste is moderately bitter, but not otherwise unpleasant. Its most abundant solul)le portions are a bitter ex- tractive matter and fa?cula. ^No evidence of as- tringency is afforded on adding solutions of isin- glass or copperas, and hardly any traces of resin on adding water to alcohol digested on the root. The decoction afforded a flaky precipitate to alco- hol, when tlie infusion did not. Boiling water may be considered the proper menstruum for this plant. This fine vegetable is eminently intitled to the attention of physicians as an expectorant and dia- phoretic. It produces effects of this kind with great gentleness, and without the heating tenden- cy which accompanies many vegetable sudorifics. It has been long employed by practitioners in the Southern States in pulmonary complaints, particur larly in catarrh, pneumonia and pleurisy, and has acquired much confidence for the relief of these maladies. It appears to be an expectorant pecu- liarly suited to the advanced stages of pulmonary inflammation, after depletion has been carried to the requisite extent. Dr. Parker of Virginia, as cited by Dr. Thacher, having been in the habit of employing this root for twenty five years, consid- 64 ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA. ers it as possessing a peculiar and almost specific quality of acting upon the organs of respiration, promoting suppressed expectoration, and relieving the breathing of pleuritic patients in the most ad- vanced stage of the disease. Dr. Chapman, Professor of medicine in Phil- adelphia, informs us that his experience with this medicine is sufficient to enable him to speak with confidence of its powers. As a diaphoretic he thinks it is distinguished by great certainty and permanency of operation, and has this estimable property, that it produces its effects without in- creasing much the force of the circulation, raising the temperature of the surface, or creating inqui- etude and restlessness. On these accounts it is well suited to excite perspiration in the forming states of most of the inflammatory diseases of winter, and is not less useful in the same cases at a more advanced period, after the reduction of ac- tion by bleeding, ^c. The common notion of its having a peculiar efficacy in pleurisy, he is inclin- ed to think is not without foundation. Certain it is, says he, that it very much relieves the oppres- sion of the chest in recent catarrh, and is unques- tionably an expectorant in the protracted pneu- monies. BUTTERFLY WEED. 65 As far as my own observation with this plant extends, I am persuaded of its usefulness in va- rious complaints. It appears to exert a mild ton- ic effect, as well as a stimulant power on the ex- cretorics. Like other vegetable bitters, if given in large quantities, especially in infusion and de- coction, it operates on the alimentary canal, though its efiicacy in this respect is not suffi- cient to entitle it to rank among active cathartics. I am satisfied of its utility as an expectorant med- icine, and have seen no inconsiderable benefit arise from its use as a palliative in phthisis pul- monalis. Among other instances may be cited that of a young physician in this town, who died two years since of pulmonary consumption. He made great use of the decoction of this root, and persevered in it a long time from choice, finding that it facilitated expectoration and relieved the dyspnoea and pain in the chest, more than any other medicine. The best mode of administering the Asclepias is in decoction or in substance. A teacup full of the strong decoction, or from twenty to thirty grains of the powder, may be given in pulmonary complaints several times in a day. In most cases after the inflammatory diathesis is in some degree subsided, it may be freely repeated as long as it agrees with the stomach and bowels. 9 66 ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA. BOTANICAL BEFERENCES. Asclepias tuberosa, Lin. Sp. pL — Pursh, i. 183. — Michaux, i. 117. — Elliott, Car. i. 325. — Asclepias decumbens, a variety, Lin. Pursh, &c. — Apocynum Novje Anglise birsutum radice tuberosa, floribus aurantiacis, Herman, Hort. 646. t. 647. — DuL- lENlus, EltJu 35, t. 30, /. 34. MEDICAL REFERENCES. B. S. Barton, CoUedionSf 48. — Thacher, Disp, 154.— Chapman, Therapeutics and Mat. Med. i. 346. PLATE XXVI. Fig. 1. Asclepias tuberosa. Fig. 2. Jl Jloiver, Fig. 3, Jl Jlower dissected, showing the mass of anthers, and one nectary tvith its horn. Fig. 4. Magnified section of the mass of anthers, showing the sit- itation of the pistils inside, ^x. A pflir of pollen masses is drawn out at the top. Fig. 5. Pistils magnijied, and calyx. A'A-V7/ MAGNOLIA GLAUCA. Small Magnolia, PLATE XXFII. vf F the splendid family of trees known by the name of Magnolia, the American continent has many species. Taken collectively they fur- nish perhaps the most elegant assemblage produc- ed in the forests of the temperate zone. They are distinguished by their rich, smooth foliage, large fragrant flowers, and aromatic bark. Some of them are trees of very exalted stature, taking rank with the highest tenants of the woods. The present species is more humble than the rest in its growth, yet more interesting in some of its oth- er properties. The Magnolia glauca has the most extensive range, especially near tlie sea board, of any of the species of its family. Its most northern bounda- 08 DIAGNOLIA GLAUCA. rj appears to be in a sheltered swamp in Man- chester, Cape Ann, about thirty miles north of Boston. It here attains to but small size, and is frequently killed to the ground by severe winters. It is common in the Middle and Southern States, and Michaux informs us, that it is one of the most abundant trees in the morasses of Florida and Lower Louisiana. According to this author how- ever, it is not usually met with liar in the interior, or to the west of the mountains. Its common names are various, and change with almost every district. In Massachusetts it has no other name than Magnolia ; in the Middle States it is called Swamp sassafras and Beaver tree ; while in the Southern States it is denominated Sweet bay and White bay. It is naturally a tenant of deep boggy swamps, and is somewhat irregular in its growth. It acquires more symmetry of form when cultivat- ed in an upland soil, although its transplantation is difficult. To insure it sussessful cultivation in a dry soil, the tree shonld be raised from the seed. This tree begins to flower in different parts of the United States in May, June and July, '^l he flowers are highly fragrant, and may be perceived by their peHume at a considerable distance. A few of them shut up in a room over night commu- nicate to the air a heavy and almost insupportable odour. SMALL MAGNOLIA. 69 The Magnolias are found in the class Folyan- firm and order Folygynia ; the Coadanatcc of Lin- naius and Maguolice of Jussieu. This genus has a cahjcc of three leaves, a co- rolla pf SUV petals or more ; capsules two-valved, imbricated, forming a cone ; seeds berried, pendu- lous. The present species has oval leaves, glaucous underneath ; and obovate petals, narrowed at base. The bark of tlie young twigs is of a bright, smooth green, with rings at the insertion and scars of the leaves. The leaves are scattered, petioled, regularly elliptical, entire, and glabrous. Their under side, except the midrib, is of a beautifully pale, glaucous colour, by which the tree may be distinguished at a distance. When young, this surface is covered with a silken pubescence. Flow- ers solitary, terminal, on a short, incrassated pe- duncle. Calyx of three spatulate, obtuse, concave sescments. Corolla of from ei«:ht to fourteen obo- vate, obtuse, concave petals, contracted at then* base. The stamens are very numerous and in- serted in common witli the petals on the sides of a conical receptacle. Filaments very short ; an- thers linear, mucronated, two-celled, opening in- wardly. Germs oval, collected into a cone, each one divided by a furrow and tipt with a brownish, 70 MAGNOLIA GLAUCA. linear, recurved style. The fruit is a cone, con- sisting of imbricated cells, which open longitudi- nally for the escape of the seed. The seeds are obovate, scarlet, connected to the cone by a thread, which suspends them some time after they have fallen out. The bark of the Magnolia glauca has a bit- ter taste, combined with a strong aromatic pun- gency, which approaches that of Sassafras and of the Acorns calamus. The aroma resides in a vol- atile portion, which is probably an essential oil, or a variety of camphor. It is lost from the bark in the dry state, after it has been kept some time. Water distilled from the green bark has its pecu- liar flavour with an empyreumatic smell. No oil appears on the surface, when the experiment is conducted in the small way. The dried bark af- fords a little resin, and more of a bitter extractive substance. Chalybeate tests produce a very slight darkening of the green colour of the decoction, but gelatin occasions no change. This might be anticipated from the little taste of astringency in the bark. As a medicinal ai*ticle, the 3Iagnolia is to be considered an aromatic tonic, approaching in its charactertoCascarilla, Canella, and articles of their class. Considered simply in regard to its tonic SMALL MAGNOLIA. 71 powers, it is probably of a secondary order, though from the additional properties which it possesses of a warm stimulant and diaphoretic is found use- ful in certain disorders. Chronic rheumatism is one of the diseases in which it exhibits most effi- cacy. Xot only the bark, but the seeds and cones which are strongly imbued with the sensible qual- ities of the tree, are employed in tincture with very good success in this disease. In intermittent and remittent fevers the Mag- nolia is one of the many tonics which have been resorted to for cure by the inhabitants of the marshy countries where they prevail. Sufiicient testimony has been given in favour of the bai'k of this tree, to warrant a belief that it is fully ade- quate to the removal of fever and ague, when ad- ministered like tlie Cinchona, in liberal quantities between the paroxysms. In the more continuous forms of fever of the typhoid type, it has also re- ceived tlie commendations of physicians. Several other species of Magnolia resemble the present very closely in their sensible properties, and as far as experiments have been tried, they are similar in their medicinal effects. In order to secure tlie whole efficacy residing in these trees, a tincture should be made from the bark or cones while green or very recently dried, before their more volatile parts have escaped. 72 ]>IAGNOLIA GLAUCA. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Magnolia gtauca, Lint. 'Sp. pi. — Michaux, i. 523. — Pursh, ii. 381. — MicHAUx, fil. ^rb. forest, iii. 77. — Magnolia lauri folio subtus albicante. Catesby, Car. i. t. 39. — Trew, sel. t. 9. — DiLLENius, Hort, 207. 1. 168, /. 205. — Lauras tulipifera &c. — Uaius, hist. 1690. MEDICAL REFERENCES. Kalm, TravelSf i. 205. — Marshall, Arbustuiiif 83. — ^Hum- phries, Jf/fd. Commentaries i vol. xviii. — Bart. Coll. 46. — Price, Inaugural Diss. Philad. 1812. PLATE XXVII. Fig. 1. Jl jlotvenng hranch of Magnolia glauca. Fig. 2. The fruit and seeds. Fig. 3. Stamen magnijied. Fig. 4. .i germ and style ditto. rijjnu CORNUS FLORIDA. Dogwood, PLATE XXVIIL T HE family of Cornels, if surveyed by oth- er eyes than those of botanists, is remarkable for the difference of growth and appearance of its various species. Many of them are shrubs ; a few attain to the stature of trees, while some are so humble in their growth as to be deemed hardly more than herbaceous. A part have their flowers surrounded with a fine white involucrum, many times exceeding the whole bunch in magnitude ; while others present their naked cymes unadorn- ed by any investment. To the botanical observer they all exhibit a close affinity and resemblance to each other ; which is seen in the form and anatom- ical texture of their leaves, the structure of their flowers and the appearance of their fruit. 10 74 CORNUS FLORIDA. The Cornus jlorida, or flo^vering Dogwood, is the largest and most splendid of its genus, and is one of the chief ornaments of our forests. As a tree it is rather below the middle stature, not usually reaching the height of more than twenty or thirty feet. It is however among the most conspicuous objects in the forests, in the months of April, May and June, according to its latitude, being then covered with a profusion of its large and ele- gant flowers. In Massachusetts, especially about Boston, it is not a common tree, only scatter- ed individuals appearing here and there in the w oods. In the Middle States it is extremely com- mon, especially in moist woods. Michaux informs us, that in the Carolinas, Georgia and the Floridas it is found only on the borders of swamps, and never in the pine barrens, where the soil is too dry and sandy to sustain its vegetation. It is al- so not very common in the most fertile parts of the Western States, being chiefly found where the soil is of secondary quality.* * Mr. William Bartram, in his travels in Georgia and Floridajgives the following account of the appearance of this tree near the banks of the Alabama river. " We now entered a very remarkable grove of Dogwood trees, ( Cornus jiorida,) which continued nine or ten miles unalterable, except here and there a towering Magnolia grandiflora. The land on which thej stand is an exact level ; the surface a shallow, loose, black mould, on a stratum of stiff, yellowish clay. These trees DOGWOOD. 75 The genus Corniis is chai'acterized by the fol- lowing marks. Petals four, superior ; involucrum of four leaves, or wanting ; drupe with a two-cell- ed nnt. The species /loric/a is arboreous, with its flowers in heads surrounded by an involucrum of obovate leaves with recurved points. Class Tetandria, order Monogynia, natural or- der Stellatoe, Lin. Caprifolia. Juss. The Cornus florida is of slow growth, and pos- sesses a very compact wood, covered with a rough, broken bark. The branches are smooth, covered with a reddish bark, marked with rings at the place of the former leaves. The leaves, which are small at the flowering time, are opposite, peti- oled, oval, acute, entire, nearly smooth, paler he- were about twelve feet high, spreading horizontally, their limbs, meet- ing and interlocking with each other, formed one vast, shady, cool grove, so dense and humid as to exclude the sun-beams, and prevent the intrusion of almost every other vegetable, affording us a most de- sirable shelter from the fervid sun-beams at noon day. This admi- rable grove has by way of eminence acquired the name of Dog woods. During a progress of near seventy miles through this high forest, there constantly presented to view, on one hand or the other, spa- cious groves of this fine flowering tree, which must in the spring sea- son, when covered with blossoms, present a most pleasing spectacle, when at tlie same time a variety of other sweet shruljs display their beauty ; as the Halesia, Stewartia, iEsculus, Azalea, &c. en- tangled with garlands of Bignonia, Glycine, Lonicera, &c. &c. at the same time the superb Magnolia grandiflora standing in front of the dark groves, towering far above the common level.-' Travels, p. 399. 76 CORNUS FLORIDA. neath, and marked, as in others of the genus, with strong parallel veins. The flowers, which are very small, grow in heads or sessile umbels, upon peduncles an inch or more in length. At the base of each bunch is the large spreading involu- crum, constituting the chief beauty of the tree when in flower. This involucrum is composed of four white, nerved, obovate leaves, having their point turned abruptly down or up, so as to give them an obcordate appearance. This point has frequently a reddish tinge. Calyx superior, somewhat bell- shaped, ending in four obtuse spreading teeth. Petals four, oblong, obtuse, reflexed. Stamens four, erect, the anthers oblong with the filaments inserted in their middle. Style erect, shorter than the stamens, with an obtuse stigma. The fruit is an oval drupe of a glossy scarlet colour, containing a nucleus with two cells and two seeds. The bark of the Cornus florida is a powerful bitter, possessing also an astringent and somewhat aromatic taste. Both tannin and the gallic acid are abundantly developed in its solutions by their proper tests. In my experiments with the bark of young twigs, but a small quantity of pure resin was made manifest. It would seem that the prin- cipal seat of the bitterness is in a variety of ex- tractive matter. DOGWOOD. 77 In a valuable inaugural dissertation on the Cornus florida and Cornus sericea by Dr. Walker of Virginia, much attention appears to have been bestowed on the chemical properties of their bark. He found that water distilled from the bark in powder had a transparent, whitish appearance, with a slight aromatic odour, and no perceptible taste. When the heat was increased, the fluid had a lemon colour, with an unpleasant smell and an acerb taste. These effects were probably pro- duced by the volatilization and partial decompo- sition of portions of the bark in consequence of the heat being continued until the mixture was evaporated nearly to dryness. With a view to ascertain the effect of different menstrua, Dr. Walker subjected to experiment the residual mass furnished by evaporating a decoc- tion of the root of Cornus florida. Two drachms of this residuum, which had been furnished by seven and an half ounces of the decoction, were macerated in successive quantities of the best al- cohol, until the last portion ceased to be changed in colour and taste. The part, which remained undissolved, weighed only half a drachm. When redissolved it was destitute of taste, and underwent no change of colour on adding the test of iron. The alcohol, which had been employed in the ex- 78 GORNUS FLORroA. periment, was found to possess an intensely bitter taste with astringency, of a clear red colour, and turning to a deep black on the addition of iron. On evaporation, it yielded a drachm and an half of residuum. — Dr. Walker attempted to ascertain the quantity of resin by macerating the alcoholic ex- tract in repeated portions of sulphuric ether. The ether acquired a dark colour and a bitter taste, and was found to have dissolved three quar- ters of the extract. When tested with iron, it was found that the remaining quarter only was chang- ed to a black colour. The Cornus florida is one of the many vege- tables which, by the union of their gallic acid with the salts of iron, form a black compound, applica- ble to the purposes of ink. The constancy of the black colour thus produced varies greatly, ac- cording to the substance from which the gallic acid is derived. It is often extremely fugacious, sometimes fading in a few days, and at others be- coming indistinct after some weeks or months. Considering the very great importance of the pur- poses for which ink is employed, and the immense evils which may result from its obliteration in writ- ings intended for permanency ; it is with extreme caution that we should recommend the introduction of any change in the mode of its formation. The DOGWOOD. 79 oak gall has had the experience of ages in favour of its permanence and immutability. It is not until some indigenous article, producing an equal intensity of colour, has undergone a series of tri- als from time and exposure, sufficient to establish beyond a doubt its durability, that its substitution in the manufacture of ink should be considered expedient or even justifiable. Upon the human body the bark of the Cornus florida acts as a tonic, an astringent and an anti- septic, approaching in its general effects to the character of the Peruvian bark. From a variety of experiments made by Dr. Walker upon the healthy system, it was found that this medicine uniformly increased the force and frequency of the pulse, and augmented the heat of the body. Collateral experiments were made at the same time with the Peruvian bark, witli which the Cor- nus appeared to agree both in its internal and ex- ternal effiicts. In disease it has been principally employed in the same cases for which the cinchona is resorted to, particularly intermittent and remittent fever. IJr. Gregg of Pennsylvania, cited by Dr. Walker, states, that after employing the Cornus florida ha- bitually for twenty three years in the treatment of intermittents, he was satisfied that it was not in- so CORNUS PLOllIDA. ferior to tlie Peruvian bark as a means of cure in such cases. Among the number of cures by this medicine, was that of his own case. He observ- ed that in its recent state it sometimes disagreed with the stomach and bowels, but that this ten- dency in the article was corrected by age. He recommends the bark as being in the best state after it has been dried a year. Other medical men have employed the bark of this tree with advantage in intermittents, and also in continued fevers of the typhoid type. Its tonic operation in these cases appears very analo- gous to that of the Peruvian bark. I have employed the tincture of Cornus flori- da as a stomachic in various instances of loss of appetite and indigestion. The report of those who have taken it has perhaps been as frequently in favour of its effects, as of gentian, columbo, and the other imported tonics of the shops, though perhaps it is somewhat more liable to offend the stomach in large doses. In the Southern States a decoction of the buds and twigs has been thought to agree better with weak stomachs, than the oth- er preparations. Some other species of this family resemble the present tree in the bitterness and tonic power of their bark, particularly the Cornus circinata and C. sericea. DOGWOOD. 81 The wood of the Corniis florida is hard, Iicavy and fine grained, and susceptible of a good pol- ish. It is employed for various purposes where strength and solidity are required, although its. small size does not permit it to he used for oh- jects of much magnitude. From its hardness it is found peculiarly useful for handles of instru- ments, the teeth of wheels, and the smaller parts of wooden machinery. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Coriius florida, hiN. Sp.pl. — Gronovius, J^irg. 17. — Kalm, travels, ii. 321. — Wangenheim, .^mer. p, 51, t. 17. — L'IIeri- TiER, Corn. n. 3. — Schmidt, Arh. t. 62 — Botanical Mag. t. 526. — PuRSH, i. 108. — MicHAux, FLL. ArbresforesHers, iii. 138, trans- lated, i. 255. — Elliott, Car. i. 207. — Cornus mas Virginiana, kc. — 'Plukexet, Mm. 120, t. 2,/. 3. — Catesby, Car. t. 27. MEDICAL REFERENCES. Walker, Inaugural Dissertation, Pliilad. 1803. — Bart. Coll. 1 2. — Thacher, Disp. 203. — Elliott, ut supra. PLATE XXVIII. Fig. 1. Cornus Jlorida, a branch withfiowers. and one with leaves. Fig. 2. Fruit. Fig. 3. .1 Jower. PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM. Ginseng, PLATE XXIX. An the early part of the eighteenth century some accounts were sent to Europe hy travellers and missionaries, of a root growing in Chinese Tartary, known hy the name of Ginseng, upon which a high value was set hy the eastern Asiat- ics, and which was sold in the cities of China at an enormous price. Father Jartoux, a missionary at Pekin, who had an opportunity of witnessing the collection and use of this root, made a drawing of the plant, accompanied with a particular descrip- tion, and an account of its uses, and the cause of its high estimation and demand among tlie Chi- nese. While on a journey among the mountains of Tartary, performed under the sanction of the emperor of China, he met in various instances Annin &. ■onti<^'> J > GINSENG. 83 with the plant, and witli people employed in col- lecting it. He states that the root is found prin- cipally between the 39th and 47th degree of north latitude, in thick forests, upon the declivities of mountains, on the banks of torrents, and about the roots of trees. It never grows in the open plains or vallies, but always in dark, shady situa- tions, remote from the sun's rays. As the right of gathering this root is monop- olized by the emperor of China, the most exten- sive precautions are taken by him to prevent an encroachment on tliis privilege. The places where the Ginseng is known to grow are guarded with great vigilance, and a whole province, that of Quantong, bordering on the desert, is surround- ed by a barrier of wooden stakes, about which guards continually patrole, to keep the inhabitants within bounds, and prevent them from making excursions into the woods, in search of the pro- hibited drug. N^otwithstanding this vigilance, their eagerness after gain incites the Chinese to wander by stealth in the desert, sometimes to the number of two or three thousand, in search of the root, at the hazard of losing their liberty, and all the fruits of their labour, if they are taken. The emperor employs his own servants for the pur- pose of collection, and in the year 1709, had ten 84 PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM. thousand Tartars engaged in scouring the woods in pursuit of the phint. Each man so employed was obligated to present his mnjesty two ounces of the best he should collect, and to sell him tlie rest for its weight in pure silver. At this rate it was computed that the emperor would get in a year, about 20,000 Chinese pounds, which would cost him not above one quarter of its value, at the common rate of selling it. The collectors of the Ginseng carry with them neither tents nor beds, every one being sufficient- ly loaded with his provision, which is only parch- ed millet, on which he is obliged to subsist during tlie whole journey. The mandarins send them from time to time some pieces of beef, with such game as they happen to take, which they eat very greedily, and almost raw. They are accustomed to sleep on the ground, and notwithstanding six months are passed in this way, they continue lus- ty and in perfect health. The army of herbalists, in order to scour the country effectuall}, divide themselves into compa- nies of one hundred each, which proceed forward in direct line, every ten of them keeping at a dis- tance from tlie rest. In this way they overrun an extensive wilderness in a short space of time. GINSENG. 85 If any one of the company was wantin^^, as it often happened, either hy having wandered out of the way, or being attacked hy wild heasts, the party devoted a day or two to search for him, and then returned to their labour. The root of the Ginseng is the only part pre- served. The collectors bury in the ground every ten or fifteen days all that they have procured. In order to prepare it for use, they dip it in scald- ing water, and scour it with a brush. The roots are then prepared with the fumes of a species of millet, to give them a yellow colour. The millet is put in a vessel with a little water and boiled over a gentle fire. The roots are placed over the vessel upon transverse pieces of wood, being first covered with a linen cloth or anotlier vessel. When treated in this way they assume upon dry- ing a horny or semi-trans parant appearance. The roots may also be dried in the sun, or by the fire, and retain their qualities perfectly. In this case, however, they have not that yellow col- our, which the Chinese so much admire. The Chinese consider the Ginseng as possessing unequalled medicinal powers, and their physicians have written many volumes upon the qualities of the plant. It is made an ingredient in almost all the remedies which they .s;ive to their nobility, its 86 PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM. price beinj^ too expensive for the common people. The sick take it to recover health, and the healthy to make themselves stronger and more vigorous. They affirm that it removes all fatigue, either of body or mind, dissolves humours, cures pulmona- ry diseases, strengthens the stomach, increases the vital spirits, and prolongs life to old age. Its price at Pekin, according to travellers, has been eight or nine times its weight in silver, and even more. Father Jartoux became so far a convert to the virtues of the plant, that he tells us that after hav- ing taken half of a root, he found his pulse quick- er and fuller, his appetite improved, and his strength increased so as to bear labour better than before. On another occasion, finding him- self so fatigued and wearied as to be scarce able to sit on horseback, a mandarin in company per- ceiving his distress, gave one of the roots. He took half of it, and in an hour was not sensible of any weariness. "I have observed," says he, " that the green leaves, especially the fibrous part of them, when chewed, would produce nearly the same effect. The Tartars often bring us the leaves of Ginseng instead of tea, and I always find myself so well afterwards, that I should read- ily prefer them before the best tea. Their de- GINSENG. 87 coction is of a grateful colour, and when one has taken it twice or tlu'ice, its taste and smell be- come very pleasant.'' The Chinese use a decoction of the root, for ivhich they employ about a fifth part of an ounce at a time. This they boil in a covered vessel with two successive portions of water, in order to extract all its virtue. The following is the substance of Jartoux's de- scription of the Asiatic plant. The root is wliit- ish, rugged and uneven. The stalk is round, and shaded with red ; it terminates in a knot or joint at top, from which proceed four equal branches. Each branch produces five leaves, which are equi- distant from each other, and from the ground. The leaves are unusually thin and fine, with their fibres ver}^ distinguishable, and a few whitish hairs on the upper side. Their colour is dark green above, and a pale, shining green underneath. All the leaves are serrated or finely indented on the edge. — From the centre of the branches rises a second stalk which is very straight and smooth, and whitish from bottom to top, bearing a bunch of round fruit, of a beautiful red colour, composed of twenty four red berries. The red skin of the berrv is thin and smooth, and contains a white pulp. As these berries were double, (for they 88 PANAX QUINquiJFOLIUai. are sometimes found single,) each of them had two rough stones, separated from each other, of nearly the size and figure of common lentils. The herries were supported on small sprigs, which rose from a common centre like the rays of a sphere. The fruit is not good to eat. The ber- ries are not round hut a little flat on each side. "When they are dou])le there is a depression or hollow place in the middle where the two parts unite. Each berry has a small beard at top dia- metrically opposite to the sprig on which it hangs. When the berry is dry there remains only a shrivel- led skin, adhering close to the stones, of a dark red, or black colour. The plant dies away and springs up again every year. The number of years may be known by the number of stalks it has shot fortb, of which there always remains a mark or scar on the up- per part of the root. "As to the flower,'' says he, " not having seen it, I can give no description of it. Some say it is white and very small ; others have assured me that the plant has none, and that nobody ever saw it. I rather believe that it is so small and so little remarkable, that none of tliem ever took notice of it. GINSENG. Sd " There are some plants, which, hesides the bunch of berries, have one or two berries like the former, phiced an inch or an inch and an half be- low the bunch. And when this happens, they say if any one takes notice of the point of compass to which these berries direct, he will not fail to find more of the plant." The foregoing description of Jartoux is intro- duced as being a very intelligible description of a plant, in language not the most botanical. The drawing, which accompanies the description, is very satisfactory. The report of the high value of the Ginseng at Pekin led to an inquiry among Europeans, wheth- er the plant was not to be found in parallel lati- tudes, in the forests of North America. Father Lafiteau, a Jesuit, missionary among the Iroquois, after much search, found a plant in Canada an- swering the description, and sent it to France. In 1718, M. Sarrasin published in the Memoirs of the Academy an account of the American Gin- seng; which, together with one published by Laf- iteau the same year, seemed to put its identity with the Chinese vegetable beyond a doubt. Soon after this the French commenced the collection of the root in Canada for exportation. For this purpose they employed the Indians, \a ho 12 90 PANAX QUINQUEFOLIUM. brought it to the merchants for a certam com- pensatioa. At one period the Indians about Que- bec and Montreal were so wholly taken up in the search for Ginseng, tliat their services could not be engaged for any other purpose. The Ameri- can English engaged in the same traffic, and al- though the plant is a rare one in the woods, yet very large quantities of the root were collected. In 1748, Kalm tells us the common price of the root at Quebec was from five to six livres a pound. The first shipments to China proved extremely profitable to those concerned, especially to the French. In a short time, however, the amount exported overstocked the market, the Chinese be- gan to think the American Ginseng inferior to the Tartai'ian, and its value depreciated, so that it ceased to be an object of profitable commerce. Its demand has not materially risen at any subse- quent period, although it is still occasionally ex- ported. The Chinese most readily purchase the forked or branching roots ; and those exporters have been most successful, who have prepared their Ginseng by clarifying it after the Chinese manner. The American Ginseng is thinly scattered throughout the mountainous regions of the North- ern and Middle States. Kalm informs us, that it GINSENG. 91 is seldom found north of Montreal. Miclianx states that it inhabits mountains and rich, shady woods from Canada to Tennessee. I have princi- pally met with this plant in the western parts of Massachusetts, and in A'ermont, especially on the sides of the Ascutney mountain. Bartram found it near the mouth of the Delaware. Linn?eus has given to the genus of plants, which includes the Ginseng, the name of Vanacc^ a Greek word, intended to express the reputed character of the Chinese panacea. The character of this genus consists in ft sim- ple umbel; corolla Jive petalled; berry inferior, two or three seeded ; plants polygamous. The species quinqiiefolinm has three quinate leaves. The root of this plant consists of one or more fleshy, oblong and somewhat fusiform portions, of a whitish colour, transversely wrinkled, and ter- minating in various radicles. Its upper portion is slender and marked with the scars of the former shoots. Stem smooth, round, green, with often a tinge of red, regularly divided at top into three petioles, witli a flower-stalk at their centre. Peti- oles round, smooth, swelling at base. Leaves three, compound, containing five, rarely three or seven leafets. The partial leaf-stalks are given 92 PANAX qUINQUEPOLIUM. off in a digitate manner, and are smooth, com- pressed and furrowed above. Leafets oblong, ob- ovate, sharply serrate, acuminate, smooth on both sides, with scattered bristles on the veins above. The flowers, which are small, grow in a simple umbel on a round, slender peduncle, longer than the petioles.. The involucrum consists of a mul- titude of short subulate leafets, interspersed with the flower-stalks. These stalks or rays are so short as to give the appearance of a head, rath- er tJian umbel. In the perfect flowers the calyx has five small acute teeth ; the corolla five petals, which are oval, reflexed and deciduous. Sta- mens five, with oblong anthers. Styles two, re- flexed, persistent ; germ lai'ge, inferior, ovate- heart shaped, compressed. The berries are kid- ney shaped, retuse at both ends, compressed, of a bright scarlet colour, crowned with the calyx and styles, and containing two semi-circular seeds. In most umbels there are flowers with only one style, in which case the berry has a semi-cordate form, as represented in fig. 3. Sometimes there tire three styles and three seeds. The outermost flowers ripen first, and their berries often obtain their full size before the central ones are expand- ed. The middle flowers are frequently abortive. GINSENG. ga There are also barren flowers, on separate plants, which botanists describe as having larger petals, and an entire calyx. I have not met with plants of this description in flower. The foregoing character leaves little doubt that the American plant is precisely the same with the Asiatic, although Loureiro and some oth- ers have disputed their identity. The description of Jartoux, which has been given, as well as his drawing of the plant, agrees in every respect, ex- cept that his plant had four branches or leaves, instead of three. This is accounted for by sup- posing he had chosen a luxuriant specimen. — It is somewhat remarkable that the names of the Chinese, and of the North American Indians, should signify the same thing in their respective languages, viz. a resemblance to the figure of a man. This resemblance, however, it must be con- fessed, even in the branching roots, is rather of a humble kind. The genus Panax was placed by Linnaeus in his class Polygamia, and by late writers in Pen- tandria, Digynia. The plants of this family were also referred by Linnaeus to his natural order Hederacece, or somewhat heterogeneous assem- blage of vegetables ; and by Jussieu to his Jlralice, Later botanists have placed them among the Urn- 94 PANAX qUINQUEFOLIUM. helUferoiis vegetables, from which they differ in their berried fruit. The genus most near to Pa- nax is unquestionably Aralia, which differs only in the number of styles, a eharacter extremely va- riable in the Ginsengs.* The root of the Ginseng has an agreeable taste, consisting of a mixture of sweet and bitter, with some aromatic pungency. Water, both cold and hot, receives a gummy mucus, which is pre- cipitated by alcohol. The watery extract has the taste and smell of the root in a strong degree. The distilled water gives evidence of a volatile oil, and has the aroma, without the sweetness of the root. The common tests indicate the presence of but little resin, and no tannin. As far as Ginseng has been tried medicinally in this country, and in Europe, its virtues do not appear, by any means, to justify tlie high estima- tion of it by the Chinese. That it is not a very active substance, is proved by the fact, that a whole root may be eaten without inconvenience. Its place in the materia mcdica is among demul- cents. It approaches more nearly to liquorice, than to any other medicine in its taste and exter- * Panaoc trifolium, a beautiful little plant, with nearly the herb of Anemone nemorosa, has always three styles and a tricoccous ber- ry. P. quinquefolium varies from one to three styles, though the usual number is two. GINSENG. 95 nal qualities. Its extract forms a very neat pre- paration, and is by no means unpleasant to the taste. Dr. Fotliergill tells us, that " in tedious chronic coughs, incident to people in years, a de- coction of it has been of service. It consists of a lubricating mucilage combined >vith some degree of aromatic warmth.'' Ginseng is principally sold by our druggists as a masticatory, many people having acquired an habitual fondness for chewing it. It is certainly one of the most innocent articles for this purpose. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Panax quinqiicfolium, Lin. sp. pi. — Michaux, Flora, ii. 256. — ^PuRSH, i. 191. — WooDviLLE, Mctl, BoL i. t. 58. — Botanical Mag. t. 1023. — Aureliana Canadensis, Catesby, Car. Suppl. t, 16.— Bretnius in Prod. rar. p, 52. — Araliastrum foliis ternis quinquepartitis. Ginseng sen Ninsin officinariim. — Trew, Ehr, MEDICAL REFERENCES. BouRDELiN , Hist, de I'Jcad. 1797. — Jartoux, tr. in Phil, Trans, xxviii. 237. — Lafiteau, Jlemoires concernant la precieuse plant& de Ginseng. Paris, 1718. — Sarrasin, Hist. Acad. 1718. — Kalm, travels f tr. iii. 114. — Osbeck, China, p. 145. — Heberdex, Med. Trans, iii. 34. — Fotuergill, Gent, Mag, xxiii. 209. — Cuilex, Mat, Mai. Vol. ii, kc. 96 PANAX qUINqUEFOLIUM. PLATE XXIX. Fig. 1. Panax quinquefolium. Fig. 2. A Jlower magnified. Fig. 3. Umbel in Jlower, the external fruit nearly grown. Fig. 4. Germ, calyx and styles magnified. Fig. 5. Root. 0^ m Jy'f>€^/jMr.rf/fnt o^^ r^^^^^^^ 'nnmt^ -^w" JUGLANS CINEREA. Butternut, FINITE XXXII. Of the forest trees which deserve attention for other properties than the uses of their timber, the Butternut is undoubtedly one of the most in- teresting ; its fruit, bark and juices being all con- vertible to use. In favourable situations it becomes a larg'e tree, having frequently a trunk of three feet in diameter. It is abundant in the North- ern and 3Iiddle States, as well as in the Western country. Some parts of the District of Maine, I am told, produce woods of considerable extent, consisting wholly of this tree. Michaux tells us, that it is common in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, that it abounds on the banks of Lake Erie, the Ohio and even the Missouri. The same author states that it is found in the mountainous 116 JUGLANS CINEREA. parts of Carolina and Georgia, but that he has not met with it in the lower or level portions of the Southern States. It is variously known by the names of Butternut, Ollnut and White Walnut, The genus Juglaus or Walnut appertains to the Linnsean class Moncecia and order Polyan- dria. Its natural orders are Jlmentaceoe of Lin- naeus and Terebintacew of Jussieu. This genus has its harren Jiowers in aments with a six-parted calyx ; its fertile jiowers with a four-cleft superior calyx ; a four-parted corolla; two styles ; and a coriaceous drupe with a furrow- ed nut. The species cinerea has its leafets numerous, oblong-lanceolate, rounded at base, downy under- neath, serrate. Fruit oblong-07Hite with a termin- al projection, viscid and hairy ; nut oblong, acumi- nate, with a rough, indented and ragged surface. The leaves of the Butternut tree when fully grown are very long, consisting of fifteen or seven- teen leafets, each of which is two or three inches long, rounded at base, acuminate, finely serrate and downy. The flowers appear in May before the leaves are expanded to their full size. The barren flow- ers hang in large aments from the sides of the last year's shoots, near their extremities. The BUTTERNUT. 117 scales which compose them arc ohlong and deep- ly cleft on each side into about three teeth or segments. The anthers are ahout eight or ten in number, oblong and nearly sessile. The fertile flowers grow in a short spike at the end of the new shoot They are sessile and universally pubescent and viscid. When fully grown, they seem to consist of a large oblong germ and a forked feathery style. The top of the germ, however, presents an obscurely four-toothed ca- lyx. Within this is a corolla of four narrow lan- ceolate petals growing to the sides of the style. The style divides into two large, diverging, feath- ery stigmas nearly as long as the germ. These flowers are somewhat later than the aments in their appearance. The fruit is sessile, several to- gether on the sides and extremity of a long pe- duncle. It is of a green colour, brown when ripe, oblong-oval, pointed, hairy and extremely viscid. It contains a nut which is of a dark colour, cari- nated on both sides, sharp pointed, its whole sur- face roughened by deep indentures and sharp prominences. The kernel is more regular than in most nuts of its kind, is very oily, pleasant to the taste when fresh, but acquires a rancid taste bv as:e. 118 JUGLANS CINEREA. The bark of the branches affords a large quan- tity of soluble matter, chiefly of the extractive kind. In a concentrated tincture I have not been able to detect any appearance of resin. No evi- dence of tannin is produced by the test of gelatin. A brownish black colour is caused by the sulphate of iron. The distilled water possesses the taste of the bark in a considerable degree. We are authorized to conclude that water is an adequate solvent for this article, and experience has shewn that the watery extract is one of its best prepar- ations. The sap of the Butternut tree is saccharine, like that of the Maple, and may be procured in large quantities. In the third volume of the Mas- sachusetts Agricultural Repository is an account of an experiment made on this tree by IVIr. M. P. Gray., He states that four trees, the trunks of Avhich were only from eight to ten inches in di- ameter, produced in one day nine quarts of sap, from which was made one pound and a quarter of sugar. This quantity, it appears from his state- ment, is equal if not superior to that which the maple affords in the same vicinity. The inner bark of this tree, especially that ob- tained from the root, affords one of the most mild and efficacious laxatives which we possess. It is BUTTERNUT. 119 commonly employed in the form of an extract, which preparation is kept in our druggists' shops. Ten or twelve grains of this extract operate gent- ly, and twenty or thirty grains with considerable activity on the bowels. It has been used for inany years in this town by the most respectable practitioners. The late Dr. Warren thought highly of its efficacy, and employed it extensively in various complaints, especially in dysentery. During the revolutionary war, when foreign medi- cines were scarce, this extract was resorted to by many of the army surgeons, as a substitute for more expensive imported drugs. In dysentery it seems at one time to have acquired a sort of spe- cific reputation. From numerous trials which I have made with this medicine, it appears to me to possess the qualities of an useful and innocent laxative. When fresh and properly prepared, it is very certain in its effect, and leaves the bowels in a good state. In cases of habitual costiveness it is to be prefer- red to more stimulating cathartics, and many persons whose state of health has rendered them dependent on the use of laxative medicines, have given this the preference after the trial of a vari- etv of other medicines. 120 JUGLANS CINEREA. A patent medicine, long vended in this state under the name of Chamberlain's Bilious Cordial, was a tincture of this hark combined with various aromatic seeds. The bark is said to be rubefacient when exter- nally applied, and even capable of exciting a blis- ter. Of this I have had no experience. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Juglans cinerea, LiwiciBus, Sp. jd. — Jacq,uin, Ic. rar, i. t. 192. — WiLLDENOw, arh. 156. — Wangenheim, Amer. 21. f. 9./. 21. — MiCHATJX, ii. 191. — PuRSH, ii. 636. Juglans oblonga Retz. Obs. i. p. 10. — Juglans cathartira, MicHAUX, FLL. ArbresforestierSf i. 165. MEDICAL REFERENCES. Thacher, Disp. 245. — Bart. Col. 23. 32. — Rush, Med. Obs.i, 112. PLATE XXXII. Fig. 1. *i branch of Juglans cinerea in JloweVf the leaves not fully expanded. Fig. 2. A scale or barren fiower from the ament magnified. Fig. 3. Jl fertile flower magnified. Fig. 4. The fruit. 1 VER4TRUM VIRIDE. American Hellebore. PLATE XXXIII. In many parts of the United States the swamps and wet meadows, which have been converted into mowing* lands, are peculiarly marked in the early part of spring by two species of plants. These are the Ictodes foetidus already described (PI. xxiv) and Veratriim viride, usually denominated Poke root and Hellebore. Both of these plants spring up more rapidly than the grass around them, and from the largeness and bright green colour of their leaves they are often the most no- ticeable objects in the places of their growth. As the season advances, the Ictodes continues only a tuft of radical leaves, while the Yeratrum sends up a straight leafy stalk, which frequently acquires the full height of a man, 16 12S VERATRUM VIRIDE. This plant is not only found in boggy mead- ows, but by the sides of brooks in rocky and mountainous situations, from Canada to Carolina. Its flowering time is from May to July. The Veratrum album or White Hellebore, a well known medicinal plant found in most coun- tries of Europe, has a very close resemblance to the American species. It is, however, a smooth- er plant, and differs somewhat in its flowers, bractes and stalks. The genus Veratrum, on account of the diver- sity of its flowers, was placed by Linngeus in his class Polygamia and order Monoecia. Those more recent botanists, who omit this class, have trans- ferred the genus to Hej[;andria trigynia. The generic character of Veratrum consists in a six-parted corolla without calyao. Stamens inserted in the receptacle. Capsules three, many seeded, A part of the flowers barren. The spe- cies viride has a downy panicle with the partial bractes longer than their pedicels. Segments of the corolla thickened on the inside at base. The root of this plant is thick and fleshy, its upper portion tunicated, its lower half solid and sending fortli a multitude of large whitish radi- cles. The stem is from three to five feet high, roundish, solid, striated and pubescent. Through- AMERICAN HELLEBORE. 128 out the greater part of its length it is closely in- vested with the sheathing bases of the leaves. The lower leaves are large, from half a foot to a foot long, oval, acuminate, pubescent, strongly plaited and nerved ; the lower part of their edges meeting round the stem. The upper leaves be- come gradually narrower and the uppermost, which perform the office of bractes, are linear- lanceolate. The flowers are numerous and dis- tributed in compound racemes axillary from the upper leaves, and terminal ; the whole forming a sort of panicle. Peduncles roundish, downy, Bractes boat-shaped, acuminate, downy. The pe- dicel of each flower is many times shorter than its bracte. Calyx none. Corolla divided into six green, oval, acute, nerved segments, of which the alternate ones are longest. All the segments are contracted at base into a sort of claw with a thick- ened or cartilaginous edge. Stamens six with recurved filaments and roundish, two-lobed an- thers. Germs three, cohering, Avith acute recurv- ed styles as long as the stamens. A part of the flowers are barren and have only the rudiments of styles, so that the plant is strictly polygamous. The seed vessel consists of three capsules united together, separating at top and opening on their inner side. Seeds flat imbricated. i24l VERATRUM VIRIDE. The root of the Veratrum has a bitter taste accompanied with acrimony^ and leaves a durable impression on the mouth and fauces when it has heen chewed or swallowed. It abounds with a resinous juice, which adheres closely to a knife with which the root has been cut. This resin dissolves abundantly in alcohol. When water is added to the solution, a white turbidness gradu- ally appears rendering the liquid opaque, but with- out sediment. The decoction has an intensely bitter taste. It is not rendered turbid by alcohol although some slight flocculi are separated after standing. It is probable that this bitterness re- sides in an extractive principle. The distilled water of the root has a slightly unpleasant taste, witliout bitterness or pungency. This plant in its medicinal powers resembles the Veratrum album or White hellebore of Eu- rope. It is an acrid emetic and a powerful stim- ulant, followed by sedative effects. As a medicine or as a poisonous plant, it has been known from an early period. The aborigines of the country were fully apprized of its activity. Josselyn in his voyage to Xew England, which took place not long after the first settlement of the country, in- forms us that the young Indians had a custom of e1ectin«: their chiefs by a sort of ordeal instituted AMERICAN HELLEBORE. 125 with the roots of this phmt, which he denominates " white liellebore." A portion of this root was repeatedly given to each individual, and he whose stomach made the most vigorous resistance or soonest recovered from its effects was considered the stoutest of the party and entitled to command the rest. Kalm tells us that the people of this country, at the time of his travels, employed a decoction of this plant externally in the cure of scorbutic af- fections, and for the destruction of vermin. He further states, that corn before planting was soak- ed in a strong decoction of the Yeratrum to protect it against the birds which infest our fields and devour the grain after it is deposited in the ground. When the corn is thus prepared, it is observed, that those bu^ds which swallow it be- come giddy and fall to the ground, an example, the writer informs us, which has the effect to frighten the remainder of the tribe away from the place. Since the celebrity acquired bv the European white hellebore as a remedy for gout, that plant being for a time supposed the basis of the cele- brated Eau medicinale ; the attention of some practitioners has been turned to investigating the properties of the American plant, which so close- i2Gf TERATRUai VIRIDE. Ij resembles the Veratrum album in its external habitudes. The result of such trials as have been made, establishes beyound a doubt the medicinal similarity of these two vegetables. I have em- ployed the American plant in dispensary practice in the treatment of obstinate cases of chronic rheumatism. Other practitioners have applied it to the treatment of gout, and of cutaneous and oth- er affections. From the sum of my observations and knowledge respecting it, I am satisfied that the root, when not impaired by long exposure and age, is in sufficient doses a strong emetic, com- mencing its operation tardily, but continuing in many instances for a long time ; in large doses affecting the functions of the brain and nervous system in a powerful manner, producing giddir ness, impaired vision, prostration of strength and diminution of the vita! powers. Like the Vera- trum album and Colchicum antunmale, the violent impression which it makes upon the system has arrested the paroxysms of gout and given relief in some unyielding cases of protracted rheumatism. Like those substances, it requires to be given with great caution and under vigilant restrictions. The solutions of this ai'ticle have appeared to me more powerful in proportion to their quantity than the substance, probably in consequence of a part of AMERICAN HELLEBORE. 137 the powder being thrown out in the first efforts to vomit, before a perfect solution of its active parts in the stomach could have taken place. A course of experiments with this article was made sometime since in the Boston Almshouse by Dr. John Ware, the results of which he has obligingly communicated to me. They cannot be better stated than in his own words. " I gave this plant," says he, " in the first place with a view to ascertain its action on the stomach and alimentary canal. The doses in which it was administered amounted to from two to ten grains. I began with a small quantity, and increased it very gradually in order to guard against the oc- currence of those violent and dangerous effects which I had been led to apprehend from the de- scriptions given of the operation of the white helle- bore. A slight and general account of the ex- periments will give the most satisfactory view of the effects of this root as an emetic. " It was administered in about thirty cases. In the first case two grains were given ; this only produced slight and temporary nausea. " In three instances three grains Avere admin- istered ; in tw o of these vomiting was produced ; in one of them to a considerable degree — in the other slio^ht — in tho third no effect whatever was 1S8 VERATRUM VIRlDE. produced. — Of gr. iv. Four doses, of which only one operated, and then the operation was incon- siderable.— Of gr. vi. Fifteen doses were given — ten of these operated perfectly well ; as complete and thorough vomiting was produced as follows from the case of any other emetics — in the elev- enth case nausea only ensued — and in the re- maining, no effect whatever was perceived. — Of gr, viii. Four doses — of these, two failed entire- ly and two operated satisfactorily. — Of. gr. x. On- ly one dose was given — this operated very thor- oughly. " I did not find, as I had expected, that this substance was uncommonly violent or distressing in its operation. Patients, in general, did not complain of any thing unusual, and when they were pai'ticularly questioned as to their sensa- tions, they told of nothing more than those usual- ly occurring during the effects of a brisk emetic. It seemed to produce vomiting rather more se- verely than an ordinary dose of ipecac— but not more tlian one of antimony. Indeed, its opera- tion may fairly be said to be about as violent and distressing as that of any other emetic whose ef- fects in evacuating the stomach are equally thor- ough. In a few instances, however, there was a complaint of very violent and painful retching — AMERICAN HELLEBORE. 129 and of dizziness at the time and for a short time after— still these effects were not common nor ex- cessive. " As to its influence as an emetic upon diseased states of the system, there were few opportuni- ties of administering it where any considerable de- rangement existed. In those cases which did oc- cur it did not appear to be inferior to the common emetics. '• The degree of operation did not seem to be much increased by the increase of the dose of the medicine. Doses of six grains appeared, when they took effect, to produce vomiting as thorough and complete, as that which followed from larger doses ; except that the lai'ger were perhaps more speedy in operating. I could find no cause for the failure of so many of those cases in which the dose amounted to six or eight grains, except an insensibility in the patient to the stimulus of the medicine ; and this was rendered more probable from the circumstance that generally in those in- stances, the substance failed in producing any ef- fect whatever ; nausea did not often occur when vomiting was not to follow it, and in no instance wa» it very clear that purging was produced. " Indeed this appeared to be rather a singular circumstance relating to this substance, and one 17 130 VEHATRUM VIlllDtl. in which it dift'ers from most or all other emetics. These articles, when they fail of producing vomit- ing, generally occasion a determination down- wards, and thus produce all the phenomena of ca- tliartic medicines. This effect is also frequently produced when they have operated in their pecu- liar way. But in no instance did this appear to be the case with the Hellebore. Some patients, indeed, said that it operated upon them by stool very slightly — but on strict inquiry I did not think that the medicine had had any effect in this way, and that what was told me proceeded from a desire in the persons to attribute some sort of ef- fect to what had been given them. "In the greater number of the cases, the Helle- bore was longer before it produced vomiting than is the case generally witli other emetics. It did not often operate in less than three quarters of an hour or an hour — but sometimes the interval was extended to two or three hours — and in one case, although the dose was administered at twelve at noon, its effects were not produced until between nine and ten o'clock in the evening. This tardi- ness in manifesting its effects on the system cor- responds with what has been observed with re- spect to the European species. AMERICAJJ HELLEBORE. 131 " I made a few experiments with the powder of the Veratriim album in order to compare its pow- ers with those which existed in our native species. It was given in six cases — of two doses of three grains — neither produced any effect — one of four was not more effectual — six grains produced some vomiting, hut not to any considerable extent — seven no effect whatever — and eight produced in about four hours after taking it considerable effect. If these experiments are to be depended upon, the foreign certainly is not more powerful than the native species. " I endeavoured next to ascertain what degree of power the Hellebore was possessed of over cu- taneous diseases. It has the reputation in the country of some efficacy in these complaints. The ointment and decoction were applied in a number of cases, and it certainly proved to be an applica- tion of considerable power. Its effects in some cases amounted to a removal of the disease en- tirely'— and in most, some diminution of it fol- lowed, which was more or less durable. "In one case where there was an eruption about the wrists and other parts of the body, supposed to be the itch — the ointment (made by simmering together a dram of Hellebore in an ounce of lard) after being applied for some time, removed the 132 yfiRATnUM VIRIDE. disease. The cure, however, was protracted and tedious. " A second case was that of a boy who had on the back of his head, what appeared to be the com- mencement of Tinea capitis. The ointment made in the same way as that before mentioned, except that simmering was omitted, removed it in the course of a fortnight. It returned again in the course of a few weeks and was^ again destroyed by the same application. It did not recur so long as I had an opportunity of observing the child, which was, however, not long. " In one clear case of itch, the ointment failed of producing any beneficial effect, and it was ne- cessary to have recourse to the usual remedy. " An instance of a very troublesome and irritat- ing eruption upon the hands and fingers, accom- panied by a venereal taint of the system, was very much relieved by this ointment. Its final remov- al, however, could not be attributed to this, since the patient was under the influence of mercury at the same time. " In some other cases both the ointment and decoction were used with success for a time, but the effects they produced were only partial and temporary." AMERICAN HELLEBORE. 133 Of the power of this plant to relieve the formi- dable disease of gout, we have the most satisfac- tory evidence. A composition intended to imi- tate the celebrated Eau medicinale was prepared in England by Mr. Moore from the wine of white hellebore and wine of opium in the proportion of three parts of the former to one of the latter. This compound was used by many arthritic pa- tients both in Europe and America with great success in relieving the paroxysms of the disease. In Boston a considerable number of individuals have been induced to make trial of the remedy, and generally with advantage. But I am inform- ed by several of our most repectable apotheca- ries, that for a long time, especially during the late war, when the white hellebore could not be obtained from Europe, the American plant was used in the preparation of the medicine upon the supposition of its being the same with the European. Various gouty patients made use of it, and no difference was perceived by them or their physicians in its mode of operation or effect upon the disease. Some were relieved by small doses, which did not even nauseate, such as fifteen or twenty drops, repeated if necessary. Others found a drachm of the mixture necessary, which quantity affected them unpleasantly by vomiting 134 VERATRUM VIRIDB. or otherwise. Some experienced such severe ef- fects as to deter them after one trial from a repe- tition of the experiment. In general the parox- ysm of gout was completely suspended by the op- eration of the medicine. On the whole, we have sufficient knowledge of the American green hellebore, to feel assured that it is a plant of great activity, closely resem- bling in its properties tlie Yeratrum album of Europe ; and that like that plant it has given re- lief in the paroxysms of gout and in rheumatism. Whether the original Eau medicinale be a prep- aration of Veratrum, Colchicum, or any other ac- rid narcotic, it is not of consequence here to de- cide. These plants, with several others that might be mentioned, are similar in their operation, and probably influence the system when under disease, much in the same way. Some individu- als obtain relief from moderate doses, which do not occasion nausea or any very disagreeable ef- fects. Others have not derived benefit except from such quantities as bring on vomiting. Some have experienced very distressing consequences, such as excessive sickness, purging, great pros- tration of strength, impaired vision, and even total insensibilit}^ where the dose has been im- prudently large. AMERICAN HELLEBORE. 135 Tlie wine of green hellebore is prepared like that of the white, by iniusing for ten days eight ounces of the sliced root, in two pints and an half of Spanish white wine. Before being given, in gout, it is combined with one fourth part its quantity of wine of opium. Of this compound the dose varies from twenty drops to a dracbm. From some observations made by Sir Everard Home respecting the wine of Colchicum autum- nale, it is probable that the wine of Yeratrum may be less violent in its effects, if freed from the sediment which it deposits by standing. Of the substance of the root freshly powdered, from two to six grains will be found a sufficient dose. For medicinal use, however, in most cases it is probable that the liquid preparation above described promises more. The external application of the ointment and decoction sometimes produces the same effect on the stomach as the internal use of the plant. In one instance a patient was nauseated and vomit- ing brought on by the ointment applied to an ulcer of the leg. I have known similar conse- quences from a strong decoction in cutaneous af- fections. Might the topical application of this plant be of any service in gout ? 136 YERATRUM VIRIDE. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Veratrum viride, Aiton, Kew. iii. 422. — Wujldenow, 8p. pi. iv. 896. — PuRSH, i. 242. — Rees' Cyclopedia, ad, verb. — ^Ve- ratrum album, MiCHAUx, ii. 249. — Helonias viridis. But, Mag. 1096. MEDICAL REFERENCES. ■Kalm, travels f ii. 91. — Josselyn, Vbyagc to JVtw England, p. 60. — Thacher, JV. Eng. Journal. PLATE XXXII. Fig. 1. Leajandjlowers of Veratrum viride. Fig. 2. Fetal magnified. Fig. 3. Stamens, Fig. 4. Pistils. Fig. 5. Capsule. Fig. 6. Section of the capsule, slioxving the seeds. Fig. 7. A seed. J'A. XA'A/i (ye^i/^^frt^/KX' (/Pf2/kj/^^^ jbmin & SndrA 5c. GENTIANA CATESB.EI. Blue Gentian. PLATE xxxir, J. am indebted to the late Dr. Macbride, of Charleston, S. C. for my specimens of this me- dicinal plant, and for a quantity of its root in preservation. Many of the perennial species of Gentian have a great degree of bitterness in the root, and among these the Gentiana lutea, or com- mon imported Gentian of the shops, stands pre- eminent. Of the American species, several bear great resemblance in taste and effect to the Euro- pean plant. No one, however, which I have ex- amined approaches so near to the officinal root in bitterness, as the species which is the subject of this article. This species was formerly con- founded witli the Gentiana saponaria, a fine au- tumnal plant, common in the Northern and Mid- 18 138 GENTIANA CATESBiET. die states. It differs widely, howeyer, from that species in the size of its leaves, the length of its calyx, the open mouth of its corolla and shape of its segments. An imperfect figure of this plant, published by Catesby sixty years ago, has been quoted by subsequent botanists as belonging to G. Saponaria. It has now been very properly distinguished by Walter and Elliott, who have ap- plied to the new species the name of its earliest delineator. The genus Gentiana has a monopetaloiis corol- la; a capsule one-celled and two-valved, with two longitudinal receptacles. The species Cateshwi hiis a rough stem ; leaves ovate-lanceolate ; seg- ments of the calyx longer than the tube ; mouth of the corolla open, its outer segments subacute, in- ner segments bifid and fimbriate. This genus is placed by Linnaius in his class and order Pentandria, Bigynia, A part of the species, however, depart from the character of this class, and constitute one of those instances in w hich the general rules of the arrangement are violated, that apparently natural genera may not be divided. A part of the Gentians have five sta- mens and a five-cleft corolla ; othei*s have four stamens and a four-cleft corolla ; others have a still different number. Yet so uniform is the BLUE GENTIAN. 139 Structure of the fruit, and so great tlie apparent affinity of the plants, that hotunists have hitherto kept the genus entire, even though the variety of form as well as of numher in the cnlyx, corolla, and stamens might perliaps justify a subdivision. This genus belongs to the natural order Mo- tacece of Linnaeus, and to Jussieu's GentiancB. The Gentiana Catesba?i has a branching and somewhat fleshy root. Stem simple, erect, rough. Leaves opposite, ovate or lanceolate, slightly three-nerved, acute, rough on the margin. Flow- ers crowded, nearly sessile, axillary and terminal. Segments of the calyx linear-lanceolate, varying in length, exceeding the tube and sometimes more than twice its length. Corolla large, blue, ventricase, plaited ; its border ten-eleft, the five outer segments roundish and more or less acute, the five inner bifid and fimbriate. Stamens five, with dilated filaments and sagittate anthers. Germ oblong-lanceolate, compressed, supported by a sort of pedicel. Style none, stigmas two, oblong, reflexed. Capsule oblong, acuminate, one-celled, two-valved. The dried root of this vegetable has at first a mucilaginous and sweetish taste, which is soon succeeded by an intense bitter, approaching near- ly to that of the officinal gentian. This quality 140 GENTIANA CATESBiEI. appears to reside in a bitter extractive principle, soluble in botli alcohol and water. A little resin is developed by the pearly appearance which the tincture assumes on the addition of water. The decoction, however, is nearly equal in bitterness to the tincture, and both these solutions exhibit this property much more powerfully than the root in substance. No astringency appears in this root, and nothing remarkable in the distilled water. I have found the root of this plant in a variety of instances in which I have used it, to resemble very nearly the imported Gentian in its proper- ties, being but little inferior to it in strength or efijcacy. Like that substance it invigorates the stomach and gives relief in complaints arising from indigestion. Dr. Macbride, at whose sug- gestion I first employed it, entertained a high opinion of its tonic power in cases of debility of the stomach and digestive organs. In Mr. Elliott's Botany of the Southern States, we are told, tliat in the form of a decoction it is used with decided advantage in cases of pneumon- ic, where the fever is nervous, and that it acts as a tonic and sudorific. A tincture of it is esteem- ed as a reniedy in dyspepsia, given in doses of one fourth or half an ounce. It is said to increase BLUE GENTIAN. 141 the appetite, prevent the acidification of the food, and to enable the stomach to bear and digest ar- ticles of diet, whicli before produced oppression and dejection of spirits. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Gentiana Catesbsei, Waitee, Flora Carol, p. 109. — ^Eixi- OTT, Botany of the Southern States, i. 340. MEDICAL REFERENCE. EijiioTT, loc, dt, PLATE XXXIV. Fig. 1. Gentiana Catesbcei. Fig. 2. A Jlower xvith the corolla draxvn open to show the inner plicce. Fig. 3. Stamens and pistU in their natural situation. Fig. 4. Stamens separate. Fig. 5. Fistil. LAURUS SASSAFRAS* Sassafras Tree. PLATE XXXV. Almost every section of the United States produces the Sassafras tree. It not only inhab- its every latitude from New England to Florida, but we are told it is also found in the forests of Mexico and even of Brazil. Its peculiar foliage and the spicy qualities of its bark render it a prominent object of notice, and it seems to have been one of the earliest trees of the North Amer- ican continent to attract the attention of Europe- ans. Its character as an article of medicine was at one time so high, that it commanded an extrava- gant price, and treatises were written to celebrate its virtues. It still retains a place in the best European Pharmacopseias. /v.jfjurv. Artnat Ic Sj-M Sc SASSAFRAS TREE. 143 Xhe g'eniis of trees and slirubs known by the name o£ Lauviis comprises many of the most use- ful as well as celebrated products of the vegeta- ble world. The Bay tree or Laurel of the an- cients, the Cinnamon tree, Cassia tree. Camphor tree, and Avocado pear, are either of them suffi- cient to give notoriety to the genus to which thev belong. This genus has a calijcc of from four to six divisions ; nectary of three bisetose glands, or wanting ; stamens variable in number ; fruit a drupe ; flowers often polygamous. The species Sassafras is polygamous, with leaves entire and lobed. The Laurels constitute one of the few genera assigned by Linn sens to his class Enneandria, to the first order of which they belong. Jussieu has placed them with his Lauri, to which they give name. The propriety with which they have been associated with the Linnsean natural order Oleracece is of a very questionable nature. The Sassafras tree, of the United State, ar- rives, in favourable situations, to a tall stature and large circumference. In the Northern States, it is of smaller size, yet trees are sometimes met with about Boston which attain to nearly the average height of the woods around them, and have trunks a foot in thickness. The bark of the 144 LAURUS SASSAFRAS. trunk is mucli cracked and of a greyish colour ; the young twigs are of a reddish green. The leaves are remarkable for the variety of their form on the same tree. Those which proceed first from the bud are usually oval and entire ; the next have the same form with a lobe on one side ; the last and most numerous have regularly three lobes. They grow on petioles, and are very downy when young, but become smoother by age. The flowers grow from the sides of the branches beloAV the leaves, having the scales .of the former bud for their floral leaves. They are disposed in short slender racemes of a pale green colour, each flower having six oblong segments. Different trees produce barren and perfect flowers. Tlie barren flowers have nine stamens, six of which are exterior and three interior. The perfect flow- ers, the kind represented in our plate, have only six stamens, with short filaments and heart-shap- ed anthers. ^N^ectary none. Germ roundish with a straight, erect style. Fruit an oval drupe of a deep blue colour, supported by a red incras sated pedicel. Only a small number of the trees pro- duce fruit. The bark of this tree has a fragrant smell and a very agreeable spicy taste. The flavour of the root is most powerful, that of the branches SASSAFRAS TREE. 145 more pleasant. The flavour and odour reside in a volatile oil which is readily obtained from the bai'k by distillation. It is of a light colour, be- coming darker by age, very pungent, and heavier than water, so that it sinks in that fluid when the drops are sufficiently large to overcome the re- pulsion at the surface. The bark and pith of the young twigs abound with a pure and delicate mu- cilage. A very small quantity of the pith infused in a glass of water gives to the whole a ropy con- sistance, like the white of an e^g. This mucilage has the uncommon quality that it is not precipi- tated, coagulated, or rendered turbid by alcohol. It continues in a perfectly transparent state when mixed with that fluid, though it does not unite with it. When evaporated to dryness, it leaves a light coloured, gum-like residuum. The volatile oil and the mucilage appear to contain all the medicinal virtue of the tree. The bark and wood of the Sassafras were formerly much celebrated in the cure of various complaints, particularly syphilis, rheumatism and dropsy. Its reputation, however, as a specific in those diseases, particularly the first, has fallen into deserved oblivion, while it is now recognized only with regard to its general properties, which are those of a warm stimulant and diaphoretic. 19 146 LAURUS SASSAFRAS. It is retained by the Dispensatories as an ingre- dient in several preparations, particularly the compound decoction of guaiacum, formerly called " decoction of the woods ;'' and the compound decoction of Sarsaparilla, formerly the "Lisbon diet drink.'' These preparations are useful as sudorifics in rheumatism, some cutaneous diseas- es, and the sequelae of syphilis. They derive, however, more of their efficacy from their other ingredients, than from the Sassafras, a principal part of the efficacy of wliich is dissipated by boil- ing. The most proper mode of employing the Sas- safras is in the form of its volatile oil, which may be given in very small quantities as an antispas- modic, stimulant and sudorific. It is too acrid to be taken unmixed, and should therefore be dis- solved in spirit and mixed with water or syrup. The mucilage of the pith of this tree is pe- culiarly mild and lubricating, and has been used with much benefit in dysentery, and in catarrhal, as well as calculous affections. Some eminent surgeons have employed it as a lotion in the most inflammatory stages of ophthalmia, to which its softness renders it extremely well suited. llie wood of the Sassafras tree is of a light texture, but is said to be durable when exposed SASSAFRAS TREE, 147 to the weather. It has heen thought capable of repelling insects by its odour, and on this ac- count has been employed for trunks, bedsteads, ^'c. A property of this kind, however, is wrongly attributed to it, since the wood retains scarcely any odour after a few months drying. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Laurus Sassafras, Linn. Sp. ;)/.— Piesh, i. 277. — Nuttaix, i. 259. — WooDViLLE, iv. t, 234. — Michaux, fil. Jrl^res fares- tierSf iii. 173. — Laurus foliis integris, trilobisve. — Trew, Ehr, U 69, 70. — Cornus irias odorata, &c. — Plukenet, Mm. 120, L 222. — Catesby, Car, i. U 55, MEDICAL REFERENCES. Murray, Apparatus, iv. 535. — Kaxm, travels, ii. — Hotfman 06s. Fhys. Chenu 31. — Cuulen, J^Iat. Med. ii. 200. — Clayton, Phil. Trans. Mr. viii. 332. — Bremane, Sassafrasologia in 1627, PLATE XXXV. Fig. 1. Laurus Sassafras, a branch with perfect flowers of the natural sixe. Fig, 2, A stamen magnified. Fig. 3. Pistil, ditto. Fig. 4. Fruit, APOCYNUM ANDROSJEMIFOLIUM. Dog^s Bane. PLATE XXXVL Ahis is a branching perennial plant, found from Canada to Carolina about the sides offences and the borders of woods. It has a peculiarly neat aspect derived from its smoothness, its leaf- less and coloured stalk, bushy top and delicate flowers. Like the other American species, it is a lactescent plant, with a fibrous bark. It attains its flowering period in June and July. The genus Apocynum has a hell-shaped co- rolla ; a nectary of jive corpuscles surrounding the germ ; anthers adhering to the stigma by the middle ; follicles two ; seeds with down. The present species is glabrous, its stem erect and branching ; cymes lateral and terminal; co- rolla spreading. Pf . XJC.WI. DOG'S BANE. 149 Class Fentandria, order Bigynia ; natural or- ders Contortce, Linnaeus ; Apocinece, Jussieu. The Apocynuni Androsfemifolium grows often to the height of five or six feet, though its com- mon elevation is three or four. Its stalk is smooth, simple below, branching repeatedly at top, red on the side exposed to the sun. Leaves opposite, smooth on both sides, paler beneath, ovate, acutCj on short petioles. The flowers grow in nodding cymes from the ends of the branches and axils of the upper leaves, furnished with mi- nute acute bractes. Calyx five-cleft, acute, much shorter than the corolla. Corolla white tinged with red, monopetalous, campanulate, with five acute, spreading segments. Stamens five, with very short filaments, and connivent, oblong arrow- shaped anthers, cohering with the stigma about their middle. The nectary consists of five ob- long glandular bodies alternating with the sta- mens. Germs two, ovate, concealed by the an- thers. Stigma thick, roundish, agglutinated to the anthers. The fruit is a pau' of slender linear- lanceolate follicles, containing numerous imbri- cated seeds each crowned with a long pappus or down, and attached to a slender central recep- tacle. 150 APOCYNUM ANDROSiEMIFOLIUM. Every part of the Apocynum when wounded emits copiously a milky juice. When chewed, the root communicates an unpleasant and in- tensely bitter taste. It exhibits, when dry, the following chemical phsenomena. — If a solution in ether be mixed with alcohol, the alcohol, though not turbid at first, becomes so when the ether evaporates. An aqueous infusion or decoction is of a deep red colour and intensely bitter. A so- lution in alcohol is nearly destitute of colour, but retains the whole bitterness of the plant, and is not disturbed by the addition of water. When submitted to distillation a slight oily film floats on the surface of water in the receiver. — From these facts we may conclude that the Apocynum con- tains, 1. A bitter extractive principle. 2, A col- ouring principle soluble in water and not in al- cohol. 3. Caoutchouc. 4. A volatile oil. ' In various parts of the Eastern States this plant has been shewn to me by country practi- tioners under the name of Ipecac. This name is applied to it from its power of acting on the stomach in the same manner as the Brazilian emetic. Several physicians, among whom is Dr. Richardson of 3Iedway, inform me that they have found ahout thirty grains of the root to evacuate the contents of the stomach as effectually as two dog's bane. 151 thirds the quantity of Ipecacuanha. In my own trials it has appeared to me much less powerful than the latter suhstance, and although it produces vomiting, yet this power is diminished by keeping, and appears to be eventually destroyed by age. When used for the purpose of an emetic, the re- cently powdered root should be employed. The sensible and chemical qualities of this root seem to promise a good effect when given in small doses as a tonic medicine to the stomach. My observations on this subject may hereafter be more mature. (See Appendijc.j We have certain- ly very few indigenous vegetables which exceed the Apocynum in bitterness. Perhaps its emetic property when given in large doses may be owing to this quality. Most bitter vegetables produce vomiting when administered in large quantities. Kalm observes in his travels in North Ameri- ca, that in some parts of the country this plant was suspected of poisonous properties like those of the Rhus vernix. The country people inform^ ed him that the milky juice rubbed on the hands produced blistering in many persons, and that some were affected in the same way even by the cffiuvium of the plant. — I know of no other au- thority than that stated above for the existence of such a property in the Apocynum. The plant is 15S APOCYNUM ANDROSJEMIFOLIUM, common and well known in Massachusetts, yet I have never heard it suspected of deleterious properties. The flowers of the xlpocynum have a power of catching: flies and small insects which was as- cribed by Dr. Darwin to an irritability in the in- ternal organs. Mr. Curtis in the Botanical mag- azine, has considered this subject at large, and ascribes the property to a more rational cause. In consequence of the close convergency of the anthers and their adhesion to the stigma, a nar- row fissure or slit exists, which becomes more contracted near the top. The insect in search of the honey at the bottom of the flower, inserts his proboscis between the stamens into the cavity within them. In extricating it from this situa- tion the proboscis is sometimes caugbt in the fis- sure, and in proportion to the eiforts made by the insect to escape it becomes more closely wedged in the upper part of the slit, so that its deliverance by its own powers becomes at length impractica- ble. Musquitoes, gnats, and small flies are fre- quently found dead in this confinement. DOG'S BANE. 153 BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Apocynutn androssemifollum, Lin. Sp. pi. — Curtis, Botani- cal Magazine, t. 280.— Darwin, Botanic Garden, ii. 182. — Mi- €HAUx, Flora, i. 121 Pursh, i. 179. MEDICAL REFERENCE. Kaxm, Travels, iii. 26. PLATE XXXVL Fig. 1. Branch of Spocijmim androsainiifolium. Fig. 2. Fair of follicles. Fig. 3. Cone formed of the united stamens. Fig. 4. Stamen detached. Fig. 5. Side view of the calyx, nectaries and germs^t Fig. 6. Front view of the same. Fig. 7. vith a con- traction near the hase and another in the middle^ its border dilated, and slightly and irregularly toothed. Stamens eight, much longer than the corolla, the alternate ones longest, the filaments capillary and inserted into the tube ; the anthers roundish. Germ ovate placed obliquely, the style appearing to issue from one side. The style is capillary, curved, and longer than the stamens. The fruit is a small oval, acute, red, one-seeded berrv. Chemically examined, the bark of this shrub discovers a slightly resinous character by the pearliness which its tincture assumes on admix- ture with water. The decoction is somewhat mucilaginous and deposits slight flocculi on the addition of alcohol. Iron and gelatin produce no evidence of tannin or gallic acid. The distilled water has an unpleasant odour, but is void of ac- rimony. The bark of the Dhxa has a peculiar and rather unpleasant taste. When swallowed, it leaves a sensation of acrimony in the fauces which continues for some time. If taken in the quantity of six or eight grains, it produces a sense of heat in the stomach and at length brings on LEATHER WOOD, 137 vomiting. This effect pretty certainly occurs if the bark be recent or freshly powdered, A variety of observations on this slirub have been made by my pupil, Dr. John Locke, who first called my attention to the examination of its properties. He found on experiment that not only the distilled water, but the decoction also was void of acrimony, and that in the boiled bark this property was very much diminished, though still present. The watery extract had consider- able bitterness, but scarcely any of the peculiar acrimony of the plant. Taken in doses of a drachm, it did not produce any very sensible ef- fect. Alcohol without heat acquu'ed but slight sensible properties from the bark. Nothing came over by distillation Avith alcohol, but the alcohol remaining in the retort had acquired the acrimony. The spirituous extract procured by evaporating this decoction was equal to one twen- ty fourth of the bark from which it was obtained. It contained the acrimony in a concentrated form, producing a more powerful effect on the fauces than the fresh bark. It was lai^gely but not com- pletely soluble in water. Dr. Locke gave the freshly dried root to various patients in doses of fi'om five to ten grains, which quantity in most instances proved powerfully i58 DIRCA PALUSTRIS. emetic, and sometimes cathartic. It was found to be deteriorated by keeping, and did not pro- duce the same effects when very old. In conse- quence of some statements whicli have been made in regard to its vesicating properties, Dr. Locke applied portions of the bark moistened with vinegar to the skin of his arm. In twelve hours no effect was produced, in twenty four some red- ness and itching took place and in thirty a com- plete vesication followed. The fruit of the Dirca has been suspected of narcotic properties. Dr. Perkins, of Hanover, N. H. has communicated the case of a child which had eaten these berries with effects like those produced by Stramonium, such as stupor, insensibility, and dilatation of the pupils. An emetic brought up the berries and the child grad- ually recovered. A medical student who took several of the berries found that they produced nausea and giddiness. The medicinal action of the bark of the Dirca probably depends on its acrid constituents, which appear to be partly of a resinous and partly of a volatile nature. Its properties appear somewhat allied to those of Polygala senega, for whicli it might perhaps be substituted in small quanti- ties. It is best given in substance, though on ac- LEATHER WOOD. 159 count of the tenacity of its fibres it is diflicult of subdivision. After beating in a mortar it resem- bles fine Hut more than powder. Its vesicatiug properties appear too feeble to promise much utility. I have introduced the Dirca in this place, not so much because it has been yet applied to any medical purpose of great importance ; but be- cause it would be improper, in a work like the present, to pass over unnoticed a shrub of such decided activity. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Dirca palustris, Li!v. JmcEnitates academicce, iii. t. i. 6. 7. DuHAMEL, Jrb. vi. t. 212. — Pursh. i. 236. — Michaux, i. 268. Bartram, Travels, 309. — Kalm, Travels, ii. 148. MEDICAL REFERENCE. B. S. Barton, ColL 32. PLATE XXXVII. Fig. 1. ^ branch with leaves of Dirca palustr'is. Fig. 2. A branch injlower. Fig. 3. Fruit. Fig. 4. Germ and style much magnified. Fig. 5. Magnified corolla^ laid open. Fig. C. Flower magnified. RUBUS VILLOSUS. Tall Blackberry. PLATE xxxnu, liiE family of shrubs comprized under the term Bnhiis, including the various species of Raspberry^ Blackberry, Dewberry^ ^c. is exten- sively diffused throughout the United States. Many of them are known as troublesome bram- bles, a few are unarmed, and a certain number are nearly herbaceous. Some are distinguished by the elegance of their flowers, and others by the deliciousness of their fruit. The Rubus vil- losus is one of the most common and interesting-^ species. It abounds among the brushwood of neglected fields and pastures, about fences and the borders of woods, from the Eastern to the Southern states. Beings of rapid growth, it is frequently troublesome to the farmer by spread- /•/. x.vrv/ii Annin X-. Smilfi Sr ■••!^- .. TALL BLACKBERRY. 16 1 ing in his lands, although it oft'ers some amends for the intrusion by the abundance and fine flavour of its fruit. It is commonly called tall or high blackberry in distinction from the B. trivia- lis or loio blackberry, ^vhich it greatly resembles in the quality of its fruit. It is in flower in June and its fruit is ripe in Aug-ust and September. For the generic character, it has a jive-cleft calycc ; five petals ; and a compound berry com- posed of one-seeded acinic — This species is puheS' cent, bristly and prickly, the leaves in threes or fives, leafets ovate, acuminate, serrate, pubescent, with the petioles prickly ; flowers racemed. Class Icosandria, order Polygynia ; natural or- orders Senticosoe, Lin. JRosaceoe, Juss. This shrub has a tall, branching, prickly stem, which is more or less furrowed and angu- lar. Leaves mostly in threes on a channelled, hairy petiole. A few are solitary and some qui- nate. Leafets ovate, acuminate, sharply and une- qually serrate, covered with scattered hairs above, and with a thick soft pubescence underneath. The terminal leafet is pedicelled, the two side ones sessile. The petiole and back of the mid- dle rib are commonly armed with short recurved prickles. The flowers grow in erect racemes with a hairy, prickly stalk. The pedicels are 21 162 RUBUS VILLOSUS. slender, an inch or two in length, covered with glandular hairs and supported by lanceolate hractes. Calyx divided into five ovate, concave, hairy segments ending in an acuminate point or a lanceolate leafet. Petals five, w hite, ovate or oblong, concave, contracted into a short claw at hase. Stamens very numerous, with roundish anthers and slender, white filaments. Germs nu- merous, covering a conic central receptacle. Styles capillary, arising from the sides of the germs, persistent. Fruit a black, sliining, com- pound berry formed of pulpy acini attached to the receptacle, each containing a single oblong seed. The bark of the root of tliis bramble is the part which has been medicinally employed, [t is a pure and strong astringent, which property it manifests both by its sensible effects and by chemical examination. When treated with the sulphate of iron both the tincture and decoction assume a beautiful dark purple colour and throw down a copious precipitate. A precipitate also takes place on the addition of gelatin, which is copious, white and opaque. The alcoholic solu- tion is in part decomposed by water. The sub- stance precipitated does not occasion the uniform turbidncBs whicii usually attends the separation TALL BLACKBERRY. 163 of resins, but exhibits a flocculent appearance like that of congulatcd mucilage. These flocculi, however, when collected and dried, exhibit the common resinous properties on exposure to heat. I subjected the dried bark to distillation, but the distilled water was nearly insipid, possessing only a very slight flavour of the root. The properties of this bark ai^e those of a very powerful astringent. I have tried its operation sufficiently to become satisfied of its efficacy both internally and externally used in a variety of cases which admit of relief from medicines of its class. It is true that our list of vegetalde astringents lias become very numerous and tiie cases which re- quire them are perhaps less frequent than was formerly imagined ; yet as we continue to im- port and consume various foreign medicines of this kind, we ought not to exclude from attention native articles of equal efficacy. Professor Chap- man, of Philadelphia, expresses a very decided opinion in regard to the powers of this substance. « Of the vegetable astringents," says he, "this I have reason to believe is among tlie most active and decidedly efficacious in certain cases. To the declining stages of dysentery after the symp- toms of active inflammation are removed, it is well suited, though T have given it. T think, with 164 RUBUS VILLOSUS, greater advantage under nearly similar circum- stances, in cholera infantum. To check the in- ordinate evacuations which commonly attend the protracted cases of this disease, no remedy has ever done so much in my hands. Even two or three doses will sometimes so hind tlie howels that purgatives became necessary. Being so powerfully astringent, this medicine is useful in all excessive purgings, and especially in the di- arrhea of very old people, as well as when it oc- curs at the close of diseases. During my atten- dance in our public institutions I had abundant opportunities of testing its efficacy in these cases." The fruit of the blackberry is among the most delicious productions of the uncultivated forest. To an agreeable combination of sweetness and acid it adds an aromatic fragrance which is surpassed by few of the lighter fruits produced among us. It differs in size and perfection in different seasons, warm and dry summers being most favourable to its perfect maturity. Our markets, however, are rarely destitute of this fine fruit in the months of August and September. Some other species of Rubus are closely allied to this in the qualities of their fruit and bark, particularly the Ruhus procumbens, commonly called lotv or running blackberry or dewberry* TALL BLACKBERRY. 165 The fruit of this species is usually larger but produced in smaller quantity from the inflores- cence being nearly solitary. The bark is not less astringent than in the present species. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Rubus villosus, Aiton, Kew, ii. 210. — Wulldenow, ii. 1085. — MiCHAUX, i. 297. — PuRSH, i. 346. MEDICAL REFERENCES. Chapman, Therapeutics and Mat, Med, ii. 474. — Thacher, Disp. 341. PLATE XXXVIIL Fig. 1. Jl specimen of Ruhis villosus in flower. Fig. 2. Stamen. Fig. 3. PistUs. Fig-. 4. The ripe fruit. CASSIA MARILANDICA American Senna, J'LATE XXXIX. X HIS tall and luxuriant plant is found in rich soils in the vicinity of water from N^ew England to Carolina, and westward to the banks of the Missouri. The most northern situation in which I liave known it decidedly indigenous, is on tlie banks of tlie Quinehaug river near the southern boundary of Massachusetts. It is, however, cul- tivated in gardens for medicinal use much further to the north. It is a vigorous herbaceous peren- nial with stalks four or five feet high, having their summits covered in July and August with brilliant yellow flowers. The extensive genus Cassia has a five-leaved calyjc and five petals ; anthers unequal^ the three uppermost barren, the three lowermost longer, PI..XXX/X -Aftnin H SrruM AMERICAN SENNA. 167 curved and beahed. Legume Uvo-valved. — ^The species Marilaiidica has eight or nine pairs of leaf- ets, which are ohlong-lanceolate, and mucronaie ; an obovate gland on the petiole. Racemes accillary and terminal ; legumes linear ami curved. Class Becandria, order Monogynia. Natural orders Lomentacece, Linn. Leguminoscv, Juss. The stems, Avhich grow in bunches and often attain the heiglit of five or six feet, are round, striated, and invested with a few scattered hairs. Petioles compressed, channelled above, bearing from eight to ten pairs of leafets, which are ob- long, smooth, somewhat hairy at the edges, pale on the under side, supported by short crooked pedicels, and mucronated with a rigid bristle at the end. On the base of the petiole is a large ovate pedicelled gland, of a shining green, ter- minating in a dark point at top, which is some- times double. Each petiole is also furnished with a pair of linear-subulate, ciliate, deciduous stip- ules. The flowers grow in axillary racemes, ex- tending quite to the top of the stem. The pe- duncles are sliglitly furrowed, pedicels supported by bractes like the stipules, and marked with mi- nute, blackish, glandular hairs. Leaves of the calyx yellow oval, obtuse, the lateral ones longest. Petals five, briglit yellow, spatulate, concave, very a 168 CASSIA MARILANDICA. obtuse, three ascending and two descending. Stamens ten with yellow filaments and hrown anthers. The three upper have short abortive anthers. To these succeed two pairs of deflexed linear anthers. The remaining three, or lower- most, are much longer, crooked, and taper into a sort of beak, the middle one being shortest. The anthers open by a terminal pore. Germ descend- ing with the low er stamens, hairy ; style ascend- ing, stigma hairy, moist. The fruit consists of long legumes which are pendulous linear, curved, swelling at the seeds, and ftirnished with slight hairs. The predominant constituents of the leaves in tliis plant appear to be resin extractive, and a volatile matter. The tincture is of a dark brown colour and is rendered extremely tm^bid by water. The infusion and decoction have a lighter colour and the peculiar taste of tlie plant. The dis- tilled water is nauseous. It is found that both the infusion and decoction answer for medicinal use, yet it is probable that the tincture would be more strongly operative, did not the sedative ef- fects of the alcohol prove a balance for the addi- tional parts of the medicine dissolved. The Cassia Marilandica is related to the ori- ental Senna in its botanical habit, and nearly re- AMERICAN SENNA. 169 sembles it in its medicinal virtues.* Neither of these phxnts is to be ranked among the most ac- tive cathartics, and they require to be taken in much larger quantities than aloes, rhubarb or * There is no doubt that the true Alexandrian Senna is the product of the Cassia Senna of Linnaeus and of Willdenow. La- marck has occasioned an unnecessary confusion on this subject, and misled other botanists, by changing the Linnsean name C. senna to C. lanceolata ; while he has appropriated the name C. senna to the variety /3 of Linnseus, which is the Italian senna, since very properly named C. Italica. See Rees' Cyclopedia, Art. Cassia, &c. The African plant is accounted the most active, although the Italian Sen- na cultivated in Jamaica, according to Dr. Wright, proved fully equal to it in efficacy. The greater part of the Senna consumed in the United States is imported from the East Indies. Smaller quantities occasionally reach us from different ports of the Mediterranean and Red seas. The common India senna has a lanceolate leaf narrow and acute; pe- tioles without glands, bearing from five to nine pairs of leaves ; and a flat oblong curved legume. Medicinally considered, it is one of the most valuable sorts, operating with mildness and certainty. The facility and cheapness with which it is obtained in India, has long caused it to predominate in our markets. The India senna, which I have examined, has been very pure, consisting only of leaves of Cassia. The Egyptian has frequently a slight admixture of foreign leaves which are nauseous and bitter. The Cassia senna would doubtless succeed in our Southern states. The product, consisting of the whole leaves of the plant, must necessarily be large, and would well reward the attention of planters. Ripe seeds may probably be found among the senna of the shops which will vegetate, if not too old. According to Roxburgh and Carey, the Arabian senna cultivated at the Bengal garden is a biennial plant. 23 170 CASSIA MARILANDICA. jalap, to produce their desired effect. Hence the coiumon form of administering senna is in in- fusion, a large portion being made to communi- cate its strength to water at a time. As far as I have been able to observe, about one third more of the Cassia marilandica is required to produce a given effect, than of the C. senna. This ohjec- tion will prevent it from superseding the senna of the shops, although the facility, with which it may be raised in any part of the United States, will render it a convenient medicine where cheap- ness is an object. It is already cultivated in gardens for medicinal use, and the infusion and decoction are considerably employed by families and country practitioners. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Cassia Marilandica, Lin. Sp. pi. — Martyn, Cent, t, 23. — MiCHAUX, Flora, i. 261. — Pursh, i. 306. — ^Nuttali, i. 280. — Cassia mimosse foliis, &c. — Dillenius, t. 260,/. 339. MEDICAL REFERENCES. B. S. Barton, Coll. 32. — Thacher, Bisp. 178, — Chap- man, Therapeutics. PLATE XXXIX. Fig. 1. Cassia Marilandica. Fig. 2. The three upper stamens. Fig. 3. The fourth andjifth ditto. Fig. 4. The sixth and seventh ditto. Fig. 5. The three lowest ditto. Fig. 6, A legume. PlXh NICOTIANA TABACUM. Tobacco. FLJTE XL, At the time of the discovery of America the Tobacco plant was cultivated by the natives in the West India islands and in different parts of the continent, especially those bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. Whatever may have been its native climate, we need not trace it farther back than this period ; and can incur but little risk in considering it as indigenous to the southern parts of the United States in their present cnlai'g- ed extent. [JVofe B.] It is an annual plant capable of perfecting its flowers and fruit in almost any part of the Union, yet seldom found growing spontaneously except in cultivated grounds or their vicinity. 172 NICOTIANA TABACUM. The genus Wcotiiina has Si funnel-shaped co- rolla, zvith its border someivhat plaited. Stamens inclined ; stigma emarginate. Capsule ttvo-celledy two or four-valved. The species Tabaciim^re- presented in our plate, has its leaves ovate-lanceo- late, sessile, decurrent ; flowers panicled, acute. Class Pentandria, order Monogynia. Natural orders Luridcv, Linn. Solanacece, Juss. The common Tobacco has a long fibrous root; a stalk five or six feet high, erect, round, hairy, and viscid, branching at top. Leaves sessile, very large, ovate or lanceolate, acuminate, viscid, of a pale green colour. Bractes linear, acute. Flow- ers forming a panicle on the ends of the stem and branches. Calyx swelling, hairy, glutinous, half as long as the corolla, ending in five acute seg- ments. Corolla funnel-shaped, swelling toward the top, the border expanding, with five acute lobes ; the tube of a greenish white, the border red. Filaments inclined to one side, with oblong anthers. Germ ovate, style long and slender, stigma cloven. Capsule ovate, invested with the calyx, two-celled, two-valved, but opening cross- wise at top ; partition contrary to the valves. Seeds very numerous, small, somewhat reniform, attached to a fleshy receptacle. TOBACCO. 173 It is a remarkable law of the animal economy, that the power of use and habit is capable of reconciling tlie system to bear witli impunity what in its unaccustomed state proves highly deleterious and even fatal. It is a fact that most substances in the Materia Medica lose their eftect after the continuance of their use for a certain length of time, so that if we would realize their original operation, we must increase their dose in proportion as the body becomes accustomed and insensible to their stimulus. This is partic- ularly exemplified in the narcotics. Many of these substances, which at first are not only nau- seous and disgusting in their sensible qualities, but highly injurious in their influence upon health ; are so changed in their effect by habitual use, as to become to those who employ them an innocent and indispensible comfort and a first rate luxury of life. In its external and sensible properties, there is no plant which has less to recommend it than the common Tobacco. Its taste in the ^reen state is acrid, nauseous and repulsive, and a small quantity taken into the stomach excites violent vomiting, attended with other alarming symp- toms. Yet the first person who had courage and patience enough to persevere in its use, until hab- 174 NICOTIANA TABACUM. it had overcome his original disgust, eventually found in it a pleasing sedative, a soother of care, and a material addition to the pleasures of life. Its use, which originated among savages, has spread into every civilized country ; it has made its way against the declamations of the learned, and the prohibitions of civil and religious author- ity, and it now gives rise to an extensive branch of agriculture, or of commerce, in every part of the globe. Tobacco was in use among the aborigines of America, at the time of its dicovery. They em- ployed it as incense in their sacrificial fires, believing that the odour of it w as grateful to their gods. The priests of some tribes swallowed the smoke of this plant to excite in them a spirit of divination, and this they did to a degree which threw them into a stupor of many hours continu- ance. When recovered from this fit of intoxica- tion, they asserted that they had held a confer- ence with the devil, and had learned from him the course of future events. Their physicians also got inebriated with this smoke, and pretended that while under the influence of this intoxication they were admitted to the council of the gods, who revealed to them the event of diseases. Har- riot. TOBACCO. 175 In 1559 Tobacco was sent into Spain and Por- tugal by Hernandez de Toledo, and from thence it was carried into France {>.s a curiosity by Jean Nicot or Nicotius, ambassador at the court of Lis- bon, whose name is now immortalized by its application to this genus of plants. From this period the use of tobacco spread rapidly through the continent, and in half a century it was known in most countries in Europe. The rich indulged in it, as a luxury of the highest kind; and the poor gave themselves up to it, as a solace for the mis- eries of life. Its use became so general and so excessive, that in many countries, the constituted authorities, both of church and state, found it necessary to interpose, and to stop the extrava- gant indulgence in it by the severest prohibi- tions. James the First of England, besides writ- ing a book against it, called his "Counterblast to Tobacco," gave orders that no planter in Virginia should cultivate more than one hundred pounds. Pope Urban the Eighth publislied a decree of excommunication against all who took snuff in the church. Smoking was forbidden in Russia under penalty of having the nose cut off. In Switzerland a tribunal (Chambre dii tahac) was instituted for the express purpose of trying trans- gressors in Tobacco. A Turk, who was found 176 NICOTIANA TAIiACUM. smoking in Constantinople, was conducted through the streets of that city with Jiis pipe transfixed through his nose. Even in this country, where the use of Tobac- co originated, we find our puritanic ancestors guarding against its abuse by salutary statutes. In the old Massachusetts colony laws is an act laying a penalty upon any one "who shall smoke tobacco within twenty poles of any house ;" or who shall "take tobacco in any inn or common victualling house, except in a private room, so as that neither the master of the said house nor any other guest shall take offence thereat." — In the earliest records of Harvard University soon after its foundation, is a regulation of this kind. " No scholar shall take tobacco, unless permitted by the president, with the consent of their parents and guardians, and on good reason first given by a physician, and then in a sober and private man- ner." While the legal authorities in various parts of the world took upon them to control the abuse of this fascinating weed, the literati of different countries entered warmly into the discussion of its merits and its faults. Among its advocates were Castor Duranti and Haphael Thorius, both of whom wrote Latin poems expressly in its praise. TOBACCO. 177 The perfornnanee of the latter is entitled a " Hymn to Tohacco," and is very lavish in ascrip- tions to this plant, which he styles the "gift of heaven and the ornament of earth." So warm were the prejudices of its advocates, that it oh- tained the reputation of a general panacea, and the catalogne of diseases which it was announced to cure, amounted almost to a complete nosology. But the opinions of its adversaries were not less extravagant upon the other extreme. It is remarkable tliat in the days of its first general in- troduction, no man spoke about it with coolness or indifference, but every one warmly espoused its censure or its praise. Camden, in his life of Queen Elizabeth, says, that men used Tobacco every where, some for wantonness and some for health's sake; and that "with insatiable desire and greediness, they sucked the stinking smoke thereof through an earthen pipe, which they presently blew out again at their nostrils ; — so that Englishmen's bodies were so delighted with this plant, that they seemed as it were degener- ated into barbarians." Dr. Venner in a work entitled Via recta ad vitam longam, published at London in 1638, gives a brief summary of the injuries done by Tobacco. " It drieth the brain, dimmeth the sight, vitiateth 23 478 NICOTIANA TABACTJM. tlie smell, Imrtetli the stomach, destroyetli the concoction, disturbeth the humours and spirits, eoiTupteth the breath, induceth a trembling of the limbs, exsiccateth the winde pipe, lungs and liver, annoyeth the milt, scorcheth the heart and causeth the blood to be adusted. In a word, it overthroweth the spirits, perverteth the under- standing, and confoundeth the senses with sudden astonishment and stupiditie of the whole body." A poetical philiippic, called " Tobacco batter- red," was published in the reign of King James by Joshua Sylvester, in which he compares Tobac- co to gunpowder, and pipes to guns ; making the mischief of the two equal. But the most cele- brated of all invectives against Tobacco was the " Counterblast" of King James I. That weak monarch gave vent to his prejudices against this herb in a publication, in which he professes to disprove all the alleged grounds for the toleration of Tobacco, and warns his subjects in a most earnest manner not to sin against Ood, and/harm their own persons and goods, and render them- selves scorned and contemned by strangers, who should come among them ; by persevering in a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, and baneful to the brain." TOBACCO. 179 Such were the commotions excited by the introduction and spreading of an article, whose use has now become so common as scarcely to attract notice. This article is the product of several species of Nicotiana, but chiefly of the N. tabacum or Virginian Tobacco, and the INT. rustica, sometimes called English Tobacco, and being the sort which Sir Walter Raleigb introduced at the court of Queen Elizabeth. Anotber species, N, fruticosa, is said to have been cultivated in tbe East prior to the discovery of America. The Indians on the banks of the Missouri and Colum- bia rivers cultivate for use the N. quadrivalvis of Pursh and Nuttall. It has been remarked that the Tobacco of warm climates is more mild in its flavour, while that raised in colder latitudes is more strong and pungent. The Bengal Tobac- co, of which the sheroots are made, is one of the most weak and mild in its properties. After this is the West India Tobacco which aflbrds the Ha- vanna cigars. Next is the Tobacco of our South- ern States, and lastly the Tobacco raised in the northern parts of the Union, which is the most acrimonious and pungent of all.* * Several varieties of JSTicotiana Tabacum are cultivated in the United States, of which the principal are the broad leaved or siveet ■■ scented^ and tlic narrow leaved. 180 NICOTIANA TABACUM. An elaborate chemical analysis of Tobacco. has been published by M. Vauqiielin in the Annales de Chimie. His results are, that the broad leaved Tobacco furnishes from its juices the following constituents. 1. A large quantity of animal matter of an albuminous nature. 2. Malate of lime with an excess of acid. 3. Ace- tic acid. 4. Nitrate and muriate of potash in observable quantities. 5, A red matter soluble in alcohol and water, which swells and boils in the fire, its nature undetermined. 6. Muriate of J mmonia. 7- A peculiar acrid, volatile, colour- less substance, soluble in water and alcohol, and which appears different from any thing known in the vegetable kingdom. It is this principle which gives to prepared Tobacco its peculiar character, and it is perhaps not to be found in any other species of plant. Tlie medicinal activity of Tobacco evidently resides in this volatile portion, for both the extract and decoction of the plant by long boiling become nearly inert, while the es- sential or the empyreumatic oil is one of the most deadly poisons known. Among the substances used by Mr. Brodie in his experiments or vegetable poisons, was the empyreumatic oil of Tobacco prepared by Mr. Braude by distilling the leaves of Tobacco in a TOBACCO. 181 heat above that of boiling water. A quantity of watery fluid came over, on the surface of which was a film of unctuous substance, wiiich he calls the empyreumatic oil. Mr. Brodie found that two drops of this oil applied to the tongue of a young cat with an interval of fifteen minutes occasioned death. A single drop suspended in an ounce of water and injected into the rectum of a cat, produced death in about five minutes. One drop suspended in an ounce and a half of mucilage and thrown into the rectum of a dog, produced violent symptoms, and a repetition of the experiment killed him. Tobacco has been used both as a luxury and prophylactic, and as a medicine. In the former cases it has not been taken internall}', but only kept in contact with absorbing surfaces. It is well known, that to the mouth it is applied in substance and in smoke ; and to the nose in the form of powder. The opinion which at one time prevailed of its power to prolong life and to secure immunity from diseases is now pretty fully abandoned. It has no prophylactic reputa- tion except as a preservation for the teeth, and in some degree as a protection against the conta- gion of epidemics. In both these cases it is entitled to a certain degree of confidence, though 182 NICOTIANA TABACUM. it is probably inferior to many otber substances for both these purposes. As to its effects upon longevity, the great frequency of its use and the facts and observations of Sir John Sinclair render it improbable that when moderately taken, it has any influence in wearing out the constitution, or abridging the usu- al period of life. But like all other narcotics its excessive use or abuse must impair the health and engender disease. Of the different modes of using Tobacco, I imagine that smoking is the most injurious, and the most capable of abuse, since in this process the active principles of the Tobacco are volatilized with the smoke, and are extensively applied to the lungs as well as the mouth and nose and fauces. Asa medicine, this plant has been employed in a variety of ways for the alleviation and cure of diseases. Externally it has been applied with benefit in tinea capitis and in complaints occa- sioned by the presence of insects. In the form of a cataplasm applied to the pit of the stomach it occasions severe vomiting. The prostration of {Strength and other distressing symptoms which attend this application, must prevent its general employment. Still it may be remembered as an auxiliary iu cases where other emetics have failed TOBACCO. 183 to operate. A surgeon in the U. S. army inform- ed me that the soldiers had au expedient to ex- empt themselves from duty, by wearing a piece of tobacco under each armpit, until the most alarming symptoms of real illness appeared in the whole system. Dr. James Currie has recorded a case of epi- lepsy cured by the external use of Tobacco. A cataplasm was applied to the stomacli for several days about half an hour before the expected re- turn of the paroxysm. A violent impression was produced eacli time upon the system, the parox- ysm prevented and the diseased association effectually broken up. Two cases of obstinate and dangerous intermittent were cured in the same manner by a decoction of half a drachm of Tobacco in four ounces of v/ater, thrown up as an enema, a short period before the time of the paroxysm. The Tobacco enema was formerly recom- mended in colic, nephritic complaints, ^*c. Of late years it lias been extensively employed in strangulated hernia. In cases of this complaint where the taxis has been ineffectually attenipted iind the usual auxiliaries have failed, an injection made by infusing half a drachm of Tobacco in eight ounces of boiling water for ten minutes, is 184 NICOTIANA TABACUM. found extremely userul. If assisted by the local application of ice to the part, it frequently causes the contents of the sac to return spontaneously, and renders the operation unnecessary, which would be otherwise unavoidable. It operates by its powerfully sedative and relaxing effects, as well as by its catbartic property. When the infusion is not used, an injection of Tobacco smoke into the rectum frequently pro- duces the same consequences. The smoke may be made to penetrate farther than any liquid, and it is equally efficacious, from the activity of the volatile parts. It was formerly much used in the restoration of persons apparently dead from drowning', but of late years it has gone more into disuse. From the sedative effect of Tobacco, the tendency to syncope and the great prostration of strength which it occasions in ordinary cases ; it is probable that its employment in cases of asphyxia from drowning, must assist in extin- guishing rather than in rekindling the spark of life. As a diuretic. Tobacco has been administered internally in doses so small as not to offend the stomach, with very good effect. Dr. Fowler has published a collection of facts relative to its use, principally in dropsy and dysury, from which he TOBACCO. 185 concludes it is a safe and efficacious diuretic. In thirty one dropsical cases in which he employed it, eighteen were cured and ten relieved ; and out of eighteen cases of dysury, ten were cured and seven relieved. Dr. Ferriar and several subse- quent practitioners have found it a valuable diu- retic, although CuUen does not speak very en- couragingly of its use. At the present day it does not seem to be extensively in use, having passed into neglect ratlier because more fashiona- ble remedies have superceded it, than because it has really been weighed and found wanting. It will always deserve trial in obstinate dropsical cases (and such cases it must be confessed are not rare) in whicli the more common remedies have been tried without benefit. Of the various for- mulas recommended by Dr. Fowler, the Wine of Tobacco is the only one preserved in the Edin- burgh and Massachusetts pharmacopoeias, beino' the one which is believed to extract most fully the virtues of tJie Tobacco. It is made by di- gesting for a week, an ounce of the dried Tobac- co in a pound of Spanish white wine. The dose is from thirty to eighty drops. Dr. Fowler him- self however believed the most effectual mode of administering the Tobacco, was in the form of pills of a grain each. S4> 186 NICOTIANA TABACUM. Tobacco has been employed with some suc- cess in the locked jaw, both of warm and cold climates. Mr. Duncan, surgeon of Grenada, has published in the Edinburgh Journal the account of a very distressing case of this kind, which was relieved and finally cured principally by enemas of Tobacco smoke. These applications generally produced syncope and deathlike sickness in the patient, but by prudent management of them, the disease was entirely overcome, and recovery took place. Dr. Holmes of Worcester county, Mass. exhibited the infusion of Tobacco, to a patient under violent tetanus, after the more common remedies had been fully tried without effect. The spasms were completely removed and the patient recovered. This powerful medicine has been also em- ployed with some palliative effect in hydrophobia and certain other spasmodic diseases. Its in- ternal use however requires great caution, since patients have in various instances been destroyed bv improper quantities administered by the hands of the unskilful or unwary. T^otwithstand- ing the common use and extensive consumption of Tobacco in its various forms, it must unques- tionably be ranked among narcotic poisons of the most active class. The great prostration of TOBACCO. 187 Strength, excessive giddiness, fainting, and vio- lent affections of the alimentary canal, which often attend its internal use, make it proper that so potent a drug should be resorted to by medi- cal men, only in restricted doses and on occa- sions of magnitude. BOTANICAL REFERENCES. Nicotlana tabacum, Lijr. sp. pi. — Aiton, ICew. i. 241. . WooDviiiE, Med, Bot. U 77. Blackwell, t. 146.— Puesh, i. 141. — NUTTAUL, i. 132. MEDICAL AND OTHER REFERENCES. MxjRiiAY, apparatus, \. 6S\. — Wafer, Travels, 102 — Har- riott, Voyage to Virginia. — Hakluyt, 75. — Everard, de her. ba panacea, ^'c. 1583. — Chrysostom Magnenus, Exercita- tiones 14, de Tabaco. — King James I. Works, London, 1616 SuoRT, Discourses on Tea, Tobacco, ^-c. — Bientema, Tabacolo- gia in 1690. — Hahn, Tahacologia, Jenoe. — Gerard, Historic of Plants, 360. — Vauq,uelix, Annales de Chimie, 1809. — Edinburgh Med. Comment, xl. 327. — Desgranges, Journal de Medicine, 1791. — Cullen, Mat. Med. — Fowler. Med. JReports on Tobacco, Svo, Lond. — Tatham, on the Culture and Commerce of Tobacco, Lond. 1800. — Med, and Phys. Journal, Vol, 24, 25, et passim. . Duncan, Repr. in JS". Engl. Journal for 1814. — Ferriar, J)/ef^. Hist. i. 75, and ii. 152. — ^1'ott. ii. 72, 85, ^-c.— Watterston, ,Mem(nr on the Tobacco plant, Washington, 1817. PLATE XL. Fig. 1. JVicotiana tabacum. Fig. 2. Capstile, Fig. S. Ripe capsule opening at top. Fig. 4. Transverse section. N O T E 8. JVote A. A memoir on the cultivation and use of Asdepias Syraica, by J. A. Moller, may be found in Tilloch's Philosophical Magazine, Vol. viii. p. 149. Its chief uses were for beds, cloth, hats and paper. It was found that from eight to nine pounds of the silk occupied a space of from five to six cubic feet, and were suffi- cient for a bed, coverlet and two pillows. — The sliortness of the fibre prevented it from being spun and woven alone. It how- ever was mixed with flax, wool, &c. in certain stuffs to advan- tage. Hats made with it were very light and soft. The stalks afforded paper in every respect resembling tliat obtained from rags. The plant is easily propagated by seeds or slips. A plantation containing thirty thousand plants yeilded from six hundred to eight hundred pounds of silk. J^ote B. Tobacco was discovered in Cuba, Florida and Mexico, near- ly three centuries ago, and was soon after introduced from this continent into Europe. "Whether or not any species of it was cultivated in the East before the discovery of America, is a point of no consequence in regard to its American nativity. The extent of country throughout which it was used by the ab- origines of this continent, renders it probable that it must have been cultivated in various parts of America for many centuries previous to its discovery. NOTES. Igf9 The following account of the present mode of cultivating Tobacco in our Southern States is extracted from Jn Historical and Practical Essaij on the Culture and Commerce of Tobacco. By William Tatham. London, 1800. First, of preparing the Tobacco Ground. ** There are two distinct and separate methods of preparing the Tobacco ground : the one is applicable to the preparation of new and uncultivated lands, such as are in a state of nature, and require to be cleared of the heavy timber and other productions with which Providence has stocked them ; and the other method is designed to meliorate and revive lands of good foundation, which have been heretofore cultivated, and, in some measure, exhausted by the calls of agriculture and evaporation. *< The process of preparing new lands begins as early in the Minter as the housing and managing the antecedent crop will permit, by grubbing the under growth with a mattock ^ felling the timber with a poll-axe ; lopping off the tops, and cutting the bodies into lengths of about eleven feet, which is about the cus- tomary length of an American fence rail, in what is called a 7Vorm or pannel fence. During this part of tlie pi-occss the ne- gro women, boys, and weaker labourers, are employed in piling or throwing the brush-wood, roots, and small wood, into heaps to be burned j and after such logs or stocks are selected as are suitable to be mailed into rails, make clap-boards, or answer for other more particular occasions of the planter, the remaining logs ai'e rolled into heaps by means of hand-spikes and skids ; but the Pennsylvania and German farmers, who* are more con- versant with animal powers than the Virginians, save much of this labour by the use of a pair of horses with a half sledge, or a pair of truck wheels. The burning of (his brush- wood, and the log piles, is a business for all hands after working hours ,• and as nightly revels are peculiar to the African constitution, this 190 NOTES. part of the labour proves often a Yery late employment, which affords many scenes of rustic mirth. *< When this process has cleared the land of its various natu- ral incumbrances, (to attain which end is very expensive and laborious,) the next part of the process is that of the hoe ; for the plough is an implement which is rarely used in new lands when they are either designed for tobacco or meadow. " There are three kinds of the hoe which are applied to this tillage : the first is what is termed the sprouting hoe, which is a smaller species of mattock that serves to break up any particu- lar hard part of the ground, to grub up any smaller sized grubs which the mattock or grubbing hoe may have omitted, to remove small stones and other partial impediments to the next process. ** The narrow or hilling hoe follows the operation of the sprouting hoe. It is generally from six to eight inches wide, and ten or twelve in the length of the blade, according to the strength of the person who is to use it ; the blade is thin, and by means of a moveable wedge which is driven into the eye of the hoe, it can be set more or less digging (as it is termed,) that is, on a greater or less angle with the helve, at pleasure. In this respect there are few instances where the American black- smith is not employed to alter the eye of an English-msiAe hoe before it is fit for use ; the industrious and truly useful mer- chants of Glasgow have paid more minute attention to this cir- cumstance. "The use of this hoe is to break up the ground and throw it into shape j which is done by chopping the clods until they are sufficiently fine, and then drawing the earth round the foot until it forms a heap round the projected leg of tiie labourer like a mole hill, and nearly as high as the knee ; he then draws out his foot, flattens the top of the hill by a dab with the flat part of the hoe, and advances forward to the next hill in the same manner, until the whole piece of ground is prepared. The centre of these NOTES. 191 liills are in this manner guessed by the eye; and in most instan- ces tliey approach near to lines of four feet one way, and three feet the other. The planter always endeavours to time this operation so as to tally with the growth of plants, so that he may be certain by this means to pitch his crop within season. " The third kind of hoe is the broad or weeding hoe. Tliis is made use of during the cultivation of the crop, to keep it clean from the weeds. It is wide upon the edge, say from ten inches to a foot, or more ; of thinner substance than the hilling hoe, not near so deep in the blade, and the eye is formed more bent and shelving than the latter, so that it can be set upon a more acute angle upon the helve at pleasure, by removing the wedge. OJ the Seas&n for Planting. *< The term, season for planting, signifies a shower of rain of sufficient quantity to wet the earth to a degree of moisture which may render it safe to draw the young plants from the plant bed, and transplant them into the hills which are prepared for them in the field, as described under the last head; and these seasons generally commence in April, and terminate with what is termed the long season in May ; which (to make use of an Irishism) very frequently happens in June ; and is the op- portunity which the planter finds himself necessitated to seize with eagerness for the pitching of his crop ,• a term which com- prehends the ultimate opportunity which the spring will afford him for planting a quantity equal to the capacity of the collec- tive power of his labourers when applied in cultivation. " By the time which these seasons approach, nature has so ordered vegetation, that the weather has generally enabled the plants (if duly sh,eltered from the spring frosts, a circumstance to which a planter should always be attentive in selecting his plant patch) to shoot forward in sufficient strength to bear the vicissitude of transplantation. 19S NOTES. " They are supposed to be equal to meet the imposition of this task when the leaves are about the size of a dollar j but this is more generally the minor magnitude of the leaves ; and some will be of course about three or four times that medium dimension. *' Thus, when a good shower or season happens at this pe- riod of the year, and the field and plants are equally ready for the intended union, the planter hurries to the plant bed, disre- garding tlie teeming element, which is doomed to wet his skin, from the view of a bountiful harvest, and having carefully drawn the largest sizeable plants, he proceeds to the next operation. Of Flani'mg. « The ofiice of planting the tobacco is performed by two or more persons, in the following manner : The first person bears, suspended upon one arm, a large basket full of the plants which have been just drawn and brought from the plant bed to the field, without waiting for an intermission of the shower, al- though it should rain ever so heavily ; such an opportunity indeed, instead of being shunned, is eagerly sought after, and is considered to be the sure and certain means of laying a good foindation, which cherishes the hope of a bounteous return. The person who bears the basket proceeds thus by rows from hill to hill ; and upon each hill he takes care to drop one of his plants. Those who follow make a hole in the centre of each hill with their fingers, and having adjusted the tobacco plant in its natural position, they knead the earth round the root with their hands, until is of a sufficient consistency to sustain the plant against wind and weather. In this condition they leave the field for a few days until the plants shall have formed their radifications ; and where any of them shall have casually per- ished, the ground is followed over again by successive replant- ings, until the crop is rendered complete. NOTES. 193 Of Hoeing the Crop, "The operation of hoeing comprehends two distinct func- tions, viz. that of hilliifg, and that of weeding ; and there are moreover two stages of hilling. The first hilling commences, as heretofore described, in the preparation of the field previous to planting the crop, and it is performed, as before explained, by means of the peculiar implement called a hilling hoe ; the sec- ond hilling is performed after the crop is planted, with a view to succour and support the plant as it may happen to want strengthening, by giving a firm and permanent foundation to its root ; and it may be effected accordi?«g to the demand of the respective plants by a dexterity in changing the stroke with the weeding hoe, without any necessity to recur to the more appropriate utensil. " The more direct use of the weeding hoe commences with the first growth of the tobacco after transplantation, and never ceases until the plant is nearly ripe, and ready to be laid by, as they term the last weeding with the hoe ; for be who would have a good crop of tobacco, or of maize, must not be sparirg of his labour, but must keep the ground constantly stirring dur- ing the whole growth of the crop. And it is a rare instance to see the plough introduced as an assistant, unless it be the flook plough, for the purpose of introducing a sowing of wheat for the following year, even while the present crop is growing ; and this is frequently practised in fields of maize, and some- times in fields of tobacco, which may be ranked amongst the best fallow crops, as it leaves the ground perfectly clean and naked, permitting neither grass, weed, nor vegetable, to remain standing in the space which it has occupied. S5 194 NOTES. Of Topping the Flant, "This operation, simply, is that of pinching off with the iliumb nail* the leading stem or sprout of the plant, which w oiild, if left alone, run up to flower and seed ; but which, from the more substantial formation of the leaf by the help of the nu- tritive juices, which are thereby afforded to the lower parts of the plant, and thus absorbed through the ducts and fibres of the leaf, is rendered more weighty, thick, and fit for market. The qualiiied sense of this term is applicable to certain legal restric- tions founded upon long experience, and calculated to compel an amendment in the culture of this staple of the Virginia trade, so that it shall at all times excel in foreign markets, and thus just- ly merit a superior reputation. I do not exactly recollect the piesent limitation by law, which has changed, I believe, with the progress of experience j but the custom is to top the plant to nine, seven, or five leaves, as the quality and soil may seem most likely to bear. Of the Slicker, and Suckering. " The sucker is a superfluous sprout which is wont to make its appearance and shoot forth from the stem or stalk, near to the junction of the leaves with the stem, and about the root of the plant ; and if these suckers arc permitted to grow, they in- jure the marketable quality of the tobacco by compelling a division of its nutriment during the act of maturation. The planter is therefore careful to destroy these intruders with the thumb nail, as in the act of topping, and this process is termed suckering, " This superfluity of vegetation, like that of the top, has been often the subject of legislative care j and the policy of sup- porting the good name of the Virginia produce has dictated the * " Many of tlie Virginians let the thumb nail grow long, and liarden it in the candle, for this purpose : not for the use of gouging out people's eyes, as souie have thought fit to insinuate." NOTES. 195 wisdom of penal laws to maintain her good faith against imposi- tion upon strangers who trade with her. It has heen customary in former ages to rear an inferior plant from the sucker which projects from the root after the cutting of an early plant ; and thus a secoml crop has heen often obtained from the same field by one and the same course of culture ; and although this scion is of a sufficient quality for smoking, and might become preferred in the weaker kinds of snuff, it has been (I think very properly) thought eligible to prefer a prohibitory law, to a risk of imposi- tion by means of similitude. *' The practice of cultivating suckers is on these accounts not only discountenanced as fraudulent, hut the constables are strictly enjoined ex officio to make diligent search, and to em- ploy the posse comitatus in destroying such crops ; a law indeed for which, to the credit of the Virginians, there is seldom occasion; yet some few instances have occurred, within my day, wiiere the constables have very honourably carried it into exe- cution in a manner truly exemplary, and productive of public good. Of the fVcynn. *' There are several species of the worm, or rather grub ge- nus, which prove injurious to the culture of tobacco ; some of these attack the root, and some the leaf of the plant 5 but that which is most destructive, and consequently creates the most employment, is the horn worm, or large green tobacco worm. This appears to me to be the same species with that which Catesby has described in the second volume of his Natural His- tory of Carolina, p. 94, under the title eruca maxima cornuta, or the great horned caterpillar. " 'This caterpillar,' says he, s Partridge berry. £7 Podophyllum peltatumf May apple, 34 Modes foetiduSf Skunk cabbage. 41 Statice Carolinianat 1 Marsh rosemary, 51 Jisdepias tuherosa, Butterfly weed. 59 Magnolia glauca. Small magnolia. 67 CornusJlQridaf Dogwood, 73 Panax quinquefolinnif Ginseng, 82 Pdygala senega. Seneca snake root, 97 Liriodendron tulipiferaf Tulip tree. 107 Juglans cinerea. Butternut, 115 Veratrum viride. American Hellebore, 121 Gentiana Cateshcei, Blue gentian. 137 Laurus sassqfraSf Sassafras, 142 Apocijnum androstemifolium. Dogsbane, 148 Dirca palustris. Leather wood. 154 Rubus villosuSf Tall blackberry. 160 Cassia Marilandicaf American senna. 166 Mcotiana tabacum, Tobacco, 171 JVbfes, 188 I i 'I t>w #■■- I