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MEDICAL BOTANY;

' OR,

ILLUSTRATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS

OF THE

Jfte&trinal Pants

OF THE LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND DUBLIN PHARMACOPOEIAS,

COMPRISING

A POPULAR AND SCIENTIFIC ACCOUNT OF

POISONOUS VEGETABLES

INDIGENOUS TO GREAT BRITAIN.

BY JOHN STEPHENSON, M.D. F.L.S.

GRADUATE OP THE UNIVERSITY OP EDINBURGH j
AND

JAMES MORSS CHURCHILL, F.L.S.

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS AM) FELLOW OF THE MEDICO-
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

NEW EDITION.

EDITED BY

GILBERT T. BURNETT, F.L.S.

PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN KING’S COLLEGE, LONDON; TO THE MEDICO- BOTANICAL SOCIETY J
AND TO THE SOCIETY OF APOTHECARIES, AND DEMONSTRATOR IN CHELSEA GARDEN.

VOL. II.

LONDON:

JOHN CHURCHILL, PRINCES STREET, SOHO.

MDCCCXXXV.

^sms

7 onus

■ ' A

I.ONDON:

IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND

ALPHABETICAL INDEX

VOL. 11.

/Esculus Hippocastanum

Plate

68

Acacia Catechu ....

76

Acacia vera ....

77

i X

Aloe vulgaris ....

. 109

1

Aloe Socotrina ....

110

Amomum Grana Paradisi . .

. 106

Angelica Archangelica

83

Anthemis Pyrethrum

97

Anchusa tinctoria . . >' .

122

9

Arnica niontana

. 123

Arbutus Uva Ursi

91

Allium Sativum

. Ill

Canella alba ....

66

Cetraria Islandica ....

69

L

Chelidonium majus

86

Cicuta virosa .

89

Citrus Medica .

92

Cochlearia Armoracia

. 114

U'

Colchicum autumnale

70

Coriandrum sativum . - .

94

Crocus sativus

101

Curcuma Zedoaria ....

107

Gytisus Scoparius ....

67

Daphne Mezereum ....

65

Diosma crenata

. 121

Erythraea Centaurium

. 118

•

Eugenia Caryophyllata

95

Fucus Helminthocorton .

108

Fucus vesiculosus ....

. 108

Guaiacum officinale

Plate

90

\ Helleborus orientalis

87

Krameria triandria

72

Laurus nobilis

3 25

Matonia Cardamom uni
Melaleuca Cajaputi
Menyanthes triioliata
1 Mercurialis perennis
Myristica Moschata
Myroxylon Peruiferum
Myrtus Pimenta

J

106

84

85
78

104

102

124

Pastinaca Opoponax
Pious Abies
Pinus balsamea
Pin us Larix
Pinus sylvestris
Polygala Senega
Prunus Lauro-cerasus
Pyrola umbellata
Pyrus Cydonia .

98

75

74

75
73

103

117

93

115

v Ranunculus acris
i. Ranunculus Flammula
lihamnus catlnirticus
Rhododendron Chrysanthum
Roecella tinctoria
Rosa canina
Rosa Gallica
Ruta graveolens

82

82

119

80

69

100

99

71

Sambucus nigra
Solidago virgaurea
Styrax Benzoin
Swietenia febrifuga

79

105

112

81

Tamarindus Indica
Tanacetum vulgare
Triticum bybernum

88

116

113

Zingiber officinale

96

PL 60.

LXV

daphne mezereum.

Common Mezereon, or Spurge-olive.

Class VIII. Octandria. Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Veprecul.e, Lin. Thymel.e.e, Juss. De Land. &c.

Thymel.eace.e Thymelid.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx coloured, inferior, 4-cleft. Berry
1 -seeded.

Spec. Char. Flowers ternary, sessile on the stem.
Leaves lanceolate, deciduous.

Syn. — Chamelaea Gennanica, sive Mezereon, Ger. Em. 1402.

Daplinoides, Maith. Vulgr. v. 2. 557, f. ; Camer. Epit. 937. f. ; Fuchs. Hist.
227,/.

Thymelaea, n. 1024. Hall. Hist. 227. v. 1. 438.

Daphne Mezereum, Lin. Sp. PI. 509 ; Willd. v. 2. 415 ; FI. Brit. 420 ;
Eng. Bot. t>. 20. t. 1381; Woodv. t. 23; Stokes, v. 2. 372; FI. Dan. t.
268; Bull. Fr.t. 1.

Foueign. — Laureole Gentile, Fr. ; Mezereo, Daphnoide, Biondella, It.; Laureola-
hembra, Sp. ; Mezereo major, Port.; Kellerkals, Ger.; Woltschje luko,
Russ.

Mezereon is a low shrub, which occurs wild in some parts of
England, and produces its flowers in March. It is first men-
tioned as a native of our island, by Miller, who found it plenti-
fully near Andover, in Hampshire. Since that it has been ob-
served in several other places, as at Lax field, in Suffolk ; in
Needwood Forest, Staffordshire ; in the beech-woods in Buck-
inghamshire; at Eastham and Stanford, Worcestershire; near
Appleton, Berks; and in Wich-wood Forest, Oxfordshire.

It has a strong root, which gives off a number of small slender
fibres covered with a smooth olive-coloured bark. The stem is
bushy, with nearly upright alternate branches, covered with a
smooth grey bark, and seldom growing above four or five feet
high. The leaves are deciduous, lanceolate, scattered, smooth,
stalked, about two inches long, and half an inch broad, appear-
ing after the flowers, and accompanied by flower-buds for the
next season. The flowers are disposed in clusters, about three
together, on the naked branches, with several smooth, ovate

VOL. IT.

R

bracteas underneath ; they arc of a pale rose-colour, fragrant,
sessile, monosepalous, tubular, with the lip divided into four
deep ovate, spreading segments. The calyx, which constitutes
what is usually denominated the flower, resembles a corolla in
texture, and contains the stamens. The filaments are eight, al-
ternately shorter, inserted into the tube, and supporting roundish
oblong anthers. The germen is ovate, superior, bearing a flat-
tish, entire stigma, on a very short style. The fruit is a pulpy
scarlet berry, containing a single seed, and is the favourite food
of some species of Finch. The seed is pendulous, and exalbumi-
nous. The embryo straight, with a superior radicle. The coty-
ledons plano-convex ; and the plumula small. Of this species of
Mezereon there is a variety with white flowers, and yellow or
orange-coloured berries. — Fig. (a) represents the calyx spread
open, to show the insertion of the stamens ; (6) section of the
pistil showing the solitary pendulous ovule ; (c) fruit ; ( d ) section
of the fruit, to show the solitary seed ; (e) section of the seed ;
(/) the embryo.

Qualities. — The bark of the root, which is the part used in
medicine, is united to the ligneous fibre by a woolly substance,
which is the inner part of the liber. The recent bark is very acrid,
and, when chewed, powerfully excites the salivary glands, and
creates burning sensations in the mouth, which last for a con-
siderable time. M. Vauquelin has discovered a new vegetable
principle in the Daphne Alpina, which he calls Daphnine ; it
probably present in most of the other species.

Poisonous Effects. — Several speeies of Daphne are poison-
ous, and the berries of this plant prove so to man, dogs,
wolves, and foxes.* Linneus reports, that a young lady, labour-
ing under intermittent fever, died from haemoptysis, in con-
sequence of having taken twelve berries of the Daphne Me-
zereum , which had been given with the intention of purging
her ;-f- and Vicat states, that an hydropic patient having taken

* Semina ejus in cadaveribus abscondita exhibentur a rusticis Sueciaj lupis et
vulpibus, quibus adsumtis pereunt sine mora a;que ac a seminibus Strjcbni.
Linneus Flora Lapponioa, p. 105.
t Flora Suecia, No. 338.

’lie wood of Mezereon, was suddenly attacked with diarrhoea,
which was continual, and accompanied with insupportable
pains. He had besides, for six weeks, vomitings, which returned
every day with extreme violence ; although, during the whole
time, proper remedies were employed in order to quiet them.*

M. Blatin also narrates the case of a person who took a de-
coction of the root of Mezereon, instead of marsh-mallow. It
occasioned violent pains in the stomach and intestines, accompa-
nied by strong burning sensations in the skin, restlessness, loss
of appetite, intense fever, and irregular actions of the tendons.
These symptoms were relieved by drinking copiously of a sweet-
ened decoction of marsh-mallow.-j-

Medical Properties axd Uses. — It is very generally
allowed that Mezereon is a stimulating diaphoretic, useful in
chronic rheumatism ; but Dr. Donald Monro, Dr. Russel, Dr.
Fothergill, and several other eminent men, have described it as
capable of curing venereal nodes, scirrhous tumours, obstinate
idcers, and severe affections of the skin. The extensive experience,
however, of that able and scientific surgeon, the late John
Pearson, by no means supports the character it had obtained ;
and as his book is in the hand of but few persons, and cannot
be obtained, we are happy to be able to record his opinions :

“ Dr. Russel’s aceount of the virtues of Mezereon,” says Mr.
Pearson, “ is delivered with so much candour and fairness, that
if it be not calculated to excite high expectations, it certainly
contains nothing that can mislead. The seventeen cases which
Dr. Russel has recorded, do by no means warrant a stronger
form of expression than that which he has adopted ; and, al-
though Dr. Home has asserted, that ‘ this root is a powerful
deobstruent in all venereal tumours of the scirrhous kind,* when
mercury has failed the evidence he has adduced of this fact is
so scanty and insufficient, that it can scarcely be regarded as
forming an addition to Dr. Russel's prior report. From all that
I have been able to collect, I feel myself authorized to assert,
unequivocally, that the Mezereon has not the power of curing

• Hiatoire ties Plantes Ventneuses de la Suisse, p. 140.

t Roque’s Phytographie Medicate.

the venereal disease in -any one stage, or under any form. Tf a
decoction of this root can reduce a venereal node, when no mer-
cury has been previously given, yet the patient will by no means
be exempted from the necessity of employing mercury, for as
long a space of time, and in as large a quantity, as if no Me-
zereon had been taken.” Speaking of its power of removing ve-
nereal nodes, Mr. P. remarks, “ I have given the Mezereon in
the form of a simple decoction ; and also as an ingredient in
compound decoctions of the woods, in many cases where no
mercury had been previously employed ; but never with advan-
tage to a single patient. I have also tried it in numerous in“
stances, after the completion of a course of mercury : yet with
the exception of two cases, when the thickened state of the pe-
riosteum was removed during the exhibition of it, I never snw
■the least benefit derived from taking this medicine. In a few
cases of anomalous pains, which I supposed were derived from
irregularities during a mercurial course, the Mezereon was of
service, after I had tried the common decoction of the woods
without success; but, even in this description of cases, I have
always found it a very uncertain remedy.” In scrofulous cases,
when the periosteum was diseased, Mr. P. saw no benefit de-
rived from it ; neither did he ever see it do good in cutaneous
affections, excepting in two instances of lepra, in which the de-
coction conferred a temporary benefit. Mr. P. concludes by
saying, “ Indeed the Mezereon is of so acrimonious a nature,
often producing heat, and other disagreeable sensations in the
fauces ; and, on many occasions disordering the prima viae ; that
I do not often subject my patients to the certain inconveniences
which are connected with the primary effects of this medicine,
as they are rarely compensated by any other important, and
useful qualities.*

The bark of the Daphne Mexerewm is used in France to pro-
duce vesication, and to keep up the formation of pus from
issues ; and that of the D. Gnidium is applied to the same purpose.

Off. Prkp. — Decoctum Sarsaparillae Comp. L.

Decoctum Daphnes Mezerei. E.

* Observations on the Effects of various Articles of the Materia Medica, &c. p. 44.

WCtarit del.

LX VI

CANELLA ALBA.
IVhite , or Laurel-leaved Ganella.

Class XI. Monadelphia. — Order 1. Dodecandria.

Nat. Ord. Olerace.e, Lin. Mei.iace.’e, Juss. De Cand. &c.

Meliace.e Melid.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-sepalled. Petals five contorted,
filaments forming- a pitcher-shaped nectary, to which
the anthers adhere. Berry sub-trilocular, with one or
two seeds.

Spec. Char. Flowers in terminal corymbs with 15
stamens ; the leaves coriaceous, spathulate, and ob-
tuse.

Syn. — Canella peruana, and C. tubis minoribus alba, Bauh. Pin. p. 409 ; Park. 1581.
Canella cubane, Johns. Dendr. 165.

Canella cinnamomea, Pluk. Phyt. 160. f. 7.

Canella Winterana, Gaert. Fruct. v. 1. t. 77. f. 2.

Canella alba, Sp. PI. Willd. v. 2. 851 ; Smarts, Trans. Lin. Soc. v. 1. 96. t. 8 ;
Woodv. 2. 318. 1. 117 ; Stokes, v. 3. p. 12.

Foreign. — Canelle blanche, Fr. ; Canella bianco, It. ; IVeisser Zimmet, Ger.

The Canella is a common tree in most of the West India islands,
and on the continent of South America, growing in the inland
woods, where it attains a considerable size.

The stem rises from ten to fifteen feet in height, very straight
and upright, and divided only at the top. The branches are
erect, and not spreading ; furnished with petiolated leaves, irre-
gularly alternate, oblong, obtuse, entire, of a dark green colour,
thick like those of the laurel, and shining. The bark is whitish,
by which it is commonly known at first sight in the woods. The
flowers, which grow at the extremities of the branches in clusters,
upon divided foot-stalks, are small, of a violet colour, and seldom
open. The calyx is 5-leaved, and persistent; the sepals are

“ Caly.v , or J lower-cup , it has none ; but in its place the
flower is surrounded with a spatliaceous gem, of a thick, leathery
substance, green, but reddish on the side which has faced the
sun : before this gem bursts, it is of a round form, and its size
is that of a small pea. It bursts commonly so that one side is
higher than the other, and the segments are pointed.

“ The corolla consists always of seven petals, which are oval,
obtuse, concave, erect, white, have small veins, and are of an
unequal size, the largest scarcely four lines long; they very
soon fade, and drop off’ almost as soon as the gem bursts.

“ The filaments are from fifteen to thirty, and are placed on
the flattened side of the receptacle ; they are much shorter than
the petals, anti gradually decrease in length towards the sides.

“ The antherce are large, oval, longitudinally divided into
two, or as if each were made up of two oblong anthers.

“ Th e yermina are from three to six, placed above the recep-
tacle, turbinated, or of the shape of an inverted fig, flat on the
inside, and somewhat higher than the stamina ; they have no
styles, but terminate in a stigma, which is divided into two or
three small lobes.

“ The fruit I have never seen in its perfect ripe state, but can
conclude from the unripe ones, which I saw in abundance, that
each germen becomes a separate seed-vessel, of a thick, fleshy
substance, and unilocular : in each I could plainly discern the
rudiments of three, four, or five seeds.”

“ The bark,” says Dr. Fothcrgill,) “ of the Wintcrania, or
Winter’s cinnamon, brought over by the Dolphin, in respect to
figure, exactly resembles that which was delineated by Clusius.
The pieces are about three or four inches square, of different de-
grees of thickness, from a quarter to three-quarters of an inch.
It is of a dark brown cinnamon colour, an aromatic smell if
rubbed, and of a pungent, hot, spicy taste, which is lasting on
the palate, though imparted slowly. It has the name of Win-
ter’s cinnamon, from a faint resemblance in colour and flavour
to that grateful aromatic, though differing from it greatly in
every other respect. This bark is only brought to us from the
Straights of Magellan, and is the produce of the tree above de-

scribed. Much celebrated as an antiscorbutic by the fiist dis-
coverers, but unknown in the practice of physic, no quantity,
except as a curiosity, having been brought to Europe till the
return of the ships sent out on the expeditions to the South
Seas.”

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Every part of the
tree exhales a powerful aromatic odour, and when in blossom,
perfumes the whole neighbourhood. The flowers, dried, and
softened again in warm water, are said to diffuse an odour nearly
approaching to that of musk. The leaves have a strong smell
of laurel. The berries, after having been some time green, turn
blue, and become at last of a glossy black colour, and have a
faint aromatic taste and smell. They are, when ripe, as well as
the fruits of several kinds of laurel, very agreeable to the white-
bellied and bald-pate pigeons, ( Columba Jamaicensis and
leucocephala,) which feeding upon them, acquire that peculiar
flavour, so much admired in the places where they are found.

Canella alba is brought to England in casks and cases : the
principal part is in quills, which are of a whitish yellow ; while
the flat pieces, which are somewhat thicker, are of a rather
darker colour. The odour is strongly aromatic ; the taste aro-
matic also, more like the clove than the cinnamon, warm, pungent,
and somewhat bitter. It gives out all its virtues to alcohol, but
the infusion, though bitter, possesses little of its aromatic pro-
perties. “ The infusion is not altered by galls; sulphate of
iron, or zinc ; muriate of mercury, or tartarized antimony ; but
nitrate of silver, and acetate of lead, render it milky, and throw
down precipitates.1” * The essential oil is often scented with the
oil of cloves, and sold for it.

The results of analysis are, that it affords resin, volatile oil,
extractive and colouring matters, gum, amidon, albumen, the
acetates of potash and lime, hydrochlorate of potash, and hydro-
chlorate of magnesia. — Journ. de Pharm. vii. 197.

Medical Properties and Uses. — On account of its aro-
matic flavour, Canella alba is employed to cover the taste of

* Thomson’s Dispensatory.

several articles of the materia metlica. Combined with aloes, it
forms a popular remedy, well known by the name of hiera pier a,
and, added to the tincture and infusion of senna, it covers its
nauseous taste, renders it much more grateful to the palate, pre-
vents it from griping, and might be advantageously substituted
for the cardamom seeds, which enter into the composition of the
former. It appears to be more useful as a condiment than as a
medicine, for “ the bark, together with the fruit of the capsi-
cum, were formerly common ingredients in the food and drink
of the Caraibs, the ancient natives of the Antilles ; and even at
present it makes a necessary addition to the meagre pot of the
negroes.”* In Martinique the berries are made into a much
esteemed liquor.

Dose. — From ten grains to thirty, or more.

Off. Prep. — Tinctura Gentianoe composita. E.

Vi n urn Aloes. L. E.

Pulvis Aloes cum Canella. I).

* Trans. Linnean Society, vol. i. p. 99.

/'//M

LXVII

CYTISUS SC0PA11IUS.

Common Broom.

Class XVII- Diadelphia. — Order IV. Decandria.

Nat. Ord. Papilionace.e, Lin. Leguminos.e, Juss.
ClCERIN.E LOTACE.E. Bum.

Gen. Char. Calyx bilabiate, vexillum ovate, large,
carina obtuse. Filaments all united into a tube at
the base. Legume flat, many-seeded, glandless.

Spec. Char. Leaves oblong, ternate, upper ones soli-
tary. Branches angular, unarmed. Flowers axil-
lary, peduncles short. Legume fringed.

Syn, — Genista, Ger. Em. 1311. f. ; Camer. Epit. 950. f. ; Dod. Pempt. 761. ; Fuclis.
Hist. 218. /. ; Trag. Hist. 961. /.

Genista angulosa trifoliata, Raii Hist. 474.

Genista Scoparia, Lob. Jc. v. 2. 89./. ; Hook. Scot. 211.

Spartium, n. 354. Hall. Hist. v. 1. 154.

Spartium Scopnrium, Lin. Sp. PI. 996 ; Willd. v. 3. 933 ; FI. Brit. 753 ;
Engl. Bot. v. 19. t. 13S9 ; Curt. Loud. fuse. 5. t. 52; Woodv. t. 89;
FI. Dan. t. 313.

Cytisus Scoparius, Link.

Foreign. — Genet d balais, Fr. ; Ginesta, It.; Esparto, Span.; Giesta, Port ;
Pfriemenkraut , Ger.

This is a large, indigenous shrub, growing plentifully on dry
sandy heaths and waste places ; flowering in May and June.

It is a bushy plant, from three to eight feet in height, with
innumerable ascending, long, straight, angular, smooth, dark,
evergreen twigs. The leaves are deciduous, sessile, scattered,
petioled, and ternate ; but the upper ones are generally simple ;
the leaflets aie small, obovate, entire, and smooth, but silky when
young. The flowers are papilionaceous, large, and showy, very
numerous, axillary, solitary, or in pairs, on simple stalks, longer
than the leaves, of a deep golden yellow, sometimes tinged with
orange, and occasionally of a pale lemon-colour. The calyx is
cup-shaped, bilabiate, reddish purple, having the upper lip with

two, the lower with three small teeth. The corolla consists of
five petals; the standard inversely pear-shaped, and reflexed,
very large ; the wings ovate-oblong, connected with the filaments ;
the keel of two petals, lanceolate, oblong, attached to the fila-
ments, and connected at the lower margin by soft hairs. The
filaments are ten, all united into a single tube, and support oblong
orange-coloured anthers. The germen is oblong, hairy ; the
style awl-shaped, curved, and the legume compressed, brown,
oblong, ciliated, and containing about fifteen or sixteen small,
compressed, shining seeds. The seeds are exalbuminous, and
the cotyledons epigean. — Fig. (a) represents the calyx ; ( b ) the
germen and style ; (c) the stamens forming a tube at the base ;
(d) the legume or pod.

The flower-buds, before expansion, are sometimes pickled as
a substitute for capers. The branches when tender are mixed
with hops for brewing, and in some places used as fodder. They
are also capable of being manufactured into a coarse kind of
cloth ; and are made into besoms, and used as thatch in many
parts of England. The old wood furnishes the cabinet-maker
with a most beautiful material for veneering.

Qualities. — The leaves and tops have a disagreeable odour,
and a nauseous bitter taste, imparted by infusion both to water
and spirit. The tops and seeds are directed for medical use.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Broom tops have long
been celebrated for their cathartic and diuretic powers, and have
been successfully employed in dropsical cases. His Itoyal
Highness the late Duke of York is reported to have taken the
decoction with considerable benefit.

An ounce of the green tops may be boiled in a pint and a half
of water down to a pint, and a teacupful of this decoction given
every hour till it operates freely on the bowels ; and the dose may
be repeated every day, or every second day. The seeds and flowers
are said to be emetic, but according to Woodville, “ the evi-
dence upon which this assertion rests is not wholly to be relied
on, as the former, when roasted, have been recommended as a
substitute for coffee, and the latter employed as a pickle.”
Sydenham recommends the ashes, and their utility has been con-
firmed by Monro, and others ; but their whole power, no doubt,
depends upon the subcarbonate of potash which they contain.

Off. Prep. — Extraction Cacuminum Genista?. D.

/;.>/ Y( //J O /fi/rf/cH i/j/n' //// /n.

LX VI II

zESCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM.

Common Horse- Chesnut.

Class VII. Heptandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Trihilata:, Lin. Acera, Juss.

HippocastanEjE, De Cand. Acerin;e. Hipocastantaa:, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx 1-leaved, 5-toothed, swelled out.
Corolla four or five irregularly coloured petals in-
serted into the calyx. Capsule 2-3-celled, and eclii-
nate.

Spec. Char. Leaves digitate, with seven obovate,
acuminate leaflets. Corolla 5-petalled. Stamens seven.

Syn. — Castanea Equina, Ger. Em. 1442 ; Park, 1401 ; Raii. Hist. 1683.

Castanea folio multifido, Bauh. Pin. 419.

Hippocastanum, n. 1029; Hall. Hist. v. 1. 442 ; Clus. Hist. p. 7.
iEsculus Hippocastanum, Lin. Sp. PI. 488 ; Willd. v. 2. 285 ; Woodv. 349;

Hart. Kew. v. 2. 335.

Foreign. — Marronier d’Inde, Fr. ; Castagno d’ India, It. ; Castanheiro da India, Port. ;
Rosskastanienbaum, Ger. ; Paardenkarstengeboom, Dut. ; Hestekastagnetr<c,
Dan.; H&tkastagnier, Swed. ; Konskoi hast an, Russ.

This magnificent, and beautiful tree is a native of the north of
Asia, but it lias been cultivated in almost every part of Europe
since its introduction by Clusius, about the middle of the six-
teenth century. It is of rapid growth, and when, in May, it is
covered with its digitate foliage, and large handsome spikes of
white flowers, it constitutes one of the most striking ornaments of
our parks and avenues. •

The common horse-chesnut frequently rises to a great height;
and from the lower part of the trunk sends off numerous spread-
ing branches, covered with a rough brown bark ; the wood is
white and soft, hut soon decays, and is of little value. The
leaves are set on long foot-stalks ; they are large and digi-
tated, with seven leaflets, proceeding from a common centre, the
middle one being the largest, and the lateral ones on each side

rasping them, after which they are mixed with hot, or running
water, in the proportion of twenty nuts, to ten or twelve quarts
of water. Wove caps and stockings have been milled in this
preparation, and take the dye remarkably well ; and successful
trials have been made for fulling stuffs and cloths. Linen washed
in this water assumes a pleasing blue colour, and the filaments of
hemp, steeped in it some days, become easily separable. The sedi-
ment, after infusion, loses its bitter taste, and is then excellent food
for fowls when mixed with bran. Deprived of their acrimony and
bitter taste, the fruit might be converted into food proper for
men in times of scarcity. In 1796, Lord Murray obtained a
patent for extracting starch from the seeds. The bark yields a
yellow dye.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The bark, which, for
use, should be about three years old, was first recommended as
a febrifuge by Zannichelli ; and several continental physicians
have subsequently written accounts of its efficacy in intermittent,
and other fevers. The hyperbole, however, in which they dealt,
some averring it to be superior to Cinchona, produced an effect
which we suspect is not entirely deserved. We therefore strenu-
ously recommend some of our Cambridgeshire, or Lincolnshire
friends, to put it again to the test of repeated experiments, for
the details published by the French pharmacologists are too cir-
cumstantial and favourable not to deserve disproof or con-
firmation.

The powder of horse-chesnut bark was one of the common in-
gredients that entered into the factitious Cinchonas, which, during
the prolonged war, when the British navy shut the continental
ports, were resorted to from necessity by the French physicians.

A strong decoction has been commended as a lotion in gan-
grene ; and four grains applied to the nostrils at night, are said
to act mildly in the morning, as an errhine.

Dose. — From half, to one drachm of the powder, every four
hours. Of the decoction , made with an ounce and a half of the
bark to a pint of water, about two ounces may be given three
times a day.

. ,

■

■ • •

W'oiJrlj FatX

LX IX

ROCCELLA TINCTORIA.

Dyer's Lichen , Dyeing Rock-moss , or Orchel.

Class XXIV. Ciiyptog amia. — Order IV. Alg;e.

Nat. Ord. AlgjE, Lin. Lichenes, Hoffm.
Lichenales, Cetkarin.e, Parmeliaceje, Burn.

Gen. Char. Apothecia circular, lateral, and margined
by the thallus. The disk open, and placed upon a
carbonaceous stratum. Frond cartilaginous, and
somewhat leathery ; round or thread-shaped ; at first
erect, subsequently pendulous.

Spec. Char. Frond cylindrical, solid, but little
branched. Apothecia scattered, subinnate, with a
dark convex disk and an evanescent margin.

Stfn. — Coraloides corniculatum fusciculare tinctoreum, Fuci teretis facie, Dillen.
Muse. 120. t. 17. f. 39.

Parmelia Roccella, Achar. Meth. Lich. 274.

Roccella tinctoria, Acher. Lichenogr. Univ. 439.

Lichen Roccella, Lin. Sp. PI. 1622; Eng. Bat. v. 3. (. 211 ; Dicks. Crypt,
fuse. 3. 19.

Foreign. — Orchel, Orseille, Fr. ; Oricello, It. ; Orciglia, Sp.

J

The Lichens constitute an extensive natural group of plants, be-
longing to the class Cryptogamia, of the Linnean system ; and are
commonly known in this country by the popular names of roc/c-
mosses, tree-mosses, and timestains. By theillustriousLinneusthey
were included in one great, and complicated genus, Lichen ; but
Dr. Erick Acharius, a learned botanist of Stockholm, has since di-
vided the whole series into three distinct tribes, and forty-two ge-
nera : and subsequently, Borrer in this country, and Fries in Ger-
many,have greatly extended our knowledge of these interesting ve-
getables. In the plants of this Order, there are no regular roots, many
of the species being attached by small fibres issuing from the under
surface of the frond, or fixed to their place of growth as if bv

VOL. II.

c

a sort of cement. They are equally destitute of stems, and also
of leaves properly so called ; the part most analogous to a leaf,
and which constitutes the body of the plant, being generally a
crustaceous expansion, usually denominated the frond, and by
Acharius the thallus. The species are very numerous; and not
a few of them have at different times been employed in domestic
economy, in medicine, and the arts. In Lapland, the branched
coralline Lichen, Cenoinyce rangiferina, is highly important in
rural economy, as affording fodder for the rein-deer. A few
species only have been used as food by men, but several sorts are
eaten by goats, and other animals. Of these perhaps the most
important in a dietetic point of view is the Cetraria Islandica, to
be noticed hereafter ; and a species mentioned by Professor
Pallas, as growing on the calcareous mountains of the great
desert of Tartary, and described by Acharius under the name of
Urceolaria esculenta. In Siberia, the lungwort lichen, Sticta
pulmonacea is used in the making of ale, as a substitute for
hops, and Parmelia physodes , Usnea plicata , and Ilamalina
farinacea , when eaten with salt, are used in some northern coun-
tries as food. Dr. Withering tells us, that the country people
in some parts of England, make an infusion of Peltidea apthosa ,
in milk, and give it to children affected with thrush, and that in
large doses it excites purging and vomiting. Nor is this tribe
of plants when administered internally, entirely harmless, for ac-
cording to Pontoppidan, the yellow filamentous lichen, Evernia
vulpina , is so poisonous, that it is employed for killing wolves,
a carcase of some animal stuffed and smeared with the powder
of it, mixed with pounded glass, being set as a bait. Several
species are used for dyeing, and not a few were at one time con-
sidered as of great efficacy in the practice of medicine. Thus
the common cup-moss lichen , Lichen pyxidatus , or Cenomyce
pyxidata , Ach. was long regarded as an infallible nostrum for
the hooping-cough ; the common ground- liverwort, L. caninus,
or Peltidea canina , Ach., received its trivial name from the
fame it had acquired as a specific in the cure of hydrophobia,
and the tree lungwort or oak-lungs, was equally renowned in
former times for the cure of pulmonary complaints. At the pre-

sent day, two species only, the Roccella tinctoria and Cetraria
Islandica, the subjects of the following article, are retained in
the list of the British Pharmacopoeias.

The Orchel or Archil, Jtoccella tinctoria , is an indigenous Li-
chen, found sparingly on the maritime rocks of the south of Eng-
land, particularly in Portland Island, and grows very abundantly
on the sea rocks of the Cape Verd, and also of the Canary
islands; and from both clusters it is exported in considerable
quantities. In France it is called Orseille , and is used to a
considerable extent in the southern provinces for dyeing silks,
being collected on the rocky shores of the Mediterranean. By
the Dutch, it is manufactured into a paste called by them
Lacmus, or Litmus. This is sold in square masses about an
inch in length, and half an inch in breadth, and thickness; hard
and brittle, having the appearance of a violet coloured earth
with white spots. The plant seldom exceeds two inches in
height ; it is firmly fixed to the rocks, and sends up a thick tuft
of slender worm-like stems, round, pointed, often curved, more or
less branched, smooth, of a white, grey, or brownish hue, studded
about their upper part with numerous scarlet tubercles, or wart-
like excrescences, replete with a white powder, which has been
regarded by Hcdwig, as pollen or seeds, and by Gaertner and
others as a peculiar sort of gems or buds. The latter opinion
has been established by Acharius, and lichens are now considered
as gemmiparous plants, propagated only by bud-knots, or
gongyli.

Although many other species afford colours, this is the most
valuable lichen as a dye-stuff. If we may credit Tournefort, it
was known to the ancients, being the A euct,y of Dioscorides, and
the Phycos thalassion of Pliny. It was collected in the islands
of the Archipelago, and from one of these acquired the name of
Purple of Amorgus. In modern times, according to Berthollet,
it was prepared as an article of commerce at Florence, the fine
violet colour which resulted from mixing it with urine, having
been accidentally observed by a Florentine merchant, about the
year 1300, while visiting the Levant. The persons by whom the
archil or litmus was formerly prepared, being desirous to keep it a

secret, gave it the name of tincture of turnsole , pretending that
it was extracted from the turnsole, Heliotropium Europaum. Its
nature is now well known in this country, and large manufactures
of it are carried on in London and Liverpool. The Lichen is
imported as it is gathered, and is prepared in the following
manner The plant is first dried, cleansed, and pulverized in a
mill like the oil-mill. The powder is then thrown into a trough,
with one-half its weight of pearlash ; is moistened with a little
human urine, and then allowed to ferment. This fermentation
is kept up for some time by successive additions of urine, till
the colour of the materials first changes to a purple red, and then to
a blue. In this state it is mixed with a third of its weight of
very good potash, and spread upon deep wooden trays till dry.
A quantity of chalk is added at last, apparently for the mere
purpose of increasing its weight. It may here be remarked,
“ that another species of Roccella, R. fuciformis, is reported to
vie in richness of colouring matter with the common orchel,
while the plant attains to a much larger size. This species, like
the former, occurs sparingly on the sea rocks of the south of
Europe ; but it is said to abound in the East Indies, especially
on the shores of Sumatra, and might deserve the notice of some
of our enterprising countrymen.”

Prepared archil, which has a violet odour, derived from orris
root, very readily gives out its colour to water, to volatile spirits
and alcohol, and is the substance principally made use of for
colouring the spirits of thermometers. As exposure to the air
destroys its colour upon cloth, the exclusion of the air produces
a like effect in hermetically sealed tubes, the spirits of large
thermometers becoming in a few years colourless, and the colour
being again restored by the admission of air. Archil stains marble
in a beautiful manner ; and by the addition of a little solution of
tin, this drug gives a durable dye of a scarlet colour.

Medical Properties and Uses. — We know of no me-
dicinal virtues possessed by this lichen, though it was employed
at one time for relieving pulmonary complaints. It is, however,
used in the manufacture of red and blue syrups; which in the
trade are known as syrup of red poppies and syrup of violets.

Litmus is used in chemistry as a most delicate test, either
by staining paper with it, or by infusing it in water ; which will
presently turn red by acids, and have the blue colour restored
by an alkali.

CETRARIA ISLANDICA.

Iceland Lichen, or Eryngo-leaved Liverwort .

Pl. 69.

Gen. Char. Apothecia roundish, plano-concave, at-
tached obliquely towards the apex of the thallus, or
its lobed divisions, and therefore loose beneath, ele-
vated and bent inward at the circumference ; disk
open, thin, and placed upon a cellular stratum.
Frond membranaceous, foliaceous, irregularly lacini-
ated, smooth below.

Spec. Char. Frond cartilaginous, olive brown, bright
reddish or pale at the base ; lobes sub-erect, irregu-
larly linear, multifid, channelled, fringed or toothed,
the fertile ones dilated. Apothecia obliquely seutel-
late, of the same colour as the frond, with a raised
entire border, and dark brown disk.

Syn. — Lichenoides rigidum, ervngii folia referens, Raii Syn. 77 ; Dill. Muse. 209,
t. 28./. 111.

Lichenoides Islandicuni, Hoffm. Plaut. Lich. t. 9 ./. 1.

Pbysicia Islandica, Michaux Ft. Bor. Amer. 2. p. 326.

Cetraria Islandica, A char. Meth. Lich. 293.

Lichen Islandicum, Phann. Lond. Ed. Dub. ; Lin.Sp. PI. 1611 ; Achar. Prodr.
170 ; Eng. Bot. v. l. 1330 ; Jacq. Coll. 4. t. 8./. 1 ; FI. Dan. 1. 153 ; Grev.
FI. Edin. 340.

I oreign. — Lichen d'ldande, Fr. ; Lichene Islandica, It. j Lichen de Islaudu, Sp. ;

Masco da Islanda, Port.; Isl'dndisches Moos, Ger. ; Yslandsch Mas, Dut. ;
Islands Moos, Dan. ; Islandsmossa, Swed.

This species of Lichen is a native of the mountainous heaths
and woods in the alpine parts of Britain. The late Sir J. E.
Smith gathered it on the Pentland Hills, near Edinburgh, on
Ben Lomond, and in various parts of Scotland. It occurs on all
the heaths and mountains of the north of Europe, and Ur. Holland

informs us that it grows abundantly on the lava on the western
coast of Iceland, where the whole plant is more luxuriant than
with us. Although this Lichen is more or less common in all
arctic countries, no mention is made of it by Wahlenberg, in his
interesting account of the physical distribution of vegetables in
Lapland.*

The Iceland moss seldom exceeds three inches in height, and
is erect and bushy. The fronds form loose elegant tufts ; they
are membranous, somewhat cartilaginous, channelled below, va-
riously sinuated, and lobed ; the lobes being irregularly divided,
notched, and fringed at the margin with hairs. The surface of
the whole vegetable is smooth, shining, of a rich chesnut brown
colour, with a green tinge when wet, paler underneath. In such
plants as grow in the shade the colour is a pale brownish green.
The fructification, or shields, are dark chesnut, large, polished,
flat, and growing close to the upper surface of the frond.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Cetraria Is-
landica is inodorous, mucilaginous, tough, and bitter. When
dry it differs little in appearance from the recent plant. It yields
all its medicinal virtues to boiling water ; and infused in rectified
spirits, affords, by evaporation, a very small quantity of resin.

Subjoined is an account of its analysis by Berzelius.

Syrup . . . . . . .36

Bi-tartrole of potass, with some tartrate and

phosphate of lime . . . . .19

Bitter principle . . . . . .30

. Green wax . . . . . .16

Gum . . . . . . .37

Extractive colouring matter . . .70

Starch 44 6

Starchy insoluble matter . . . . 36 6

101 6

Economical Uses. — The esculent properties of the Iceland
moss are well known in many districts on the continent of Europe.
Of late years it has been proposed to use it, either alone, or mixed
with flour, in the composition of bread in those districts where flour
is scarce. The Saxon Government a few years ago published a

* Linueus' Lapland Tour, by Smith.

Report on this subject, which is full of information, and interest-
ing in those mountainous districts where this plant abounds. In
this report, we are informed, that 6 pounds and 22 loths of lichen
meal, boiled with fourteen times its quantity of water, and baked
in this state with 39i pounds of flour, produced 11H pounds of
good household-bread. Without this addition, the flour would
not have produced more than 78f pounds of bread, consequently,
this addition of 6 pounds and 22 loths of lichen meal occa-
sioned an increase of 32| of good bread. It is known that three
pounds of flour yield four pounds of household bread. One
pound of lichen meal, added in the form of paste, gives an addi-
tion of nearly 6 pounds, and therefore is equivalent in this view
to about 3f pounds of flour, because it affords 3^ times more
bread than this. But at present, nearly all the Iceland moss
collected in Germany, is sent through Hamburgh to this coun-
try, where it is used in brewing, and in the composition of ship-
biscuit, which when Lichen meal is introduced is not attacked
with worms, and suffers little from the action of sea-water.

Dr. Ebeling, in his thesis, recommends it first to be infused in
boiling water, with a view to its being thoroughly cleansed ;
while, by the same means, it will be deprived of a considerable
part of its original bitterness. The lichen, thus prepared, is
to be boiled, and the mucilage so obtained from it, to be used
either as an article of diet, or of medicine ; and we have it in
our power to render it exceedingly palatable by the addition of
a little white wine, when that can be given with propriety ; or,
when wine is not admissible, by the addition either of milk,
honey, or the syrup of lemons.

Medical Properties. — Iceland moss was first recommended
by Linneus as a popular remedy in Sweden, for coughs. Scopoli
afterwards published his observations on it, but it excited little
attention in this country, till Dr. Regnault’s treatise on consump-
tion appeared, in which its virtues were highly extolled. Ac-
cording to Bergius, the lichen in its recent state is “ eccoprotica,”
and when dried, “nutriens, pectoralis.” In the Dispensatorium
1* uldense, it is said to be “ astringens, roborans, humectans, invis-
cans, nutriens, antiseptica.” It is not, however, used on the Con-

tinent, indiscriminately, in every species of phthisis, nor in every
stage of that disorder. It is chiefly recommended in those in-
stances where the cough is attended with purulent expectoration;
in cases preceded, or accompanied by haemoptysis; in incipient
phthisis, when from relaxation there is an increased discharge of
mucus from the bronchiae ; in the sequela1 of measles, attended
by a quick small pulse, pain of the breast, emaciation, violent
cough, and purulent expectoration. The use of it is forbidden
when vomicae are already formed, and proceeding towards ulcera-
tion ; in dyspnoea, and when there is an increased action of the ves-
sels, with diminished expectoration. Neither has the useof Cetraria
Islandica been confined to phthisical cases; it has been recom-
mended in malignant fevers, dysentery, and haematemesis ; as an
enema in haemorrhoids ; and as an injection in gonorrhma. In
the recent state, it is boiled ir. milk, and frequently used by the
peasants as a cathartic, and to expel worms. The most usual form
of exhibiting this remedy on the continent is by boiling it in milk,
or when milk disagrees with the stomach, in water. Scarcely any
of the authors, however, who have published on it, appear to
have trusted to it solely, but have generally united it with
squills, opium, cinchona, and other active remedies. Iceland
moss has owed much of its celebrity to the prevalence of the hu“
moral pathology ; for, as it consists of mucilage united with a
bitter, it was supposed that the first principle would render it
powerful in inviscating acrimony ; and the second in gently con-
stringing and corroborating the muscular fibres of the stomach.
The decoction as ordered by our pharmacopoeias, is so bitter as to
prevent many persons from taking it ; and when deprived of its
disagreeable taste, it can only be viewed as a demulcent, and hardly
equal in effects to linseed, quince seed, and marsh-mallows. Ice-
land moss certainly does not cure phthisis pulmonalis, but in
the last stage of that disease, when solid food is oppressive, and
the diarrhoea appears to be kept up by the acrid contents of the
stomach and bowels ; it has appeared to us to check the latter, and
to impart both vigour and nourishment to the digestive organs.
Off PitEr. — Decoct um Lichenis Island. L. E. D.

'edJjJL Fecit

LXX

COLCHICUM AUTUMNALE.

Common Meadow Saffron.

Class VI. Hexandria. — Order III. Trigynia.

Nat. Ord. Spat hace.e, Lin. Junci, Juss. Colchicaoe/e,
De Cund. Melanthace.®, Brown, Liliades, Liliacin.e
Colciiic ace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Perianth single, corollaceous, with a
radical tube and six-parted limb. Capsules 3, inflated.
Seeds numerous.

Spec. Char. Leaves flat, lanceolate, erect. Segments
of the perianth oblong.

Syn. — Colchicum anglicum purpureum et album, Ger. Em. 157. f.

Colchicum commune, Eaii Syn. 373; Bauh. Pin. 67.

Colchicum vere prodiens, Camer. Epit. 846. f.

Colchicum, «. 1255, llall. Hist. v. 2. 124.

Colchicum autumnale, Lin. Sp. PI. 485 ; Willd. v. 2. 273 ; FI. Brit. 399 ;
Engl. Bot. v. 2. t. 13S ; U'oudv. v. t. 177 ; Hook. Scot. 114 ; Stokes, v. 2.

‘ 329.

Foreign. — Ko\x‘kov, Diosc. ; Etpppepov, Theophr. ; Colchique, Tu-chien, Fr. ; Col-
cliico autumnale, Giglio Matto, Strmzo-cane, It. ; Zeitlose, Lichtblumo, Ger. ;
Tydeloosen, Naakte-vrouxcen, Dut. ; Nakna JungJ'rur, Swed.

Meadow-saffron, like the colts-foot, produces its leaves one
season, and flowers at another ; but differs in this respect, that
the leaves, and fruit, appear early in the spring, an i the flowers
in the autumn. Hence it has been considered the harbinger of
winter, and Linneus, in his Philosophia Botanica, observes,
“ Colchicum autumni et gelu nuncia est.” It is an indigenous
perennial plant, found in several counties, chiefly in the west
and north of England, where it grows in tolerable abundance, in
moist, rich meadows. It occurs, among other places, at Filkins
and Bradwell, Oxfordshire ; in Weston Park, Staffordshire ; at

Little Stonliam and llury, Suffolk ; near Devizes, Wiltshire ;
about Derby and Northampton ; and at the foot of the Malvern
hills, in Worcestershire. Miller observed it, many years ago, in
great plenty, in the meadows near Castle-Bromwich, in Warwick-
shire, in the beginning of September, and says, that the com-
mon people called the flowers Naked Ladies , because they come
without the leaves. In Scotland it appears to be very rare ; but
Lightfoot, in his “ Flora Scotica,-” mentions it as growing at
Alloa.

The stem, which is called a solid bulb, consists of a fleshy succu-
lent cormus, abounding in a milky juice, and covered with a brown
membranous coat. This bulb, which is nearly as large as that of
a tulip, and furnished at the base with numerous small fibrous
roots, perishes after the ripening of the seeds, having first thrown
out a lateral offset, that produces the flowers of the ensuing sea-
son. From this last arises, in autumn, along a furrow in the
side of the old bulb, a long naked tube, which at the upper part
expands into the flower. The leaves spring directly from the
bulb in spring, along with the capsules. They are dark green,
smooth, obtuse, spear-shaped, above a foot long, and pointed ;
growing erect. On the decay of the leaves, the flower makes its
appearance, towards the latter end of September. It is large, of
a pale purple or lilac colour, divided into six deep, elliptic-ob-
long, concave, upright segments, and rising immediately from
the bulb, by a tube five or six inches long, two-thirds of which
are sunk in the ground. The perianth is single, and the flowers
are therefore often described as having no calyx. The filaments
are awl-shaped, inserted into the tube of the corollaceous peri-
anth, and support erect, oblong, versatile, yellow, extrorse
anthers. The germen is roundish, and imbedded in the bulb.
The styles are thread-shaped, the length of the stamens, and
terminated by linear, recurved, and downy stigmas. The fruit
is a capsule, with three lobes, closely connected ; its dehiscence
is loculicidal, and it contains numerous whitish, smooth, globular
seeds, which are perfected in the month of June, when the cap-
sule rises above ground on a short peduncle, accompanied by the
leaves. The seeds are covered by membranous testa2, and inclose

a dense, fleshy albumen. A considerable variety obtains in this
species, both with respect to the form and colour of the flower.
In one variety the flowers accompany the leaves in spiing. Fig.
(a) represents a piece of the perianth with a stamen attached ;
(&) a style ; (c) a stigma ; ( d ) the germen, formed of three car-
pels, and crowned by three styles; (e) the capsule cut trans-
versely to show its three cells, many seeds, and central placentas.

In the introduction of Colchicum into modern practice, we are
principally, if not wholly, indebted to Mr. Want. The first
hint he obtained on this subject, was derived from the writings
of Alexander of Tralles,* a Greek physician of the sixth cen-
tury, whose book on gout is one of the most valuable clinical
records of antiquity ; and who, in his chapter on anodynes,
remarks, that some persons take a medicine called Hermodac-
tylon , which produces an evacuation of watery matter from the
bowels, attended with such relief that patients are immediately
able to walk. But, says he, it has this bad property, that it
disposes them who take it to be more frequently attacked
with the disease. He speaks, also, of its producing nausea and
loathing of food ; and proceeds to describe the manner of coun-
teracting its bad properties. The effects here spoken of are so
similar to those resulting from the exhibition of the Eau Medi-
cinale, that Mr. Want was led to hope that it might be the same
medicine, or, at least, that it possessed powers of the same kind ;
and on procuring a specimen of this plant from Constantinople,
it was found to be the Colchicum. The Hermodactyl was
strongly recommended by Paulus iEgineta as a specific for the
gout, also by Pepagoneus, who wrote a treatise on that disease
at the request of the Emperor Michael Palaeologus, in the 13th
century ; and such was its reputation, that it obtained the name
of Anima Articulorum, “ the soul of joints.” Two of the most
celebrated gout-specifics, viz. Turner’s Gout-powder, and the
Vienna Decoction, the latter of which is so strongly recommended
by Behrens in the Ephemerides Natures Curiosum , are formed

Alexander Trallian, cap. xi.

principally of Colchicum ; and it is notorious to every practitioner
acquainted with the history of his profession, that this root has,
at different epochs, obtained a celebrity in the treatment of gout,
though its general use has, after a time, been suspended. But
the extensive experience of the present day enables us to affirm,
that the occasional want of confidence in its power has arisen
less from its inefficiency than from its misapplication. The
difference of opinion which has been expressed by many, after
repeated trials of this bulb, only proves, that its efficacy is dete-
riorated by soil, or that it has been taken up at an improper
period. Indeed so much does it vary in its effects, according to
soil and season, that, according to Lee, the solid bulbs are eaten
in Carniola, in autumn, without inconvenience. Turner recom-
mends fifteen grains at a dose, with equal parts of other purga-
tives; while Stbrck* affirms, that less than a grain, wrapped up
in crumbs, and taken internally, produce alarming symptoms.
Trallian advises the addition of scammony, if a fuller evacuation
of the bowels be necessary. Prosper Alpinus says, that Colchi-
cum is perfectly inert, and that the Egyptian women fatten
themselves with the wasted roots, often eating twenty in the
course of the day, without having any effects produced, either
on the stomach or bowels.*f* More modern experimentalists
have differed nearly as much on the powers of Colchicum; but,
owing to the investigations of Messrs. Battley and Thompson,
the time at which the bulb should be taken up has been satis-
factorily proved, by its uniform effects. In the spring, ( April ,)
the root does not materially vary in size and general appearance
from that which is ordinarily met with. It is then of full size,
but irregularly indented or hollow. At this time it is found
with a small attached bulb, about the size of a bean. The
growth of this small bulb proceeds from the latter end of April

* We are afraid that little reliance can be placed in Storck’s veracity; for De
Haen, who was his con temporary , finding that his experience of the effects of hem-
lock did not support the assertions of the former, investigated the alleged fact of his
curing 36 cases of cancer by it, and found that 30 of them had died victims to the
disease, and that the rest remained uncured. — See his Epistola de Cicuta.

t De Medicina /Egyptiorum, lib, iii. cap. 16, p. 100.

or beginning of May, (according to the season,) until the latter
end of June or beginning of July, at which time it attains its
full growth. The parent root appears to yield as the new pro-
duction advances, and when the latter attains its full size is no
where to be found. The new root is then plump, firm, and
without any indentation or hollow, and does not undergo any
change of appearance from this period until the latter end of
August, when in its turn it becomes old — for at this period it
throws out a new bulb : from that new bulb the flower proceeds,
and in the course of a very few days it is fully displayed. Be-
tween this latter period and the spring very little apparent
change takes place : the root and offset are then found as first
described. These changes are, of course, subject to some varia-
tion from soil, climate, and season. The state and condition of
the root, if subjected to experiment, illustrate the process of
nature in a striking and forcible manner. A transverse section
of the bulb, exposed to the temperature of 170, if procured in
autumn, contracts, and when dried is shrivelled ; if procured in
spring, the cuticle collapses, no other part of the then remaining
substance being capable of enduring heat ; if procured in the
months of July and August , before the new bulb is projected, it
remains quite solid and firm, and has a creamy appearance.

It may be inferred from these facts, that this root is deprived
of its power progressively, from the time of throwing out the
new bulb, until its final disappearance ; and that, although very
little change of appearance occurs during the winter months, it
really undergoes a decided deterioration in that period.

Qualities and Chemical Properties — The root, when
taken from the ground at the time recommended, and cut trans-
versely, exhibits a milky appearance on both surfaces. The
exudation is not particularly pungent : it rather impresses the
tongue with a cold but peculiar sensation, which remains una-
bated for some time. This sensation is accompanied by a pecu-
liar excitement, which is conveyed to the fauces, and continues
still longer than the first-mentioned sensation of cold. The pro-
perties of Colchicum reside in this milky juice, and depend

upon an alkaline principle termed veratrine ,* which has also
been discovered in the seeds of the Veratrum Sabadilla , and the
Veratnnn album. When treating of the latter plant, we shall
fully advert to its properties. It contains, also, gum, starch,
inulin, and extractive matter, which, when in solution, under-
goes a chemical change, supposed by Dr. Paris to be analogous
to that which takes place in the infusion of senna. Sir E. Home
ascertained, that this deposit in the vinous infusion excites nau-
sea and griping, but that it may be removed without destroying
the efficacy of the medicine. It is now generally believed,
that Husson’s Eau Medicinale owes its virtues to Colchicum ;
for not only does it correspond to our Vinum Colchici in its
effects, but it is notorious that Wedelius, a continental physi-
cian, sold an empirical preparation of this plant, which was ex-
tolled as a panacea ; while the catalogue of its virtues bears
strong resemblance to Husson’s original advertisement, and the
account of this nostrum is contained in Geoffroy’s system of Ma-
teria Medica, well known in France, where Husson lived. Wil-
son’s and Reynold’s specifics are also entirely indebted to Col-
chicum for any virtues that they may possess.

Good Colchicum, that is, Colchicum taken up in July, con-
tains gluten ; and, as Dr. Todd Thompson found, that those
specimens in which this principle can be demonstrated are the
most powerful in their effects, he infers, (what is now generally
acknowledged,) that these only should be regarded as fit for me-
dical use, and, therefore, that the agent by which gluten is
detected in the dried bulb must be regarded as a proper test of
its goodness. Dr. Thompson, therefore, rubs ten grains of Col-
chicum in a mortar, with sixteen minims of distilled vinegar,
which is the best solvent of gluten, and immediately adds the
same quantity of an alcoholic solution of guaiacum ; a most
beautiful cerulean blue is directly evolved : — “Distilled vinegar,

* It is very remarkable, that M. Jussieu, in his Genera Plantarum, fol. 53, should
say laconically, when speaking of Colchicum, “ Habitus Croci aut Gethyllidis, sed
major cum Veratro affinitas.”

when added alone to the alcoholic solution of guaiacum, merely
precipitates the guaiacum unaltered ; consequently, the change
of colour is evolved, if the powder of Golchicum be well rubbed
with the solution alone, although it is by no means so quickly
produced.”

Dr. Thompson further recommends, that the bulb, when
taken up in July, should be cut as soon as possible into trans-
verse slices, equal in thickness to half-a-crown, and then, being
spread out upon clean white paper, should be dried without
artificial heat, in an airy situation, screened from the sunshine.

Poisonous Effects. — About twelve months ago, two or
three deaths occurred, through the prevalence of the mistaken
idea that Colchicum produced a specific action on the uterus,
whereby abortion might be ensured ; when it is very evident,
that such effects arise solely from the violent purging and inflam-
mation which it is capable of exciting, in common with black
hellebore, elaterium, and some other plants. The subjoined case
has been kindly communicated to us by Mr. Dillon : —

<f Susan Laing, about thirty years of age, and of good health and
constitution, was about two months gone in pregnancy of a bastard
child, and, having read in a newspaper, that a woman was taken up for
causing abortion by taking meadow-saffron, she determined on getting rid
of her burthen by a similar measure. She accordingly bought twopenny-
worth, and made an infusion of it, which she took on an empty stomach,
early in the morning of the 10th of March, 1827. I was called to her
about four o’clock in the afternoon of the 1 1th, and on inquiry, learned
that she had miscarried the preceding evening. I found her in a very
hopeless state ; her extremities were quite cold, and the whole of her body,
particularly the hands, feet, and face, livid ; the glossy stare of impending
death was in her eyes ; the respiration was harried, and the pulse could
not be felt at the carotids, and but faintly at the heart. Notwithstanding,
the sensorium was undisturbed, and she gave me a clear account of what
she had done, her motives for so doing, and the effects the poison had on
her. She said, that in about half an hour after she had taken it, her sto-
mach became sick, gripes came on, and a violent purging, which conti-
nued with great severity. She had had no medical assistance, and had
past a most wretched time from the morning before, and was so tormented
with pain and purging, that she had not a wink of sleep in the course of
the night. I administered to her large draughts of brandy and spices,
but to no effect, as she died in two hours after I was called in. The
body was opened the next day, and all the viscera were found perfectly
sound, with the exception, that the mucous membrane of the stomach
and bowels was dreadfully inflamed, throughout its course.”

Garibel, in his “ Histoire lies Plantes dcs environs d'Aix,” records.

been effectual in the cure of hysteria, [Bibl. Med. lx. 124,] and
three children are reported to have been cured of chorea in three
or four days by its exhibition in doses of from ten to twenty
drops, [lb. lviii. 392.] Balber speaks favourably of Colchicum
in the treatment of ophthalmia. And cough, from an irritable
state of the mucous membrane of the air passages, is very much
relieved by the administration of the extract of Colchicum, com-
bined with small doses of blue pill and acetate of morpia. Dr.
Elliotson recommends it in prurigo ; and Banhim says it is useful
in cleansing the head and other parts from vermin.

Chanmenton informs us that the Turks resort to the vinous
liquor prepared from Colchicum as one means of producing that
state of extatic drunkenness in which they are too prone to
indulge.

Dose. — The dose of the powder is from three to eight grains.

Off. Prep. — Vinum Colchici. L.

Acetum Colchici. L.

Oxymel Colchici. I).

Syrupus Colchici Autumnalis. E.

»

4

• ' dsJl. so.

LX XI

RUTA GRAVEOLENS.

Common Rue.

Class X. Decandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Multisilique, Lin. Rutace.e, Juss., De Land., &c.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-parted. Petals five, concave.
Receptacle surrounded by ten melliferous points.
Capsule lobed.

Spec. Char. Leaves supra-decoinpound ; leaflets ob-
long- ; the terminal one obovate. Petals entire.

Syn. — Ruta hortensis et montana, Ger. Em. 1255.

Ruta hortensis major, Park. Theatr. 132.

Ruta hortensis latifolia, Bauh. Pin. 336.

Ruta Malth. Valgr. v. 2. 95.

Rura foliis duplicato-pinnatis, lobulis ovatis, n. 1003, Hall. Hist. t>. 2.

Ruta graveolens, S/>. PI. Willd. 2. 542 ; Bull. Herb. t. 85 ; JFoorfu. v. 2. 403.
Foreign. — Rue, Rue des Jar dins, Fr. ; Ruta, It.; Ruda, Arruda, Sp. ; Route,
Gartenraute, Ger. ; Ruite, Dut. ; Ruta, Vinruta, Swed. ; Ruta, Russ.

Rije is a hardy evergreen under-shrub, a native of the south
of Europe, and has been cultivated in our gardens from time

to September. In the
, it was called the Herb
of Grace, from the circumstance of small bunches of it having-
been used by the priests for sprinkling of holy water among the
people. The stem is bushy, round, and branched, rising to the
height of two or three feet, woody at the lower part, and covered
with a rough, striated, grey bark ; but the upper branches are
smooth, and of a yellowish green colour. The leaves are alter-
nate, stalked, doubly pinnate, slightly tomentose, smooth, dotted,
and of a deep bluish glaucous hue ; the leaflets obovate, sessile,
decurrent, very obscurely crenate, or entire, and tapering at the
base. The flowers are of a pale greenish-yellow colour, copious,

and produced in terminal corymbose panicles, the terminal ones
only having the full number of each of the parts of fructification,
while the rest are octandrous, and have the calyx 4-parted, and a
4-petaled corolla. The petals are nearly ovate, concave, spread-
ing, fringed at the extremity, and attached by narrow claws.
The stamens are ten, awl-shaped, the length of the corolla, bear-
ing small yellow anthers. The germen is oval, punctured, with
crucial furrows, and surmounted by a short awl-shaped style and
simple stigma. The capsule is gibbous, 5-lobed, bursting elasti-
cally at the summit of each lobe, and containing numerous rough,
angular, blackish seeds. Fig. (a) represents a petal; (6) a stamen ;
( c ) the style; ( d ) the germen; ( e ) the capsule; (/) a seed.
The irritability of the stamens in the rue is a physiological pheno-
menon of interest.

Rue is easily propagated by slips or cuttings in the spring ; and like
rosemary, lavender, hyssop, and other similar aromatics, it thrives best
in poor dry soils.

Qualities. — Every part of the plant lias a strong peculiar odour,
and a pungent, bitterish, nauseous taste. The bruised leaves are ex-
tremely acrid, and excoriate the mouth and nostrils, if incautiously ap-
plied, as they often are, to counteract had smells. Their specific virtues
reside chiefly in an essential oil, which they yield on distillation with
water.

Medical Uses. — Rue is a moderately active stimulant, and
antispasmodic, and was much extolled by the ancients. Hippo-
crates commends it as a resolvent and diuretic, and attributes to
it the power of resisting contagion and poisons. An infusion of
the leaves was formerly in much repute, as an anthelmintic, and
if taken in sufficient quantity it certainly* proves noxious to intes-
tinal worms. Boerhiiave, speaking of rue, observes, that the
greatest commendations he can bestow upon it fall short of its
merits. “ What medicine, ” says he, “ can be more efficacious
for promoting perspiration, for the cure of hysteric passion, and
of epilepsies, and for expelling poison ?” Externally it has been
employed in fomentations to gangrenous ulcers ; but it possesses
no superiority over chamomile or wormwood for these purposes,
and it is but seldom employed.

Dose. — The dose of the powdered leaves is from 3i to 3ij.

- •

.

.

® (*}

a>

/( / Y/ //{. ' /'/</ 't Yil fUi " / Yf?

Weddell sc .

LXXII

KRAMERIA TR1ANDRA.

Triandrous , or Peruvian Krameria.

Class VI. Tetrandria. — Order I. Monogynia.
Nat. Ord. Polygale/e, Juss ., De Cand., &c.

Gen. Char. Calyx 4-sepal ed. Petals 4; the two lateral
sessile, the two longer ones unguiculate. Berry dry
echinated, and containing one seed.

Spec. Char. Leaves oblong-ovate, pointed. Stamens 3.

Syn. — Krameria triandra, Ruiz. FI. Pemv. tom. i. Icon. 93. Mem. Reg. Acad.
Mutrit. v. i. p. 364.

Foreign. — Batanhie. Fr. ; Ruiz para los dientes, Sp ; Ratanhia, Huanuco; Maputo,
Tarma.

This species of Krameria, called by us llhatany, and by the
Spanish inhabitants Ratanhia, is the spontaneous growth of many
provinces in Peru, delighting in a dry argillaceous or sandy soil,
and growing on the declivities of the mountains, exposed to the
intense heat of a vertical sun. It was first discovered by Don
Hypolito Ruiz in 1780, in the provinces of Tarma, and Xanca ;
and subsequently by the same naturalist in the provinces of
Huanuco, Huamalies, and Canta ; it is also found in abundance
in the vicinity of Lima, on the high-lands of Puelles, and other
'hilly districts. It flowers nearly throughout the year ; but blos-
soms most luxuriantly in October and November. It is gathered
in large quantities, and from it a beautiful extract is prepared,
which, as well as the root, is imported into Portugal for improv-
ing the colour, astringency, and richness of red wine. From this
use in the manufacturing of wine the Portuguese and Spanish mer-
chants have kept its properties so concealed, that in this country
the root was unknown, till the captain of a Peninsular ship men-
tioned these facts to Dr. Reece ; which induced him to apply to
some Spanish merchants for further information, who corrobo-
rated the account, with respect to a certain root being used as a
colouring liquor, but were unacquainted with its name. One of
them afterwards furnished Dr. Reece with a preparation, that in
Portugal was known by the name of wine colouring ; it proved to
be a saturated infusion of the root in brandy ; and the deep colour

and richness it communicates to port wine renders it an article of
great and deserved value to the manufacturer. Some of this root,
and extract, forming'partof a Spanish cargo, taken by our cruisers,
was afterward sold in London, and Dr. Reece was thereby en-
abled to enter upon an investigation of its nature and medicinal
qualities; and in consequence of the facts which he established, it
has become a favourite remedy, and is admitted into the list of
our materia medica. Continental writers, however, on the con-
trary, impute the practice of colouring wine with Rhatany to the
British manufacturers, and speak of its use in France and Spain
merely as an haemastatic.

The Krameria triandra is an under-shrub, with very long,
much branched, spreading roots, of a blackish red colour exter-
nally, red internally, and having an intensely styptic, bitter taste.
The stem is procumbent, round, and divided into numerous spread-
ing branches, which when young are white and silky, but after-
wards become naked below, and acquire a black colour. The
leaves are scattered, sessile, oblong-ovate, pointed ; entire, white
and silky on both surfaces. The flowers are terminal, solitary,
and placed on short foot-stalks. 'The calyx consists of four lake-
coloured sepals, the inferior larger than the others, sericeous ex-
ternally, but internally smooth and shining; the corolla is com-
posed of four petals, the two lateral being sessile, and the two
longer ones unguiculate. The stamens are three, fleshy, inserted
between the germen and the superior leaflets of the nectary ; the
anthers urceolate, small, terminated with a pencil of very short
hairs, and perforated with two holes at the apex. The germen is
ovate, supporting a red awl-shaped style, and simple stigma. The
berry or drupe is dry, globose, echinated on all sides with stiff
reddish hairs. Fig. (a) represents the two upper and two lower
leaves of the nectary ; (b) the pistil and stamens ; (c) the pistil ;
( d ) the drupe divided transversely, and a seed.

The stamens being usually four in number and of unequal
lengths, the genus is referred by Sprengel, in his edition of the
Linnean System, to the class and order Didynamia Angiospermia.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The root, which is
somewhat larger than a goose-quill, is of a ferruginous colour; and
the cortical part, in which its sensible qualitiespredominate,is very

thick, and breaks short. The ligneous part is tough, and fibrous,
and somewhat mucilaginous. On being slightly masticated,
the root discovers a very grateful astringency, leaving a lasting
impression on the palate; and is slightly aromatic and bitter.
These qualities are imparted, as well as its colouring matter, both
to cold and boiling water, and to proof spirit. The tincture made
with brandy approaches very nearly to the flavour of port wine.
Dr. Duncan, jun. says in his Dispensatory, that “ the rhatany
root does not contain a resinous matter, and that it is without
bitterness;11 but as these assertions are contrary to fact, we must
suppose that Dr. Duncan never saw it. The foreign extract,
which is a gum resin, is a very beautiful transparent article ; and
Dr. Reece informs us, that on mixing it with the foreign extract
of bark, or any astringent extract, it loses its adhesive quality,
and becomes “ powdery,11 and at the same time loses its astrin-
gency. The extract made from a decoction or infusion of the root
is “ powdery,” and not so astringent as the powdered root, al-
though evaporated in vacuo, or in a water-bath Dr. Duncan
also asserts that the foreign extract is so similar to kino, that
the difference cannot be discovered ; now the former varies from
the latter both in appearance and taste, being slightly bitter,
and readily dissolving in the saliva in the mouth. Vogel says
that Kino is charred on exposure to heat, without changing its
form ; whilst the foreign extract of rhatany previously melts
and swells, and this it does when as dry as kino.

From a careful analysis it appears, lstly, that the most efficaci-
ous part of rhatany is that which dissolves in considerable quantity
in water and alcohol, and imparts to these menstrua a brown colour;
2ndly, that in prescribing a decoction, or the extract, the mineral
acids should not be added ; 3rdly, that the astringent principle
possesses, in great part, the properties of tannin, and seems to be
a modification of this immediate matter of vegetables; 4thly, that
the dried root contains an astringent principle, which is a modifi-
cation of tannin, gallic acid, gum, feeula.and a ligneous matter ;
othly, that the ashes of rhatany contain pure lime, carbonate of
lime, carbonate of magnesia, sulphate of lime, and silex ; lastly,
that in one hundred parts of the powder are found.

Modified tannin

Gum .....
Fecula . . . . .

Woody matter ....
Gallic acid, a trace ; water and loss

40

1.5

0.5

48

10

100

M. Peschier, of Geneva, believed that he had discovered a peculiar
acid in this plant, which he called the krameric, hut his observations have
not been confirmed.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Rhatany is a very valuable tonic
medicine fur indigestion, arising from direct dehility ; and for flaccid leu-
cophlegmatic habits. The late Dr. Perceval, of Manchester, speaks highly
ofasolution of the foreign extract, dissolved in camphorated mixture, as a
remedy in the advanced stages of typhus fever ; and says that it possesses
all the good qualities of port wine, and is exempt from its pernicious in-
gredient, alcohol. Sir Henry Halford informs us, that he is in the constant
habit of prescribing it for floor alhus, with the most marked success ; and
for passive uterine and other haemorrhages. It is also an excellent tonic
to accompany the use of diuretics, cathartics, and absorbent stimulants
in case of dropsy arising from debility : and when the different prepara-
tions of bark disagree with the stomach, it may be substituted for it with
the most beneficial results. Rhatany when taken into the stomach tinges
the faeces of a red colour, hut it does not aflect the urine. Administered
in diabetes, it diminishes the quantity of urine; hut the sweetness and its
other morbid qualities remain unaltered. As in the case of other vege-
table astringents, ipecacuanha and its preparations are incompatible with
the infusion of Krameria..

Preparations. — The extract, which is made by inspissating the ex-
pressed juice of the root in the heat of the sun, (by the natives of South
America,) possesses, in great perfection, the medicinal properties of the
root, and may be taken, in the form of pills, to the extent of five or ten
grains, twice a day.

Of the powder may he taken from ten to thirty grains.

compound tincture of rhatany.

Rad. Krameriae Triandrae contus.

• 3 H)

Cort. Aurantii

• 5 ii-

Rad. Serpentariae Virg. .

. 5ss.

Croci Anglic.

• 3i-

Sp. Vini Rectificat.

. lb. ij

Macera per dies duodecim, et cola.

This compound tincture is much recommended by the physicians of
the Continent, as a pleasant and efficacious stomachic; and our own ex-
perience teaches us, that two tea-spoonslul in a little water, taken three
or four times a day, will prove an admirable remedy for indigestion, and
its consequences — as flatulency, heart-burn, cramp in the stomach, ner-
vous irritability, &c.

The simple tincture is made with three ounces of the root to a quart of
proof spirit ; and is much used by dentists, combined with equal parts of
rosewater, as a lotion to astringe the gums, and correct any unpleasant factor
of the mouth. Equal parts of powdered Rhatany-root, orris-powder, and
areca-nut charcoal, form the best tooth-powder with which we are ac-
quainted.

L

1

j/) /

V ////' ) '• // / /

LXXIII

PINUS SYLVESTRIS.

The Wild Pine , or Scotch Fir.

Class XXI. Moncecia. — Order VIII. Monadelpiiia.
Nat. Ord. Conifer.*:, Lin. Juss. Finales, Pinace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Male jl. in a catkin , naked. Calyx 0.
Corolla 0. Stamens numerous, on a common stalk.
Female fl. in a catkin , of close, rigid, 2-lipped, 2-
flowered, scales* Seeds , 2 to each scale, winged.

Subgenus Pinus. Scales of the cone clavate and angu-
lar. Leaves inclosed in scarious sheaths at the base.
Spec. Chau. Leaves rigid, in pairs. Young cones
stalked, recurved. Stamens with a very small crest.

Syn. — Pinus sylvestris, foliis brevibus glaucis, conis parvis albentibus, Raii Syn.
442 ; Duham. Arb. v. 2. 125. t. 30.

Pinus sylvestris vulgaris, Buuh. Hist. v. 1. 233. f.

Pinus sylvestris montana, Camer. Epit. 40. f. Matth. Valgr. v. 1. 89. /.

Pinus n. 1661. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 317.

Pinus sylvestris, Lin. Sp. PI. 1418 ; Willd. v. 4. 494 ; FI. Brit. 1031 ; Eng.
Bot. v. 35. t. 2460.; Hook. Scot. 275; Ait. Kew. ed. 2. v. 5. p. 314. ;
Wood®. £70. t. 207 ; Ger. Em. 1356./.; Lambert Pin. 1. 1. 1.

Foreign. — Pin, Pin Sauvage, Fr. ; Pino, It.; Pino, Pino silvestre, Pino Balsam,
Sp. ; Pinheiro, Pinlieiro Bravo, Port.; Kiefer, Kiene, Kienbaum, Ger. ;
Tall,Furu, Swed. ; Furr, Fyrretra:, Dan.; Sosna, Russ. ; Sana bar, Arab.

This genus has been very variously extended and restrained,
by Linneus, and even by Lambert it was made to include not
only the true pines, but also the whole, or nearly the whole, of
Richard’s Abietince ; and even when more restricted, it is still often
allowed to comprehend both the Abides, or firs, and the Lances
or larches. As in most works on medicine, the whole are treated
of as Pines, it has been thought better to let them here remain in
one genus, although, at least two, if not three genera are com-
bined ; and to esteem the modern genera, which are not univer-
sally received, as subgeneric groups.

The Scotch Fir is the only native species of pine. It grows
spontaneously on the dry stony mountains of Scotland, Norway,

VOL. II. k

and other countries in the north of Europe; flowering in May,
and ripening its seeds two years afterwards. It flourishes best
in a cold climate, on a poor sandy soil, anti lives to the age of
four hundred years or more. The wood is known by the name
of red deal,* and its value, as well as that of the tar, pitch, and
turpentine, afforded by this species, are well known. The tree
is planted on waste grounds and barren hills in several parts of
our island as a shelter, or as a profitable object of culture,
“ though not one of the most agreeable ornaments to a country
where any thing else will grow.”

This tree, though lofty, seldom grows straight ; the branches
are numerous, oblique, and, like the stem, covered with a rough
brown bark, which scales off in large thin flakes. The leaves,
which surround the ends of the branches, stand in pairs, and
are united at the base within a tubular, membranous sheath ; they
are equal, about two inches long, linear, narrow, somewhat point-
ed, minutely serrated, and evergreen ; their upper surfaces are
dark green, rather concave, originally clasped together, but soon
separating ; the under convex surface more glaucous and striated
than the upper. The flowers are terminal, and erect; the mules
aggregated, spikec

concave, leafy bracteas at its, base, which some have denominated
a 4-leafed calyx ; there is no corolla, although the spreading
scales of the flower-bud have been, regarded as such ; the fila-
ments are very numerous, collected below into a cylindrical
column, and furnished with oblong, wedge-shaped anthers, of
two cells, crowned with a jagged, membranous crest. The
female flowers are collected to form an ovate, roundish catkin,
variegated with green and purple, of numerous, imbricated,
2-flowered scales. There is neither calyx nor corolla. The
germens are two at the base of each scale, and naked, without
either style or stigma. The year after impregnation the young
fruit becomes lateral, stalked, reflexed, and of a more ovate
figure; and the second year ripens into an ovate, pointed, hard,
tesselated, but unarmed woody cone, whose dry scales finally
gape, and allow the dispersion of the winged seeds. — Fig. (a)
represents the male catkin with its bracteae ; (ft) the anthers ; (c)
the crest of the anthers; (d) the female catkin with its bracteas;
(e) a separate scale ; ( f ) a ripe cone ; (g) the same expanded by
drought ; (A) the seed with its wing.

protruding leafy

* The white deal is from the Pinus Allies, or Abies ejce/sa, which, according to
Mr. Coxe, is most demanded, because no country produces it in such quantities as
Christiana and its vicinity.

LXXIV

PINUS, or ABIES, BALSAMEA.
Balm of Gilead Fir.

Subgen. Char. Scales of the cone, slender and mem-
branous. In the true Abietes the leaves are solitary.

Gen. Char. Leaves solitary, flat, imperfectly 2-
ranked. Cones cylindrical, erect, with short-pointed
scales. Crest of the anthers pointless.

Syn. — Abies balsamifera, Mich. Boreal- Amer. r. 2. 207 ; Midi. Arb. For. v. 1.

146. 1. 14.

Abies taxi folio, odore Balsami Gileadensis, Duharnel. Arb. v. 1. 3. n. 3.

Pinus Balsamea, Liu. Sp. PI. 1421 ; Willd. n. 27 ; Ait. Kew. v. 5. p. 319.
n. 23. j Lambert 48. (. 31.

Foreign. — Le Baumier de Gilead, Fr. ; Die Balsamtanne, Ger.

The Balm of Gilead Fir has its natural abode in the northern
provinces of America, but chiefly in Nova Scotia, Canada, New
England, and the Alleghany mountains, in high cold situations ;
flowering in May, and ripening its seeds in September. It has long
been cultivated for curiosity in England, but in general, though
it attains to a considerable height, it does not thrive well, and
scarcely survives above twenty years. Some of the largest trees
of this species are said to be at Woburn, the seat of the Duke
of Bedford, and at Warwick castle, the seat of the Earl of
Warwick ; but Mr. Lambert’s specimens were procured at Long-
leat, Wiltshire, the seat of the Marquis of Bath, the only spot
where he has seen this tree in perfection. Its fragrant exudation
is the well-known Canadian balsam, which is often sold in the
shops under the name of Balm of Gilead, but it is improperly so
called ; the latter, in its genuine state, is the produce exclusively
of the Amyris Gileadensis, or Balsamodendron Gileadense.

This beautiful tree, which has very much the habit of the Silver
Fir, (Pinus Picea ,) rises with a tall erect stem.- The bark is of a
whitish grey colour, and in texture pretty smooth. The leaves are
disposed on either side along the branches like the teeth of a comb,
but in a double row, the upper one shorter than the other ; they are
linear, solitary, flat, broader than the former species, and less
pointed ; of a dark green colour, marked with a double glaucous
line underneath, and numerous white dots. The male catkins
are ovate : the crest of the anthers kidney-shaped, pointless,

or furnished with short spines, but never bifid; th e females with
numerous ovate, notched, pointed bracteas. The cones stand
erect on the branches, and when full grown are of a beautiful
violet hue; great cpiantities of a transparent resin exudes from
them, as represented in the plate; the trunk also when wounded
yields a similar substance. — Fig. (a) male catkin ; (ft) anthers ;
(c) female catkin ; (d) scales of the catkin ; (e) its bracteolac ;
(/) scale of the cone; (g) seed; (/j) leaves.

This is one of the few flrs that will patiently bear clipping,
and hence it is well fitted for skreens and fences. In Canada,
where it is common, its branches form the best bedding that tra-
vellers can get to sleep upon. The Indians, in their winter
journeys, scrape the snow together with their shoes, thus making
a kind of wall to their lair, and then strewing the ground with
blanches of this fir, wrap themselves in their blankets. Defended
in this manner, they sleep in security, when the thermometer is
many degrees below zero ; and in this way did Captain Thomp-
son sleep between two Indians in his unsuccessful attempt to
overtake Captain Franklin in his arctic journey.

*

4

//

'/ ,///.)

u,.

LX XV (1.)

PINUS ABIES, or ABIES EXCELSA.

%

Norway Spruce Fir.

Spec. Char. Leaves solitary, quadrangular. Cones
cylindrical ; their scales rhomboid, flattened, waved,
and notched.

Si/ri. — Abies Picea, Matth. Valgr. u. 1. 88 ; Corner. Epit. 47 ; Mill. Did. n. 2.

Abies foliis solitariis apice acuminatis, Lin. Hort. Cliff. 449 ; FI. Suec. ed. 1.

789 ; FI. Lapp. ed. 1 . n. 347 ; Dalib. Paris, 295.

Pinus foliis solitariis, tetragonis, mucronatis, n. 1656. Hall . Hela.

Pinus Abies, Lin. Sp. PI. 1421.; 1 Pilld. v. 4. n. S2 ; Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2.
v. 5. n. 18; Huds. FI. Ang. 424; Scop. Cam. n. 1194; FI. Dau. t. 193;
Pillars Dauph. v. 3. 810 ; Woodo. 573. t. 208 ; Lambert 37. t. 35.

Foreign. — La Pesse, Pece, Picea, Epicia, Le Faux Sapin, Le Sapin Rouge, Fr. ;

Picea, Zampino, It. ; Picea, Pinabeto, Pinabete, Sp. ; Peuce , Abeto Negro,
Port.; Gran, Dan. and Swed. ; Hartsboom, Dut. ; Jel, Russ. ; Xan mo,
Chin.

The Norway Spruce Fir is one of the loftiest of the European
trees, growing sometimes to the height of one hundred and fifty
feet. It is a native of the mountains in various parts of Europe,
as well as northern Asia, in places watered by alpine rills,
where it attains a large size, and with its spreading branches
and elegant pyramidal form, makes a magnificent appearance.
In this country it has been long cultivated, not only as an
ornamental tree, but also on account of the wood, which is
one of the most valuable sorts of deal. The timber is chiefly
imported from Norway ; but Mr. Lambert informs* us, that
that which is grown in England is supposed to be the most

durable, and particularly esteemed for making ladders. The
long sweeping fan-like branches, often broken down by loads
of snow, or by the effect of boisterous winds, have a grand
effect in alpine landscapes, and have been well employed in
the sublime compositions of Salvator Kosa, and the German
artists. Burgundy pitch, llesina Abietis of our modern
pharmacopoeias, is yielded by this species. It flowers in
April.

The tree is usually straight, pyramidal, and covered with
a reddish, scaly bark. The leaves are copiously scattered all
round the branches, ascending, somewhat imbricated, each
scarcely an inch long, on a short stalk, smooth, linear, curved,
bluntish, with four rather unequal angles, shining on the upper
surface, and of a dusky green colour. In summer, after a long
continuance of dry weather, most of them decay and fall off.
There are no sheath-like stipules. The flowers are terminal;
the male catkins most plentiful; they are on short footstalks, erect,
ovate, cylindrical, and of a tawny red ; their bracteas numerous,
spreading, longer than the common filament or basis of the
stamens ; the anthers yellow, their crest crimson, roundish,
kidney-shaped, deeply and acutely jagged. The female catkins
are sessile, oblong, erect, and of a rich crimson. The strobiles or
cones are pendulous, solitary at the end of each branch, a span
long, nearly cylindrical, of a purple colour, and sometimes green
before they are ripe, smooth, of numerous imbricated, flattish,
rigid, rhomboid scales, waved at the edges, and notched at the
point. The seeds are small, rather flattened, and oval, with
two thin elliptical-oblong wings. — Fig. (a) the anthers ; (b) fe-
male catkin; (c) scale of the same; ( d ) seeds; (e) leaf.

71

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E

d e

/,

) .

7

/ 77 //<f . y (/ / /kXj' •

LXXV (2.)

PINUS, or ABIES LARIX.

LARIX EUROPEA.

Common , or White Larch-tree.

Spec. Char. Leaves tufted, deciduous. Cones ovate-
oblong; the margins of their scales reflexed, jagged.
Scales of the female catkin fiddle-shaped, prominent
in the full-grown cone.

Syn — Larix; Tiauh. Pin. 493; Matth. Valgr. v. 1. 95. Ger. Em. 1365; Corner.
Epil. 45, 46.

Larix folio deciduo conifera, n. 1658. Hall. Hist. ; Duhamel Arb. 1. 131. /'.
Pinus Larix, Lin. Sp. PI. 1420 ; Willd. v. 4. n. 24; Il'oodu. 576. £. 210; Lam-
bert, 53. t. 35.

FonEicx. — Le mete ze, melese, Fr. ; Larice, It.; Larice, Alerce, Sp.; Larico, Port. ;
Lerketrce, Dan. ; Listueniza, Russ.

The White Larch is a native of the Alps of Switzerland, Italy,
Germany, and according to Miller, of Siberia. It has been long
cultivated very extensively, and with great advantage, in this
country ; it flowers in March and April, before the leaves are
fully expanded.

The Larch is a tree of quick growth, rising to the height of
fifty feet or more, with wide spreading branches, whose extre-
mities droop in the most graceful manner. They are adorned
with numerous narrow, spreading, linear, bluntish, entire, soft,
blight-green leaves, which spring in pencil-like tufts, from alter-
nate, perennial cup-like, scaly buds. The leaves are deciduous,
about an inch long, and have no other stipulas than the scales
of the bud. From similar buds spring separately, on the same
branch, the male and female flowers ; the latter only accompanied
by a few leaves. The bracteas to each flower are numerous, re-
curved, obtuse, with fine fringe-like teeth, chaffy, reddish-brown,
and deciduous. The male flowers are in small lateral, cylindrical
catkins, yellow, drooping, about an inch long, with the common
filament much shorter than the bracteas ; the anthers crowded,

deflexed, inflated, and two-lobcd in front, with a short, recurved
point. The female catkins are erect, ovate ; twice as large
as the male, beautifully variegated with green and pink ; one lip
of eacli scale is orbicular ; the other much larger, fiddle-shaped,
reflexed, with a prominent, awl-shaped green point. This lip
becomes erect, enlarged, projecting always beyond the orbicular
one, which dilates, hardens, and becomes the seed-bearing scale
of the cone. The strobiles or cones are erect, rather above an
inch long, ovate, obtuse at the apex, and purple, when young;
and becoming of a reddish brown, when ripe. They have imbri-
cated scales, which are spreading, orbicular, slightly reflexed, and
jagged on the edges. In each scale are two-winged seeds.

The Larches are scarcely to be separated generically from
the Abietes or Firs, as they agree in having their cone-scales
rounded and membranous, and chiefly differ in the fasciculate
arrangement of their leaves. The distinction is, however, ser-
viceable, and a still further segregation has been attempted of
the Cedars from the true Larches : the leaves of the latter being
deciduous, while those of the former are evergreen. — Fig. (a)
the stamineous catkin, natural size; (A) do. enlarged; (BB)
front and side views of the polliniferous scales; (c) pistilliferous
catkin, natural size ; (C) do. enlarged ; ( d e) front and side views
of the scales separated; (DE) do. enlarged; (f) naked seeds
with their wings ; (</) scales of the cone ; ( h ) a leaf.

Pinus Syt.vestris.

Most species of Pinus, says Dr. Maton,# may be made to
yield (and many of them produce spontaneously) a resinous
juice, usually called turpentine. This appellation more properly
belongs to the product of a different genus, called by Linneus,
Pistachiaf of the ancients, which contains the true Terebintlius.

* Appended to Mr. Lambert’s splendid work on the Genus Pinus, is an elaborate
account of the various substances yielded by these trees ; which was written by Dr.
Maton : and as he lias monopolized all the raw materials, and worked them up most
admirabljr, we gladly avaiTourselves of his labours.

t The T fp/xtvdos of Theophrastus, (lib. iii. c. 3,) and Dioscorides, (lib. i. cap. 76,)
from which the word Terebintlius seems to have been derived. Pistachia Tear-

The juice of Pines, however, like that of the Turpentine trees,
has an austere, astringent taste, singular viscosity and trans-
parency, ready inflammability, and a disposition to become
more or less concrete. In distillation with water it yields a
highly penetrating, essential oil, and the liquor is found to be
impregnated with an acid ; a bitter, resinous substance remain-
ing behind. The resinous residua of the several processes to
which the matter extracted from Pines may be subjected, consti-
tute the varieties of rosin , colophony , Sec. There are, also,
other products, both native and artificial, much employed in
medicine and the arts. The terms commonly attached to these
substances are, in general, extremely vague, ambiguous, and
inexpressive. Those employed in ancient authors are not to be
excepted from the application of this remark ; they have occa-
sioned great difference of opinion among commentators, and,
in some instances, they remain to this day undefined : but, on
the whole, they were used with more precision, perhaps, than
^ is observable in popular discourse, or in the regular pharma-
\ copa-ias of modern times.

Common Turpentine ( Resina liquida pinea ) is the pro-
duce of the Scotch fir ; it is more coarse and dense than any other
sort ; and has an opaque, light brown colour. Its consistence
is that of honey. The taste very acrid, hot, and disagreeable;
and the smell much less pleasant than either the Venice or the
Strasburg turpentines. _

The artificial extraction of the resinous juice of the Pine was
practised by the ancients, in a manner very similar to that which
obtains at present. Theophrastus (lib. ix. cap. 2,) gives a par-
ticular account of the several trees employed for this purpose
in his time, of the proper season of the year for commencing the
process, and of the several variations in the qualities of the
juice; and though commentators have not been able to refer all

binllius yields the resinous juice called in the shops Cyprus and Chio turpentine, the
superiority of which to all the products of the Pine tribe, was well known to, and
described by, most of the ancient writers on the Materia Medica. Genuine turpen-
tine is almost colourless, and emits a peculiar odour, much more agreeable than that
of the common turpentines of the shops.

the trees, described by this author, to their proper places in the
Linnean Species Plantarum , it is evident, that three or four
kinds of turpentine were in use amongst the ancient physicians,
which correspond in their properties with those found in the
shops of the moderns.

It lias been remarked, that trees with the thickest bark, and
which are most exposed to the sun, generally yield the most
turpentine. After the outer bark has been taken awav, the
inner bark, and a thin slip of wood, are cut off, with a very
sharp tool, so that there may be a wound in the tree not more
than three inches square by an inch deep. The first incision is
made near the foot of the tree ; and as the resin flows most abun-
dantly in hot weather, the operations are begun near the end of
May, and continued to September. The resinous juice is re-
ceived by holes dug in the ground at the foot of the tree, and
is afterwards taken out with ladles made either of wood or iron ;
then poured into pails, in order to be removed to the hollow trunk
of a pine sufficiently large to hold three or four barrels.

In France, distinct appellations have been given to the several
states of the resinous juice of Fines ; that which condenses on
the wounds, towards the decline of the sap, being called Galipot
in Frovence, and Barras in Guienne; the fluid resin obtains the
name of Verinne vierge ; and a thinner kind of the latter, sub-
jected to a sort of filtration, is called Bijon, or Terebinthine fine.
The galipot is used by the chandlers to make flambeaux, though
the greatest quantity usually undergoes conversion, by being
boiled, in brai-sec and yellow-resin.

The liquid resin of the Fine, though of inferior quality to that
of the Turpentine-tree, the Larch, and the silver Fir, especially
for internal use, is too often substituted for the others by drug-
gists. In most terebinthinate preparations, this species is the
subject, and there is no reason, perhaps, why the essential oil,
and other parts of it, separately taken, should not be equally
good.

Essential Oil {Oleum Terebintliince. Spiritus Terebinth-
ince. Esprit de Base. Essential Oil of Turpentine) is obtained,
as directed by the London Pharmacopoeia, by distilling five

pounds of the resinous juice with four pails of water, in a copper
alembic. If one pound of the oil be re-distilled with four pints
of water, the result is called rectified oil of turpentine. ( Oleum
Terebinthincc rectification of the London and Dublin colleges.)
The process is not unattended with danger, for unless the luting
be very close, some of the vapour is apt to escape ; and if the
latter should take fire, the vessels will burst. In some dispen-
satories, this rectified oil is denominated cetherial. It does not
differ very considerably in specific gravity, smell, taste, or medical
qualities, from the common essential oil. - A/-

Common Resin {Resina fiava) is the residuum of the pro-
cess for obtaining the essential oil. This process, pushed as far
as the nature of the subject will admit of, changes the colour to
a deep brown, or black, when the resin acquires the name of
black resin , or colophony , which latter was originally the appel-
lation of a raw, liquid resin, brought from Colophon, in Ionia,
which is described by Dioscorides, (Lib. I. c. 77.)# The medi-
cinal properties of these two resins are, of course, extremely
alike. They are rarely used internally ; but for external pur-
poses they can scarcely be dispensed with, being remarkably
adhesive when mixed with other materials. Colophony is of
considerable use in the arts. It enters into the composition of
several varnishes, and is sometimes substituted for sandarach.
Musicians rub the bows and strings of violins with it, to take off’
greasy particles, and to counteract humidity.

Tak. ( Pix liquida Pinea. Utrra, lUoau vypa, Kwj'oc, of the
Greeks. Pix liquida of the Romans, and of most modern

pharmacopoeias. Goudron, of the French.) This well-known
substance is obtained from the roots and other parts of old pines,
by a sort of distillatio per descensumfi “ Pix nihil aliud est
(says Pliny-f) quam combusta? resinae fluxus.” It differs from
the native resinous juice in having acquired an empyreumatic

, 7/k* * ltj> 4. vufiLdu ltd. JaA.C+ta.k'

* See also Galen {da Comp. Med. lib. 7,) and Pliny, (lib. 14, c. ‘20.) Gelsus
allows the choice, either of the Resina Coloplwnia, or the Resina Pinea, in the
composition of his discutient plaster : and Scribonius mentions Colophony as a pur-
gative.

quality from the action of fire; and in containing the saline and
mucilaginous parts of the tree, mixed with the extractive, and
the oily. The greater part of the tar imported into this country
is brought from the Baltic, as the produce of the Scotch fir ;
but in America it is chiefly obtained from the Pinus australis.
The process employed in most countries differs little from that
which was followed by the ancient Macedonians, and which is
circumstantially described by Theophrastus, in the third chapter
of his ninth book, when he tells us, that the billets were placed
erect beside one another, and that they were afterwards covered
with turf to prevent the flame from bursting forth, in which case
the tar was lost. The stacks were sometimes, he says, one
hundred and eighty cubits in circumference, and sixty, or even
one hundred in height. These huge heaps of wood being set on
fire, the tar was made to flow from them in channels cut for
that purpose. As all the trees of this genus yield the same sub-
stance, by the same treatment, it is probable that the ancients
did not confine themselves to one species for obtaining it, any
more than the moderns, and that some variety was occasioned
in the product according to the different management of the
fire, and in the cooling. Hence arise the confusion, and the
difference of opinion respecting the terms Cedra , Cedrcelon,
Pissceleon, &c. which, after the most industrious collation of
passages from Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Galen, and Pliny, it
is scarcely possible at this day to refer to the precise substances
which they were intended to designate. For the modern method
of procuring tar, as practiced in the Valais, we must refer to
Duhamel’s Traite des Arbres, tom. ii. p. 160.

The substances mentioned above are officinal ; but as the pro-
duce of the P. sylvestris , we have also:

1st. Pitch. ( Fix Finea inspissata. Booxae, of the Greeks.
Spissa Fix, Pliny. Braigras , of the French.) Pitch is made
by melting coarse, hard resin, (or brai-sec, as it is called in
France,) with an equal quantity of tar, in large copper vessels
similar to those used for boiling the raw juice. If the tar be
too thin, the proportion of the resin is increased ; and, on the
other hand, if it be thick, a third part of tar is sufficient.

Should the process of inspissation be carried to its utmost
limit, the pitch becomes hard and dry, and is called in the shops
Piw arida , (the ri/<7<m £r/p«, and UaXi^irKraa of the Greek writers,)
which is less pungent and less bitter than the common tar, and
is used only in some external applications, as an adhesive sub-
stance, agreeing in its medicinal virtues with common digestives.
Pitch is used extensively in ship-building; and, blended with
oil and suet, is much employed by the sons of Crispin for waxing
their thread. With whale oil it forms the grease for carriage
wheels, and in several kinds of luting is familiar to mechanics,
and handicraftmen.

2ndly. Lamp Black. ( Fu/igo Pinea ; Noir de fumee, of
the French.) To obtain lamp-black, a sort of box is made
nicely closed in every part, with the exception of some holes in
the top, which are covered with a sort of linen cone. At a
little distance from the box a furnace is constructed, with a very
small mouth, and the inferior part communicating with the
inside of the box by an horizontal chimney. Into this furnace
are put the dregs and coarser parts left in the preparation of tar;
and in proportion to the consumption of these a supply is kept
up, so as to furnish a constant draught of smoke into the box.
The smoke goes chiefly into the cone, when it deposits its soot,
or lamp-black, which is employed almost exclusively in printing
and dyeing.

3rdly. Bark Bread. We are informed by Linneus, that
the Laplanders eat, during a great part of the winter, and some-
times even during the whole year, a preparation of the inner bark
of the pine, which they call Bark-broed. This substance is made
in the following manner, viz. after a selection of the tallest and
least ramose trees, (for the dwrarf branching ones contain too
much resinous juice,) the dry, scaly, external bark is carefully
taken off, and the soft, white, fibrous, and succulent matter
collected and dried. The time of the year chosen for this pro-
cess is when the alburnum is soft, and spontaneously separates
from the wood by very gentle pulling, otherwise too much
labour would be required. When the natives arc about to con-
vert it to use, it is slowly baked on the coals, and being thus

rendered porous and hard, is ground into powder, which is
kneaded witli water into cakes and baked in an oven. The
Siberian ermine-hunters, when their ferment or yeast, which
they carry with them to make their Qnass, is spoiled by the
cold, digest the inner bark of the pine with water over the fire
during an hour, mix it with their rye-rneal, bury the dough in
the snow, and after twelve hours, find the ferment ready prepared
on the subsiding faeces.*

Pinus Balsam ea.

Canada Balsam is the produce of this tree. ( Resina /iquida
bahamea. Balsamum Canadense, Pharm. I,, et. E. Baumier
du Canada vel Sapin Baumier , Pharm. F.)

It is transparent, whitish juice, brought to this country from
Canada; and differs little in its qualities from the celebrated
Balm of Gilead, the product of A my r is Gileadensis, so high in
esteem among the eastern nations, and so strongly recommended
in a variety of complaints. Hitherto, however, it has not been
much employed in England, yet it is thought capable of an-
swering all the purposes for which the Copaiba balsam is em-
ployed; and would, therefore, deserve a more general trial. It
has an agreeable odour, and a strong pungent taste.

Pinus Abies.

This tree yields the THusf of the old London Pharmacopoeia.
( Resina concreta abiegna. Pol r, of the French.) It exudes
spontaneously from the pores of the tree, and soon concretes into
distinct drops, or tears, which differ from Strasburg turpen-

* Pallas. FI. Russ. p. 2. 3.

t The Thus of the ancients does not appear to have been the product of any
species of Pinus, but as we are informed by Dioscorides, (lib. i. cap. 70.) pine resin
was often substituted for it ; and the substance now bearing that name in the shops,
is seldom any other than the concrete resin described above. Dioscorides describes
a mode of distinguishing the two kinds. “ Resin,” (of the pine,) says he, “ when
thrown into the fire, dissipate itself into smoke, whereas frankincense burns with a
brisk flame, and the odour of the latter serves to detect imposition. “ Some writers,”
observes Dr. Maton, “ are of of opinion, that the genuine Aif3avos, Thus, or Frank-
incense, is obtained from Juniperus Lxicia, and constitutes the Olibanum of our shops,
but I cannot find any passages in ancient authors, sufficiently precise to corroborate
this conjecture.”

tine, the produce of the silver fir, Pinus Picea , in being com-
pact, opaque, and of a deeper yellow colour, lhe common
frankincense of the shops, is probably no other than this resin,
or, at least, the latter is, in general, mixed with the former, and
becomes an ingredient in the Emplastrum Thuris composition,
and Empl. Ladani compositum, of the London Pharmacopoeia.

Burgundy pitch, ( Resina abiegna cocta. Pkv Burgundica.
Poix-grasse vel Poke de Bourgogne.) This substance is of a close
consistence, but rather soft, of a reddish brown colour, and not
unpleasant smell. The shops are supplied with it chiefly from
Saxony, where, however, many adulterations take place ; and in
this country, a preparation of the common turpentine substituted
for it. Genuine Burgundy pitch, is prepared from the resinous
juice of the Norway spruce, which is yielded by that tree from
the month of April to September, from incisions made in the bark.
In the operation of cutting, the wood is left untouched, for the
juice exudes chiefly from between the bark and the wood, and in
small quantities from the former alone ; but not from the letter.
It fixes almost immediately after it is freed from its lodgment,
and therefore does not flow to the ground, but remains attached
to the tree in large tears, or flakes. This concrete matter is col-
lected once a fortnight, by detaching it with an instrument
formed on one side like an axe, and on the other like a gorget.
With this instrument, also, the incision is renewed every time
that the resin is collected. A vigorous tree, planted in a good
soil, will yield in one year thirty or forty pounds of juice;
which becomes dry enough to be put into sacks, and is thus
conveyed by the peasants to places where the following process
is carried on, viz. — The resinous substance is put with a proper
quantity of water into large boilers; a moderate fire melts it;
it is then strained under a press, through strong, close cloths, into
barrels, to be transported to distant countries. This is the me-
thod, according to Duhamel, that is practised in the neighbour-
hood of Neufc'natel ; but it differs in other places, as may be seen
by consulting Axtius’ Tract, de Arb. Conif ., p. 79 ; or Geoffroy’s
Mat Med., T. 3, p. 437.

Pinus Larix.

Venice Turpentine, ( llesina liquida Larigna. Largatum ,
of the Italians. Terebintha Veneta , Pharm. Ed.) a produce
of this species of pine, is generally esteemed the best of the juices
called Turpentines, after that of Pistachia Terebinthus. It is
usually thinner than any other sort, of a pale yellowish colour,
and of a hot, pungent, bitterish taste. It is said to remain
always, or at least a very long time, in a state of liquidity ; if it
should at length become at all concrete, it is only on the edges,
or sides of the vessel in which it may be contained. This pro-
perty is adverted to by Pliny, Lib. 16. c. 10.

Though it bears the name of Venice Turpentine, very little is
exported from the Venetian territory ; but it is probable that the
merchants of that country were the first who substituted it for
the genuine turpentine of Cyprus. That which is most com-
monly met with in the shops, comes from New England; but
the true liquid resin of the Larch is obtained chiefly from
France and Germany. It is procured by boring holes in the
trees in May, which are about an inch in diameter, and
have a gentle inclination downwards : to these holes a kind
of gutter is adapted, from fifteen to twenty inches in length,
which terminates like a peg perforated in the centre. The
juice passing along these tubes, falls into troughs, placed at their
most depending part. This process is continued to the end of
September ; and as it is impossible to secure the troughs from
leaves, and other extraneous matter, the resin is usually strained
through a hair sieve into other vessels, in which it is transported
to the places of sale.

Besides Venice Turpentine, the Larch also yields the Oren-
burg Gum, of the Russian shops; and, although it is used by
no other country, it is described as a good substitute for Gum
Arabic. It is very glutinous, rather dry, of a reddish colour,
and a sub-resinous taste ; but wholly soluble in water. The mode
in which this substance is obtained is very remarkable. It some-
times happens that whole forests of Larch, in some parts of the
Russian empire, are accidentally consumed by fire. During the

combustion of the medullary part of the trunks, a gum issues
forth, which is diligently collected by the natives, for the purpose, *
not only of rendering their bows glutinous, hut also of being
eaten as a delicacy. It is also supposed to act as an anti-scor-
butic, and a useful astringent for the gums.

Manna of the Larch (Manna Larigna. Manne de Bri-
anfon.) About the month of June, when the sap of the Larch is
most luxuriant, it produces small white drops, of a sweet, gluti-
nous matter, like Calabrian manna. This manna is collected by
the peasants, who go very early in the morning to the forests,
before the sun dissipates it, and lop off, with hatchets, the
branches that bear it ; carrying them afterwards to the shade,
where they can collect the grains at their leisurey* The Venetians
have many different names for the varieties of it; and in Dau-
phiny it has been very generally employed as a laxative ; but it
is said to possess not more than half the strength of that which is
yielded by the Calabrian ash.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — It is, at present,
the opinion of chemists, that resins stand in the same relation to
the volatile oils that wax does to the fixed. Wax is considered
as a fixed oil saturated with oxygen ; resins, as volatile oils,
saturated with the same principle. The reader can be at no loss
to form a notion of what is meant by resin , when he is informed
that common rosin furnishes a very perfect example of resin, and
that it is from this substance that the whole genus derived their
name : for rosin is frequently denominated resin : which is the
substance that remains in the retort after the volatile oil (spirits
of turpentine) has passed over. During the operation of distilla-
tion, succinic acid also rises. Turpentine may, therefore, be said
to consist of essential oil , succinic acid , and resin, in the simple
acceptation of the term.

Terebinthinous exudations, prior to the separation of the
essential oil, are termed resins ; they are solid substances, na-
turally brittle ; have a certain degree of transparency, and a
colour most commonly inclining to yellow. Their taste is more
or less acrid, and not unlike that of volatile oils ; but they have

VOL. II.

F

no smell unless they happen to contain some foreign body.
They are all heavier than water. All arc non-conductors of elec-
tricity ; and when excited by friction, their electricity is nega-
tive. Their specific gravity varies considerably. When exposed
to heat they melt; and if the heat be increased, they take fire,
and burn with a strong, yellow flame, emitting, at the same
time, a vast quantity of smoke. They are insoluble in water,
whether cold or hot ; but under some circumstances are capable
of uniting with a small portion of that fluid. All, with a few
exceptions, are soluble in alcohol. Several are so in fluid oils,
especially in the drying oils. The greater number are soluble in
the volatile oils. Mr. Hatchett has ascertained, contrary to the
received opinions, that alkaline leys dissolve them with facility.
These alkaline solutions of resins have the properties of soap, and
may be employed as detergents. Most of the acids dissolve re-
sins with facility, producing different phenomena, according to
circumstances; and the sulphuric and nitric convert them into
artificial tannin.

When volatile oils are exposed for some time to the action of
the amosphere, they acquire consistency, and assume the pro-
perties of resins. During this change, they absorb oxygen from
the air. When volatile oil is exposed to the air, it is partly con-
verted into a resin, and partly into a crystallized acid ; usually
the benzoic, or the camphoric. For a more complete account
of these phenomena, we refer to Thomson’s System of Chemistry ;
to which we are much indebted for this detail.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The writings of Dios-
eorides, Pliny, and Aretaeus, prove that the ancients admitted
all the varieties of the turpentines into their materia medica.
The first-named author, in his second book, classifies them as
moist and dry. Pliny adopts the same arrangement ; and both
enumerate, verv fully, the different species from which each va-
riety is obtained. “ Summae species duae, sicca et liquids'.
Sicca e pinu et picea : liquida e terebintho, larice, lentisco,
cupresso.”* This enumeration accords very nearly with that

* Plinii Historia, cap. xxiv. sect. vi.

given by Dioscorides ; as do his remarks on the method of em-
ploying them, both internally, and externally. Aretieus gave
turpentine internally, in the form of a linctus, composed of
nitre, rue, and honey, for lethargy, apoplexy, melancholia, and
pleurisy. He prescribed it also in enemas, in conjunction with
cummin and rue, for cephalea, and volvulus; externally in
phrenitis, and tetanus: and, in the latter disease, it formed the
principal ingredient in the cataplasms which were ordered to the
injured part, upon the supervention of the tetanic symptoms.
Prosper Alpinus enumerates the turpentines amongst the indivi-
dual remedies of the Theriaca of the Egyptians ; and that they
greatly employed it in the middle ages, may be inferred from the
later, but extravagant praises of Fernelius. “ Terebinthina cale-
facit, mollit, discutit, terget, expurgat : viscerum omnium,
maximeque renum, obstructiones tollit, et angustos meatus
aperit, urinam ciet, putredinem cohibet.11 As the chemical
remedies and the chemical doctrines of disease became dissemi-
nated through Europe, the province of the terebinthinous class
of medicines became invaded, their boundaries more confined,
and, with many other celebrated Galenicals, deprived of their
due consideration. The diseases of the urinary organs were
left, however, in their almost undisturbed possession ; so that
up to the present time, they have always attached to themselves
a portion of attention in the alleviation and cure of disease.

Common turpentine. This variety is directed by the London
and Edinburgh colleges to be chiefly used in external applica-
tions, for which, as we have stated before, it was much used by
the ancients. The Emplastum Lythargyri compositum, and
Unguentum Elemi compositum , both contain it as a principal
ingredient, on account of its supposed powers in digesting,
cleansing, and incarnating wounds.

Resin (Resina alba vel flava) is only employed in the composi-
tion of ointments and plasters, for its adhesive, or its stimulating
properties.

Tar was formerly considered almost as a panacea , and
there is no end to the praises that have been bestowed upon
it. Dr. Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, wrote a dissertation on

Tar Water , under the title of “ Si r is, ora Chain of Philosophical
Refections and Enquiries concerning the Virtues of Tar Water .”
Mr. Thom as Prior also published a great number of cases, and
remarks on its virtues: and from their account, and Cullen’s, it
appears to strengthen the tone of the stomach, to excite appetite,
promote digestion, and remove dyspeptic symptoms.

Tar Vapour has been recommended by Dr. Crichton for
phthisis pulmonalis, and there is little doubt but that some per-
sons have been benefited by its use. Mr. Ward, of Maidenhead,
has also narrated cases of its success in asthma. The London and
Edinburgh colleges direct tar to be made into an ointment ;
( Ungentum Picis ;) the former by means of the admixture of an
equal portion of mutton suet; and the latter, of two-fifths of
yellow wax. This ointment has been much employed for the
cure of cutaneous affections, particularly those of domestic ani-
mals : and although the barbarous practice of the pitch cap is
now justly exploded, we have seen the application of this salve,
of eminent service in porrigo of the scalp.

Burgundy Pitch is employed only externally. It enters into
the composition of the Emplastrum Cumini, and the Empl : Picis
Burgundicce composition. It forms a warm stimulant application,
and sometimes occasions vesications ; though, in general, a red-
ness of the part, with a gentle exudation, are the only effects
observable. The cases in which the last-mentioned plaster
seems to produce most good, are those which may be called
nervous dyspncea ; but it is also serviceable in coughs, pains of
the muscular parts of the chest, and some affections of the tra-
chea, occasioning loss of voice.

Venice Turpentine is substituted, in medicine, for the true
or Chian turpentine, under those circumstances to which the
latter is supposed to be particularly suited. As a diuretic, the
Venice turpentine is generally preferred to all the other sorts,
and it loosens the belly most, on which account Riverius thinks
it more safe than most other irritating diuretics. Cullen ob-
serves, that when it is employed as an enema, its effects are
more certain and durable than those of saline medicines, for
remedying obstinate constipations of the bowels. Other prac-

titioners have employed it with advantage in some nephritic
cases, exhibiting it in a similar form, by the rectum. It forms
a part of several plasters and ointments; as, for instance, the
Emplastrum de Belladonna of the Brunswick Pharmacopoeia,
the Unguentum Infusi Cantharidum (Ed;) and the Unguentum
divestigum of the Russian shops.

Essential Oil , or Spirits of Turpentine. Of all the terebinthinous
remedies, the essential oil is the most esteemed ; and since
Dr. Copland published his valuable paper on this subject,
(from which we have derived much of the information that
we are able to communicate,) many prejudices against its em-
ployment have been dissipated, and its utility from day to day
more fully confirmed. It is evident from tbc violet odour that it
communicates to the urine, and from other circumstances, that it
is a powerful stimulant, capable of being particularly directed
to the urinary organs ; and from this specific action it is often
given for gleet, in doses of from ten to thirty drops. Cheyne
and Pitcairn particularly recommended it for chronic rheumatism,
and were followed by Cullen, and Home. The latter gave it in
the form of linctus, consisting of two drachms of the oil, and
one ounce of honey; and of this a teaspoonful was taken twice,
or thrice, in twenty-four hours. This was the same formula as
recommended by Cheyne; and, from the cases related by Home,
it appears to have generally cured the disease. When this remedy
is employed for chronic rheumatism, it may be taken either in
the small or medium doses, combined with any of the prepara-
tives of cinchona, or senega, &c. triturated with mucilage into
the form of a draught ; to which tinct. capsici, or tinct. cardain .,
or spirit armorac. comp, with a drop of some essential oil ought
to be added. Dr. Copland prefers the capsicum annuum to any
other, both as an adjuvant, and corrigent to other remedies;
having ascertained, that if given in considerable quantities, in
the form of pills, it will remove this disease as soon as any other
remedy.

for sciatica and lumbago the following linctus is efficaciously
administered ; but the operation of the turpentines must be
closely watched lest they affect the urinary organs.

1C Mcllis 9ptimi ^ii.

Olei ten&jnthinae.

Tinct. Guii^i Ammon, a a 3ij.

Olei Caryophil.

Limoni's a a gtt. iii. — Miscc lit fiat linctus:

cochleare ununi minimum bis terve tie die sumendum.

For passive haemorrhages, and petechiae, we have seen it most
advantageously given ; and in atonic epistaxis of children, and
in haemoptysis, accompanied with debility, it has been resorted
to with advantage. For haemorrhoids , seated high up in the
rectum, more especially after repeated attacks have debilitated
the patient, the spirit of turpentine is of great service, as well as
in chronic dysentery, and chronic diarrhoea. For epilepsy it has
often been given with decided advantage ; and we could narrate
several instances of its remarkable success in this disease, of
very long standing, which appeared to us to be kept up, more
through habit, than from the existence of organic lesion. Several
other spasmodic diseases, as chorea and tetanus , are recorded
to have been cured by its internal use, and, in the hands of Dr.
Copland, we have seen its beneficial effects produced in a variety
of maladies; which he has fully adverted to in the 46th volume
of the Medical and Physical Journal.

Large doses, from one to two ounces, are sometimes given in
the last stages of puerperal fever ; and numerous cases are re-
corded of its producing copious evacuations, whereby tension of
the belly is removed, and the disease arrested. After purging
and leeching, employed in the same disease, we have known
drachm doses to be most advantageously and repeatedly em-
ployed, and, by applying it hot to the abdomen in the earliest
stages of that fatal malady, it is generally arrested in its progress,
as numerous cases that have occurred lately in the Queen s
Lying-in Hospital, under the superintendence of Dr. Copland,
testify.

It has also been introduced as an anthelmintic of great power,
and was first recommended by Dr. Fenwick, in Vol. ii. of the
Medico-chi rurgical Transactions, especially for the removal

of Tceniae ; by giving two ounces at a time, and repeating
it in ounce doses, if necessary ; purging is generally produced ;
aud the worm is usually evacuated lifeless. Its operation
on the bowels, says Dr. Murray, as a cathartic in these large
quantities, seems to prevent its absorption, and therefore ob-
viates its action on the urinary organs ; and it has been stated
in conformity to this, that the action, giving rise to stranguary,
is more likely to happen from small, than large doses. Analogy
leads to the employment of the same remedy, for the expulsion
of other worms, and in some cases lutnbrici have been expelled.
It has also been employed under the form of enema, half an ounce
being diffused in mucilage, or in water, by the medium of the
yolk of an egg. The nauseating effect on the stomach is thus
avoided, but this mode is frequently productive of pain.

Externally, it is also employed as a rubefacient ; and, what is
very curious, if applied to the skin of a horse, dog, cat, and some
other animals, it acts like scalding water, blisters the skin, and
produces intense pain.

Its most important use, however, as a topical application is,
as a remedy for extensive burns and scalds, when recently in-
dicted. Dr. Kentish, of Newcastle, appears to have been the
first to introduce the oil of turpentine ; and has published several
cases, in which it was employed with the most beneficial effect.
In applying this remedy, the great object is to avoid the cooling
process of evaporation , and we are directed to proceed in the
following manner : the injured parts are to be bathed two or
three times over with the oil, or with spirits of wine, which an-
swers the same purpose, heated by standing in hot water. After
this a liniment, composed of the unguentum resinae, softened
with oil of turpentine, ( Linirnentum terebinthince ,) is to be
spread on soft cloth, and applied. This liniment is to be renewed
only once in twenty-four hours, and, at the second dressing, the
parts are to be washed with proof spirits. When the secretion of
pus takes place, milder applications must be had recourse to,
till the cure is effected. During the use of the turpentine it is
of the utmost importance that the injured surface should be left
uncovered as little as possible ; it is therefore recommended to let

the fresh plasters be quite ready before the old ones are removed,
and then only to take off one piece at a time. When the in-
flammatory action has somewhat abated, the exciting means
should also be diminished, and warm proof spirits, or laudanum,
may be substituted for the oil, and the unguentum resinas flavae
is to be mixed with oleum camphoratunt instead of turpentine.
If this should be found too irritating, Dr. Kentish recommends
ceratum plumbi acetatis, or the common calamine cerate. When
this mode of treatment is adopted, aether, or alcohol, and other
stimulants, with opium, are to be immediately given in propor-
tion to the degree of injury, and repeated as circumstances may
require. In slight burns in which the action of the part only is
increased , he has not found any thing better for the first applica-
tion than the heated oleum terebinthinae and ceratum resin®
thinned with the same.

**4s»v

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///"'* __ / a sak

LXXVI

ACACIA CATECHU.

Catechu , or Medicinal Acacia.

Class XXIII. Polygamia. — Order l. Moncecia.
Nat. Orel. Lomextace.e, Lin. Leguminosa, Juss. De Cand. See.
Cicerina, Mimosacea, Burn.

Gen. Char. Flowers polygamous. Calyx 4-5-toothed.
Corolla 5-cleft, or formed of four or five petals.
a 'Stamens 10 — 200. Pistil 1. Legume bivalved, dry.

SrEC. Ciiar. Prickles stipular, hooked when old, in pairs.
Leaves pubescent, bi-pinnate ; first division of ten or
twelve pair ; second of many pair ; with a gland at
each extremity of the common foot-stalk. Spikes
cylindrical, axillary, two or three together.

Syn. — Mimosa Catechu, Lin. Suppl. 409; Woodv. Med. Bot. 183. t. 66 ; Roxb.
Coromand. v. 2. p. 40. 1. 175.

Terra Japonica ; Kerr in Med. Obs. § Inq. v. 5. p. 151. t. 4.

Acacia Catechu, Willd. v. 4. n. 73 ; Ait. Kew. v. 5. n. 4-1.

Foreign. — Cachou, Acacia du Cachou, Fr.; Cacciu ; Catechu; Catta d'lndia, It.;
Cachu, Sp.; Katechubaum, Ger. ; Katechu-boom, Dut.

Frofessor Willdenow, who established the genus to which
the subject of the present article belongs, first separated it from
the Linnean Mimosa, by the characters of the fruit. Under
Mimosa, he leaves such species as have a /omentum, or legume,
separating into single-seeded joints. Of these he defined thirty-
two, but the list now exceeds seventy ; and to many of them,
being sensitive, the name Mimosa is very appropriate. Will-
denow enumerated a hundred-and-two species of Acacia, but

VOL. ii. „

since his time the discoveries of modern travellers have aim-
mented the catalogue, so that upwards of three hundred now
are known. They are all shrubby, perennial plants, with the
exception of two or three species, which are herbaceous.

The Acacia Catechu , called in the province of Bahar, coira
or caira , grows in great abundance in most of the mountainous
districts of Hindustan. It is a large shrub or tree, fifteen or
twenty feet high, covered with a thick, scabrous, ferruginous
bark, which is very red within, remarkably astringent, and
somewhat bitter. The branches are round, spreading irregularly,
and downy when young; the older ones beset with numerous
pairs of small recurved spines, originating in the stipules. The
leaves are placed alternately on the younger branches, and are
composed of from fifteen to thirty pair of pinnae, about two inches
long, each having numerous linear leaflets, (often forty pair,)
hardly a cpiarter of an incli long, covered with short hairs, and
of a pale green colour. The common petiole is sometimes fur-
nished with a few recurved prickles, and a small gland is placed
between the bases of each pair of the pinnae. The flowers are
hermaphrodite and male ; axillary, on slender cylindrical spikes,
three or four inches long, hairy, stalked, and of a pale yellow
colour. The calyx is tubular, hairy, and 5-toothed ; the corolla
of one piece, whitish, divided into five segments, and twice the
length of the calyx. The filaments are numerous, crowned with
roundish anthers, and united at the base with the germen, which
is oval, supporting a slender style, and terminated by a simple
stigma. The fruit is a straight, smooth, pointed legume, or pod,
three or four inches long, and less than one broad, containing
six or eight roundish seeds.

Catechu was formerly supposed to be an earth, found in Japan ;
nnd the name Terra Japonica , by which it is still designated
occasionally, tends to perpetuate the error. Mr. Kerr, assistant
surgeon to the Civil Hospital in Bengal, was the first to describe
the catechu tree, in Vol. V. of “ Medical Observations and En-
quiries,” which contains also a very correct figures. He says,
that it is one of the most common trees to be met with in the
uncultivated mountains of llotas, and Pallamow, which arc

«

districts of Hindustan, in the province of Baliar, westward of
Bengal ; and is frequent in many other parts of that country,
in various soils. The following is the mode of preparing the
Extract, as described by that gentleman : —

“ After felling the trees, the manufacturer carefully cuts off all the
exterior white part of the wood. The interior coloured wood is cut
into chips, with which he fdls a narrow-mouthed unglazed earthen pot,
pouring water upon them until he sees it among the upper chips ; when
this is half evaporated by boiling, the decoction, without straining,
is poured into a flat earthen pot, and boiled to one third part ; this is set
in a cool place for one day, and afterwards evaporated by the heat of
the sun, stirring it several times in the day ; when it is reduced to
a considerable thickness, it is spread upon a mat or cloth which
has previously been covered with the ashes of cow dung ; this mass
is divided into square or quadrangular pieces by a string, and com-
pletely dried by turning them frequently in the sun, until they are fit
for sale.

“ This extract is called cutt by the natives, by the English culch, by
authors, terra Japonica, catechu, cadtchu , cashoiv , cachou, caitchu, cait- .
joe, cacliore, kaatli, cate, &c. In making the extract, the pale-brown
wood is preferred, as it produces the fine whitish extract : the darker
the wood is, the blacker the extract, and of less value. They are very
careful in drying their pots upon the fire before they are used ; hut
very negligent in cutting their chips upon the ground, and not strain-
ing the decoction ; by which, and the dirty ashes they use, there must
be a considerable quantity of earth in the extract, besides what avarice
may prompt them to put into it. This the learned have proved from
their laborious chemical decompositions. The extract thus prepared,
is bought from the manufacturer for twelve or fifteen shillings the
eighty pounds weight. I could never learn that the terra Japonica
was produced from the areca or betel-nut; nor is it indeed credible
that it should, notwithstanding that this is the general and received
opinion, for the betel-nut is scarce ever so low in price as the terra
Japonica, and was it to be extracted from thence, the price would be
twenty times dearer than the present sales. Where the areca nut is
in great plenty, they may perhaps join some of the fruit in making
the extract, to answer a double purpose, for the most frequent use of
both is in chewing them together as Europeans do tobacco ; to these
two substances they add a little shell lime, and a leaf called pauw.
Here I am obliged to have recourse to the natives, whom from ex-
perience I have found to be very fallacious, therefore I will not answer
for their veracity.

“ The extract is much used in dyeing and painting chintz, and other
cloths ; combined with vitriolic salts, a black colour is produced ;
mixed with oil, they paint the beams and walls of houses to preserve
them, and to defend them from the destructive white ants ; it is some-
times mixed with their wall plaister.

“ The black physicians of this country divide the diseases of mankind,
as well as their medicines, into hot and cold ; to the cold disease thev

o 2

oppose a hot medicine, and to the hot disease a cooling medicine, among
which last this Extract is supposed to he very powerful. When too pro-
fusely used, it is said to he a destroyer of venereal pleasures. It is given
at the rate of two ounces per day to tame vicious horses.

The Furnace used in making the Extract. — Dig a hole in the earth
five or six feet long, two feet deep, and two feet wide ; cover this with
an arch of clay, leaving one end open to receive fuel, and take out the
ashes ; in the arch, three or four circular openings are made, adapted to
the bottoms of the pots : the same structure may he raised above ground,
made of clay. This furnace is very valuable for its simplicity, easy con-
struction, and small expense of fuel.

“ The extract is a principal ingredient in one of their ointments of
great repute, composed of blue vitriol four drachms, Japan earth four
ounces, alum nine drachms, white resin four ounces ; these are reduced
to a fine powder, and mixed with the hand, adding olive oil ten
ounces, and water sufficient to bring the mass to the proper consistence
of an ointment. This ointment is used in every sore, from a fresh
wound to a venereal ulcer. A gentleman (Mr. Robert Hunter, Surgeon
to the Patna Factory ) of great practice, told me, he used this ointment
with success beyond expectation ; and he remarks, that whether it is
owing to the laxity of the solids in this hot climate, or to some other
cause, he is clearly of opinion, that our greasy ointments have not the
desired effect. Certain it is they avoid that empyreuma which our
ointments often receive in boiling, which cannot be a promising ap-
plication to a tender sore. As to the virtues of this Extract in European
practice, I must be silent; they are already better described than 1 can
pretend to do.”

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — There are two
kinds of this extract; one is sent from Bombay, the other from
Bengal ;# but they differ from each other more in their external
appearance, than in their chemical composition. The extract
from Bombay is of a uniform texture, and of a red-brown tint ;
its specific gravity being generally about 1.39. The extract
from Bengal is more friable, and less consistent ; its colour is
like that of chocolate externally, but when broken, its frac-
ture presents chocolate and red-brown streaks. Its specific
gravity is about 1.28. Their tastes are precisely similar, being
astringent, but leaving in the mouth a sensation of sweetness.
They do not deliquesce, or apparently change, by exposure to
the air. Solutions copiously precipitate gelatine, and speedily

tan skins. The strongest infusions of the two kinds do not differ

©

• A sort of Catechu or gutta gambir, made in Sumatra, Prince of Wales’ Island, &c.
has been shown by Mr. Hunter, secretary to the Asiatic Society, to be the produce of
a species of Nauclea ; hence, probably, the two sorts of Catechu known to druggists
may be thus accounted for. — Trims. Lin. Soc. vol. ix. p. 209.

sensibly in their nature or composition. T-heir colour is deep
red-brown, and they communicate this tinge to paper ; they
slightly redden litmus paper; their taste is highly astringent,
and they have no perceptible smell. The strongest infusions
act upon the acids, in a manner analogous to the infusion
of galls. Sulphuric and muriatic acids precipitate them. With
strong nitrous acid they effervesce, and lose their power of
precipitating solutions of isinglass and the salts of iron. The
pure alkalies enter into union with their tannin, so as to prevent
it from being acted upon by gelatine. Solutions of lime, of strontia,
and of barytes, poured into the infusions of catechu, produce
copious precipitates. If carbonate of magnesia be added to the
infusion, it loses its power of precipitating gelatine. The car-
bonates of potash, of soda, and of ammonia, also deprive them
of their power of acting upon gelatine ; though this power is
restored by an acid. Solution of muriate of tin acts upon the in-
fusion of catechu, in a manner similar to that in which it acts upon
the infusion of galls. Both kinds of catechu are almost wholly
soluble in large quantities of water; and to form a complete
solution, about eighteen ounces of water, at 52°, are required to
a hundred grains of extract. A considerable portion of both kinds
of catechu is soluble in alcohol ; but, after the action of the alco-
hol upon it, a substance remains, of a gelatinous appearance, and
a light brown colour, which is soluble in water, and is analogous
in its properties to gum or mucilage.

The peculiar extractive matter of the catechu, is much less
soluble in water than the tanning principle; and when a small
quantity of water is used to a large quantity of catechu, the
quantity of tannin taken up is much greater than that of
the extractive matter. The extractive matter is much more
soluble in warm water than in cold ; and when saturated
solutions of catechu are made in boiling water, a considerable
quantity of extractive matter, in its pure state, falls down, as
the liquor cools. An aqueous solution of the extractive matter,
when mixed with solutions of nitrate of alumine, and of
muriate of tin, becomes slightly turbid. Nitrate of lead gives
a dense brown precipitate. It is not precipitated by the mineral

acids. Two hundred grains of Bombay Catechu, afforded 109
of tannin, OH of extractive matter, 13 of mucilage, and 10 of
sand, calcareous earth, and other impurities. The variety from
Bengal gave, by a similar analysis, 97 of tannin, 73 of extrac-
tive matter, 16 of mucilage, and 14 of residual matter, and sand,
with a small quantity of calcareous and aluminous earth, in two
hundred grains.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Catechu is largely em-
ployed in the east, medicinally ; but especially w'hen used with
the betel-nut for chewing, a practice almost universal over the
Indian continent.

In this country it is extensively employed for all those disor-
ders in which a mild, unirritating, powerful astringent is re-
quired; such as chronic diarrhoea and dysentery ; hoemorrhoidal
and uterine hoemorrhages, leueorrhcea, gleet, &c., and the Bom-
bay catechu, as containing the greatest portion of tannin, is that
which is best adapted for medicinal use. It is one of the most
valuable medicines of this class, and may be advantageously
used in all cases where we wish to restrain immoderate discharges,
especially when not attended by inflammatory action, or produced
by congestion. With this indication, it is usually combined
with the bitter tonic and aromatic barks. It is also used in the
form of troches, mixed with gum-arabic and sugar, to dissolve
slowly in the mouth ; and in this form it often much assists the
clearness of the voice in persons that have occasion to speak long
in public. As a topical astringent it is used in scorbutic affec-
tions of the gums, and aphthous ulcerations of the mouth and
fauces. Dr. Thomson has found the slow solution of a small
piece in the mouth, “a certain remedy for the troublesome cough
induced by a relaxed uvula, hanging into, and irritating the
glottis.”

Dose. — From gr. x. to 5b of the Powder; or, 5b to 5iij. of
the Tincture.

Off. Prep. — Infusum Catechu. L. E. Tinctura Catechu,
L. E. Electuarium Catechu compositum, E. D.

Lxxvn

ACACIA VERA.

Egyptian Gum-Arabic Acacia , or Egyptian Thorn.

Spec. Char. Spines stipulary, in pairs, linear-awl-
shaped. Branches and Leaves glabrous, the latter
doubly pinnate ; first division of eight or ten pair ;
second of many pair ; common stalk glandular. Heads
axillary, about three together. Legume necklace-
like, nearly flat, smooth.

Syn. — Mimosa Nilotica, Lin. Sp. PL. 1506 ; Haselq. Travels, Engl. ed. 250 ; Woodv.
187. t. 67.

Acacia vera, Willd. 4. 1085. n. 87. Ait. Hart. Kew. v. 5. n. 48 ; Bauh. Hist.
t>. 1. p. 2. 429 ; Vesting .Egypt. 6 t. 6.

Akokiu, Diosc. 1. l.cap. 133.

Foreign.— Acacia ; Acacia vrai, Fr. ; Acacie d'Egypte, Lamarck; Gommier Rouge,

Adanson. ; Acacia ; Acasia ; Acacia vera ; Acacia egiziana, It.; Acacia,

Sp. ; Mimosa do Nilo ; Acacia verdaiteiro, Port.; Die ichre orde agygp -

%

tische Acacia, Ger. ; Egyptische Acacia, Dut.

This plant, which affords the finest Gum Arabic of commerce,
was originally referred by Linneus to the extensive genus
Mimosa, under the title of Mimos Nilotica ; but it has
been removed by Willdenow with other species to the genus
Acacia. It is a native of the sandy deserts of Arabia, Egypt,
and the western parts of Asia; and, according to Mr. Jackson,
grows abundantly in Barbary, and other parts of Africa. The
original gum-arabic tree was known to the earlier botanists, and
appears to have been cultivated by Gerarde in 1596 ; but few
persons are acquainted with living, or even dried specimens,
especially of the legume. Our figure was made from a dried
specimen, (perhaps the only one in this country,) in the herba-

us, that a caravan whose provisions were exhausted, preserved
themselves from famine, hy the gum arabic, which they were
carrying as merchandise.

In medicine, this 'gum is used either by itself, or as a vehicle
for other substances. Taken internally, its principal use is as a
demulcent ; to envelop acrid matter, and to cover the surfaces that
are too sensible to external impressions. Hence it is sometimes
allowed to dissolve gradually in the mouth, to allay irritation of
the fauces ; and its mucilage, sweetened with syrup, forms a
useful remedy for tickling coughs, hoarseness, and diarrhaeas ;
as well as in cardialgia, arising from oily substances received
into the stomach. In thesecases, it is sometimes advantage-
ously joined with opiates and aromatics. Though its action has
been supposed not to extend beyond the fauces and alimentary
canal, it has been frequently recommended in tenesmus, stran-
gury, gonorrhoea, gravel, and in almost all diseases of the
urinary organs. It is given, either in powder, or dissolved in
almond milk, &c. one ounce being sufficient to render a pint of
liquid tolerably viscid.

In pharmacy, gum arabic is employed to render oils, balsams,
and resins, miscible with aqueous liquids; and to give tenacity
to substances made into troches and pills. Even Mercury may be
suspended in water, by being rubbed for a considerable time
with gum arabic ; which preparation is called, from its inventor,
Plank's solution.

The pharmaceutical preparations into which gum arabic en-
ters as a principal ingredient, are the Mucilago Acacias , a simple
solution of one part of the gum in two of boiling water ; the
Emulsio Acacice Arabicce , Ph. Ed. which is gum arabic dis-
solved in almond milk; the Trochisci gumrnosi , Ed., with equal
parts of gum, starch, and sugar ; and the Pulvis Tragacanthce
compositus , Ph. Lond ., a powder made of tragacanth, gum
arabic, starch, and sugar. It is also an ingredient in the Con-
fectio amygdalarum , L. Mistura cornu usti, L. Mistura cretce ,
L. Mistura Moschi, L. Mistura Guaiaci, L. and the P idols
cretce compositus, L.

LXXVIII

MERCURIALIS PERENNI
Perennial , or Dog’s Mercury.

Class XXII. Dicecia. — Order VIII. Enneandria.
Nat. Orel. Tkicocc.e, Lin. Euphorbia, Juss.
Euphorbiace.e, De Cand, Burn. §c.

Gen. Char. Barren fl. Calyx S-parted. Corolla 0.
Stamens 9 — 12. Anthers globose, 2-celled.

Fertile fl. Calyx 3-parted. Corolla 0. Styles 2.
Capsules 2-celled. Seeds solitary.

Spec. Char. Stern perfectly simple. Leaves rough.
Root creeping, perennial.

Syn. — Mercurialis perennis repens, cynocrambe dicta, Ilaii. Syn. 138.

Cynocrambe, Ger. Em. 333. J'.; Fuchs. Hist. 444. Ic. 250. f.; Matth.
Valgr. v. 2. 635. f.

Cynocrambe mas et fmmina, Camer. Epit. 998. ; Ranh. Hist. v. 2. 979. f.
Mercurialis, n. 1601. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 277.

Mercurialis perennis, Lin. Sp. PL; Wild. v. 4. 809; Fl. Brit. 1083;
Eng. Bot. v. 26. t. 1872 ; Hook. Scot. 289; Curt. Lond. fasc. 2. t. 65 ;
Fl. Dan. t. 400 ; Bull. Fr. t. 303,

FonEiCN. — Mercuriate sauvage, ou de montagne ; Choude Chien, Fr. ; Mercorella
montuna, It. ; Kerza perunna , Sp. ; Dus perennirende oder bestandidge
Bingelkraut, IFiMes Bingelkraut, Ger.; Vild : bingelurt, Dan; Bingelgras,
Swed. ; Proleska, Russ.

Two species of this genus are indigenous to Britain, viz. the
perennial or Dog’s Mercury, (Mercurialis perennis ,) and the
annual or French Mercury, (Mercurialis annua.') The former
has obtained a place in our work on account of its poisonous
qualities, and the latter was at one time in considerable repute as

twenty- four hours, and, upon their wakening, fell a vomiting and
purging again, which I think saved their lives. 15 v Mr. New-
port’s and my directions, they sent some of the same herb to the
doctors and apothecaries in Salop, who generally say it is dog’s
mercury ; but some say, it is a sort of night-shade: whatever it
be, it is certainly poisonous, and it is observed that cattle never

browse upon it : but I guess it to be a mistake I am

no herbarist, but this I observed of the herb ; it is branched and
seeded something like spinage, or mercury, but leaved like
lakeweed.” — ( Philos . Trans., No. 203, for September , 1 093.)
Sir II. Sloane was afterwards furnished with some specimens of
the plant, and found them to be dog’s mercury.

Treatment. — The remedies to be applied in case of poison-
ing by this plant, will be the same as those recommended under
the article Nicotiana Tabacum.

Mercueialis annua.

Annual, or as it is sometimes called, French Mercury, with
branched stems, and smooth, glossy leaves, grows wild in waste
or cultivated ground, chiefly in the more temperate parts of
Europe. It occurs frequently near London, in Battersea Fields ;
and is figured in “ English Botany ,” v. 8. t. 559- It may be at
once distinguished from M. perennis by its annual root, branched
stem, and smooth leaves, and by its flowering in autumn. This
plant is mucilaginous, and was formerly much employed in
enemas and emollient fomentations. It is sometimes eaten as
spinage, and when used in considerable quantities, it operates
as a cathartic. A syrup made from the leaves, given in the
dose of two ounces, is said to prove a mild and useful laxative.
According to Lamarck, the seeds are very fattening to those small
birds, which the Italians call Beccajicos , or Fig-eaters , and
which are so much relished by the epicures of the south of
Europe. '

I

LXXIX

SAMBUCUS NIGRA.
Common Elder.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order III. Trigynia.

Nat. Ord. Dumos.e, Lin. Capri folia, Juss.

Caprifoliace^e, De Cand. &c.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-cleft, Corolla rotate, 5-lobed.
Berry 1-celled, S-seeded.

Spec. Char. Cymes with five main branches. Leaves
pinnate ; leaflets ovate, serrated. Stipulas obsolete.
Stem arborescent.

Syn. — Sambucus, Raii. Syn. 461 ; Ger. Em. 1422./. ; Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 606. /.
Corner. Epit. 975. f.; Fuchs Hist. 64. f.

Sambucus acinis albis, Raii Syn. 461.

Sambucus laciniatis foliis, Boult. Pin. 456. Raii Syn. 461.

Sambucus, n. 670. Hall. Hist. u. 1. 298.

Sambucus nigra, Lin. Sp. PI. 395 ; IVilld. u. 1. 1495 ; FI. Brit. 336 ; Eng.
Bet. v. 7. t. 476 ; Hook. Scot. 69 ; IPuodt). v. 1.1. 78.

Foreign. — Lc sureau, suseau ; Sambus, Fr. ; Sambuco ; Sait go ; Samburago, It.;

Sauco ; Sauco negro, Sp. ; Sabugueiro, Port.; Her Schwarze Hohlunder ;
Gemeiner Hohlunder, Ger.; Hyld ; Hydetreee, Dan.; Fldder, Swed. ;
Vlierboom, Dut. ; Busina, Bos derewo, Russ.

The Common Elder is a well-known native tree, growing in
hedges and woods; flowering in June, and ripening its berries
in September. In Scotland it is called Boretree or Bourtree.

The black berried Elder rises with a woody trunk, that is filled
with a white medullary substance or pith, and covered externally
with a rough, ash-coloured hark, to the height of fifteen or
twenty feet. The younger branches are smooth when young,
and contain a very large proportion of a light spongy pith. The

VOL. ir.

H

years, if required. The bag of spice may be dropped in at tbe bung
hole, having a string fastened outside, which shall keep it from reaching
the bottom of the barrel.”

The wood of the common Elder is commonly made into skew-
ers for butchers, tops for angling rods, and needles for weaving
nets. The pith, being very light, is cut into balls used in elec-
trical experiments.

Dose- — The dose of the bark is from grs. x, to 5SS.; or half
an ounce may be boiled in a pint and a half of water, down to
twelve ounces, and divided into three equal doses.

Off. Piief. — Succus spissatus Sambuci nigra?, E. D.

Unguentum Sambuci, L. D.

Sambucus Ebulus.

Besides the nigra , there is another species, the Sambucus
Ebulus , Dwarf Elder, or Danewort, which is not uncommon
throughout Europe, in waste places, and by the sides of
hedges ; occasionally occurring in Great Britain, and flowering
in July. It grows in many places near London, and is figured
in “ English Botany ,” v. 7, t. 475. It may be readily distin-
guished from the other species, by its low annual, herbaceous
stem, leafy stipules, cymes with three principal branches, and
its beautiful, dull purplish, or lilac-coloured flowers. The whole
plant, with the exception of the flowers, has a nauseous, acrid,
bitter taste, and a disagreeable smell. Every part of the plant,
especially the bark, is violently cathartic, and sometimes emetic ;
being stronger and more unpleasant than the common elder.
The berries are likewise purgative, but in a lesser degree. A
syrup prepared from them has been given to the quantity of an
ounce, as a laxative ; in smaller doses, it is said by Haller, to
be used in Switzerland as a deobstruent in chronic diseases. By
some, the Sambucus Ebulus has even been regarded as an
acrid poison.

LXXX

RHODODENDRON CHRYSANTHUM.

Golden-flowered, Rhododendron .

Class X. Decandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Bicornes, Lin. Rhododendra, Juss.
Ericine.e, Desv. Ericin.e, Ericace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx 3-parted. Corolla nearly funnel-
shaped. Stamens declined. Capsule 5-celled.

Spec. Char. Stem decumbent. Leaves ovate, oblong1,
rugged above ; paler or ferruginous, and smooth
beneath. Umbels terminal. Corolla irregular,
nearly wheel-shaped.

Si/n. — Andromeda foliis ovatis, Gmel. Flor. Sib. v. 4. p. 121. t. 54.

Rhododendron officinale, Sulisb. Prodr. t. 80.

Rhododendron cbrysanthum, Willd.v. 2. 603; Woodv.v. 3. 405. t. 149;
Stokes, v. 2. 504 ; Pallas FI. Ross. tom. i. pars 1. p. 44. t. 30.

Foiieign. — Rosage, Fr. ; Rhododendro aureo, It. ; Gichtrose, Gelder Alpbalsam,
Alprosen, Ger. ; Roogelar, Uut ; Pjanishnitz, Russ.; Scliei, Tart.

This beautiful shrub is a native of the mountains of Siberia,
Kamtschatka, and Behring’s Island, flowering in June and
July, and ripening its fruit in September. It was introduced
by Mr. Joseph Bush, in 1796, into our gardens, where it flowers,
though rarely, in the middle of summer. In its native climes,
it grows not only on the mountain tops, but on the banks of
rivers.

The stem in alpine situations seldom exceeds a foot in height ;
in lower ground it grows to a foot and a half, sending off* nume-
rous decumbent spreading branches, having their ends emerging
from the moss, and which are covered with a brown bark. The
leaves are terminal, few, ovate, oblong, of a coriaceous texture,
and attenuated towards the footstalk ; the upper ones are reticu-
lated, rugged, and of a deep green colour; the under pale or
sub-ferruginous, very smooth, having the margin entire and bent

its valuable powers over that painful affection of the bones, known
as venereal rheumatism.

Sometimes it excites bead-ache, nausea, vomiting, delirium, anti
other unpleasant symptoms. Capriolus, a companion of Steller,
having eaten ten leaves, soon after began to stagger, toss his
head about, and to reel. After a short time, he fell on his knees,
in vain attempting to rise; and although milk was copiously ad-
ministered to him, he became overcome with sleep for an hour
and a quarter, during which time he started continually, and
appeared terrified. When he awoke he appeared as cheerful as
before, and it failed afterwards to produce the same effects.
After this, the servants of Steller were constantly taking small
quantities of it, on account of its pleasant intoxicating effects.*

When we administer it, we put half an ounce of its leaves in
twelve ounces of water, and allow them to simmer only , for four
hours. Of the strained liquor, a quarter may be given to an
adult every four hours; who, during its administration, must
remain in bed, and its effects should be closely watched. The
leaves of a different species, probably the R. Caticasicum, have
been, for several years, sold by druggists for this plant; but Mr.
Butler, of Covent Garden, has obtained a considerable quantity
of the genuine drug from Siberia; and in those constitutions
with which colchicum disagrees, we venture to recommend it
as a very efficacious remedy.

R. Caucasicum is a native of the higher rocks of Caucasus,
growing at very great elevations, and nearly approaching the
confines of perpetual snow. Other species as R. Kamtschaticnm ,
Ponticum , Dauricum, ferrug'mcum, and hirsutum , abound in
both Europe and Asia : the two latter are common on the high
mountains of Switzerland, Austria, Savoy, Piedmont and Dau-
phiny, closing the scanty vegetation of those elevated regions, and
affording the shepherds their only fruit. The grouse are said
to feed upon them, and the white hares will sometimes gnaw
their bark in severe seasons; but animals do not seem to be fond
of them, or to resort to them, except when compelled by the
want of other food : they are even said to be in some measure
deleterious.

* Pallas, Flora Rossica, fol. 45

I

UWtLJiffiit.

LXXXI

SWIETENIA FEBRIFUGA.

Febrifuge Mahogany-tree.

Class X. Decandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Trihilat.e, Lin. Melle, Juss. Cedrele.e, R. Br.,

Mehace^e Cedrele.e, De Cand. Cediielid.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-cleft. Petals five, exserted from
the torus. Stamens 8 — 10. Capsules 5-celled,

,5-valved, and woody. Seeds numerous, on each side
of the dissepiment and winged.

Spec. Char. Leaves pinnate, in about four pair, of
elliptical, roundish leaflets, unequal at the base.
Panicle terminal, divaricated.

Syn. — Swietenia Soymida, Duncan Tent. Inavg. de Swielenia, Ed. 1794.

Soymida of the Telingas.

Swietenia febrif'uga, Sp. PL; Willd. 2. 557 ; Roxburgh. Coromand. Plants, 1.
p. 16. 1. 17.

This plant is a native of the East Indies, growing in the moun-
tainous parts of the Itajahmundry Circar, north of Samulcotah,
and Peddapore. The tree was first brought to the notice of
European practitioners by Dr. Roxburgh, who discovered that
its bark was a valuable astringent and tonic in intermittent fever.
It is cultivated with three other species in the botanical garden
at Calcutta. The Telingas call it Soymida , but on the Coro-
mandel Coast it is commonly known under the name of red-wood
tree, which its Tamool name implies. It flowers about the end
of the cold, or beginning of the hot season, and ripens its seeds
three or four months after.

The Febrifuge Mahogany is a lofty tree, with a straight trunk
of great thickness, and covered with a gray, scabrous, cracked

that it forms a completely efficient substitute for the American
drug; and that time alone is required to extend the general
conviction of its efficacy, which every succeeding experiment
will assuredly impress.”

In a letter from Dr. Roxburgh, which accompanies Mr. Bre-
ton’s paper, he states his continued belief in its efficacy, and
recommends the bark to be collected when the sap begins to
ascend freely, at which period it separates readily. He also
believes the small, or rather middling-sized branches, to yield
the bark best suited for medical purposes; and it may be used
as soon as it is dry enough for powdering. Messrs. Cochrane,
Cheese, Grant and Davidson, &c. have tried it very extensively
in India, and confirm all that has been advanced in its favour;
and they seem to agree in its being better retained in the sto-
mach when in substance, and in greater quantities, than
Cinchona usually is. Dr. Ainslie also recommends it to the ex-
tent of four or five drachms in the twenty-four hours, as a very
efficacious medicine; but beyond that quantity, in every in-
stance in which he tried it, it appeared to derange the nervous
system, occasioning vertigo and subsequent stupor.

Doses. — Its dose in substance is from one to four, five, and
six drachms a day. Both the tincture and infusion may be
prepared in the manner recommended for Cinchona, and may be
given in the same way.

LXXXII

RANUNCULUS ACRIS.

Upright Meadow Crowfoot.

Class XIII. Polyandria. — Order VII. Polygynia.

Nat. Ord. Multisiliqu-e, Lin. Ranunculace.e, Juss.
Gen. Char. Calyx 5-leaved. Petals 5 or more,
with glandular nectaries in their claws. Pericarps
not gibbous at the base, pointed and arranged in
globose or cylindrical heads.

Spec. Char. Calyx spreading. Flower-stalks round.
Leaves in three deep-lobed and cut segments ; the
upper ones linear and entire. Stem erect.

Syn. — Ranunculus pratensis erectus acris, Bauh. Pin. 178; Raii Syn. 248.
Ranunculus surrectis cauliculis, Ger. Em. 951.

Ranunculus pratensis, surrectis cauliculis, Lob. Ic. 665. f.

Ranunculus hortensis secunda, Dod. Pempt. 426./.

Ranunculus, n. 1169. Hall . Hist.v. 2. 72.

Pescorvinus, Brunf. Herb. v. 1. 143. t. 38./. 3.

Chrysanthemum, Fuchs Hist. 879./.

Ranunculus acris, Lin. Sp. PI. 779 ; Willd. t>. 2. 1326 ; FI. Brit. 593; Eng.
Bot. v. 10. t. 652 ; Curt. Lond. fuse. 1. t. 39; Mart. Rust. t. 30 ; Hook.
Scot. 174; Stokes, Bot. Mat. Med. v. 3. 266 ; Bull. Fr. t. 109.

Among the numerous species of vegetables, natives of Bri-
tain, few are more familiarly known than those of the Ra-
nunculi. They are herbaceous plants, all, or at least most of
them, possessing acrid qualities, and generally affecting cold or
temperate climates. Sixty-one species are enumerated by Will-
denow in the 14th edition of Systema Vegetabilium, but the
number has of late been considerably augmented, and now
nearly two hundred are known. Fifteen are natives of our island ;
and of these the two species figured, and the balbosus are the
most common, occupying a considerable space in rich pastures,
and propagating themselves with great facility. Early in the
spring, and during the greater part of the summer, the flowers
occur every where ; hence the farmer and the horticulturist are
continually employed in their destruction, for they contribute
little or nothing to the support of man and the larger quadrupeds.

nectary. The calyx consists of five ovate, obtuse, slightly vil-
lous, concave, yellowish, deciduous leaves. The stamens are
numerous, and the other parts of the flower resemble those of
the preceding species. Mr. Lightfoot remarks that the plant, in
some states, differs very little from great Spear-wort Crowfoot,
Ranunculus Lingua ; that varies greatly in magnitude, and in
gravelly soils degenerate to a trailing dwarfish size, with small
linear leaves.

GENERAL QUALITIES OF THE RANUNCULI.

The roots of the R. bulbosus appear to consist of
albumen, mixed with ligneous fibre. If the root be mace-
rated in cold water, it gives a solution of this substance, which
coagulates in floccules on the application of heat ; and undergoes
the same process slowly on the admixture of alcohol. The
juice of some yield nitric acid ; but the most interesting consti-
tuent in most of the species of ranunculus is the acrid princi-
ple, which pervades every part of the plant in its green state.
Like the acrimony of the arum, it is volatile, and disappears in
drying, or upon the application of heat. It differs, however, in
not being destroyed by a moderate heat, and in being fully pre-
served by distillation. Professor Bigelow subjected various spe-
cies of this family to this experiment, and always found the
distilled water to possess a strong acrimony : while the decoc-
tion, and portions of the plant remaining in the retort, were
wholly destitute of this property. This distilled water, when
first taken into the mouth, excited no particular effect ; but after
a few seconds, a sharp, stinging sensation was produced. When
swallowed, a great sense of heat took place in the stomach.
Some distilled water of the R . repens , was kept in a close-stopped
phial for several months, and retained its acrimony undimi-
nished. In winter time it froze, and on thawing lost this pro-
perty. According to the experiments of Tilebein,* the water of
R. sceleratus is acrimonious in an intense degree; and when
cold, deposits crystals, which are scarcely soluble in any men-
struum, and are of an inflammable nature. Precipitates arepro-

* Chemical Annals, vol. ii. p. 313

tluced in this water by muriate of tin, and acetate of lead. The
strength of the distilled water is impaired by continuing the
operation too long. The acrimony of the plant is also expended
in a very short time at the boiling heat, and a further continu-
ance of the distillation brings over only water.

Properties and Medical Uses, &c. — Both ancient and
modern writers on botany, and materia medica, agree in attri-
buting to many species of the genus Ranunculus a corrosive and
poisonous quality. In several, it abounds in such a degree as,
when applied externally, in a recent state, to excite vesications,
and ulceration of the parts, which often assume a malignant or
gangrenous disposition ; and taken internally they prove poison-
ous, by inducing vomiting, inflammation of the stomach, and
the usual consequences of acrid poisons. These qualities, ac-
cording to Dr. Pulteney,* are particularly manifest in the recent
plant, while in its highest vigour before flowering ; and more
intensely in the germen of the flower itself, and in the petals of
some.

The poisonous species that are indigenous and common in
England, are the R. Flammula ; R. bulbosus ; R . acris ; R.
sceleratus ; and the R. arvensis. Of these the Flammula ,
bulbosus and scelerahis, are judged to be the most acrimonious.

Before the introduction of Cantharides , the acrid Ranunculi
were all, in their turn, used as vesicatories, and Haller-}- tells us,
that the R. jlammula is still in use as such in some parts of
France: and as the two species we have figured have obtained
places in the materia medica of the Dublin college, we suppose
they are intended to be employed for this purpose amongst the
paupers of Ireland. Gilibert± assures us, that the R. bulbosus
vesicates with less pain than the Spanish files , and has this ad-
vantage, that it does not affect the urinary passages. He there-
ore gives it a decided preference as an epispastic. Other authors
allow these properties in the Ranunculi ; and state that they
exert their effects sooner than the Cantharides ; but as their action

* Trans, of Lin. Soc. vol. v.p. 14.

f See bis Enumeratio Stirpium, and Hist. Stirp. Helvetia;.
t Plant;;' variores Lithuania-, No. 331.

VOT,. II.

I

quantity — I think between twenty-five and thirty pounds each
daily ; but with variations according to circumstances. The
cows I saw were apparently not in a mean condition, and gave a
sufficient quantity of good milk. I was told by the person,
whose cattle were feeding on it, that he kept five cows and one
horse so entirely by this plant, and what the heath afforded, that
they had not consumed more than half a ton of hay through-
out the whole year. I examined the heap on which four
cows were feeding in the beginning of March ; and found that
it consisted exclusively of the Ranunculus fluvialis , with-
out any mixture of other aquatic plants. In summer, however,
it can scarcely be avoided but that there must be a mixture of
some of these ; but other plants are not chosen. Hogs also
thrive so well on this Ranunculus, that they are not allowed any
other food, till it is proper to fatten them.11

The Ranunculus Flammula is very acrid. Applied externally
it inflames and blisters the skin. Its acrimony rises in distillation.
Some years ago a man travelled in several parts of England ad-
ministering vomits, which operated the instant they wereswallowed.
The distilled water of this plant was his medicine ; “ and from
the experience 1 have had of it,11 says Hr. Withering, “ I feel
myself authorized to assert, that in the case of poison being swal-
lowed, or other circumstances occurring, in which it is desirable
to make the patient vomit instantaneously, it is preferable to any
other medicine yet known, and does not excite those painful
contractions of the upper part of the stomach, which the white
vitriol sometimes does, thereby defeating the intention for
which it was given.” The Highlanders raise blisters with it;
for this purpose, the leaves are well bruised in a mortar, and
applied in one or more limpet shells to the part where the blis-
ters are to be raised.

Treatment. — The Ranunculi are too acrid to render it pro-
bable that they should ever be taken accidentally in sufficient
quantity to produce deleterious effects ; while, on the other hand,
boiling them, if used by mistake for pot-herbs, dissipates their
injurious properties. If, however, any accident should ever arise
from them, we refer to Arum maculatum , Art. 22, for an account
of the treatment which ought to be adopted.

LXXXIII

ANGELICA ARCHANGELICA,

vel

ARCHANGELICA OFFICINALIS.

Garden Angelica.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order II. Digynia.

Nat. Ord. Umbellat.e, Lin. Umbellifer®, De Cand. &e.

Anceucin.e, Angelicacejs, Bum.

Gen. Char. Calyx shortly 5-toothed. Petals elliptic,
entire and acuminate; the fruit sub-compressed poste-
riorly, with a subcentral raphe, and two winged
on each side ; the channels with single vittre, and the
seed non-adherent.

Spec. Char. Leaves bi-pinnated, with the terminal
leaflet 3-lobed.

Syn. — Angelica, Camer. Epit. 899. f. ; Lob. Icon. 698. f. ; Trug. Hist. 421. f.

Angelica sativa, Bauh. Pin. 155 ; Bauli. Hist. v. 3. p. 3. p. 2. 148 Matth.
Valgr. v. 2. 513. f.; Fuchs Hist. 124. f.

Angelica, n. 807 ; Halt. Hist. v. 1. 3.58.

Angelica major, Dod. Pempt. 318, f.

Angelica Archangelica, Lin. Sp. PL 360; Willd. v. 1. 1428 ; FI. Brit. 311 ’
Eng. Bot. v. 36. t. 2561 ; Woodv. t. 50 ; Stokes, v. 2, p. 97.

Foreign. — Angelique, Fr. ; Angelica dotnestica.lt. ; Angelikawurzel, Ger.

Angelica is either a native of this country or completely natural-
ized, being found growing naturally at lJroadmoore, about seven
miles north-west from Birmingham, and in the marshes, among
reeds by the side of the Thames, between Woolwich and Plum-
stead; and at Lambeth, where, in the delightful gardens of Mr.
Watson, who favoured us with the specimen from which the above
figure has been taken, it grows most luxuriantly. It flowers
from June to September.

poison, and against the plague, and all infections taken by euill
and corrup aire, if you do but take a peece of the roote and
holde it in your mouth, or chew the same between your teeth,
it doth most certainly driue away the pestilentiall aire, yea, al-
though that corrup aire have possessed the hart, yet it driueth
it out againe by vrine and sweate, as Rice and Treacle doth,
and such like Antipharmaca. Angelica is an enemie to poisons:
it cureth pestilent diseases, if it be vsed in season ; a dram waiglit
of the powder hereof is given with thin wine, or, if a feauer be
vehement, with the distilled water of Carduus benedictus , or of
Tormentill , and with a little vineger, and by itselfe also, with
Treacle of Vipers added. It openeth the liuer and spleen e :
draweth down the tearmes, driueth out or expelleth the secon-
dine. The decoction of the roote made in wine is good against
the cold shivering of agues. It is reported that the roote is
auaileable against witchcraft, and inchantments, if a man carrie
the same about him, as Fuchsius saith. It extennuateth and
maketh thinne grosse and tough flegme: the roote being vsed
greene, and while it is full of iuice, helpeth them that is nsth-
matake, dissoluing and expectorating the stuffings therein, by
cutting out and clensing the parts affected, reducing the bodie
to health againe; but when it is dry, it worketh not so effectu-
ally. It is a most singular medicine against surfeiting and
lothsomnes to meate; it helpeth concoction in the stomacke,
and is right beneficial to the hart : it cureth the bitings of mad
dogs, and all other venemous beasts. The wild kinds are not
of such force in working, albeit they haue the same vertues
attributed unto them/’ #

* The Herball, or Generali Ilistorie of Plantes, gathered by John Gerarde of
London, Master in Chirurgerie. p.849. fol. Lond. 1597.

.

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Wriithn T. ■

LXXXIV

MELALEUCA CAJEPUTL
Lesser Cajeput Tree.

Class XVIII. Polyadelphia. — Order IV.

POLYANDRIA.

Nat. Ord. Hf.speride.e, Lin. Mykti, Juss.

Myrtace.e, DeCand. Myrtin.e, Myrtace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-parted, semi-superior. Corolla
5-petaled. Stamens (about 4*0) very long, conjoined
in five bodies. Style single. Capsule 3-celled.
Seeds numerous.

Spec. Char. Branchlets pendulous. Leaves alter-
nate, short-petioled, narrow-lanceolate, 3 and 5-ribbed,
Spikes terminal and axillary, comose, villous. Brac-
teas lanceolate, 3-flowered.

Si/n. — Arbor alba minor, Rumph. Amb. t>. 2.76. t. 17.

Melaleuca Cajeputi, Pliarm. Loud. 1809; Trans. Med. Dot. Soc.n. 1. 27. t. 1.

Cajeputi, Daun-Kitzjil, and Kaju-Kilau of the Malays.

This elegant and useful tree, which affords from its leaves, by-
distillation, the fragrant essential oil, known in the shops under
the name of Oleum Cajeputi, is a native of the Molucca Islands.
This oil was long supposed to be the produce of the Melaleuca
Leucadendron only ; but it appears, from specimens of the plant
sent home by Mr. Christopher Smith, that the species which
affords it most abundantly, if not entirely, is a different one,
and that it agrees with the Arbor alba minor of Rumphius’s
Herbarium Amboinense. (vol. ii. t. IT. fig. 1.) Drs. Maton, and
Smith, have fixed it as a new species under the name of M.
Cajeputi.

VOL. II.

K

after careful investigation, we have not been able to trace the
smallest portion of that metal in it. Sometimes the oil is nearly
white, clear, and very limpid. It has a strong volatile smell,
resembling camphor and cardamoms mixed ; and a strong pun-
gent taste, like that of the latter. It is often adulterated ; and
when it is of a dark colour, and not perfectly soluble in alcohol,
it should be rejected. A solution of camphor in oil of turpen-
tine, tinged with verdigris, is often sold by fraudulent druggists
for the genuine article. Levekohn says, that Cajeput oil is a
compound fluid, consisting of two different oils, one of which is
green, and heavier than the ordinary fixed oils, while the other,
which is very light and colourless, constitutes seven-eighths of
the whole.

Medical Properties and Uses. — This oil appears tb-be
a powerful medicine, and is much esteemed on the continent, as
well as in the East Indies, as a general remedy in chronic and ,
painful diseases. It is used for the same purposes for which we
employ the officinal aethers, to which it appears to bear consider-
able affinity. It is. however, more active and pungent; for if
five or six drops be taken, it heats and stimulates the whole
system, and is a very certain diaphoretic ; by which, probably,
the good effects, it is said to have in dropsies and intermittent
fevers, are to be explained. For its efficacy in various spasmodic
and convulsive affections it has been much commended ; and nu-
merous instances of its successful employment are cited by Murray
from various authors. It is said, that if a drop be rubbed on the
temple, it will occasion a pungent pain in the eyes, and a dis-
charge of tears; hence it has been used in chronic affections of
the eyes, and is a powerful remedy for the relief of tooth-ache.

It is, no doubt, a highly diffusible stimulant, antispasmodic, and
diaphoretic; and may be efficaciously given in chronic rheumatism,
palsy, hysteria, and flatulent colic ; in doses of from two, to six,
and eight drops on a lump of sugar; and when mixed witli olive
oil it forms a valuable stimulating embrocation.

Cajeput oil was one of the numerous remedies confidently re-
commended as efficacious in the cure of Indian Cholera, on the
arrival of that disease in Britain. It was, consequently, much
sought after, and its price in the markets rapidly advanced : its
quality, however, at the same time, was reduced : whether it be-
came impotent through adulteration, or whether virtues had been
assumed for it which in truth it did not possess, is a question not
absolutely decided, as fraud prevented a fair trial being given to
it here; but it soon fell into disrepute, for as administered in
cholera it was found to be as useless as most of the other means
and medicines employed.

Its smell is supposed to keep off insects from collections of
natural history ; and as it dissolves caoutchouc , a good varnish
may be obtained by their admixture.

WedHelbJktf.

LXXXV

MENYANTHES TRIF0LL1TA.

Common Buckbean or Bog-bean. Marsh Trefoil.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Allied to Gentiana?, Juss.

Ge ntiane.£, De Cand. Gentianace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-cleft. Corolla funnel-shaped,

5-lobed, equal, hairy within. Stigma 2-cleft. Cap-
sule 1-celled, 2-valved.

Spec. Char. Leaves ternate.

Syn. — Trifolium paludosura, Ger. Em. 1194./.

Menyanthes palustre triphyllum, latifolium et augustifolium, Raii. Syn. 285.
Menyantbes, n. 633; Hall. Hist. v. 1. 280.

Menyanthes trifoliata, Lin. Sp. PI. 208 ; T Villd.v. 1. 811; FI. Brit. 225j
Eng. Bot.v. 7.t. 495; Curt. Load. fasc. 4. t. 17; IIoo/c. Scot. 71;
Dan. t. 541; Bull. Fr. t. 131 ; Bigelow Med. Bot. Amer. t. 46; Stokes,
v. 1. 298.

Foueicn. — Menianthe, ou treffle d’eau, Fr. ; Trifolio Jibrino, It.; Menyanthes de tres
en ratna, Sp. ; Bitterklee, Ger.

Buck-bean, or Bog-bean, so termed from its leaves resembling
those of the common garden-bean, is one of the most beautiful
of our indigenous plants; “nor does it suffer,” as Mr. Curtis
justly observes, “ when compared with the Kalmias, the Rhodo-
dendrons, and the Ericas of foreign climes, which are purchased
at an extravagant price, and kept, up with much pains and ex-
pense, while this delicate native, which might be procured with-
out any expense, and cultivated without any trouble, blossoms
unseen, and wastes its beauty in the desert air.”

It is a native of many parts of Europe, growing abundantly
in marshy meadows, and ponds, and sometimes even in ditches.
The most spongy, boggy soils, which are inundated at certain
seasons, and never wholly destitute of water, are the favourite
stations of this plant. It often constitutes large beds, at the
margins of ponds and brooks. We obtained it on the great bog
on the western slope of Hampstead heath, where it grows in great
plenty ; but flowers very sparingly, about the end of June and
beginning of July. It is common in many parts of North Ame-
rica, particularly in New England, and grows, according to Pursh,
as far south as Virginia.

Professor Bigelow states, that the Buck-bean is one of those
plants which are native in Europe, and North America, with
so little difference of structure in the two continents, that their
specific identity can hardly be doubted ; and after examining
specimens from both, he could perceive no definable difference,
excepting in si/e. The English plant, however, flowers a month
later than its American representative does in the neighbourhood
of Boston.

Buck- bean has a long, creeping, jointed root, with perpendi-
cular radicles, from which proceeds a smooth, erect, cylindrical
stem, that is naked and destitute of leaves, and rises to the
height of a foot. The leaves are bright green, obovatc, wavy,
with a thick midrib, smooth on both sides, ternate or growing by
threes, like those of trefoil, (whence the names Marsh-trefoil,
tfW/bZi«»»paludosum,/e Treffie d'eau, and Menyanthes trifolia ta,)
at the extremity of a common foot-stalk, which issues imme-
diately from the root, and is round, striated, forms a sheath at
the bottom, and is shorter than the flowering stem. The flow-ers
grow in a loose spike at the extremity of an erect, round, smooth
stalk, longer than the leaves, which springs from within the
sheath of a leaf. They are ten or twelve in number, each sup-
ported on its proper pedicel, and accompanied by small, ovate
bracteas. The calyx is divided into five deep, slightly spreading
segments: the corolla is funnel-shaped, divided beyond the
middle into five deep, spreading or recurved, pointed segments,
which are white tipped with rose-colour, smooth externally, and

clothed with dense, white, shaggy fibres on their upper side.
The filaments are awl-shaped, bearing erect sagitate anthers of
a reddish colour ; germen conical ; the stigma lobed or notched,
with a slender style twice the length of the stamens. The cap-
sule is ovate, succulent, 1-celled, which, when it has attained
maturity, separates into two valves, inclosing several small round-
ish seeds of a brown or yellowish colour. Fig. (a) represents
the flower expanded and somewhat magnified, to show the sta-
mens, germen, and style.

Of the etymology of the generic name Mexyanthes, re-
tained from the Greek and Latin botanists, we can give no
really satisfactory account. Some render it moon-flower, a
name which has reference to its presumed emmenagogne effects,
in which case however it should have been written Meneanthos ,
as being compounded of nvv>l the moon, and <u'0oc, a flower but
such corruptions are not uncommon. Others deriving it from
^terw, to remain, conceive the name to be expressive of the per-
manency of the flower; but this conjecture is even more fanciful
than the former. The name Buck-bean, is either a corruption
of Bog-bean, or, what is more probable, is derived from the
French, le Bone, a lie-goat ; the plant having formerly been dis-
tinguished by the appellation, Phaseolus Hircinus , that is,
Goat’s-bean .

Qualities and Chemical Pbopeuties. — The whole plant,
and particularly the root, has an intensely bitter taste, which
resides chiefly in an extractive matter, soluble in water and
spirit. The root is, however, resinous, and impregnates alcohol
more strongly than water; and may be precipitated from its
tincture, in part, by the latter fluid. The bitter principle is not
precipitated by infusions of galls, and is thought to be the same
that abounds in gentian. According to the analysis of Fromsdorf,
100 parts of the fresh plant consists of 75 parts of water,
and 25 of solid matter. The expressed juice on evaporation
yields 0,75 of fecula and albumen, 0.25 of a green resin, with
traces of malic acid, acetate of potash, a peculiar substance re-
sembling animal matter, a very bitter azotic extract, and a
brownish gum.

Medical Propkktiks. — The root of this which given in small
doses of about ten grains, imparts vigour to the stomach, and
strengthens digestion. Its virtues were formerly properly esti-
mated, and strange it is that so excellent and cheap a tonic
should be so lit tie employed. It gives out its bitterness to boiling
water, and a tincture may be made from it quite equal in its
effects to that of gentian. Large doses, either in substance or
decoction, produce vomiting and purging, and frequently power-
ful diaphoresis; in which respect it resembles many other vege-
table bitters. Formerly it was employed with benefit in inter-
mittent, and remittent fevers. Boerhaave was relieved from gout
by drinking the juice of the plant mixed with whey; while
Alston, and others, assert that it has the power of keeping off
the paroxysms of that painful complaint. Dr. Cullen speaks
still higher of its virtues, for he had seen several instances of its
good effects in some cutaneous diseases of the herpetic, or seem-
ingly cancerous, kind, when taken by infusion, in the manner of tea.
Others have commended it for rheumatism, dropsy, scurvy, and
worms; and its reputation in the north of Europe, particularly
in Germany, was at one time so high that it was consumed in
large quantities, and deemed a sort of panacea. Its true cha-
racter, however, is simply that of a powerful bitter tonic, like
gentian, and centuaryj to which, as Professor Bigelow observes,
it is closely related in its botanical habit, as well as sensible pro-
perties. Linneus informs us in his Flora Lapponica, that in
times of scarcity flocks w ill subsist upon this plant, notwithstand-
ing its bitterness; and Dr. Tancred ltobinson asserts, that sheep
which have acquired a tabid condition are quickly recovered by
feeding in the marshy meadows which abound with it. The
Laplanders employ it as a substitute for hops; and they even
introduce it in some instances into their bread, upon which
Linneus bestows the epithet, “ amaruset detestabilis.” We con-
clude in the words of Bigelow when speaking of the American
species : “ we may regard this plant as one of the numerous
bitters abounding in our country, which are fully equal in
strength to imported articles of their class, and which may here-
after lessen our dependence on foreign drugs. ’

.

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rf (link* j'M

LXXXVI

CHELIDONIUM MAJUS.

Common Celandine.

Class XIII. Polya ndria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Rhajadee:, Lin. Papaverace.e, Juss. De Cand. &c.
Rh.eadin.e Papaverace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx of 2 leaves, caducous. Petals
4. Pod superior, 1-celled, of 2 valves. Seeds

numerous, crested.

Spec. Char. Flowers sertulate. Leaves pinnatifid,
bluntly lobed and notched.

Syn. — Papaver corniculatum luteum, Chelidonia dictum, Raii Syn. 309. /3. FI.
Brit. 563.

Chelidonium majus, folio magis dissecto, Ger. Em. 1069 . f.

Chelidonium majus, foliis quernis, Bauh. Pin. 144; Mill. Ic. 61. t. 92. f.
2; FI. Dan. t. 6 76.

Chelidonium, n. 1059. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 13.

Chelidonium umbelliferum, Stokes Bot. Mat. Med. v. 3. p. 180.

Chelidonium majus, Lin. Sp. PI. 723; Willd. v. 2. 1141. FI. Br. 563;
Eng. Bot. v. 22. t. 1581 ; Hook. Scot. 167; Woodv. Sup. t. 263; De
Cand. Syst. v. 2. 98; Bull. Fr. t. 61; Fuchs. Hist. 865. f. Matth. Valgr.
v. 1.576. f. ; Camer. Epit. 402. f.

PnoviNciALLv. — Greater Celandine ; Swallow-wort ; Tetter-wort.

Common Celandine, or Greater Celandine, so named in contra-
distinction to Ranunculus Ficaria , Pilewort Crowfoot, which
was called by the old botanists Lesser Celandine, is a perennial
plant, growing wild in hedges and uncultivated grounds, espe-
cially on chalky soils, in Britain and other parts of Europe. It

were diminished to such a degree, that the organs of hearing and
vision were no longer capable of receiving impressions; he was
not able to stand, and died a very short time after. The stomach
contained a small quantity of a fluid excessively viscid, and of
a brownish colour ; the mucous membrane was of a bright red
throughout its whole extent, and of a blackish red in its folds ;
the intestinal canal was not altered ; the lungs were of a reddish
colour, crepitating, and appeared not to be affected.

2nd. At three o’clock, an incision was made in the inside of
the thigh of a small dog, and a drachm and a half of the watery
extract of Celandine dissolved in a small quantity of water, was
applied to the wound. At five, the animal experienced nothing
remarkable. The next day, at nine in the morning, he was found
dead. The digestive canal exhibited no sensible lesion ; the
wound was inflamed, and the lungs somewhat livid.

3rd. Four ounces of the juice of Celandine obtained from the
leaves, were introduced into the stomach of a dog of middle size ;
the oesophagus was tied. The animal made efforts to vomit,
moaned, and became insensible. He died ten hours after. The
mucous membrane of the stomach was inflamed, and the lungs
presented, here and there, livid patches, somewhat distended with
blood.

From the preceding facts it results : 1st. that Celandine and
its extract, produce serious symptoms, followed by death ; 2dly.
that their deleterious effects seem to depend on the local irrita-
tion they excite, as much as on their absorption and action on the
nervous system ; 3rd. that they appear to act on the lungs.

No remedy in the nature of an antidote has been proposed for
this poison, beyond evacuation, diluents, and the usual antiphlo-
gistic treatment.

Medical Piioperties and Uses. — Notwithstanding the
extravagant eulogiums that have been bestowed upon this acri-
monious plant by some of the modern, as well as ancient physi-
cians, it is rarely administered internally- The virtues attributed
to it are those of a stimulating aperient, diuretic, and sudorific.
It was formerly regarded as a powerful deobstruent, and sup-
posed to be particularly efficacious in the removal of obstructions

of the liver and other viscera, in promoting expectoration, in drop-
sies, and in the cure of intermittents, in herpetic eruptions, and
even in pulmonary consumption. Tragus greatly extols its virtues
in plague ; boiled in vinegar, with the addition of thenaca , he
affirms that it produced a profuse perspiration, and immediately
removed the disease. It is said to have obtained a considerable
reputation during the “ sweating sickness” in this country, in
which disease it was esteemed a specific. It must, how-
ever, be observed, that some writers have considered it a danger-
ous internal remedy, if too large a quantity be administered ;
it will consequently require great caution in its use, beginning
with small doses, and increasing them gradually. Some authors
recommend an infusion of it in wine, as the best preparation,
which will take off a great deal of its acrimony. Geoff roy pre-
scribes the following in cases of obstruction of the liver, and
suppression of the menses. Take of leaves of Celandine a hand-
ful, cream of tartar a drachm. Macerate them in six ounces of
whey ; to the strained liquor add an ounce of syrup of succory,
and make it into a draught to be taken on an empty stomach.
For the above syrup may be substituted advantageously that of
orange-peel ; but it is very evident, in our opinion, that the
dose is much too powerful. Ettmuller particularly recommends
the external application of the bruised plant for those oedematous
swellings of the feet, which succeed to violent fevers and other
severe diseases, especially long-continued tertian, or quartan
agues. The use of the orange-coloured juice in the jaundice,
was probably suggested by the absurd Rosicrucian doctrine of
signatures.

Joseph Miller, in his, “ Botanicum Officinale, or Compendious
Herbal, published in London, 1722, speaking of Celandine,
says, “it is aperitive and cleansing, opening obstructions of the
liver and spleen, and of great use in curing the jaundice and
scurvy. Some reckon it cordial, and a good antidote against the
plague. Some quantity of it is put into aqua mirabilis. Out-
wardly it is used for sore eyes, to dry up the rheum, and take
away specks and films, as also against tetters and ring- worms,
and scurfy breakings-out.”

Externally, the juice has been long known as a popular remedy
to destroy warts ; and is said to be very efficacious in stimulating
and healing old and indolent ulcers, speedily removing fungous
flesh, and restoring a great degree of activity to the torpid and
indolent granulations. For the removal of warts, the method
of applying it is, simply to break the stalk, and to touch
the part affected with the yellow' juice that exudes. Fa-
bricius Hildanus employed this juice successfully in opacities
of the cornea; while Ettmullcr, Geoffroy, and all the writers of
that day, attest its efficacy when diluted with milk or some
other bland fluid, in the removal of specks from that membrane.
A cataplasm formed of the bruised leaves, and stalks, w'as for-
merly supposed to bean infallible remedy in herpes, and has been
extolled for curing the itch.

Dose. — Of the dried root from ^ss to 5] is a dose ; of the fresh
root infused in w'ine or in water the dose may be about jss.

■■i I

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LXXXVII

HELLEBORUS ORIENT ALIS.

Oriental, or True Officinal Hellebore.

Gen. Char. Vide XI.

Spec. Char. Leaves pedate, hairy underneath.
Flower-stalks radical, with many flowers. Hracteas
deeply-lobed, serrated.

5i/«. — Helleborus niger orientalis, amplissimo folio, caule prtealto, flore purpurascente.
Tour. Cor. 20; Geojf'r. ii. 71. 76; Belton. 196.

Helleborus officinalis, Salsb. in Trans. Lin. Soc. v. 8. p. 305.

llelleborus Orientalis, Willd. Sp. PI. v. 3. 1337 ; Lamarck Diet. v. 3. 96 ;

De Cand. Syst. v. 1. 317 ; Sm. Prodr. FI. Griec. v. 1. fas. 6. p. 19.
Elleborenoir des Anciens, Tourn. Voyage, tom. ii. Let. xxi. p. 474.

We have great pleasure in being able to present our readers
with a correct figure of this rare plant, made from the most ad-
mirable drawing by Mr. Ferdinand Bauer for the Flora Graeca,
and published in vol. i. fasc. v. of that celebrated work. The
plant, as we have already observed, was gathered on Mount
Athos, Delphi, and Mount Olympus in Anatolia, on the hills,
near Thessalonia, and abundantly near Constantinople, by Dr.
Sibthorp, formerly Professor of Botany in the University of
Oxford. It is unquestionably the true eWeftopoQ jue\ar„ of Dios-
corides, and is named ^KaptftTj, by the modern Greeks, and by
the Turks Znpleme. Tournefort justly supposes his Helleborus
niger orientalis, amplissimo folio, caule prmalto, flore purpura-
scente, to be the Hellebore of the ancients, as he found it in the
island of Anticyra, famous for the production of this medicine.

The root is perennial, somewhat fleshy, black externally, and
surrounded with many very long, dark-coloured, simple fibres.

The stem is very tall, round, smooth, leafy, and of a purplish
colour. The radical leaves are stalked, very large, pedate, com-
posed of about nine elliptic, oblong, serrate, pointed lobes, of
a dark green colour on the upper surface, and paler, hairy, and
veined underneath ; those on the stem numerous, on roundish,
smooth foot-stalks, channelled above, sheathing at the base, and
slightly hairy below. The flower-stalks, which are axillary or
terminal, and accompanied by numerous fringed, serrated, leafy
bracteas, do not rise above the leaves, but are branched, bearing
five or six drooping, concave flowers, of a greenish or whitish
colour, turning purple as they fade. The petals are five, roundish,
concave, and persistent; the nectaries are numerous, placed in a
circle within the petals, deciduous, each of one leaf, tubular,
compressed, with a reflected lip, and their base attenuated. The
stamens are numerous, thread-like, with oblong anthers. The
germens, which are five, of an oblong shape, terminated by the
styles, become beaked pods, containing several seeds. — Fig. (a)
represents a perfect flower, with the petals removed ; (b) a single
petal, to show three of the nectaries at its base ; (e) the germens
attached to the receptacle.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The roots of this species
of Hellebore, formerly called Melampodium from their black
colour, are acrid and violently cathartic. They have been sup-
posed to be useful in maniacal cases, epilepsy, paralysis, hypo-
chondriasis, dropsies, and a variety of other diseases ; but as
the genuine oriental plant may not be easily accessible to us, it is
useful to know that the Ilelleborus viridis is the safest substitute
for it, though less active ; while the H. fatidus , which has
sometimes been used bv fraud or mistake, is more violent and
dangerous. We learn from Mr. Curtis, in his Flora Londinen-
sis, that great quantities of the roots of H. viridis are annually
sent up from the country, and used for the true black Hellebore.
It has also been conjectured that their qualities are the same;
for this species is more nearly allied to the ancient Greek plant
than the Ilelleborus fatidus. A full account of the Medical
properties and uses of Hellebore has been already given, under
Art. Helleborus niger , which, till lately, was supposed to be the
drug used by the ancients.

/ //<f n 'f

LXXXVIII

TAMARINDUS INDICA.

The Tamarind Tree.

Class XVI. Monadelphia. — Order I. Triandria.

Nat. Ord. Lomentace.e, Lin. Leguminos.e, Joss.
Cicerin.e, Cassiacee, C.esai.pinid.e, Burn.

Spec. Char. Calyx in four deep segments. Petals
three. Barren filaments six or seven. Style one.
Legume pulpy within.

Syn. — Tamnrindus, Ger. Tim. 1607 ; Park. Tlieatr. 207 ; Rail Hist. 1718; Run.]ik.
Amb. v. 2. 90. t. 23.

Taraarindns occidentalis, Gterln. Fruct. v.2. 310.

Siliqua Arabica, qum Tamarindus, Bank. Pin. 403.

Balanx-pulli, Rkeed Maleb. 1.39. £.23.

Tamnrindus indicn, Lin. Sp. PI. 48 ; Willd.v. 3.577 ; Jacq. Amer. 10. £. 10.
179./. 98 ; Woodu. v. 3. t. 166.

Fore ion. — Le Tamarinier ; Tumarin, Fr. ; Tamarindo, It. Sp. ; Tanuirinha, Tama -
rinheiro, Tamarino, Port. ; Der Tumarindenbaum, Ger. ; Tamarindenbotmt ;
Tamaryn, Dut. ; Tamarintrte, Dan.; Tumarintrad, Swed. : Tamer hemli,
Arab.; Balam-pulli ; Maderam-pulli, Malnb. ; Assam, Java; Cay me,
Cochin-ch.

The Tamarind-tree, the tetul of Upper Hindustan, is likewise
a native of Egypt and Arabia, as well as of the East Indies.
Tn the West India islands, where it has become naturalized, it is
cultivated for the sake both of its shade and its acid, cooling,
highly grateful fruit ; the pulp of which, mixed and boiled with
sugar, forms an important article of commerce. It is very
abundant in Jamaica, growing to a vast bulk, and thrives well
in the Savannahs, but most luxuriantly in a deep rich brick
mould. There is perhaps only one known species, the subject of
the present article; but the West Indian Tamarind, believed to
be only a variety of the East Indian one, differs so much in the
form of its fruit, and the number of its weeds, that by som
authors it is considered as specifically distinct.

VOL. II. l

Jelly 576

Citric acid 864

Tartaric acid 144

Malic acid 40

Feculent matter 2880

Water .3364

t

9752

Ann de. Chim. lxxiv. 303.

According to Ilatier, a spurious article is frequently sold for
the true tamarind.*

Medical Properties and Uses. — This fruit is cooling
and laxative : but while it gratefully allays the thirst of ardent
fever, it must be taken in large quantities to insure the latter
effect, and is then apt to produce flatulence. It is generally
added to cathartics that are given in infusion, with a view to
promote their activity, or to cover their taste, and is a useful
application to sore throats. The natives of India prepare a kind
of sherbet from it ; and the Yytians, like us, use it in their lax-
ative electuaries. A decoction of the acid leaves of the tree they
often employ externally, in cases requiring repellent fomenta-
tions, and in their colly ria; and, internally, they are supposed
by the Tamool doctors to be useful in jaundice. The stones of
the tamarind, which to the taste are very astringent, are pre-
scribed by the Vytians in dysenteric complaints, and for me-
norrhagia ; and in times of scarcity, after being divested of the
skin which covers them, by the processes of soaking and roast-
ing, they are boiled, or fried, and resembling in taste a field-bean,
are eaten by the poor of India. A decoction of the leaves is used
in the West Indies to destroy worms in children.

Off. Prep. — Confectio senna'. Land.

Eleetuarium sen me comp. E.

Infusum sennas comp. E.

Inf. senna' cum Tamarindis. D.

* II est rare aujourd’hui de trouver dans le commerce du veritable tamarin ; on
le f.Usitie avec la pulpo de pruneaux et l’acide tartrnjue: cette fraude est tres-diffi-
tile a reconn&itre. — Phurm. Franfaise, p. 138.

LXXXIX

I

CICUTA VIROSA.

Long-leaved, JVater Hemlock , or Cowbane.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order II. Digynia.

Nat. Ord. Umbellifer.e, ductorum, Angelicin.e, An-

GELICACE.E, Bum.

Gen. Char. Calyx with a 5-toothed slightly foliaceous
margin. Petals ob-ovate, or slightly heart-shaped.
Mericarps with 5 primary flattish equal ridges, and
the vallecules with single vittai that in the ripe fruit
are more prominent than the ridges. The seed taper.
The general involucre few leaved, or wanting, the
partial many leaved. Flowers white.

Spec. Char. Leaves twice fernate ; leaflets linear-
lanceolate, decurrent.

Syn. — Sium alturum olusatri facio, Ger. Em. 256./. ; Raii Syn. 212 ; Lob. Ic. 208./.
Sium aquaticum,foliis multifidis longis serratis, Moris , v. 3. 283. sect. 9. t. 5.
f. 4.

Sium eruc® folio, Bauh. Pin. 154; Dalech. Hist. 1094./.

C'icuta aquatica Gesneri, Bauh. Hist. v. 3. p. 2. 1 75./.

Conundrum Cicuta, Roth. Germ. v.l. 130. t>. 2. p. 1. 347.

Sium, n. 781. Hall. Hist. v. 1. 346.

Cicuta virosa, Lin. Sp. PI. 366; Willd. v. 1. 1445; FI. Brit. 322; Eng.
Bot. v. 7. t. 497 ; Hook. Scot. 92 ; IVoodv. Supjil. t. 268 ; Stokes, v. 2.
117; FI. Dan. t. 208.

I’noviNciALLY. — Long-leaved Watercresses ; Long-leaved Water Hemlock ; Poisonous
Cow-bane.

I'onEiGN. — La cicutaire aquatique ; La cigue aquatique, Fr. ; Cicuta aquatica, It.;

Cicuta acv.atica, Sp. ; Cegude aquatica, Port.; Der Wiilherich, der giftige
Wuterich: der Wasserschierling, Berstekraut, Ger.; Omeg, Omernik, Russ.

This plant has often been confounded with the Q/nanthe Phellan-
drium, in consequence of the same English name being applied
to both. In Weller’s work on poisonous vegetables, the old name
of the latter plant is mentioned as a synonym of the Cicuta virosa ,
and as a natural consequence of confounding the two, the account
of its properties, and effects, is made up from the history of both-
By referring to figure 10, vol. i. of our work, and comparing the

two plants, together with the botanical descriptions of each, their
specific differences will be readily distinguished, and the virtues
of each accurately ascertained.

This plant, which is much more powerful in its effects than
the Conium macula turn, is supposed by Haller and many others
to have yielded the celebrated Athenian poison :# and as goats
will not touch the common Hemlock, there is some reason to
think that it is the species referred to by Lucretius:

Videre licet pinguescerc saepe cicuta

Barbigeras pecudes, liominiquc est acre venenuin.

The Cicuta virosa is by far the most active of the poisonous
plants of Great Britain ; fortunately, however, for us, it is some-
what scarce, or at least, very local in this country. It grows in
several parts of England, in ditches, and by the sides of rivers
and lakes, flowering in July and August. Professor Hooker, in
his “ Flora Scotica ,” enumerates the following as its principal
stations in Scotland : the side of Loch-end, near Edinburgh ;
Pow Mill, Kinrosshire ; in marshes near Forfar Loch ; Otterton
Loch, Fifeshire ; about Mugdcch, Bardowie, and Douglaston
Lochs ; Loch near new Kilpatrick; and also near Glasgow,
where it occurs in great abundance.

The root is perennial, tuberous, hollow, with many whorled
fibres, and divided by transverse partitions into numerous cells.
The stem, like the root, is very large, hollow, leafy, branched,
furrowed, smooth, and rises to the height of three or four feet.
The leaves arc bi-ternate, of a bright green colour, and stand upon
long foot-stalks ; the radical ones pinnated ; the leaflets deeply
serrated, tapering at each end, from one to two inches long, and
more or less decurrent. The flowers are produced in large, many-
rayed umbels, partly terminal, and partly opposite to the leaves.
The general bracteas are linear, seldom more than one cr two,
and frequently entirely wanting; the partial ones numerous,
narrow, pointed, and unequal. The calyx consists of five ovate,
acute, somewhat unequal, permanent leaves. The flowers are

* Cicuta t]uo(jue venenum est, publica Atheniensium p&na invisa.

Pliny, 26. 13.

very small ; the petals five, white, nearly heart-shaped, and in-
curved at the apex ; the filaments are thread-shaped, spreading,
about the length of the corolla, supporting roundish anthers : the
germen hemispherical, ribbed ; the styles two, filiform, at first
short and erect, but subsequently elongated and spreading, with
obtuse stigmas. The fruit is roundish, smooth, 'and divisible into
two parts, having each one seed, convex, and marked with five
flatti sh plane ribs, and on the other, with three prominent vittae
in the vallecules, which afford an excellent generic character.
Fig. (a) represents the calyx ; ( b ) the calyx with the germen
and styles ; (c) a perfect flower.

Poisonous effects and morbid appearances. — This vio-
lent poison produces the following symptoms: — Dazzling, ob-
scurity of vision, vertigoes, cephalalgia, vacillating walk, agita-
tion, anxiety of the precordia, cardialgia, dryness of throat, ardent
thirst, eructations, vomiting of greenish matter, respiration fre-
quent and interrupted, tetanic contraction of the jaws, lipothy-
mia, sometimes followed by a state of lethargy, and coldness of
the extremities ; at other times a furious delirium, or attacks
more or less approaching to epilepsy, especially in children, and
young girls, which frequently terminate in death. In one or
two cases, swelling of the face has been noticed, with starting of
the eyes. The most serious derangement of the nervous system
has always been observed ; and has been more or less severe, in
proportion to the quantity that may have been taken ; unless a
part of the poison have been quickly ejected from the stomach.
Wepfer, who wrote a work entitled “ Historia Cicutae Aquati-
cae,-” narrates many cases of its effects on different men and ani-
mals. The following account is gleaned from his admirable
treatise, and subjoined to it is one of the cases, in his own words :

In the month of March, 1670, two boys and six girls found the roots
of this plant in a meadow, and upon tasting them, perceiving that they
were not unpleasant, all partook of them. The two boys, who ate a large
quantity, were soon after seized with pains of the precordia, loss of speech,
an abolition of all the senses, and terrible convulsions. The mouth was
so closely shut, that it could not be opened by any means. Blood was
forced from the ears, and the eyes were horribly distorted. Both the boys
died in half an hour from the first accession of the symptoms. The six
girls, who had taken a smaller quantity of the roots, were likewise seized
with epileptic symptoms, but in the intervals of the paroxysms some

Venice treacle dissolved in vinegar, was given them ; in conse juence of
wliichy they vomited and recovered: hut one, the sister of the boys who
died, after she had vomited, had a very narrow escape of her life ; she lav
nine hours with her hands and feet outstretched and cold. All this time
she had a cadaverous countenance, and her respiration could scarcely be
perceived. When she recovered, she complained a long time of pain in
her stomach, and was unable to cat any food; her tongue being much
wounded by her teeth, during the convulsive fits.

“ Jacobus Maeder, puer sex annorum, capillis albis praeditns, tetter,
vegetus tainen, domutn rediit hilaris ac subridens, quasi re bene gesta ;
pattlo post conquerebatur de pnecordiormn dolore, & vix verbitm efifatus,
iiumi prostratus urinam magno impetuad viri altitudinem eminxit ; mox
lerribili aspectit, cum omnium sensuum abolitione convulsus I'uit.os arctis-
sime clausit, ut nulla arte aperiri valuerit, dentibus slridebat, oculos mire
distorquebat, sanguis ex auribus promanabat : circa pnecordia tumidum
quoddam corpus pugni virilis magnitudine Patri safflicti manum & misc-
randi pueri prxccordia, inaxime circa cartilaginem ensiformem, validissime
feriebat : singultiebat crebro ; Vomiturus quandoque videbalur, nihil
tauten ore arctissime clauso ejicere valuit : anus mire jactabat & torque-
bat, saipius caput retrorsum abripiebatur, totumque dorsum incurvabatur
in arcum, utpuollus subtus per spatium inter dorsum & stratum inoflense
repere potuisset. Cessantibus convulsionibus per momentum matris
opein imploravit : mox pari ferocia illis redeuntibns nulla vellicatione,
nulla acclamatione, nullove alio ingenio excitari poterat, donee viribus
(leficientibusexjtalluit is: maim pectori admota exspiravit. Durarunt lime
symptomata vix ultra horatn dimidiam. Post obitum imprimis abdomen
&. facies intumuerunt absque livore, nisi pauco circa oculos conspicuo. Ex
ore cadavcris usque ad horatn sepulturae spuma viridis largissime emanavit
& quant vis stepius a Patre mcestissimo detersa fuisset, mox tameu nova
succedebat.”

Sehwcncke, a German writer, also gives an account of four
boys, who partook of this plant, three of whom died. The inter-
nal surface of the stomach was highly inflamed, and the brain
<ror<nxl with blood. lfoerhaave narrates some cases, where those

o o

who were vomited with the sulphate of zinc, recovered.

“Trois soldats allemands perirent cn moins d’une demi-heure
on trouva les membranes de I’estoniac perforecs cliez Pun des
trois, corrodees cliez les deux autres L’estomac etait rempli
d’une ecume blanchatre. Les intestines, les poumons, et le
cccur etaient flasques, et fletris, les vaisscaux veineux pleins d’mt
sang tres-fluide.” — L'Histoire de 1' Academic dcs Sciences de
Paris , a mice 1715.

Linnaeus, in Itis Flora Lapponica, gives a long account of a fa-
tality which bcfel the cattle, and which he was enabled to arrest,
by ascertaining the important fact, that it was entirely owing to
their eating the Oicuta virosa.

Treatment. — Sec Art. No. 1. Vol. i.

■

£

**^U5Z

' / tuts <n ///// <y/

_L_

GUAIACUM OFFICINALE.

Officinal Guaiacum, or Lignum Vita? .

Class X. Decandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Gkuinales, Lin. Rutace.-e, Juss.

Rutace^e, Zygophyi.lida:, Burn.

(Jen. Char. Calyx 5-cleft, unequal. Petals 5,
equal, filaments naked. Capsule angular, 2 to
5-celled.

Spec. Char. Leaves of two pair of elliptical obtuse
leaflets, peduncles geminate, fruit 2-celled.

Syn. — Arbor ligni sancti, vcl guaiacum, Seb. Thes. 1. p. 86. t. 53. f. 2.

Guaiacum Jamaicense, Pluk. Phyl. t. 53. f. 3, 4.

I.ignum Vitae, Sloane, Jam. v. 2. 134. t. 222. f.

Guaiacum officinale, Lin. Sp. PL. 546 ; Willd. 2. p. 538; Ail. Hort. Kew. v-
3. cd. 2. p. 83; IVoodv. v. 1. 43. t. 16 ; Stokes Bot. Mat. Med. v. 2. 486.
Foreign. — Le gayac officinal, Fr. ; Guaiaco, It.; Guayacan, guayaco, Sp.; Gnyaiaco,
Port. ; Das Franzosenholx ; Pockenholz ; Pokliout Framostrae, Dan. ;
Fransosenholts, Swed.; Bakant, Rus.

This tree, the wood of which is well known in England under
the name of Brazil wood, or Lignum vitce, is a native of Jamaica,
Hispaniola, and the warmer parts of America. It has been long
in use, and appears from the MSS. of Sir Hans Sloane, in the
British Museum, to have been first cultivated in this country by
the Duchess of Beaufort in 1099. It is said to flower from July
to September.

The tree rises to the height of thirty or forty feet, and is near
a foot in the diameter of its trunk, with numerous divaricated
knotty branches, leafy at the ends. The bark is very smooth,
variegated with green and white ; that of the branches being
uniformly ash- coloured, striated, and marked with fissures. The
wood is hard and ponderous, dark, olive-blown within, whitish

towards the bark, and has a peculiar acid aromatic scent. The
leaves are opposite, abruptly pinnate, consisting of two or three
pairs of ob-ovate or roundish, obtuse, entire, smooth, dark-green,
rigid, leaflets, various in size, with several radiating veins, and
nearly sessile. The flowers are pale blue, on simple, axillary,
clustered stalks, shorter than the leaves. The calyx consists of
five ovate-oblong, obtuse, concave, spreading deciduous leaves;
the two outer ones rather the smallest. The petals are five,
roundish, ob-ovate, concave, spreading, with short linear claws,
inserted into the receptacle. The stamens are ten, awl-shaped,
erect and villous, with oblong incumbent, cloven anthers, the
germen is obcordate, with a short awl-shaped style. The cap-
sule is somewhat turbinate, on a short stalk, smooth, succulent,
pale, ferruginous or yellow, with from two to five rounded,
slightly bordered angles, and as many cells bursting at the
angles, but two or three of the cells are frequently abortive. The
seeds are solitary, pendulous, ovate, convex on one side, angular
at the other, the albumen cartilaginous and chinky, the embryo
nearly straight with thickish cotyledons. — Fig. («) represents a
flower somewhat magnified ; ( b ) the calyx : (c) a stamen, with its
anther; (d) the germen ; (c) the capsule ; (/) a vertical section
of the same; (g) a transverse section.

Guaiacum is a barbarous name, derived from the Spanish one
Guaiac or Guayacau , which itself originated from Hoa.vacan , the
Mexican appellation of the plant.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The wood of
this tree, and the peculiar matter which it yields, are the parts
medicinally employed. The wood is hard and heavy, and is
much used for ship-blocks and for toys. It is nearly inodorous,
but has a warm, somewhat bitter taste; and its virtues depend
upon the resin-like substance which it contains. It is rasped
for medical use, but we are inclined to think that it yields little
of its powers to decoction.

The Guaiacine exudes spontaneously from the trunk and
branches of the tree ; and concreting, forms tears of a semi-pellucid
and pure nature. By making incisions in the month of May, greater
quantities flow, and after becoming hard, by exposure to the sun
and air, it is collected and packed in casks for exportation. Ano-

ther method for obtaining it, is by sawing the trunk and large limbs
into billets, about three feet long : an auger hole is then bored
lengthways in each, and the other end of the billet being put
in a fire, the melted matter flows into calabashes, placed pur-
posely to receive it. 13y boiling chips, or raspings of the wood
in water, with common salt, the Guaiac swims at the top, and
may be skimmed off. Sometimes it is adulterated with common
resin and the Machineel gum. The former is detected by its
smell, if heat be applied, and the latter “ by adding to the
alcoholic solution a few drops of sweet spirits of nitre, and dilut-
ing with water ; the guaiac is precipitated, but the adulteration
floats in white striae.”

Guaiacum was considered by chemists as a resin, till Mr. Hatchett
observed, that when treated with nitric acid it yielded products very
different from those of resinous bodies. This induced Braude to examine
its chemical properties in detail. To his valuable paper we are indebted
for almost all the accurate information which we possess respecting its
chemical nature.

“ Guaiacum is a solid substance, resembling a resin in appearance.
Its colour differs considerably, being partly brownish, partly reddish,
and partly greenish ; and it always becomes green when left exposed to
the light in the open air. It lias a certain degree of transparency, and
breaks with a vitreous fracture. When pounded it emits a pleasant
balsamic smell; but has scarcely any taste, although when swallowed
it excites a burning sensation in the throat. When heated it melts,
and diffuses at the same time a pretty strong fragrant odour. Its spe-
cific gravity is 1 2289.

“ When guaiacum is digested in j cater a portion of it is dis-
solved, the water acquiring a greenish-brown colour and a sweetish
taste. rl'be liquid, when evaporated, leaves a brown substance, which
possesses the properties of extractive ; being soluble in hot water and
alcohol, but scarcely in sulphuric ether, and forming precipitates with
muriates of alumina, tin, and silver. This extractive amounts to about
nine parts in the hundred of guaiacum.

“ Alcohol dissolves guaiacum with facility, and forms a deep
brown- coloured solution. Water renders this solution milky bv sepa-
rating the resin. Muriatic acid throws down the guaiacum of an ash-
grey, and sulphuric acid of a pale-green colour. Acetic acid, and the
alkalies occasion no precipitate. Liquid chlorine throws it down of a
fine pale-blue, which does not change when dried. Diluted nitric acid
occasions no change at first ; but after some hours the liquid becomes
green, then blue, and at last brown, and at that period a brown co-
loured precipitate falls down. If water be mixed with the liquid when
it has assumed a green or a blue-colour, green and blue precipitates
may be respective! v obtained.

“ Sulphuric ether dues not act so powerfully pn guaiacuin as al-
cohol. The solution obtained by means of it, exhibits the same pro-
perties when treated with re-agents as that in alcohol.

“ The alkaline solutions, both pure and in the state of carbon-
ates, dissolve gnaiaeum with facility. Two ounces of a saturated so-
lution of potash dissolved about 05 grains of guaiacuin ; the same
quantity of ammonia only 25 grains; or guaiacuin dissolves in about
15 parts of potash, and 08 parts of ammonia. Nitric acid threw down
from these solutions a brown precipitate, similar to what is obtained
when the alcoholic solution is mixed with the same acid. Muriatic
acid, and diluted sulphuric acid, throw down a flesh-coloured curdy
precipitate, which in its properties approaches the nature of extrac-
tive.

“ Most of the acids act upon guaiacuin with considerable energy.
Sulphuric acid dissolves it, and forms a deep-red liquid, which de-
posits while fresh a lilac-coloured precipitate when mixed with water.
When heat is applied the guaiacuin is charred.

“ Nitric acid dissolves guaiacuin completely without the assistance
of beat, and with a strong eflervescence. When the solution is evapo-
rated, it yields a very large quantity of oxalic acid. No artificial
tannin appears to be formed, but rather a substance possessing the
properties of extractive.

“ Diluted nitric acid converts guaiacuin into a brown substance,
similar to the precipitate obtained by nitric acid from the alcoholic
solution of guaiacuin. This brown matter possesses the properties of
a resin.

“ Muriatic acid acts but slightly, as the guaiacuin soon melts into a
blackish mass, which is not acted upon.

“ When guaiacuin is distilled, 100 parts of it yielded to Mr.
Brando the following products :

Acidulous water 5-5

Thick brown oil 24‘5

Thin empyreuinatic oil 30*0

Charcoal 305

Cases, consisting of carbonic acid, and

carburetled hydrogen 9 0

Lo.s 0-5

1000

The coal, when incinerated, left three grains of lime, but no alkaline
substance.

Such are the properties of guaiacuin, as far as they have been
hitherto ascertained. From the preceding detail, it is obvious that
guaiacuin in many respects coincides with the resins : hut it differs
from them in three particulars so remarkable, that we cannot avoid
considering it as a distinct substance. The first ol these is the great
quantity of charcoal which it leaves when distilled in close vessels.
This Mr. Braude found to amount to above 30 per cent. ; while the re-

sins, in like circumstances, hardly ever leave more than 15 per cent,
of charcoal, and often not nearly so much. It is possible, however,
and indeed not improbable, that this difference is to be ascribed to the
different degrees of heat employed. The second peculiarity is the action
of nitric acid on guaiacum. This acid docs not dissolve the resins
without the assistance of heat, but converts them into a brown brittle
mass ; whereas it dissolves guaiacum completely. The action of this
acid on the resins terminates in the formation of artificial tannin,
whereas its action on guaiacum terminates in the formation of oxalic acid.
This striking difference is alone sufficient to warrant a separation of
guaiacum from the resins. The third peculiarity is the remarkable
suite of changes of colour which guaiacum undergoes when its solutions
are treated with nitric acid, and chlorine. Dr. Wollaston first observed
that guaiacum becomes gTeen when exposed to light, provided air
have access to it ; and that the colour is again removed by the appli-
cation of heat. Hence it is probable that oxygen occasions the change.
This opinion is much strengthened by the experiments of Mr. Braude.
When guaiacum was put in contact with oxygen gas, it became green
sooner than in the open air. When put into chlorine gas it became
first green, then blue, and lastly brown ; and ammonia, when left in
contact with it, restored again its green colour. In like manner, by
treating the alcoholic solution of guaiacum with nitric acid, green,
blue, and brown precipitates are obtained, according to the length of
time that the acid is allowed to act upon it. These facts give conside-
rable plausibility to the opinion of Mr. Brande, that the changes of
colour are owing to the combinations of oxygen with the guaiacum ;
that, the green contains the least, and the brown the most oxygen,
while the blue is intermediate. Thus guaiacum in its changes of co-
lour, bears some resemblance to indigo. Mr. Brande has remarked a
coincidence also between guaiacum and the green resin of the leaves of
plants.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The Guaiacum wood
was first employed by the natives of St. Domingo as an antidote
against lues venerea. The Spaniards soon acquired a knowledge
of its virtues, and introduced it into Spain as early as the year
1501. The fame of this new remedy was diffused with such
celerity through the other parts of Europe, that according to the
testimony of Nicholas Poll, more than three thousand diseased
persons had derived permanent benefit from the use of it, before
the year 1517.*

A decoction of this wood, made with water, and sometimes
with wine,*f- was administered under every form, and during

* Aphrodisaicus Aloys. Luisini. Ed. Lugd. 1738.
t Lud. Septalii. Animad. Lib. vii.

every period of the disease; the physicians directing at the same
time purgative medicines, at proper intervals ; confinement to
the house ; vapour baths ; and an appropriate course of diet, which
was commonly dictated with a tedious exactness, bearing the sig-
nature of superstition rather than of medical science. This pro-
c ess continued during six weeks, and often for a longer time,
with such occasional variations as new circumstances might sug-
gest, was long regarded as the most safe and efficacious mode
of treating patients afflicted with syphilis.

1 he advantages which were connected with this method of
cure, were so commonly believed and acknowledged, that during
a considerable period of time, the exhibition of mercury was not
only discontinued, but the practice was publicly censured, as in-
efficacious and prejudicial. Many of the most eminent writers
of the sixteenth century contended that Guaiac was a true speci-
fic, having the power of correcting the qualities of the venereal
poison, and of expelling it out of the system ; and this opinion
was revived, and ably supported in the eighteenth century, by a
man whose capacity, learning, and medical science, added lustre
to the country and period in which he flourished.*

Those favourable reports of the virtues of Guaiacum, which
maintained their credit through more than two centuries, were
not founded merely on the frail basis of partiality, or preposses-
sion ; they were supported by well-attested narratives of its good
effects in great numbers of instances, where no mercury had
been employed, or when that medicine had done no permanent
good ; or when the patients had suffered from it, instead of find-
ing advantage. Yet, notwithstanding the numerous and respect-
able testimonies which were adduced in proof of the efficacy of
this vegetable, its most strenuous advocates were obliged to con-
fess, that Guaiacum was frequently administered in vain. The
disappointments which medical practitioners often experienced
when they had relied on Guaiacum alone, as a specific remedy,
introduced again the more frequent use of mercury ; and, as this
active medium was soon employed with more caution and judg-
ment than formerly, a very important change in the mode of

Boerhaave, Prefat. ad Aphrodisiac.

{

treating lues venerea was established. Nevertheless, so firmly
were the generality of physicians persuaded of the anti-venereal
virtues of Guaiacuin, that the same men who contended foi the
necessity of a nominal salivation, maintained that this vegetable
was not a less real, though not quite so potent an antidote.*

“ When I was intrusted with the care and management of the
Lock Hospital in 1781,” says Mr. Pearson, “ I observed, that
Mr. Bromfield and Mr. Williams had been long accustomed to
repose great confidence in the medicinal powers of a decoction of
the Guaiacum wood ; and that a method somewhat similar to
that proposed by Ulric Hulten,+ and strongly recommended by
Boerhaave, had been adopted in the hospital during many years.
The patients for whom it was directed, were those who had pre-
viously used the ordinary quantity of mercury, but who com-
plained of nocturnal pains; who had nodes, ozaena, and such
other effects of the venereal virus, connected with secondary
symptoms, as did not yield to a course of mercurial frictions.
The diet of these patients consisted of Yaisins, and hard biscuit ;
they drank from two to four pints of the decoction of Guaiacum
every day; they were ordered to use the hot bath twice in the
week ; and they commonly took a dose of antimonial wine, anil
laudanum, or of Dover’s powder, every evening.

“ It was not thought necessary, however, to confine such patients
to their beds; and they were seldom exposed to the vapour of
burning spirit to excite perspiration ; for it was deemed sufficient
to produce and support a moist state of the skin, without urging
the process so far as to occasion profuse sweating. This plan of
treatment was sometimes of singular advantage to those whose
health had sustained injury from the complicated operation of the
disease, combined with confinement, and a long course of mer-
cury. The breaches made in the constitution were repaired; the
strength recruited ; untractable ulcers were frequently healed ;
carious bones exfoliated ; and those anomalous symptoms which
would have been exasperated by mercury, yielded readily to the
decoction of Guaiacum. In tracing carefully the history of this

* Brassavolus, Fallopius, See.

t De Morbi Gallici curatione per administrationem Ligni Guaiaci.

once celebrated remedy, nothing can be more evident than this,
that it was administered to persons afflicted with very different
forms of disease. One numerous class of patients consisted of
those, who having used mercury according to the severe, and
often injudicious mode which was practised two centuries ago,
found themselves harassed with pains, nodes, ulcers, and several
other symptoms, from which they were finally relieved by a course
of Guaiacum. Hence it was concluded that this medicine was
superior, as an antidote to mercury. Another class adopted the
Guaiacum course from the first attack of their disease, and de-
riving sensible benefit, hastily presumed that a cure was accom-
plished; but, although their frequent relapses might have shaken
their confidence, yet, as the renewal of their Guaiacum course-
mitigated the violence of their symptoms, and often produced
considerable appearances of amendment, they preferred this pal-
liative method of proceeding, to the more distressing concomi-
tants of a course of mercury.

“ In addition to these observations, it may be further suggested,
without any violation of candour, or of respect to our predeces-
sors, that at a time when the natural history of Lues Venerea
was so imperfectly understood, many morbid appearances totally
unconnected with that poison, were nevertheless referred to it;
and that the cure of such mistaken symptoms would contribute
greatly to augment the fame of the remedy. When it is there-
fore considered, that the good effects of Guaiacum are not abso-
lutely confined to those cases, where a quantity of mercury, suf-
ficient to destroy the syphilitic virus has been introduced into
the system; but, that it may operate like a true antidote, sus-
pending for a time the progress of certain venereal symptoms,
and removing other appearances altogether; when subsequent
experience nevertheless evinces, that the subdued virus yet
remains active in the constitution ; we shall be competent to the
explanation of many of those contradictory assertions which
abound in writers upon this subject.

“ This decoction, (continues Mr. Pearson,) excites a grateful
sensation of warmth in the stomach ; it gives a sense of dryness
to the mouth, and creates a thirst; it also increases the natural

temperature of the skin, anil renders the pulse more frequent.
If the patient drink the decoction warm, and lie in bed, it gene-
rally proves moderately sudorific; and this effect may be height-
ened as much as we please, by employing the hot bath, the
vapour bath, antimonials combined with opium, or Dover’s
powder. When the decoction has been continued during ten or
twelve days, in the quantity of four pints each day, the patient
often complains of heart-burn, accompanied with flatulence; and
he is usually costive during the whole course. If the person ex-
pose himself freely to the air while he is taking this medicine, the
secretion of urine will be augmented ; but no sensible alteration
will take place in the state of the skin. When I have exhibited
the decoction in pains of the bones, confining the patient to
bed, and enjoining a diet consisting of fluids only, I have rarely
seen any beneficial consequences result from the use of it, except-
ing when it acted as a sudorific: and, in this respect, I think
its qualities manifestly inferior to antimony or volatile alkali. In
several instances, after persisting in a course of it during four or
five weeks, I have not gained any material advantage, and I have
remarked, that when the dolores ostocopi were not connected
with some morbid alteration of the structure of a part, this medi-
cine was of little avail. When the strength and vigour have been
reduced by a successful mercurial course, with confinement to
the house, and when a thickened state of the ligaments, or of the
periosteum, remains, or where there are foul, indolent ulcers,
these sores will often heal, and the enlarged membranes will sub-
side, during the administration of this decoction. It will often
suspend the progress of certain secondary symptoms of Lues
Venerea for a short time; such as, ulcers of the tonsils, venereal
eruptions, and even nodes: but, I never saw one single instance
in which the powers of this medicine eradicated the disease. I
have been recommended by many people to combine Guaiacum
with mercury, with the intention of improving the specific power,
and of counteracting the injurious effects of that mineral. The
advantages to be derived from this compound mode of treatment
are by no means well established: for Guaiacum is certainly no
antidote against syphilis ; nor have any proofs been given to the
public of its ameliorating the action of mercury. When the de-
void u.

M

coction is given during the mercurial course, it sometimes seems
to improve the health ; but, as it is very liable to produce com-
plaints in the stomach and bowels, the palpable inconveniences
commonly surpass the uncertain disadvantages connected with
it; and as no previous course of the decoction renders the disease
milder, nor authorises us to rest satisfied with a smaller quantity
of mercury than usual, it will seldom happen that a satisfactory
reason can be assigned, for giving the two medicines at the same
time.

“ In concluding, 1 would remark, that I have given the decoction
of Guaiacum with the best effects to a great number of patients
in cutaneous diseases, in ozaena, and in scrofulous affections
of the membranes and ligaments, and it appears to me, that it is
equally efficacious in such morbid alterations, which are not
at all connected with Lues Venerea, nor with the mode of treat-
ing it, as in those cases for which it has been most highly cele-
brated.11 To sum up the virtues of Guaiac, it may be said that
it is a stimulating medicine ; proving diaphoretic in a dose of a
scruple, or half a drachm; purgative, in large doses; and when it
fails to act on the skin, it increases the secretion of urine. It is fre-
quently employed in chronic rheumatism, to excite perspiration ;
or in smaller doses still, to keep up a gentle determination to the
skin. Combined with opium, its sudorific effects are increased ;
and the decoction of the wood is said to increase the power of
senna, and to prevent its griping. It is either given in sub-
stance in the form of a bolus, or diffused in water by the
medium of mucilage. The volatile tincture is more highly stimu-
lating than the simple, and is more generally employed. In full
doses, it is said to prevent the formation of that membranous
substance which is thrown off by the uterus, and which is often
found to accompany the Paramenia difficilis of Dr. M. Good.
Off. Prep. Decoctum Sarsaparillae comp. L. D.

Decoctum Guaiaci comp. E.

Mistura Guaiaci. L.

Tinctura Guaiaci. L.E.D.

Tinctura Guaiaci Annnoniata. L. E. D.

Pulvis Aloes comp. L. D.

Pilulae Hydrargyri Sub-muriatis comp. L.E.

WteUhit / v f

XCI

ARBUTUS [ARCTOSTAPHYLOS] UVA URSI.

Trailing Arbutus , or Red Bear-berry.

Class X. Decandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Bicornes, Lin. Eric.e, Juss.

Erice.e, De Cand. Ericace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-parted. Corolla ovate, pellucid
at the base. Berry superior, 5-celled.

Spec. Char. Stems procumbent. Leaves entire, ever-
green.

Syn. — Vaccinia ursi, sive Uva ursi apud Clusium, Ger. Em. 1416.

Vaccinia rubra, foliis myrtinis crispis, Rail Syn. 457 ; Merr. Pin. 123.

Vitis Idaia, foliis carnosis et veluti punctatis, Bauh. Pin. 470.

Uva Ursi, Clus. llist. v. 1. 63./. ; Lob. Obs. 547; /. ; 1c. 366. f.

Arbutus, n. 1018 ; Hall. Hist. v. 1. 434.

Arbutus Uva ursi, Sp. PI. Willd. v. 2. 618; FI. Brit. 443; Eng. Bot. v. 10.
t. 714 ; Hook. Scot. 126 ; rVooda. v. 1. t. 70 ; Ft. Dan. t. 33.

Piiovincially.— Bear-berries ; Bear W hor tie-berries. Braoileagna-na-con, of the
Scottish Highlanders.

Foreign. — La bouserolle on I'arbousier trainant, vulg. le Raisin d’ours, Fr. ; Corbez-
solo uva U’orso, It. ; Uba d’oso ; ubaduz, gayuba, gayubera, ayauja, avitjes,
Sp. ; Uva de orso, Port. ; Die Bdrentrav.be , die Hdrcnbeere, die Mehlbeere,
Ger.; Meelbar-Riis, Dan.; Mjulon, Swed. ; Beerendruif, Dut. ; Tolokn-
jaiika, Russ.

This pretty evergreen shrub is met with both in the old and
new continents; for, in the northern parts of Europe, it abounds
in Sweden. Lapland, and Iceland ; it is extensively diffused over
Scotland and the north of England, and extends southerly to
the shores of the Mediterranean. It is also found in Siberia,
and is represented as abundant on the banks of the Wolga;
while in North America it grows from Hudson’s Bay, as far south
as the central parts of the United States.

With us, it occurs only in dry, stony, subalpine moors, cover-
ing the ground with beds of considerable extent, at the height of
1,500 feet and upwards above the level of the sea. It is common
throughout the Highlands, and Western Islands of Scotland, and

abounds at Duukeld and Blair, the scats of the Duke of Athol,
in Perthshire. It is the plant mentioned in Ray’s Synopsis, p.
458, as found by Mr. Llnvyd, growing plentifully in the isle of
Mull, at the end next Y-Columb-kill, for the space of several
miles. It was perceived many years ago by Lightfoot, at the
top of East common wood, about a mile from Hexham, in Nor-
thumberland; and is said by Mr. Winch to flourish on Cronk-
ley Fell, and Blanchland in the same county, at an elevation of
200 to 2,000 feet.*

The root is perennial, long, and fibrous ; sending off several
round, woody, branched, spreading, procumbent stems, covered
with a smooth deciduous bark. The leaves are not unlike those
of the Box, alternate, evergreen, obtuse, ob-ovate, entire, attached
by short stalks, coriaceous, smooth, convex, dark green, and
wrinkled above ; concave, finely reticulated and paler beneath,
with the margin rounded, and in the young ones pubescent.
The flowers which are produced in June, grow in small clusters
at the extremities of the branches, each supported on a short red
footstalk, and furnished with many acute coloured bractcas.
They are usually five or six on each branch, drooping,
and of a pale rose-red colour. The calyx is small, obtusely 5-
toothed, and persistent. The corolla is ovate, smooth, transpa-
rent at the base, contracted at the mouth, with five short reflexed
segments. The filaments are awl-shaped, downy, inserted at the
base of the corolla, and crowned with reddish incumbent anthers,
of two oval cells, opening by two terminal pores, and bearing a
pair of short horns or spurs. The germen is roundish, bearing
a cylindrical erect style, the length of the corolla; with a simple
stigma. The fruit is a small, globular, smooth, depressed scarlet
berry, containing a mealy pulp of an austere taste, and four or
five angular seeds. Fig. (a) represents the calyx ; ( b ) a flower
cut open to show the stamens ; (c) a stamen, with its anther ;
(d) the berries ; (e) a berry divided transversely, to show' the
seeds.

The plants of this genus arc very nearly allied to those of the

* Sec a paper on the Geography of Plants in the Annuls of Philosophy,
May 1U 18.

Vaccinium, or Wh or tie-berry, from which they differ principally
in the situation of the berry, which in the Arbutus grows above
the calyx; and in the Vaccinium below it. rihe present species
may be distinguished from the Arbutus alpina , or Black Bear-
berry, by the figure of the leaves, which in the former are smooth,
and entire, while in the latter they are rugged, and serrated.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The leaves of
this plant, which are the parts used in medicine, are slightly
bitter, and astringent to the taste. The result of Dr. Bigelow’s
chemical trials with them, shows that they abound in tannin. A
solution of jell v occasioning a copious precipitate ; sulphate of iron
an equally copious one of a black colour. Nitrate of mercury gives
a precipitate of a light green colour: lime-water, of a brownish
colour. The existence of gallic acid is somewhat problematical ;
and the quantity of resin, mucous matter, and extractive, pro-
vided they reside in the plant, must be minute; since the decoc-
tion is not rendered turbid by the addition of alcohol, or ether,
nor the tincture by the addition of water. Muriate of tin pro-
duced no precipitation from the decoction, though it did from
the tincture. Acetate of lead, and nitrate of silver, gave large
precipitates. Water takes up a larger portion of soluble matter
than alcohol, and may therefore be considered the best men-
struum. Professor Murray, of Gottingen, prefers the decoction
to the infusion for medical purposes.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The Arbutus Uva-ursi
is supposed by Clusius to be the apKrov of Galen, cele-

brated by him as a remedy in haemoptysis, and described as fol-
lows: “ Uva-ursi in Ponto nascitur, planta humilis et fruticosa,
folio Memaecyli, fructum ferens rubrum, rotundum, gustu au-
sterum.” But this description is too imperfect to satisfy us as to
the identity of the plant.

As a diuretic, uva-ursi has been much employed for calculous
affections, especially when attended by 'purulent discharges. De
llaen speaks very favourably of it in such cases; and as it has
a tendency rather to decrease arterial action, than to augment it,
it may be exhibited in almost every state of the system, and in

nearly every variety of the diseases of the urinary organs. To its
great eflicacy in some of these affections, Ferrier gives his de-
cided testimony. “ I have,” says he, “ given this medicine in a
considerable number of nephritic affections in very moderate
doses, and always with manifest advantage. When the pain is
very acute, and the pulse quick, I begin the cure with bleeding,
and a gentle purgative composed of manna, and neutral salts.
This purgative I repeat twice a week, and on the intermediate
days direct the patient to take five grains of the uva-ursi, and
half a grain of opium, three or four times a day, according to the
urgency of the symptoms. This method always relieves, and gene-
rally effects a cure. Of sixteen patients treated in this manner,
I have discharged twelve cured. On reckoning the cures, I do
not rest on the cessation of a single fit, but require a permanent
relief from pain. Many of my patients have used this remedy
for several months together, before this end was attained. The
fits became slighter, and at length ceased.”

Conjoined with soda it is an admirable remedy for catarrhus
vesicae and for strangury, arising from blisters. It is frequently
resorted to for diabetes, and after the febrile symptoms which
usually attend that disease, have been reduced by copious
bleeding, purging, and other preliminary measures, the uva-ursi
imparts tone to the stomach, and frequently mitigates this parti-
cular affection of the kidneys, it was at one time supposed to
be useful in calculous cases, and experiments were instituted to
ascertain whether it were not capable of dissolving stone in the
bladder. The results most in favour of its solvent power, were
those of Girardi, who diminished the weight and consistency of
urinary calculi, by digesting them in a preparation of this plant.
It appears, however, that the preparation which he employed
was an acid liquor, obtained by a destructive distillation of the
leaves, and probably not superior to other weak acids in its sol-
vent powers. On the other hand, Professor M urray found, what
might reasonably be expected, that these calculi were not mate-
rially affected by long digestion in a decoction of this plant, at
various temperatures. Professor Barton found the plant of great

service in his own case of nephritic paroxysms, alternating with
o-out in the feet : and in those which were brought on by gravelly

O

concretions, the uva-ursi appeared to Professor Bigelow to allay
irritability, and to hasten the relief of the symptoms.

It was in consequence of its apparent virtue in counteracting
a protracted disease of the urinary passages, attended with ema-
ciation, and all the characteristics of hectic fever, that Dr-
Bourne, of Oxford, was induced to make trial of its efficacy in
phthisis pulmonalis, and other affections rendered in some
measure analogous to genuine pulmonary consumption, by
the decided existence of hectic irritation. After a recital of
the case above alluded to, Dr. Bourne, in his work, minutely
details the symptoms, and method of treatment in sixteen sepa-
rate cases, which are arranged under four general heads. The
first eight are supposed to be instances of “ true pulmonary con-
sumption in its first stage the ninth, tenth, and eleventh of this
disorder in a confirmed state, attended with purulent expectora-
tion ; the two succeeding, some affections of the lungs attended
with expectoration of pus, but which, nevertheless, were not ge-
nuine phthisis ; and the three last were cases of hectic, in which
the lungs appeared not to be primarily affected, or not at all. In
the majority, however, of the above cases, the uva-ursi was not
had recourse to without auxiliary combinations, and in some in-
stances its employment was for a time entirely suspended. In
the cases which are recited in the Appendix, the medicine ap-
pears to have received a fairer trial, and to have been attended with
more decided effects. Extreme candour and moderation pervade
the pages of Dr. Bourne’s work ; and although our own experience
of uva-ursi in pulmonary affections does not authorize an opinion
independently of that formed by a perusal of this book, Mr. Davie,
of Framlingham, Suffolk, has given cases of its decidedly cura-
tive powers ; and there can be little doubt of its being capable of
allaying irritability of system ; for, according to experiments
instituted on the pulse by Dr. Mitchell, of Philadelphia, the
beats were sometimes, not always, slightly increased after taking

it, but in every case they soon sunk below the natural standard,
and remained so for some time.

Of the powder of the leaves of uva-ursi, from one to two
scruples may be given to most patients ; and of a decoction,
made from half an ounce of the leaves, boiled for ten mi-
nutes in a pint of water, a wine-glass-full may be taken every
hour.

A 't(j t //a/uz/.

?

TKJdiU.tr

XCII

CITRUS MEDICA.

The Lemon Tree.

Spec. Char. Petioles linear. Leaves ovate, acumi-
nate.

Varieties or Modern Species.

C. Medica. ( The Citron.) Branches spiny ; petioles naked, leaves ob-
long, obtuse ; flowers with 35 — 40 stamens ; fruit oblong, wrinkled,
rind thick, pulp acid.

C. Limetta. [The Lime.) Petioles subalate, leaves ovate-roundish, ser-
rate ; flowers with 30 stamens ; fruit globose, with a blunt mastoid
apex, a firm rind, and a sweet or acid pulp.

C. Limonum. {The Lemon.) Petioles subalate, leaves ovato-oblong,
very blunt and unequally crenulate ; flowers with 25 — 35 stamens,
usually without styles ; fruit oblong, with a very thin rind, and a very
acid pulp.

Syn. — Malus Medica, Bank. Pin. 435.

Citrus Limon, Brown Jam. 309. n. 6; Lourier. Cochin-chin. 465; Sloane Jam.

2 187 ; Lamarck. Must. t. 639. f. 2.

Lima acris Ferr. Hesp. 331. f. 333.

Citrus Medica, Lin. Sp. PI. 1100, Willd. 3. 1426 ; Raii. Hist. 1654; Ger. Em.

1462 ; Wood v. t. 184.

Foreign. — Limonier, Fr. ; Limone, It.; die Limone, Ger.

Though the Lemon-tree, as well as the Orange, has long been
successfully cultivated in the West Indies and the South of
Europe, it is, originally, a native of Asia, whence it was
brought into Greece and Italy. The citron and the lime were
once considered as mere varieties of the Lemon, differing chiefly
in the form and qualities of the fruit; but Dr. Roxburgh, in the
Hortus Bengalensis, seems to regard the lime as a distinct species,
under the name of Citrus acida , [now Limetta ,] and modern au-
thorities distinguish the lemon specifically from the citron, calling
the latter C. Medica , and the former C. Limonum. We, however,
have let the old nomenclature remain, as it is the most generally
received, and especially as it is at present retained in our national
pharmacopaeias, and perhaps the fruits are sufficiently distinguish-
ed when considered as mere varieties under the names of Citrus

VOL. II.

N

Medina Cedra, C. M. Limetta, and C . M. Limonum. The
citrons, lemons, and limes, have linear petioles, wingless, or
scarcely dilated at their edges, a character by which they may
readily be distinguished from the orange and the shaddock, which
have winged leaf-stalks. Both the citron and the lime appear to
have been well known to the Romans in the days of Virgil and
Pliny ; though their propagation and culture were then but little
understood. The latter writer, in his 13th book, chap.iii., speaking
of fruit trees, says: “ I will begin with that, which of all others
is the most wholesome, the citron-tree, called also the Assyrian-
tree, and by some the Median-apple ; the fruit is a counter-poi-
son, and singular antidote against all venom : the leaves, he
says, are like those of the arbutus, and the tree is armed with
thorns. The pome-citron,” he continues, “ is not good to be
eaten as a fruit, but is very odoriferous, as are the leaves,
which are used to be put in wardrobes among apparel, to give a
perfume, and to drive away moths and spiders.” “ This tree,” he
adds, “ bears fruit at all times of the year, for when some fall,
others begin to ripen, and some to blossom. Many have tried to
transplant the trees into their own country ; and for this pur-
pose they have had pots made, and enclosed them well with
earth ; but for all the care and pains taken about them, to make
these trees grow in other countries, yet would they not forget
Media and Persia, and liking no other soil, would soon die.11

The Lemon-tree is a beautiful evergreen, attaining, in warm
countries, the height of twenty feet or more, but in our hot-
houses seldom exceeding the size of a large shrub. The leaves are
stiff, like those of the laurel ; alternate, ovate-oblong, pointed,
three or four inches long, of a bright green colour, shining, smooth,
serrated or crenulated and the plane articulated with the petiole,
which is very slightly winged or without an appendage to the
foot-stalk, it being linear. The flowers, which appear the greater
part of summer, are large, white, odoriferous, and placed on
simple, or branched peduncles, arising from the smaller branches.
The petals, calyx, filaments, germen, and other parts of inflo-
rescence, resemble those of the orange, which has been already
described. The germen is oval, and becomes an oblong berry,
with a nipple-like protuberance at the end ; it is externally of a

straw-yellow colour, internally divided into many cells, usually
nine, but sometimes only seven or eight, containing four seeds in
each, and filled with vesicles abounding in an extremely acid
juice. The rind, like that of the orange, consists of two coats,
or layers; the exterior coat thin, yellow, and containing, in
minute cryptae, a very fragrant oil ; the interior thicker, whitish,
and coriaceous. Our figure was made from a specimen which
grew in the Botanic Garden, Chelsea. — Fig. (a) represents the
stamens, &c. ; ( h ) the calyx removed to show the germen and
style ; (c) a transverse section of the fruit to show the cells,
which, in this individual instance, were eight in number.

Varieties. — The Lemon-tree was cultivated in the Botanic
Garden at Oxford in 1648, and is common in our green-houses ;
where, under proper management, it produces large and ripe fruit.
There are several varieties of Lemon, which in our catalogues
are usually reduced to two classes : 1. The egg-shaped lemons,
with blunt nipples ; and, 2. The oblong lemons, with large nip-
ples; to which must be added the monstrous fingered lemon —
the phat-thn of the Chinese. The most remarkable sub-varieties
are the sweet-lemon, plain and variegated ; the pear-shaped ; the
imperial ; the lemon called Adam’s Apple; the furrowed fruited ;
the childing ; the Gaeta ; the wax ; the long-fruited ; and the
lemon with double flowers. The orangeries in this country are
supplied, either by plants raised from seed, and budded,
inarched, or grafted by our gardeners, or by small budded trees
imported in chests from Italy. But it is chiefly the shaddock
(Citrus decumana , L.) and citron that are thus imported. The
citron , like the lemon, is a native of all the warmer parts of Asia.
The lime is also a native of the East, and has long been culti-
vated in the West Indies on account of its juice, which is esteemed
a much more grateful acid than that of the lemon. From one
of the varieties, the well-known perfume called Essence of Ber-
gamot is obtained, which is said to have derived its name from
Bergamo, in Italy, where the variety was first cultivated in Eu-
rope, and where it is still preserved.

Lemons are brought to England from Spain and Portugal,
packed in chests, each lemon being separately rolled in paper.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Lemon -juice owes its sour
taste to the citric acid which it contains, in combination with mucilage,
extractive matter, a small portion of sugar, and water. Scheele was the
first who obtained this acid in a pure state ; his process consists in satu-
rating lemon juice with chalk, an insoluble compound of citrate of lime
being precipitated : as much sulphuric acid, previously diluted with six
times its weight of water, is then added ; lastly, the solution, after being
filtered, is set aside, and affords the acid, crystallized in double four-sided
pyramids, or sometimes in rhomboidal prisms, which may be purified by
repeated solutions, and crystallizations. The acid, thus obtained, has a
less agreeable flavour than that of lemon-juice, but as it can be kept in its
crystallized state for any length of time, it is generally substituted for it.
The citric acid exists also in some other vegetables, and has been obtained
in considerable quantities from the unripe fruit of the common gooseberry.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The juice of this fruit is one of
the most grateful of the vegetable acids, and is the principal source
of citric acid, a very valuable article both for pharmaceutical and culinary
purposes. Properly diluted with water, and rendered palatable by the
addition of sugar, it forms one of perhaps the most agreeable and
refreshing beverages that can be employed to quench thirst and dimi-
nish heat in febrile and inflammatory diseases. The juice is also used
in the same manner as the acetic acid, in the preparation of effervescing
and saline draughts. A draught of this sort made with 9i of the carbo-
nate of potass, dissolved in one ounce of any aromatic water, and of
lemon-juice, taken in a state of effervescence, is advantageously employed
to check vomiting, and diminish morbid irritability of the stomach. Dr.
Whytt found the juice given alone to the extent of a table-spoonful for a
dose, to allay hysteria, and palpitations of the heart; and Dr. Bancroft,
in his History of Guiana, assures us, that the usual remedy for the bites
of poisonous animals, is a cataplasm of the pulp of lemons, mixed
with sea-salt, and applied to the wounded part. Like the other vegetable
acids, it is also given as a means of counteracting the fatal effects of nar-
cotic poisons, especially opium. As it possesses very remarkable powers
in the cure and prevention of scurvy, large quantities of it, in a concen-
trated state, are generally taken on board ships destined for long voyages.
Lemon-juice is given in combination with camphor mixture, cinchona,
and aromatic confection, as a useful cordial and antiseptic in gangrenous
affections, putrid sore throat, and low fevers. The rind contains a very
fragrant essential oil, which is used as perfume, and having a degree of
bitterness, it enters into the composition of some stomachic medicines.

Off. Prep. — Syrupus Limonis, L. E. D: Aqua Citri Medicae, E.

Infusum Aurantii comp. L.

Infusum Gentianae comp. L D.

Spiritus Ammonia; Aromaticus, L. D.

Unguentum Veratri L.

Candied Lemon Peel. — This well-known sweetmeat is made by boiling lemon-
peel with clarified syrup, and then exposing it to the air till the sugar crystallizes.

Essential Salt of Lemons. — I ho preparation sold under this name, for the pur-
pose of removing iron-moulds from linen, consists of cream of tartar and superoxalate
of potass, or salt of sorrel, in equal proportions. — Paris's Pharm.

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XCIII

PYROLA UMBELLATA.

Umbel-Jloivered Winter-green .

Class X. Decandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Bicorn es, Lin. Erice.e, Juss. De Cand.

Ericace.e, Pyrolid.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx in 5-deep segments. Petals 5 and
biserate. Capsules superior, 5-celled, bursting at the
angles. Anthers opening by two tubular pores.

Spec. Char. Leaves wedge-shaped, lanceolate, ser-
rated. Flowers somewhat umbellate or sertulate.
Stamens smooth. Style immersed.

Syn. — Pyroia fruticans arbuti folio, C. Bauh. Pin. 191 ; Toumef. Inst. 256 ; Marti
Hist. 3. sect. 12. t. 10. f. 5.

Pyroia folio arbuti, Riv. Pent. t. 159 .f. 2.

Pyroia 3 fruticans, Clus. Stirp. Pann. 507. Hist. p. 117.

Cbimapbila corymbosa, Pursh Amer, Sept. 1. p. 300.

Cbimaphila umbellata, Bart. Veg. Mat. Med. U. S. v. 1. t. 1. 17. Bot. Mag.
t. 778.

Chimaza umbellata. Brown in Herb. Banks.

Pyroia umbellata, Lin. Sp. PI. 568; Willd. 2. p. 62 2; Pollich. Palat. n.
389; Iloffm. Germ. 144; Krocker Sites. 2. p. 14; Roth. Germ. 1. 151.
v. 2. 464 ; Mich. Amer. 1. p. 251 ; Lam. Encycl. 5. p. 744 ; Persoon
Synop. 1. 483.

Foreign. — Pyrole, Verdure d’hiver, Fr. ; Pirola, It. ; Das doldenformige Winter-
griin, Ger. ; Yintergriinae, Rylort, Swed. ; Borowuja trawa, Russ.

Five species of this very natural genus are indigenous to Great
Britain. The Pyroia umbellata lias received a place in our
national pharmacopoeias ; probably on account of the high eulo-
giums which have lately been bestowed upon it as a power-
ful tonic and diuretic : but although widely diffused throughout

the northern hemisphere, this species is not found wild in Bri-
tain. It inhabits every part of the United 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 parts of Europe and Asia. It delights only in shady
woods, particularly of pine and birch, where it is protected from
the rays of the sun, and nourished by the soil formed from the
decomposition of leaves and other vegetable matter. The com-
mon appellations by which it is known in America are Winter
Green , Ground Holly , Rheumatism Weed , and Pippissewa.
It is the most beautiful of all the genus; producing its elegant
umbels of cream-coloured flowers in June and July, and con-
tinues along time in bloom.

Michaux, Pursh, and some other botanists, have separated
this and another species ( maculata ) from Pyrola, in order to
constitute a distinct genus, to which they have given the name
of Chimaphila. The former writer remarks, that these two
species differ from the others in habit, in having a sessile, un-
divided stigma, and short-beaked anthers, with a sub-bivalve
foramen. Upon these characters Pursh has attempted to esta-
blish the genus ; but Retzius long ago observed the diversity of
the style, which is different in almost every species, “ and affords
admirable specific, but no generic distinctions.”

The genus Pyrola, as now constituted, comprises about 15 or
20 species, principally inhabiting northern countries, both in the
new and old world. “ In the temperate Zones,” says Mr. Don.
“ they are chiefly met with in mountainous situations ; some of
the species, such as unijlora and secunda, extending to consider-
able elevations. In the frigid Zones, on the contrary, they are
only to be found in the lowest and narrowest plains adjacent to
the sea, and are never met with in these regions beyond the
limit of trees. Most of the species extend across the continents
of Asia, Europe, and America. There are specimens ol secunda
and uniflora in the Banksian Herbarium, from the islands on the
north-west coast of America. The P. picta of Smith is fouud
on the north-west coast of America, and in mountainous situa-
tions in Japan. Some species, however, are of more limited

diffusion ; thus, P. asarifolia, maculata, and eUiptica , have only
been found in North America. The P. dentata, Menziesii , and
occidentalis, are still more confined, being only found in parti-
cular districts.”* All the species are herbaceous, or somewhat
woody, astringent and tonic.

Like most others of this genus, the Pyrola umbellata has a
long creeping perennial root, sending up woody, somewhat angu-
lar, erect, or slightly procumbent stems, at various distances, a
span high. The leaves grow in irregular whorls, of which there
are generally two or three on each stem. They are lanceolate,
wedge-shaped, strongly serrated, smooth, placed on short petioles,
and of a deep shining green colour. The flowers, which are
usually five, grow in a small corymb, on simple, nodding pedi-
cles : the calyx is inferior, and consists of five roundish, perma-
nent segments, much shorter than the corolla : the petals are
five, roundish, concave, spreading, cream-coloured, with a tinge
of crimson at the base : the filaments are ten, awl-shaped,
curved, supporting large, 2-celled purple anthers ; each cell
opening by a short, round, tubular orifice at the summit : the
germen is roundish, depressed, furrowed, obscurely 5-lobed ; the
style cylindrical, half as long as the germen, and concealed by
the stigma, which is large, peltate, covered with a viscid matter,
and obscurely 5-rayed. The capsules are orbicular, depressed,
with 5 valves, 5 cells, and 5 partitions from the central column.
The seeds are very minute, oval, each contained in a membran-
ous tunic, elongated at both ends. — Fig. («) the anthers sepa-
rated ; ( b ) a seed — from Lamarck.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The whole plant,
when bruised, has a strong unpleasant odour, and a moderately
warm pungent taste, partaking of both sweet and bitter. Al-
cohol appears to be the best menstruum for extracting the active
properties of the plant, although water is capable of separating
the greater part of its virtues. The decoction is of a deep
brown, and strikes a black colour with the sulphate of iron.

* See a Monograph of the Genus Pyrot.a, in the Memoirs of the Wernerian Na-
tural History Society, by Mr. D. Don, Lib. Lin. Soc.

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 affec-
tions, There are undoubtedly many ulcers, and those frequently of a
malignant kind, which are benefited by antiseptic stimulants ; and to
such the Pyrola may he useful. But of its efficacy in real cancer we
require more evidence than is at present possessed, before we ascribe to it
the power of controlling so formidable a malady.

“ Dr. Millar, of Franklin, informs us 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 con-
tinued, not unf'requenlly vesicates. Tumors of long standing have in se-
veral instances disappeared under its use.”

Sir Walter Farquhar, it appears from Dr. Somerville’s paper, had
also used the Pyrola urnbellata in the case of a lady labouring under
ascites, in which case the diuretic effects were very striking. The same
gentleman likewise states that “ the extract was prescribed in three
hopeless cases of ascites, accompanied with unequivocal marks of
organic visceral derangement : the patients were stimulated powerfully,
but in the third the individual complained of sickness at the stomach, and
did not persevere in taking the medicine.” Dr. Barton, author of “ the
Vegetable Materia Medica of the United States,’’ also corroborates the
accounts of the diuretic effects of this vegetable, by four cases which
came under his care at the Marines’ Hospital, Philadelphia, in which a
strong infusion was given with the most decided advantage. It is said
to he a practice in many parts of America to give a bucketful of the de-
coction to horses that are unable to stale, with the view and uniformly
with the effect of relieving them.

As a tonic, the Pyrola urnbellata has been employed in intermit-
tenls, scrofula, and other diseases, where this class of remedies are in-
dicated. Dr. Mitchell, an American physician, relates some cases of its
success in these fevers. In one of them, the urine, which was consider-
ably increased in quantity, was of a dark brown colour. Dr. Heberden
has recorded a case of a similar colour being produced by the uva ursi.
The Indians use a strong and warm decoction of this plant in rheumatism
and fever : They employ the whole vegetable, and the decoction is taken in
large quantities. Professor Barton says, he has been assured on good
authority ,that it was very extensively employed, and with excellent effect,
in many cases of typhus fever, which under the appellation of “ camp-
fever,’’ prevailed among the American troops, and carried off great num-
bers of them during the time of the revolutionary war.

Another species of the genus to which this plant belongs, the Pyrola
rotundifolia , is said to he used by the Indians as a topical stimulant and
vesicant.

The Dublin College directs the following method of preparing the
decoction of Pyrola, as recommended by Dr. Somerville :

Pyrolae urnbellata) 3j.

Aqua), mensura Ibij.

Macerate for six hours, then bruise and return the Pyrola to the
liquor, and reduce the mixture by evaporation, when strained and
pressed to Ibj by measure. — Dose 3 j. to 3 j . three times a day.

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XCIV

CORIANDRUM SATIVUM.

Common Coriander.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order II. Digynia.

Nat. Ord. Umbellate, Umbellifer.e, Auct. Angelic in.e,

Coill AND RACE. E, Bum.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-toothed ; the outer petals ra-
diant and bifid, the others obovate and emargi-
nate. Cremocarp globose, each inericarp with 5 pri-
mary depressed wavy ridges. The secondary ridges
more prominent and carinate. Fittce 2 on the com-
missure ; none in the channels.

Spec. Char. Fruit globular, obscurely ribbed, Leaf-
lets of the lower leaves wedge-shaped.

Syn. — Coriandrum majus, Bauch. Pin, 158 ; Moris, v. 3. 269 ; Riv. Pentap. h r.
t. 71.

Coriandrum, n. 764, Hall. Hist. v. 1. 335 ; Raii. Syn. 221 ; Ger. Em. 1012.
/. ; Carrier. Epit. 325./. ; Bauh. Hist. v. 3. p. 2. 89/. ; Fachs. Hist. 345.
f. Matth. Vulgr. v. 2. 121. f.

K opoiv ij Kopiavvov, Diosc. lib. 3 cap. 71.

K opiurSpov ij Kovafiapos liodie.

Coriandrum sativum. Lin. Sp. PL 367; Willd.v. 1. 1448 ; FI. Brit. 320 ;
Eng. Bot. v.l.t.67; FI. Gr<ec. v.3.76. t. 283; Woodv. t. 181. Mart.
Rust. t. 141 ; Stokes, v. 120.

Foreign. — La Coriandre, Fr. ; Coriandro, It.; Cilantro, Sp,; Koriander, Ger. Russ.

Coriander is an annual plant, a native of Italy and the East ;
but it has naturalized itself in some parts of Essex, where it is
extensively cultivated, for druggists and confectioners. It flowers
in June and July, ripening its seed in August. We found it
growing by the side of the Thames, near the Red House, Bat-
tersea, where it had probably sprung from seeds scattered there
by Mr. William Anderson, of the Botanic Garden, Chelsea.

The root is tapering : the stem brandling, divaricated, leafy,
round, striated, purplish at the lower part, and rises twelve or
eighteen inches high. The leaves are compound; the lower
ones pinnated, with wedge-shaped, acutely notched, or fanshaped
leaflets ; and the upper thrice-ternate, with fine linear-pointed
segments. The flowers are white, or slightly tinged with recb
and disposed in umbels at the upper part of the stem. 13oth
general and partial umbels are many-rayed ; the former generally
consist of 4 or 5 rays, the latter more numerously divided. The
general bractea3 are almost entirely wanting; but the partial
ones are usually 3, linear-lanceolate, and placed laterally. The
calyx consists of 5 acute, unequal leaves ; the petals are 5
also, inversely heart-shaped, and inflected at the tips ; those of
the innermost flowers nearly equal and lobed, but those of the
margin are irregular, larger, and not inflected. The filaments
are thread-shaped, with roundish anthers, and the style spread-
ing with small obtuse stigmas. The fruit is globular, obscurely
striated, and divisible into two hemispherical concave mericarps.
— Fig. (a) is a floret of the radius ; ( b ) a floret of the disc; (c)
the germen and styles.

Qualities. — The leaves anil stalk, when bruised, emit an intolerably
foetid odour, greatly resembling that of the insect known under the name
of Pentaloma viridis, a species of the Linnean genus, Cimex, or Bug,
and hence the origin of the generic name Coriandrum, from /topic, cimex,
a bug. The seeds when fresh have also a disagreeable odour, but by
drying they become grateful ; to the taste, they are moderately warm and
pungent, and have a pleasant aromatic odour. Alcohol takes up all their
active principles, but water only extracts them partially. Distilled with
water, a small quantity of essential oil is obtained, upon which the active
properties of the seeds entirely depend.

Use. — The seeds agree in their medical properties with those of cara-
way ; they are carminative and stomachic, and hence are frequently
added to infusions of senna, and to other cathartics ; to cover the un-
pleasant taste, and to obviate the irritating effects they are apt to pro-
duce on the stomach and bowels. Formerly, the young leaves were
used in salads and in soups ; but their scent is disagreeable to most per-
sons. Nevertheless in Peru the natives are so fond of coriander, as a
condiment, and use it in such excess to season their food, that F ueillee says
an insupportable stench arises from most of their dishes. In small quanti-
ties it is not unpleasant, and it forms one of the ordinary ingredients in
curry powder.

Dose.— From 9j. to 3j. Dr. Withering has known 3vj. of the seeds
taken at once, without any remarkable consequences.

xcv

EUGENIA CARYOPHYLLATA,

OR

CAIIYOPHYLLUS AROMATICUS.
The Clove Spice-tree.

Class XII. Icosandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Hesperiuf.^:, Lin. Myrtace.e, Juss ., De Cand.
Myrtace.e, Myrtid.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx 4-parted, superior, peristent.
Petals 4. Germen oblong-, cylindrical, ^-celled, with
many ovules in each cell. Style awl-shaped, in the
centre of a quadrangular elevation. Berry oval-
oblong, 12-seeded.

Spec. Char. Leaves lanceolate acuminate, entire.
Panicles axillary and terminal, trichotomous.

Syn. — Caryopbylli veri. Clusii, Ger. Em. 1533.

Caryopbyllum, Rumph. Herb. Amb. ii. 3. t. 1. 2.3.

Myrtus Caryopbyllus, Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. 2, p. 485.

Le Gerofle, Sonnerat Voy. a la Nouv. Gain. p. 1 96. t. 119.

Caryopbyllus aromaticus, Lin. Sp. PI. 735; Gtertn. de Fract. v. 1. p. 167.
t. 33; Lamar. Illustr. t. 417, Diet. v. 2. p. 718; Bat. Mag. n. s. v. 1.
/. 2749; Woodv. 135 ; Trans. Soc. of Arts, v. 20. p. 371. Stokes, v. 3.
p. 73.

Eugenia caryophyllata, Sp. PI. Wild. v. 2. p. 965; Ait. Kew. ed. 2. v. 3,
p. 188 ; Thumb. Diss. de Caryoph. aromat. p. 1. Jour, de Physiq. tom. xiv.
47. t. 1.

Foreign. — Le Giroflier, Fr.; II garfano aromatico, It.; II clavo aromatico, Sp. ;

Gewiinndglein, Ger.; Givosditschka, Rus. ; Laong, Hind.; Thenghio ,
Chin.

The Clove-tree is originally a native of the Moluccas; and the
well-known spice was for a long period the staple commodity of
Amboyna, one of the principal of these islands. The lucrative
trade arising from this valuable article of medicine, or of

luxury, was entirely, and still is principally, in the hands of the
Dutch, who guard their monopoly with the most illiberal jea-
lousy. Cloves are only produced in perfection in Amboyna, and
the neighbouring islands; but to prevent smuggling, and to
make their command of the market more secure, they have been
at the utmost pains to extirpate the clove-trees from all the other
islands, and to confine the culture of them to Amboyna alone.
Notwithstanding, however, the vigilance of the Dutch to secure
to themselves a monopoly in this valuable spice, the French ob-
tained some plants, which they carried to the Isle of Bourbon,
about the year 1770, and thence to Cayenne, from whence its
cultivation has extended to the West Indies. The clove was in-
troduced into the Royal Gardens at Kew, in 1797, by the Right
Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.

The clove-spice is produced on a very handsome tree, some-
what resembling a large pear-tree. The trunk is from fifteen to
thirty feet high, a foot thick, divided into branches, four or five
feet from the ground, which are slender, opposite, usually hori-
zontal, and form a dense, pyramidal head. The leaves are op-
posite, persistent, somewhat coriaceous, about four inches long,
with a strong midrib, and parallel lateral nerves; ovate-lanceolate,
quite entire, smooth on both sides, reddish and rather shining
above, paler underneath, sprinkled with minute resinous dots,
and tapering at the base into a slender foot-stalk, nearly two
inches long, which according to Sonnerat is the most aromatic
part of the plant. The flowers are odorous, from nine to fifteen
or more on a branch, in short terminal panicles, trichotomously
divided, and jointed at every division. The calyx, which is su-
perior, consists of four ovate, concave, spreading segments, at
first green, but afterwards becoming red. The petals are four,
ovate, concave, yellowish-red, larger than the calyx, coherent by
their edges, and forming a calyptra which is caducous. In the
centre of the calyx, and occupying the top of the germen, is a
quadrangular elevated line, into which the stamens are inserted,
surrounding the base of the shortish obtusely subulate style.
The filaments are numerous, much longer than the petals, bearing
small yellow ovato-cordate anthers. The germen is inferior, ob-

long, 2-celled, with twenty ovules in each cell ; all of which, as
stated by Professor Hooker, become abortive, or one or two prove
fertile, and by their great enlargement destroy the rest of the
ovules, and obliterate the distinction of the two cells ; so that
the fruit, which forms a rather large elliptical purple berry, is
only 1 or at most 2-seeded. — Fig. (a) represents the petals ready
to fall off’; (6) the petals as they fall off, adhering to form a
calyptra ; (c) a detached petal ; ( d ) the petals cohering, the
stamens gradually raising them; ( e ) the rudiment of the fruit
in a longitudinal section, to show the insertion of the stamens;
(/) the fruit nearly ripe; ( g ) longitudinal section of the fruit;
(A) front and (i) back view of a stamen ; (j) vertical section of a
berry ; (A) vertical section of a flower.

The Clove-tree, as we have before observed, is a native of the
Molucca Islands ; and a short time before the Portuguese took
possession of Amboyna, the Cerammers of Cambello secretly car-
ried some seeds in hollow bamboos from Machian, and thus pro-
pagated this valuable tree all over Amboyna, Ceram, and the
neighbouring islands; and in the space of from fifty to sixty
years, the whole of Hoewamoehil was covered with them. This
was made known to the Dutch when they first went to Cambello;
and some of the first-planted trees were shown to them behind
the hill Massili : the memory of it is likewise preserved in the
traditionary songs of the Amboynese. The brave and enterpris-
ing inhabitants of Cambello were rewarded for their candour, by
the destruction of all their clove-trees ; whereby they were de-
prived of the fruits of their industrious exertions. The impla-
cable enmity which they in consequence entertained for the Dutch,
and their repeated attacks upon the forts, established by the
latter, have been stigmatized by Dutch writers as a base and
wicked spirit of disobedience; so that Valentyn says, “ It would
have been better, if, instead of extirpating their trees alone, we
had, at the same time, exterminated this revengeful and sangui-
nary nation.”

The islands Honimoa, Oma, and Noussa-lant, commonly called
the Uliassers : together with Amboyna, were the only spots in
which the Dutch East India Company allowed the tree to be

cultivated, and they constantly caused it to be destroyed in every
other place within their reach, especially on little Ceram , or
Hoewamoehil , (exclusive of the extirpation which took place
from time to time in the Spice-Islands themselves,) that the
great abundance of this article, with which the warehouses, both
at Batavia and in Holland, groaned, might be moderated.

Thus the Company ordered, in December 1709, that the
number of clove-trees should not be allowed to exceed 500,000,
and it was further ordered in 1773, that 50,000 more should be
destroyed; so that in 1775, after three extirpations, the number
of trees, as nearly as could be ascertained, was 513,208. Besides
this number, there were 22,310 tata?iama?igs, which are trees
planted by the Amboynese at the birth of each child, whereby a
rough calculation is made of their respective ages. Although
the natives did not oppose the extirpation of the trees in the plan-
tations, when some of their tatanamangs were cut down, an in-
surrection took place, which it was very difficult to overcome.

It is not easy, as Dr. Hooker justly observes, to determine
when the Clove was first known to Europeans. J. Bauhin as-
serts, that the inhabitants of the Moluccas, were scarcely ac-
quainted with the value of the Clove, till some Chinese vessels
visited the country, and transported many plants into China,
after which they were distributed into other districts of India ;
into Persia and Arabia. Sir James Smith says, that it does not
appear to have been known by the ancient Greeks, and Romans ;
the first distinct mention of it being by Paulus iEgineta, a Greek
physician of the seventh century, as a food and medicine. Sir
J. Smith also supposes it to be the Carunfel of Serapion, and
the Carunfel helium of Avicenna ; both of whom were Arabian
physicians.

The Clove is now cultivated wherever human industry has car-
ried it to a suitable soil and climate; and numerous other countries
besides Amboyna possess this precious vegetable. The French in-
troduced it into the Islands of Mauritius and Bourbon, in 1 <09;
and it has succeeded so well, that in 1802, when M. Bory de St.
Vincent was in the Mauritius, he visited the first tree that had
been planted by M. Poivre; saw it loaded with Cloves; and as-

certained that it had, in some years, produced the extraordinary
quantity of 125 lbs. of this spice; whereas, the average produce
in Amboyna is 2 or 2^ lbs. per annum. It requires five thousand
cloves to weigh a pound ; consequently, there were 625,000
flowers upon this single tree, independently of others which were
left for seed ; “ a fact,” says M. St. Vincent, “ which would ap-
pear incredible, were we not to mention, that this beautiful tree
is at least forty feet high, throwing out innumerable branches,
some of which, falling down on all sides, form a pyramid of ver-
dure.” In 1791, Mr. Hubert, the proprietor of the original
spice-estate, gave a fete champetre in honour of the extended
cultivation of the spicc-treCs ; whilst the festivals, annually held
by the Dutch in Amboyna, were instituted in commemoration of
their destruction in the surrounding: islands.

Another French gentleman, M. Cere, sent plants from the
Mauritius to Cayenne, about the year 1779; and in 1792 the
plantations contained 2,500 trees, which bore cloves equal to those
of the East Indies, and fetched a higher price in France than
those from the Moluccas. Other plants were sent to Martinique,
and the French West India Islands; so that the former furnished
the London market, in 1797, with 3501bs.; and the following year
with 200 lbs. ; at which time St. Kitt’s sent 2,981 lbs.

From Martinique, the Clove-tree was introduced to the Island
of St. \ incent,* and under the superintendence of Dr. Anderson,
at the Botanic Garden, it is brought to great perfection. In
rI rinidad too, the Clove is extensively cultivated, and there can
be but little doubt that it will there become a profitable article
of commerce.

I he Rev. Lansdown Guilding, who wrote an account of the
Botanic Garden in the Island of St. Vincent, says, “ that the
tree is covered with its lovely blossoms, the greater part of which
prove abortive, and falling to the ground, are collected and dried
for sale. The berries which remain on the tree, gradually en-
large their calyx and develop the seed, and are gathered under the

* The gold medal of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures,
and Commerce, was voted in 1802 to Dr. Anderson, for a communication on Cloves
and Cinnamon produced in that island.

VOL. II.

O

lives about July, having turned to a blackish purple, and lost all
their value as a spice. The seeds require to be set out imme-
diately and planted near the surface, as they vegetate rapidly.
The young plants are tender, and should be placed, if possible,
where it is intended they should remain. The Clove was once
cultivated to a great extent in Dominique; in our own islands,
the trees, which are little valued, produce annually upwards of a
million of seeds, besides the abortive fruit, which is dried as spice.
The colonists supposing from our overgrown trade with India,
that it can never become an article of commerce, neglect even to
plant the Clove in their hedges, although it, as well as cinnamon,
and many other plants, which any overwhelming change in our
Eastern possessions might render invaluable, would grow without
any expense.-”

The clove of merchandize is the unexpanded flower; the co-
rolla forming a ball or sphere on the top, between the teeth of the
calyx; and thus, with the narrow base or germcn tapering down-
wards, having the appearance of a nail; hence Sir James Smith
informs us, the Dutch call it Naghel ; the Spaniards Clavo ; the
Italians Chiodo ; and the French Clou, from which the English
Clove is evidently derived.

Cloves are gathered by the hand, or beaten with reeds, so as
to fall upon cloths placed under the tree; and dried by fire, or
what is better, in the sun. The fully-formed berries are pre-
served in sugar, and eaten after dinner to promote digestion.

The cloves at present entered for home consumption in Great
Britain amount to about 60,000 lbs. a year, of which a part
comes from Cayenne; but the cultivation of the clove in Cay-
enne and in the West Indies depends entirely on the existence of
the present system in the Moluccas. The superiority which the
latter enjoy over every other place in the production of cloves is
so great, that were any thing like freedom given to those engaged
in the cultivation, they would very speedily exclude every other
purveyor from the market.

Qualities. — The bark, fruit, roots and leaves of the clove
spice-tree are all more or less aromatic. The cloves of commerce
have a strong aromatic odour, and a warm pungent taste. In-

fused in water, they give out to it more of their smell than to
spirit, but not so much of their flavour. Alcohol takes up all
the virtue of cloves. By distillation with water, they yield a
fragrant essential oil, which is not very pungent ; but which is
said to be generally rendered acrid, by a portion of the resinous
extract obtained by the action of alcohol on cloves being dissolved
in it.

Cloves should be chosen large sized, perfect in all parts, heavy,
of a fine fragrant smell, and hot aromatic taste, so as almost to
inflame the throat; the colour should be dark-brown, almost ap-
proaching to black, and when handled should leave an oily mois-
ture on the fingers. When fresh gathered , cloves will yield, on
simple pressure, a fragrant, thick, reddish oil. Sometimes they
have a considerable portion of their essential oil drawn from them,
and are then mixed with those that retain it. By this mixture
the purchaser may be deceived ; but on examination, those cloves
which have lost their virtue, always continue weaker than the
rest, and of a paler colour ; and whenever they look shrivelled,
having lost the knob at the top, are all light or broken, with but
little smell or taste, they should be rejected. As cloves readily
absorb moisture, it is not uncommon, when a quantity is ordered,
to keep them near a vessel of water, by which means a consider-
able addition to their weight is made. The ton is 12 cwt. for
freight.

When new, oil of cloves is of a pale reddish brown colour,
(which becomes darker by age,) extremely hot and fiery, and
sinks in water. The kind generally exported from India, con-
tains nearly half its weight of an insipid expressed oil, which is
discovered by dropping a little into alcohol ; when, on shaking
it, the genuine oil mixes with the spirit, and the adulteration se-
parates. It is sometimes adulterated with a cheaper essential oil :
to discover this, dip a rag into it, and hold it before the fire; the
flavour of the genuine oil will fly off, leaving that of the added
behind.

Medicat, Properties and Uses. — Cloves are generally con-
ceded to be the most stimulating of aromatics, and are chief! v
employed to impart a pleasant flavour, or to correct the irritative

o 2

properties of drastic medicines. The essential oil is sometimes
added to extracts for the same purposes, and is a popular remedy
for tooth-ache. The infusion of cloves is a warm and grateful
stomachic, and is advantageously employed to “ relieve the sense
of coldness in the stomach, which attends some forms of dys-
pepsia,” especially when arising from the abuse of ardent spirits,
from chronic gout, or flatulent colic. The Dutch join it with
cinchona and supertartrate of potass, in obstinate agues. T wenty
cloves are added in powder to half an ounce of each of the other
ingredients, and half a drachm is given every third or fourth
hour. In dyspepsia, and as a vehicle for other medicines, 3ij of
cloves are infused in half a pint of boiling water, and administered
in the dose of an ounce and a half, or two ounces. The essential
oil is made into an agreeable draught by diffusing it in water,
with mucilage ; and an aromatic syrup is sometimes made from the
clove, and coloured with cochineal. Cloves are used in their native
climate, and in almost every part of the civilized world, as an
article of luxury, communicating a pleasant flavour to preserved
fruits, sauces, ragouts, and liqueurs. They are likewise em-
ployed by the perfumer.

Dose. — In substance, from gr. v. to gr. x.

Off. Prep. — Infusum Caryophyllorum, L. D.

*

-

XCVI

ZINGIBER OFFICINALE.

Narrow-leaved Ginger.

Class I. Monandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Scitamine.e, Lin. Brown. Cann.e, Juss. Duy-
myeeh i zee, Vent., De Cand, Sic. Zingiberace.e, Richard.
Scitamine.e Zingiberace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Anther 2-lobed. Filament elongated be-
yond the anther with an acuminate, channelled beak,
embracing the style. The labelluin simple.

Spec. Char. Leaves linear-lanceolate. Inflorescence in
compact strobiliform, ovate spikes. Bracteas acute,
segments of the outer limb of the corolla linear, revo-
lute. Middle lobe of the lip entire. Nectary or
labellum 3-lobed.

Syn. — Zingiber, Browne's Jam. 119; Sloane's Jam. 1. p. 163.

Zingiber majus, Humph. Amboin. v. 5. 156. t. 66. J. 1.

lsehi, Reede Hart. Mulab. v. 11.21. t. 12.

Amomum Zingiber, Lin. Sp. PI. 1 ; Willd. v. 1. 6 ; Jacq. Ilorl. Vind. u. 1.

31. t. 75 ; Roscoe in Lin. Sue. Tram. v. 8. p. 347.

Foreign. — Gingembre, Fr. ; Zenzero, It. ; Ingwer, Ger.

The Ginger plant is a native of the East Indies, and of various
parts of Asia, but is now extensively cultivated in the warmer
parts of America, and in the West Indian Islands, from whence
it is chiefly imported into Europe. It is a stove plant in Eng-
land, flowering in September, and is said to have been raised
here by Edward Lord Zouch, before the year 1605.

The root stake is perennial, tuberous, fleshy, of a compressed
roundish form, covered with an ash-coloured tegument, and send-
ing oft1 many stout fibres. The whole herb is smooth, and par-
takes of the hot, gratefully aromatic flavor of the root. The
barren stems are several, upright, annual, herbaceous, wand-like,
round, leafy, and about three feet high. The leaves are alternate,
linear-lanceolate, acute, entire, single-ribbed, spreading, with long,

should he rejected. It is sometimes imported green from the
East Indies. In freight, 16cwt. of dry, and 20 cwt. of green
ginger, are allowed to a ton.

Chemical Analysis. — According to the experiments of M. Morin,
ginger contains a resinous and subresinous matter, a dark blueish green
essential oil, acetic acid, acetate of potash, osmagotne, gum, some vegeto-
animal matter, sulphur, starch, and lignin. In Jamaica ginger the
starch is very abundant.

Qualities. — The active matter of this root is yielded to alcohol, and
in a great measure to water. It affords, by distillation, a small quantity
of essential oil, upon which the flavour of ginger depends ; while its pun-
gency appears to reside in a resi no-ex tractive matter, united with a great
quantity of starch, which constitutes the chief bulk of this valuable con-
diment.

Medical Properties and Uses. — This root, which is stimulant and
carminative, is principally employed as an adjunct to other remedies; to
augment their efficacy, or to obviate their griping eflects : and is often
administered, in substance or in infusion, for flatulent colic, tympanites,
and some forms of dyspepsia. It also acts as a sialogue, when chewed :
tooth-ache is therefore sometimes relieved hy it, and by many persons it is
recommended in relaxations of the uvula, and tonsils, and in paralysis of
the muscles of the tongue and fauces.

We are informed by Dr. Ainslie, that Europeans in India, of delicate
constitutions, frequently use an infusion of ginger in place of common tea,
and the natives eat it freely in salads. In China green ginger is com-
monly seen in the vegetable markets, and is there eaten as a common
potherb.

Dose. — From ten grains to a scruple, in powder.

Off. Prep. — Aciduin Sulphuricum aromaticum. E.

Confectio Opii. L.

Scammonii. L. D.

Infusum Senna). L.

Pilula Aloes. D.

Pilula Scillrn comp. L.

Pulvis Cinnamomi comp. L. E. D.

Scammonii comp. L. D.

Sennae comp. L.

Spiritus iEtheris aromaticus. L.

Syrupus Rhammi. L.

Zingiberis. L. E. D.

Tinctura Cinnamomi comp. L.

Rhei comp. L.

Zingiberis. L. D.

V inum Aloes. L. E. D.

*

Sinclair’s Code of Health, vol. i. p. 233.

if. :,W1 F/

XCVII

ATHEMIS PYRETHRUM.

A

Spanish Chamomile , or Pellitory of Spain.

Spec. Char. Stems simple, l-flowered, decumbent;
leaves bipinnated, segments linear, pointed.

Syn. — Pyrethrum officinarum, Ger. Em. 7.58. 1 ; Park. 858. n. 2. 859./. 2.
Pyrethrum flore bellidis, Bauh. Pin. 148 ; Baii Hist. 353.

Chamasmelum specioso flore, radice longa fervida, Shaw. Afric. 138.

Anthemis Pyrethrum, Lin. Sp. PI. 1262; Willd. v. 3. 2174; Woodv. v. 2,
t. 104 ; Curt. But. Mag. v. 13. t. 462.

Foreign. — Pyrethre, Fr. ; Piretro, It.; Anthemis pelitri, Sp. ; Bertram IVurtzel
Zahn Wurtzel, Ger.: Akkaracarum, Tam.; Akurkurha, Arab.

Pellitory of Spain is a perennial plant, a native of the Levant,
Syria, Arabia, Barbary, and the south of Europe. It has long
been celebrated as a medicinal agent ; and merits a place in our
collections, on account of the beauty both of the foliage and
flowers : it is a very rare plant in this country, notwithstanding
it was cultivated here, by Lobel, as long since as 1570. Par-
kinson, it appears, grew it ; as he observes, that the roots of the
cultivated plants were much larger than those of the wild ones:
he tells us also, that it was too tender to endure our winters;
and to the latter cause, as well as to the difficulty of propagating
it, for it does not ripen its seeds in this country, its present
.scarcity has been attributed.

The root is long, tapering, about the thickness of a finger,
which runs down a foot or more into the ground, with a brownish
cuticle, and sending off* several small fibres. From the root pro-
ceed several procumbent stems, about a foot in height, round,
hairy, commonly unifloral, and seldom branching. The leaves
are doubly pinnate, with narrow linear segments, of a pale green
colour. The flowers appear in June and July ; they are large,
terminal, solitary, with the florets of the disc yellow, and those
of the radius white on the upper side, and of a purplish colour

underneath. The florets resemble those of Anthemis nobilis ;
in the centre, or disc, they are united ; those of’ the circumference,
margin or radius, are pistilline, that is, have no stamens, at least
in perfect condition ; and hence, as the flowers of the disc are
sufficient to perpetuate the species, the extra pistilliferous ones
of the ray were said by Linnaeus to be superfluous. Fig. (a)
and (b) represent a front and back view of a floret of the radius;
(c) a floret of the disc ; (d) the style ; (e) the stamens.

Chemical Analysis — M. Gouthier says, that in 100 parts of the

root of this plant he found —

Oil, fixed ....... 5

— Volatile ...... a trace

Yellow colouring matter . . . .14

Ginn 11

Muline 33

Muriate of lime a trace

Lignin 35

Moss ........ 2

100

Qualities. — The dried root of Pellitory has no smell. On being
chewed, the taste, which is acrid, is not immediately perceived, hut it
quickly raises a glowing heat, and a plentiful secretion of saliva. Grew
says, “ The heat produced by Pyrethrum is joined with a kind of vibra-
tion, as when a flame is brandished with a lamp furnace . . . Being
chewed, it makes a sensible impression on the lips, which continues (like
the flame of a coal betwixt in and out) for nine or ten minutes ; but the
heat in other parts much longer.* This heat is by no means so painful
as that which the arum, capsicum, and some other plants produce. Ali-
bert says, “ Par la distillation, cette racine fournit une huile butyracee
tres acrimouieuse and it is on this oil, which is deposited in vesicles
on the bark, that its pungency depends. It is completely extracted by
alcohol and sulphuric ether.

Medical Properties and Uses. — This root is a powerful stimu-
lant ; and if applied in its recent state to the skin, it produces inflamma-
tion and vesication, like Mezereon. J Dioscorides commended it for
tooth-ache, for which it is still beneficially employed by us ; and by him
and the Arabian physicians it was prescribed for rigors.

The Persians anil Moguls consider it to be discutient and attenuant;
and the Vytians prescribe an infusion of it, in conjunction with other me-
dicines, as a cordial and stimulant in lethargic cases, in palsy, and in
certain stages of typhus fever. In consequence of the immense flow ol
saliva that it is capable of producing, “ inflammations and congestions ol
the neighbouring parts are relieved. Hence it has been found useful,
when chewed, in some kinds of head-ache, chronic ophthalmia, and rheu-
matic affections of the face, and, by its direct stimulus, in paralysis ol the
tongue and muscles of the throat.” This drug is olten adulterated with
the roots ol AchilUu Plannica and Chrysanthemum frutescens.

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XCVIII

PASTINACA OPOPONAX,

OR

OPOPONAX CHIRONIUM.
Opoponax , or Rough Parsnip.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order II. Digynia.

Nat. Ord. Umbellate, Lin. Umbellifere, Juss. Angeli-
cinje, Ancelicace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Fruit elliptical, compressed nearly flat,
with 3 prominent dorsal ribs, and 2 nearly obsolete
marginal ones : the vittse of the vallecules 8, those of
the commissure 6-10. Petals entire, involute, equal.
Calyx very minute, the margin obsolete. Flowers
regular, uniform, fertile.

Spec. Char. Leaves bipinnate ; leaflets unequal at the
base ; scabrous on both sides.

Syn. — Panax Costinum, vel P. pastinaca: folio, Bauh. Pin. 156.

Panax Heracleum majus, Ger. Em. 1003.

Panax Heracleum, Moris, v. 3. 315. sect. 9. t. 17. f. 1.

Panax Chironium, Dalech. Hist. 741.

Panax peregrinum, Dod. Pempt. 309.

Costus, Mat th. Valgr. v. 1. 48.

Pseudocostus, Corner Epit. 28 ; Dalech. Hist. 758.

Sphoudylio, vel potius Pastinaca: Germanic® affinis Panax, sive Pseudo.

Costus ilore luteo, Bauh. Hist. v. 3. p. 2. 156.

Pastinaca Opoponax, Lin. Sp. PI. 376; Willd. x. 1. 1466 ; Woodv. t. 113 ;

FI. Griec. Sibth. v. 3. t. 288.

Tlo/\vKap7roy, tj up.TT€\dva, hodie.

This is a hardy, umbelliferous exotic, a native of the Levant,
Turkey, Arabia, Sicily, and the south of Europe ; which has
long held a distinguished place in the Materia Medica, as afford-
ing the gum-resin, called Opoponax. The plant withstands
our winters, in the southern counties, well; flowering in June
and July ; but it is only in the warmer regions of the east that

the juice concretes into the appearance which it presents to us,
when imported from Turkey and India. It grows abundantly in
Achaia, liceotia, and Phocis in Macedonia ; lienee it is figured
in Sibthorp’s Flora Grneca, v. 3. t. 285.

The root is perennial, branched, as thick as the human arm,
fleshy, tapering, of a yellowish colour, tubercled, and covered
with a corky bark. The stem rises six or seven feet in height,
the thickness of a man’s linger, round, leafy, striated, and sca-
riose at the base, with numerous angular, smooth, shining, hairy
branches, towards the summit. The leaves are very large, pe-
tioled, veiny, rough on both sides, with the petioles sheathing,
more or less hairy, and acutely serrated ; those of the root simple,
cordate, and crenated : the stem-leaves are pinnate, composed of
many pairs of oblong, serrated, veined leaflets, with the terminal
leaflet cordate, and very large. Both the involucres and invo-
lucels consist of from four to six very small linear leaflets, which
arc sometimes altogether wanting. The flowers are numerous,
small, of a greenish yellow colour, and produced in erect, ter-
minal flat umbels; on very smooth stalks, and are composed of
several rays, with opposite linear, oblong, sub-entire, smooth
bracteas, under each general umbel. The flowers are all uni-
form, and generally prolific ; the limb of the calyx very minute ;
the petals five, involute, entire, equal ; the stamens thread-
shaped, spreading, with roundish anthers ; the germen roundish ;
the styles short, erect ; the fruit elliptical, roundish, compressed,
striated, almost flat, with three dorsal ribs, and two reduced mar-
ginal ones forming a thin border ; seeds of the same form as the
fruit. Fig. («) represents a flower magnified.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Opoponax, which
is obtained by wounding the roots of the plant, is of a tolerably
firm texture, usually in small grains, but sometimes in large
masses, formed by a number of grains, connected with a matter
of the same kind. The masses are generally loaded with fo-
reign substances, and are much inferior to the pure loose drops.
The finest is in grain from the size of a pin's head, to that of a
large pea. The internal colour of these grains is a pale yellow,
frequently mixed with white, and externally they incline to a

red, or orange colour. They are moderately heavy, of a some-
what fat or unctuous appearance, smooth on the surface, of an
acrid bitter taste, and a strong disagreeable smell. Opoponax
should be chosen in clear pieces, with the before-mentioned qua-
lities. Such tears as are black, and too hard, should be rejected.
The masses, or cakes, are usually of a black colour, and full of
sticks and straws. Freight, I6cwt. to a ton. With water it
forms a milky solution, and about one-half of it dissolves. Al-
cohol acts but feebly. When dissolved with water or alcohol,
these liquids acquire its flavour, but no oil separates.* Its spe-
cific gravity is 1*622. f

When distilled, it yields a brown oil, and acetic acid, in which
a bituminous oil swims : the residual charcoal weighs of the
Opoponax distilled. When incinerated, it left AA f)f its weight
of ashes, composed of

Carbonate of lime . .... 18

Silica .... 2

Carbonate ^

Sulphate > of potash . . .15

Muriate j

35

According to the analysis of Pelletier, to whom we are in-
debted for the preceding distillation, Opoponax is composed of

the following constituents : —

Resin ...... 420

Gum 33-4

Wood ...... 98

Starch ...... 4-2

Malic acid ..... 2*8

Extractive . . . . .1*6

Caoutchouc ..... Trace

Wax 03

\ olatile oil, and loss .... 5 9

10001

* Neumann’s Chem. p. 316.

t Ann. de Chini. lxix. 90.

t Brisson.

Medical Properties. — This plant, which, according to
Dierbarch, is the IT ripanXeiov of Hippocrates, was held in high
repute by the ancients, especially by Celsus, who administered
it in affections of the spleen and in struma ;* but although, ac-
cording to Virey,*f- it is considered by the continental physicians
as “ bon discussif, resolutif, chasse les vents, attenue dans
l’asthme et les obstructions,” it is scarcely ever used in England.
It has, however, been regarded as antispasmodic and emmena-
gogue, and has been given for hysteria and chlorosis, in doses of
from five grains to half a drachm, but might, we consider, be
expunged from our materia medica, as an article of little medical
val ue.

* Lib. v. cap. xviii.

t Hist. Nat. ties M6d. p. 220.

XCIX

ROSA GALLICA.

Red Officinal Rose.

Class XII. Icosandria. — Order I. Polyginia.

Nat. Ord. Senticosje, Lin. Rosace.e, Juss. De Cand, &c. &c.

Gen. Char. Calyx pitcher-shaped, 5-cleft, finally
pulpy, contracted at the neck. Akenia numerous,
hispid, affixed to the inner side of the tube of the
calyx.

Spec. Char. Leaflets rigid, elliptical, smooth. Prickles
of the stem uniform, slender ; flower-stalks stiff, erect.
Calyx ovate. Fruit subglobose.

Syn. — Rosa rubra, &c. Bauh. Hist. 2. 34.

R. centifolia. Mill. Viet. n. 14; Willd. Sp. PI. 2. 1171 ; Pers. Syn. 2. 48.

R. sylvatica, Gater. Montaub. 94.

R. rubra, Lamarck, FI. Fr. 3. 130.

R. holosericea, Ross Ros. 1. 16. — Daraascena rubro purpurea, ibid. t. 18.

R. belgica, Brot. Luist. 1. 338.

R, cuprea, Jacq. Fragm. 31. t. 31. f. 4.

R. pumila. Bank. Hist. 2. 35 ; Willd. Sp. 2. 1072.

R. austriaca, Crants Austr. 86 ; Poll. Palat. 50.

Rosa, n. 1104. Hall. Ilelv.

R. gallic a, Lin.; Sp. 704; Willd. Sp. 2. 1071; Redoute les Roses, tom. 1.

73. t. 25.— 135. t. 52.-2. 17. t. 7.— 19. t. 8. 10. Bot. Reg. v. 6. t. 448.

Fouf.ign. — Fleurs des Roses rouges, Fr. ; Rosa domestica, It. ; Essig-rosen, Ger.

Tins species of rose is a native of the south of Europe, but is
common in our gardens, and flowers in June and July. In
its cultivated state, it is scarcely three feet high, sending up,
from its creeping roots, many stems, armed with fine, dispersed,
short, straight prickles. The leaves consist of two or three pairs
of leaflets, with a terminal one attached on very short petioles to

a common foot-stalk ; the leaflets are ovate, rigid, doubly serrated,
smooth, of a fine rather shining green colour on the upper sur-
face, pale, downy, or hairy underneath. The stipulas are linear-
lanceolate, pointed, entire, downy and glandular. The flowers
consist of a few large spreading petals, of a deep peculiar rich
crimson colour ; their base, like the stamens, of a fine gold colour,
and stand on stiff, erect peduncles. The segments of the calyx
arc downy, sometimes fringed at the margin with a row of linear-
lanceolate leaflets, as if pinnate : the stamens are numerous, bear-
' ing roundish yellow anthers; the germens are also numerous,
with villose styles, united into a cylinder. The fruit is subglo-
bose, and of a pale crimson colour.

In a work, professedly scientific, a long dissertation on this
flower of Love and Poetry cannot reasonably be expected. We
must not, however, pass over unnoticed some of the fables and
allegories with which it is connected, lest some of the ladies who
patronize our undertaking should consider us as devoid of proper
taste.

The name Rosa is supposed to be derived from the Celtic,
r 6s, or rhos ; from whence proceeds its Greek synonym, polov.
l)e Theis considers that the Celtic rhodd, or rhudd , red, is the
primary root of these words, the rose colour being almost syno-
nymous with redness. Hence also came rhus , rubia , rubus , and
the Greek name of the pomegranate , poa, or pocia, still in use.
From the beauty of the genus, the rose is dedicated to Venus,
the goddess of love and beauty. Thus Berkeley, in his Utopia,
describes a lover as declaring his passion by presenting to
the fair beloved a rose-bud, just beginning to open ; if the lady
accepted and wore the bud, she was supposed to favour his pre-
tensions. As time increased the lady’s affection, he followed up
the first present by that of a half-blown rose, which was again
succeeded by one full-blown ; and if the lady wore this last, she
was considered as engaged for life. In some parts of Sussex, it
is customary for the domestics to welcome a bride, by strewing
the path with roses, on her first appearance; and in Surrey, in
the time of Evelyn, it was the custom to plant roses round the
graves of lovers. The Greeks and Romans observed this practice

I

so religiously, that it is often found annexed as a codicil to their
wills, as appears by an old inscription at Ravenna, and another
at Milan, by which roses are ordered to be yearly strewed, and
planted upon graves. In South Wales it is also the universal
practice to strew roses and other flowers over the graves of
departed friends. As an emblem of youth, the rose was dedi-
cated to Aurora, and as an emblem of fugacity, to Cupid ; no
doubt from its short-lived beauty, which has been a fruitful
theme for poets, as in Crashaw’s lines on the death of Mr. Her-
rys : an instance also occurs in Mr. Bowring’s translation from
the Russian of Kostrov ; and in Canto 16, of Tasso’s Gernsa-
lemma Liber ata.

The rose was given by Cupid, as a bribe to Harpocrates, the
god of Silence ; from whence, we should suppose, originated the
custom, which, according to Rosenbergius, prevailed among the
northern nations of Europe, of suspending a rose from the ceiling
over the upper end of their tables, when it was intended that the
conversation which took place should be sacred to secrecy : and
it is this custom which undoubtedly gave rise to the common ex-
pression, “ under the rose.”

The ancients tell us, that roses were originally white ; but were
changed to red by the blood of Venus, when her feet w’ere lace-
rated by their prickles in her attempt to protect Adonis from the
rage of Mars. Theocritus and Rion, however, are of opinion
that it was the blood of Adonis himself that changed their co-
lour. Another fable relates, that Cupid, leading a dance in
Heaven, stumbled and overset a bowl of nectar, which falling
upon the earth, stained the rose; while Ausonius has caused the
rose to blush, from the blood of Cupid. Busbequius informs us
that the Turks superstitiously believe that roses originated from
the sweat of their prophet Mahomet. Monkish writers also have
enlisted roses into the service of their theology. Marubius tells
a story of a virgin named Dorothea, who suffered martyrdom in
Caesarea under the government of Fabricius; and who converted
a scribe named Theophilus to Christianity, by sending him some
roses in the winter-time out of Paradise.

A golden rose was considered so honourable a present, that

VOL. II.

1*

none but crowned heads were thought worthy either to give,
or to receive it. Roses of this kind were sometimes conse-
crated by the Popes upon Good Friday, and given to such
potentates as it was their particular interest to propitiate. The
flower itself they considered an emblem of the mortality of the
body, and the metal of which it was composed, of the im-
mortality of the soul. Boethius says, that William, King of
Scotland, received a present of this sort from Pope Alexander the
Third ; and Henry the Eighth is recorded to have had a similar
gift from Alexander the Sixth. The seal of Luther, which is a
rose, is supposed to be symbolical of the same things, as those
golden presents were. Roses were also employed by the Roman
emperors as a means of conferring honours upon their most fa-
mous generals, whom they allowed to add a rose to the ornaments
of their shields ; a custom which continued long after the Roman
empire had ceased to exist, and the vestiges of which may yet
be traced in the armorial bearings of many of the ancient noble
families of Europe.

We have already hinted, that owing to the great variety of
roses, it has become a task of almost insurmountable difficulty
to determine which is a species, or which a variety ; and although
Lindley has written a monograph on the Genus, much remains
to be accomplished to satisfy the mind of the scientific botanist,
and to reconcile the differences existing: in his and Sir J. Smith’s
opinions. To prove the truth of our remarks, we need only state
that the R. Gallica is considered by some to be a variety of the
R. pumila of Jacquin ; that the R. centifolia and R. provmcia/is
are identical ; while Sir J. Smith ranks the hundred-leaved rose
as a variety of R. Gallica. The hundred-leaved rose has been
very generally confounded with a distinct species, the R. Da-
mascena , and unless the mistake be corrected in the last edition
of the Dublin Pharmacopeia, of which we cannot obtain a sight,
it will be seen that the error is still propagated by a very learned
body.

As objects of cultivation, roses have always been eagerly
sought after, and for the purpose of increasing their beauty,
every means has been adopted, that would be likely to render

them double. Hence we may account for the multitude of indi-
viduals with which every garden abounds ; whose beauty is only
equalled by the extreme difficulty of tracing them to their ori-
ginal stocks. And we may go back to the times of Herodotus,
Athenaeus, and Theophrastus, each of whom adverts particularly
to double roses ; while Pliny enumerates several sorts, amongst
which is the R. centifolia.

Geographically considered, the species are all included be-
tween the 70th and 20th degrees of northern latitude ; except
the It. Montezuma of Mexico, found in 19° N., at an elevation
of more than 9,300 feet above the level of the sea. But Baron
Humboldt has calculated that in tropical countries the decre-
ment of caloric is one degree for every 9° toises of vertical eleva-
tion ; therefore the heat at this height would be nearly the same
as that of countries 29° further from the equator ; so that its
situation is essentially the same as that of the European parallels
to the species of which it is the more readily related than to
those of its own continent. In Asia half the species have been
found. Of the thirty-nine it produces, eighteen are natives of
the Russian dominions and the countries adjacent. Most of
them are similar to the European portion of the genus, and five
are common to Europe and Asia. Of the remainder, one, which
is perhaps a distinct genus, has been discovered in Persia, fifteen
in China, and two of the latter with four others, in the north of
India; one of which has considerable affinity to the R. moschata
of Northern Africa. The Chinese and Indian species have a
habit entirely different from the rest. It is from Asia, which
may indeed be called the “ land of the rose,-11 that the greatest
number of novelties are to be expected. With the roses of the
Crimea we are impefectly acquainted ; and yet they are said to
grow there in the most astonishing profusion. Europe has twenty-
five species; of which 5-sixths exist between 40° and 50°. Bri-
tain, according to Smith, has twenty-two species ; Denmark has
seven ; Plolland, thirteen ; whilst in Spain, Portugal, and the
Levant, only four species have been observed. In the north of
Africa there are two species peculiar to that country, and two
others common to it, and Europe. Fourteen species have been

r 2

found in North America, only two of which, Montezuma and
strict a, bear much general resemblance to European roses. The
It. Iccvigata of the woods of Georgia is so similar to the It. Si-
nica of China, as not to be immediately distinguished from it;
and the latter is even sold in some of the London nurseries under
the name of 11. Cherolceensis.

Qualities. — The petals of the unblown buds are the parts
medicinally used. They give out their virtues both to water and
rectified spirit, and tinge the former of a fine red colour, but the
latter of a very pale one. The extract obtained by inspissating
the watery infusion, is moderately austere, bitterish, and sub-
saline. The spirituous extract is considerably stronger both in
astringency and bitterness. Water at 212° extracts both its
odour and taste; and the infusion strikes a black with sulphate
of iron, and also forms a precipitate of a dark colour, with sul-
phate of zinc.

Chemical Analysis. — The petals of the Rosa Gallica con-
tain, according to the analysis of Mr. Cartier, Tannin, Gallic
acid, colouring matter, essential oil; fixed oil, or fatty matter;
albumen, soluble salts of potash, insoluble salts of lime, silica,
and oxide of iron. The relative proportions of these proximate
principles have not been accurately ascertained ; although their
presence has been satisfactorily established.

Medical Properties. — It is generally believed that the
petals of this rose are astringent ; but Poterius, as cited by
Lewis, states that he found a drachm of powdered red roses
occasion three or four alvine evacuations, and this not in a few,
but several instances. Ainslie also says, “ the powder of the
red-rose petals, in doses of one drachm, is purgative.” Whe-
ther, however, they are purgative, or not, is of very little
importance, since they are principally used as an elegant colour-
ing matter in the infusion, which owing to the addition of sul-
phuric acid, is certainly astringent. This infusion forms an
elegant and useful vehicle for neutral salts in haemorrhages, and
other diseases.

Off. Prep. — Confectio llosae, L. E. D.

Infusum Rosae. /,. E. D.

Mel Rosa'. L. I).

Syrupus Rosa. E.

llOSA CENTI FOLIA. — Hundred-leaved Rose.

Spec. Char. Prickles unequal, large, falcated. LeaJ-
lets edged with minute glands. Flowers drooping1.
Calyx viscid. Fruit oblong.

Syn. — Rosa Hollandica, sive batava, Ger. Em. 1 262.

Rosa proviacialis Mill. Viet. n. 18; WilUl. Sp. 2. 1070.

Rosa ceutifolia, Lin. Sp. PI. 701 ; Redoubte Ros. 1. 85. t. 1 — 37. t. 7 — 77,
t. 26.— 79. t. 27—111. t. -10.

Foreign. — Rose a cent feuilles, Fr.; Die Centrifolienrose, Ger.; lion Inning tail
Cochinch.

This, like the Rosa gallica , is generally regarded as a native
of the south of Europe; but Lindley is disposed to eonsider
Asia its native country, because it has been found wild by
Bieberstein, with double flowers, on the eastern side of Mount
Caucasus, whither it is not likely to have escaped from a gar-
den. It is a much taller plant than the Rosa gallica , rising to
the height of five or six feet, and beset with large, unequal-
hooked prickles. The leaves resemble those of gallica , but are
larger, and furnished on the margin with minute glands. From
gallica it differs also by its flowers being cernuous, by the larger
size of its prickles, and by its oblong or rounded, but never elon-
gated fruit.

Qualities. — Many varieties of this species of rose are indis_
criminately used for medicinal purposes. The petals are of a
pale red colour, and of a very fragrant odour ; and although
this fragrance is very pleasant to most persons, several instances
are on record where it was highly injurious. Both Echius and
Schwenckius narrate cases of inflammation of the eyes, faint-
ings, hysterical affections, abortion, &c. being produced; and
Murray states, that persons confined in a close room, with a large
quantity of roses, have been in danger of immediate extinction
of life. From the experiments of Priestly and Ingenhousz, their
effects are attributed to the mephitic air, (carbonic acid gas,)
which these, in common with many other flowers, exhale. The
petals impart their odour to watery liquids, both by infusion and

The quantity of essential oil to be obtained from the roses is
very variable, as it depends not only on the skill of the distiller,
but also on the quantity of the flowers and the favourableness of
the season. In order to obtain four inashas (about 1$ drachm)
from bO lbs., which, deducting the calyces, amounts to some-
thing less than 3 drachms per 100 pounds of rose leaves; the
season must be very favourable, and the operation carefully per-
formed .

Rose Water ( Aqua Rosce Ph. Lond.) is prepared by taking
eight pounds of the petals of Rosa centi folia, and pouring over
them as much water as will prevent empyreuma during the dis-
tillation, and then distilling a gallon. This water has the
agreeable odour of the rose in great perfection when properly
prepared ; but is very apt to spoil, unless it be rectified by a
second distillation.

Medical Properties. — The petals of the hundred-leaved
rose are considered to be slightly laxative ; and the syrup is often
mixed with a little almond oil, and given to children as a domestic
medicine. Rose-water is an elegant medium for preparations of
lead and zinc, of which collyria are generally composed-.

Off. Prep. — Aqua Rosae. L. E. I).

Syrupus Rosae. L. E.

c

ROSA CANINA.

Common Dog Rose.

Spec. Char. Fruit ovate, smooth or somewhat bristly.
Calyx pinnate, deciduous. Prickles strongly hooked.
Styles distinct. Leaflets rigid, ovate, pointed, quite
smooth.

Syn. — Rosa sylvestris inodora, seu canina, Raii Syn. 47 1- ; Park. 1017.

R. canina inodora, Ger. Em. 1270./.

R. sylvestris vulgaris, flore odorato incarnato, Bauh. Pin. 483.

R. sylvestris alba cum rubore, folio glabro, Bauh. Hist. v. 2. 43./.

R. n. 1101, Hall. Hist. v. 2. 38.

R. canina, Lin. Sp. PI. 704; I Viltd. v. 2. 1077 ; FI. Brit. 540; Engl. Bat.
v. 14. t. 992 ;. Lind. Ros. p. 98 ; Hook Scot. 1.57 ; Wood’s Trans, of Lin.
Soc. v. 12. 223. Woodv. v. 3. t. 139.

Provinicially. — Wild Brier. Dog Rose. Hep-tree.

Foreign. — Le Rosier sauvage ; Rose de Chien, Fr. ; Rosa silvatica, It.; Rosa sil-
vestre ; R. peruna, Sp. ; Rosa brava, Port.; Hundrose, Ger.; Niupon,
Swed. ; Schiopwnik, Rus.

The Dog Rose, the most common ornament of our hedge-rows,
and universally admired for the beauty of its foliage, its large,
handsome, fragrant flowers, and its rich coral fruit, is sufficiently
familiar to every one. It is not, however, generally known that
this species is very apt to be confounded with some others,
equally common, which it nearly resembles; we shall therefore
make no apology for quoting Lindley’s description : — 44 A strag-
gling briar six or seven feet high. The branches light green,
reddish-brown on the sunny side; armed with strong, scattered,
hooked, nearly equal, prickles (rarely straight, and then much
closer together.) Leaves distant, pale or dark green, frequently
tinged with red, in exposed situations usually much blistered by
the sun, quite free from pubescence ; stipules rather dilated, a
little reflexed, acute-pointed; petiole armed with a few little
hooked prickles; leaflets 5 — ?, ovate or oblong, acute or rounded,
sessile or subsessile, flat or concave, even or rugose, coarsely or

finely, simply or doubly, serrated; the serratures always acute,
without glands and converging. Cymes one or many-flowered ;
bractem ovate-lanceolate, appressed, acute, concave or flattish,
finely toothed and glandular at the edge; peduncles and calyx,
smooth ; tube ovate; sepals spreading, sharp-pointed, deciduous,
somewhat divided ; petals obcordate, concave ; disk very thick,
elevated ; ovaries 20—30 ; styles nearly smooth, distinct, included
or a little exserted. Fruit ovate or oblong, scarlet, shining, with-
out any bloom ; pericarps large, uneven.” It flowers in June
and July, ripening its fruit late in autumn. Fig (a) represents
the fruit cut open to show the seeds ; (6) a seed.

The foregoing description applies strictly to II. cnnina.
“ When this is weak, and grows in woods or shady places among
grass, it has straight prickles, and becomes It. nuda of Woods:
with very distinct aculei, it is Jt. andegavensis of Bastard; with
very dense ones it is It canina of Itau.”

Qualities. — The fruit has no odour, but a pleasant, sweet,
acidulous taste, which is said to depend on uncombined citric
acid and sug-ar.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The pulpy part of the
heps of the dog-rose is slightly astringent, but possesses no very
remarkable medical properties ; beat up with sugar, it forms a
confection, which sometimes enters into the composition of de-
mulcent electuaries, and was formerly much esteemed in the
treatment of dysentery. It is also employed to form calomel,
antimony, &c. into pills; and is sometimes served up at table as
a dessert, and the Germans make a very agreeable sauce of it,
something resembling that of the Tomato. The root has been
recommended in hydrophobia, whence indeed its specific name
canina. The Tartars boil the twigs and leaves in the place of
tea, and the Siberians praise them for their reviving, stomachic
qualities. The inhabitants of the Volga prepare a spirit from
the flowers, by fermentation ; and in the Ukraine they are made
into a preserve with honey and sugar.

A reddish, moss-like, prickly excrescence, called Bedeguar ,
Rose sponge , and by the French Galle chevelue, is frequently
found upon the branches of the Rosa canina , and other roses.
This excrescence is the habitation of the larva of a small hymen-
opterous insect, Cynips Rosce, and was formerly celebrated for
its astringent powers.

Off. Prep. — Confectio Rosae canina?, L. olitn, Conserva
Cynosbati.

'1101

I

I

CROCUS SATIVUS.

Saffron Crocus.

Cl

Class III. Triandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Orel. Ensat.e, Lin. Irides, Juss.

Iride.e, De Cand. Iridace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Perianth petaloid, in six deep equal seg-
ments; tube longer than the limb. Stigmas convoluted.

Spec. Char, Leaves setaceous. Stigma reflexed late-
rally, in three deep, linear, notched segments.

Syii. — Crocus, Raii Syn. 374; Ger. Em. 151. f. Fuch. Hist. 441 . f. ; Flin, xxi. 6.
Crocum, Matth. Valgr. v. 1. 62. 63. j. ; Camer. Epit. 33. f.

Crocus autumnalis, Eng. But. v. 5. t. 343.

Crocus setifolius, Stokes, Bot. Mat. Med. v. 1. p. 104.

Crocus officinalis, Huds. FI. Angl. 13, a ; Mart. Rust. v. 2. t. 35.

K pottos et Kponov, Horn. Iliad, E, 318 : Theophr. vi. 6; Dinsc. i. 25.

Crocus sativus, Lin. Sp. PI. 54, a. II "did. v. 1. 194; FI. Brit. 3 9; Redoutd
Liliac. v. 3. t. 173 ; ll'oodu. t. 176.

Foreign. — Saffron, Fr. ; Safferano, It. ; Azafran, Sp. ; Acafrao, Port. ; Safranplame,
Ger. ; Schafran, Rus.

Our drawing of this beautiful and interesting Crocus, which
affords the well-known Saffron of the shops, was taken from spe-
cimens obligingly communicated to us by Mr. Fiske of Walden
in Essex, where it was formerly much cultivated for medical use.
It is a perennial, bulbous plant, and is supposed to have been
originally brought from the East, where it first acquired that high
reputation in medicine, which it has now almost lost in Europe.
It is said that the saffron crocus was imported into England in the
reign of Edward III., and that a Sir Thomas Smith introduced it
into the neighbourhood of Walden, where it was probably first
cultivated. It was, however, grown at an early period in Hereford-
shire; but it is now confined to a very small district in Cam-
bridgeshire, at the foot of the Gogmagog hills. It appears to
have been planted abundantly near Walden, at the end of the
sixteenth and at the beginning of the seventeenth century. It

migrated gradually into Cambridgeshire between the year 1675
and 1723, where the place of its growth was the large tract of
ground between Saffron Walden and Cambridge, in a circuit of
about ten miles. At present, however, it is, we believe, but
little attended to by the farmer, and is now confined to two or
three parishes only, of which Stapleford is one. Saffron has
long been extensively cultivated in many countries on the con-
tinent, particularly in France and Spain ; but English Saffron is
generally preferred here to that which is imported, and may be
distinguished by its parts being larger and broader. The bulbs
may be planted in dry, light soil ; but they succeed best in sand.
About the first week in October the flowers begin to appear; but
the seeds are never perfected in this climate.

The saffron crocus has a roundish bulbous root, as large as a
small nutmeg, which is solid, somewhat compressed, and covered
with a coarse brown reticulated skin. From the bottom of this
bulb are sent out many long slender fibres, which strike pretty
deep into the ground, and are, properly speaking, the true roots.
Immediately from the upper part of the bulb proceed the flowers
on a long slender white tube, which together with the leaves are
inclosed in a thin membranous sheath, opening on one side.
The leaves are numerous, curved, linear, smooth, longer than
the corolla, of a deep green colour, with a white central stripe,
and are accompanied by the flowers. The corolla is large, and
divided into six nearly elliptical segments, equal, and of a rich
violet, or lilac colour. The stamens are shorter than the corolla,
and surmounted by arrow-shaped, erect, pale yellow anthers.
At the bottom of the tube is situated a roundish germen, crowned
with the style, which is thread-shaped, the length of the corolla,
and hangs out at one side between the segments. The stigma is
deeply 3-parted, of a deep orange colour, fragrant, narrow, a little
dilated upwards, and notched at the summit. — Fig. («) represents
one of the segments of the corolla with a stamen and anther ;
(6) the 3-parted stigma, which is the officinal saffron.

Distinctive Characters. — Saffron differs from the spring-
crocus (C. vemus) in having the stigma divided into three very
long narrow segments, which are notched at the summit, of a

deep orange colour, and fragrant. In the spring crocus the
stigma is within the flower, divided into three wedge-shaped
jagged lobes, which are inodorous, and the tube of the corolla is
hairy at the mouth : while in the officinal species the throat of the
corolla is smooth. The naked-flowering crocus (C. nudiflorus )
is readily distinguished from the other two by the deeply-
laciniated tufted segments of the stigma, and by the flowers,
which are of a deep purple, appearing in autumn unaccompanied
by leaves; the latter not being produced till December.

Saffron is unquestionably a native of Greece and Asia Minor,
having been introduced into the south of Europe for cultivation
as a medicinal plant; but it has naturalized itself in some parts
of England, and is retained by Smith in the English Flora, on
the authority of the Rev. Mr. Wood, who found it about Halifax,
and of Mr. Whatly, who observed it near Derby. Of the genus,
Miller admits only two species, the autumnal saffron, C. sativus
and the spring crocus, C. vernus. Sir J. E. Smith describes three
species as natives of Britain, C. vernus, nudiflorus, and sativus :
of the former there are several varieties, blue and purple, yellow,
white, and striped. Linneus reduces all the species to one, and
supposes the vernal, and the autumnal, or officinal crocus, to be
only varieties, notwithstanding the difference in the form of their
stigmas, leaves, and bulbs, as well as in the time of their flower-
ing. Besides these, the following species are cultivated in crocus
beds ; — C. versicolor , or party-coloured crocus, a kind which re-
quires a light loam, while most of the others grow best in sand ;
C. biflorus , or yellow-bottomed ; C. mcesiacus, or great yellow ;
C. susianus, or cloth of gold; C. sulphureus, or sulphur-coloured;
and C. serotinus, or late-flowered, blossoming in autumn, the
leaves appearing at the same time with the flower. The Scotch
crocus is said by Mr. Neill to be a beautiful striped variety.

The medicinal properties of this flower were early known to
the Romans; as we find that the Cilician physicians who attended
Anthony and Cleopatra in Egypt, recommended saffron as a
medicine that cleared the complexion, by relieving the jaundice
or the bile : which is an early indication of the prevalence of the
“ doctrine of signatures,11 for which the sect termed “ Rosicru-

bulbs arc taken up and cleaned, and the largest set by for plant-
ing again.

“ The increase in the bulbs is very great, but being of no use
except for replanting, what are not wanted for that purpose are
thrown away ; and as the produce of the saffron does not repay
the expenses, it is now entirely out of cultivation here as an article
of commerce.”

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Saffron has a
powerful, penetrating, diffusive odour, and a warm, pungent,
bitterish taste. It gives out the whole of its virtues and colour
to rectified spirit, proof spirit, wine, vinegar, and water, and in
a smaller degree to ether ; about three parts in four of the saffron
being taken up by each of these menstrua, and the matter which
remains undissolved is inodorous, insipid, and of a pale clay
colour. The acetous, and even vinous tinctures of saffron, on
long keeping, lose a little of their colour and strength ; but those
made with rectified spirit remain good for years. In distillation
it impregnates water strongly with its flavour. If the quantity
of saffron be large, a small portion of a fragrant and very pun-
gent oil maybe collected, amounting, as Vogel says, to about 1^
drachm from 10 ounces. Rectified spirit also elevates a consi-
derable share of its flavour, but much the greater part is concen-
trated in the extract. The watery infusion, which has the deep
orange-red colour of the saffron, is rendered of a very deep purple
by strong sulphuric acid, the mixture emitting the smell of
vinegar, and yielding a copious black precipitate when diluted
by water. Hence it may be inferred that saffron contains chiefly
extractive, which, according to Ilernbstaedt, is nearly pure, and in
proportion of 10 parts in 16 of the vegetable, the remainder being
mostly ligneous fibre. It contains also a small portion of resin.

According to an analysis by MM. Vogel and Bouillon La-
grange (Ann. de Chiin. xxx. 168,) Saffron is composed of a
substance termed,

Polychroite ,* . . . . 65 .

Odorous Volatile Oil,

* The colouring matter is not pure polychroite, but about three-fourths of the
proportion stated above maybe considered to be so, with an admixture of one-
fourth of extractive matter.

Wax

0 .

50

Gum ......

6 .

50

Albumen .....

0 .

50

Salts of lime, potass, and magnesia

10

Water .....

10

Vegetable debris

10

Polyckroite is in the form of powder, of an intensely yellow
colour. It attracts moisture from the atmosphere ; is very solu-
ble in water and alcohol ; somewhat soluble in sulphuric ether ;
insoluble in the oils. It is combined with a fixed oil, which may
be separated by the action of alkalies. It has a bitter, pungent
taste, and a strong, fragrant odour. It is obtained from the
stigmas of the crocus, by evaporating a watery infusion to the
consistence of honey, which is digested in alcohol ; filter the
solution and evaporate to dryness. The dried mass is the Poly-
chroite.

Adulterations. — Even in the time of Pliny, saffron was
adulterated : and the best way of trying it, he says, is to lay the
hand on it, when, if good, it will be heard to crack or snap :
from which we presume the saffron was a dry sort. lie further
states, that after handling it, if the hand be put into the mouth,
it will cause a stinging sensation in the face and eyes if it be
good ; and on being chewed, stains the spittle and teeth. It is
still often adulterated with the petals of Carthamus tinctorius
and Calendula officinalis ; by expanding the suspected article
in hot water, the petals of the fraudulent additions will be
readily found.

Medical Properties and Uses. — “ The writers on ma-
teria medica,” says Dr. Cullen, “ have constantly spoken of it as
a very active medicine ; but their reports of its effects are in some
instances manifestly extravagant, though repeated by Boerhaave
himself ; and very frequent experiments in practice do not at all
support the opinions that have been commonly entertained of it.
I have given it in large doses, without its showing any sensible
effects ; hardly in any degree increasing the frequency of the
pulse; and as an anodyne or antispasmodic, I have hardly ob-
served its operation.”

VOL. II.

Schroder asserts, that if taken to the quantity of two or three
drachms it proves fatal ; and by several authors we are informed,
that in large doses it produces cephalalgia, intoxication, and
mania. It is also said to be plentifully absorbed and to tinge the
various textures of the body. F rom direct experiments, however,
made by Dr. Alexander, saffron evidently possesses but little
active power over the great majority of mankind, when given even
in very large doses; and Dr. H. Cullen administered it in the
quantity of half an ounce a day, in several hysterical cases, with-
out any sensible effect. It has often been said to produce great
hilarity, which report is, however, contradicted by Bergius, whose
words are, “ Nobilis matrona semper in tristitiam illapsa est
ingentem, postquam pulveres crocatos ei proprinaveram.”

Saffron is now discarded from practice as a medical agent ;
but still enters into the composition of several officinal prepa-
rations, to impart an aromatic flavour and a rich colour.*

Off. Prep — Confectio aromatica. I,. 1).

Decoct um Aloes comp. L.

Pilula Aloes c. myrrhfi. L.

Syrupus Croci. L.

Tinctura Aloes comp. L.

Aloes. D.

Cinnamomae comp. L.

Croci sativi. E.

— Rhaei. L.

Rhaei comp. L.

* American Soothing Syrup.— This vile nostrum, which is puffed off in the
newspapers “ as areal blessing to mothers,’’ is nothing more than syrup of saffron,
with a portion of nitrate of potass or saltpetre, and laudanum !

,

.

WtJ-itsll ftfbt

MYROXYLON PERUIFERUM.

Sweet- smelling Balsam-tree of Peru.

Class X. Decandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Lomentace.e, Lin. Leuu.minos.e, Juss. De Land.

Cjceuin.e Lotace.e Sophouid.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx bell-shaped, 5-toothed. Petals five,
the upper one larger than the others. Cermen stalked,
longer than the corolla. Legume with one seed only,
at the point.

Spec. Char. Leaflets pointed, emarginate. Claw ol the
larger petal twice the length of the calyx.

Syn. — HoitzQoxitl, Hernandez Nova Plant. S\C. Mexican Hist, fol, 61 .J.

Cabureiba, Piso. Bras. 57. 119.

Toluifera Balsamum, Lin. Sp. PI. 549; Woodv. v. 3. 1. 193.

Myroxylon peruiferum, Willd. Sp. PL v. 2. 546 ; Stokes, v. 2. p. 471 ; Lambert
Illustr. of the Genus Cinchona, p. 92.

Foreign names of the Balsam. — Baume de Permi, Fr. ; Balsanio del Peru, It. ;
Balsamode Quinquica, Sp. ; Peruvianischcr Balsam, Ger.

The Sweet-smelling Balsam-tree, which yields the precious
balsam of Peru, is a native of the warmest provinces of
Mexico and Peru. It grows in the mountains of Panatahuas,
in the forests of l’uzuzu, Muna, Cuchero, Paxaten, Pamphaer-
mosa, and in many other countries near the river Maranon, in low,
warm, and sunny situations, blossoming in August, September,
and October. The natives of the country call the tree by the
name of Quinquino, and its bark and fruit by that of Quinquina.
Hernandez says that the Mexican kings cultivated it in their
gardens, and that if the trunk or bark be wounded, at any time
of the year, but especially at the end of the rainy season, the
celebrated and valuable balsam of Peru distils from the wound ;
“ this is of a dark or blackish-orange colour, of an acrid and

somewhat bitter taste, a most powerful but highly agreeable
smell It was discovered by the celebrated Don Jose Caelestino
M utis, of Santa Fe de Bogota, New Granada, who sent specimens
of the leaf, flowers, and fruit, to the younger Linneus about the
year 1781. The plate which illustrates the following description
is taken by permission from Mr. Lambert’s valuable work “on
the Genus Cinchona,” and was made from very fine specimens
received from the distinguished author of the u Flora Peruviana
et Chilensis,” Don Jose Pavon.

It is described by Don Hippolito Ruiz, as a branching and
elegant tree, growing to the height of thirty varas and upwards.
The trunk is thick, straight, smooth, and covered like the branches
with a grey, coarse, compact, heavy bark, granulated, of a pale
straw colour interiorly, and filled with a fragrant resin, which
abounds in every part of the tree. The branches extend almost
horizontally. The leaves are alternate, and composed of two,
three, four, and sometimes five pairs of leaflets, nearly opposite,
and ovate-lanceolate acute, but with the apex somewhat obtuse
and emarginate, smooth, shining, entire, marked with translucent
linear points, like those of the orange-tree, hairy on the under
surface, and standing on short footstalks. Many leaves terminate
unequally, and in this case consist of five, six, or nine leaflets.
The flowers spring from the scars of the young branches, and
from the axillae of the leaves in long downy erect racemes,
longer than the leaves, on slender stalks, scarcely an inch long,
with a small, concave, ovate bractea at the base of each. The
calyx is bell-shaped, dark green, divided into five small, nearly
equal teeth, but with one of them so far separated from the rest
as to be found under the germen. The corolla is composed of
five white petals, four of these narrow, equal, lanceolate, and
larger than the calyx; the fifth reflexed, broad, and double the
size of the others. The filaments are ten, inclining and inserted
into the calyx; bearing elongated, sharp-pointed, sulcated anthers.
The germen is oblong, pedicellated, inclining with the stamens
to the same side; the style short, awl-shaped and crooked, with
a simple stigma. The pericarp or seed-vessel is pendulous, straw-
coloured, nearly six inches in length, club-shaped, somewhat

curved, globular near the top, and terminated by the curved style.
It contains in a cell in the globular part, a single seed, which is
crescent-shaped, projecting from the cell, and between this and
the lining of the pericarp there is a hollow space filled with a yellow
liquid balsam, which in time dries and becomes as hard as resin. —
Fig. ( a ) represents a flower magnified ; ( b ) the curved germen
surrounded by the bell-shaped calyx ; (c) the one-celled pericarp,
showing the projecting seed ; (d) the crescent-shaped seed.

“ The balsam of Quinquino,” continues Iluiz, “ is procured by
incision at the beginning of the spring, when the showers are
gentle, frequent, and short ; it is collected in bottles, when it
keeps liquid for some years, in which state it is called, ‘ white
liquid balsam.’ But when the Indians deposit this liquid in mats
or calabashes, which is commonly done in Carthagena, and in the
mountains of Tolu, after sometime it condenses and hardens into
resin, and is then denominated, ‘ dry white balsam , or balsam of
Tolu? by which name it is known in the druggists’ shops.

“ It is generally believed, and M. Valmont de Bomare says, in
his Dictionary of Natural History, that if an extract be made from
the bark, by boiling it in water, it remains liquid and of a blackish
colour, known under the name of ‘ Black Peruvian Balsam.'

“ The Indians of Puzuzu, and of some other parts of South
America, do not collect the balsam of this tree : whether it is, that
they are ignorant of the method of obtaining it, and of its value,
or because few trees are found in the neighbourhood of their
towns, the only parts which they collect are the barks most
filled with resin condensed into drops and lumps, and the fruit,
in order to sell them in the neighbouring provinces, both of which
are used for the purpose of perfuming clothes and apartments.

“ The fruit, as well as the bark, being reduced to a coarse
powder, they mix with it oil of Maria, Carana, Jacamaca, Lera,
or Sebo, and make witli it little plasters, which they apply upon
the tempels and behind the ears, to mitigate the pains of the
head-ache and the tooth-ache, particularly hemicrania.”

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The Balsam
of Peru*' has the consistence of honey, a brown colour, an

* A “ balsam’’ is a substance possessing the general properties of a resin- but,
which when heated, or digested in acids, yields benzoic acid.

ngi eeable smell, and u hot acrid taste. When boiled with water
tor some time, the liquid separated by the filter reddens vegetable
blues, and deposits crystals of benzoic acid in cooling. The
water contains no other substance.* When distilled with water,
it yields a very small quantity of reddish limpid oil ; and benzoic
acid sublimes in the neck of the retort. At 550° the balsam
begins to boil, when exposed to heat in a water bath, and some
> £as *s discharged. At 594" the oil, mixed with a little water,
comes over pretty fast. At GIT0 it rises still more rapidly.
Liehtenberg, to whom we owe these experiments, kept four
ounces of balsam at that temperature for two hours, and obtained
two ounces of a yellowish oil, and a crystallized mass of benzoic
acid, which, together with the water, weighed 6^ drachms. The
gas obtained amounted to 58 ounce measures ; 38 being car-
bonic acid. The rest burn like olefiant gas.

Saturated solutions of the alkalies and their carbonates form a

thick mass when mixed with the balsam ; and a solution, when

%

saturated with sulphuric acid, deposits crystals of benzoic acid.
Treated with nitric and muriatic acids, the presence of prussic
acid is indicated, benzoic acid sublimes, and Mr. Hatchett found
that the residue possessed the properties of artificial tannin.
When this balsam is treated with sulphuric acid, artificial tannin
is also formed, and the residual charcoal amounts to no less than
0.64 of the original weight of the balsam.T

Tolu Balsam was formerly supposed to be the produce
of another tree called Myroxylon Toluifera , but although
these plants are specifically distinct and yield their respective
balsams, it is said that either or both kinds of balsam can be pro-
cured, according to the processes followed, from either tree.
Tolu Balsam is a soft solid, and comes to England in gourd
shells. It is of a reddish brown colour, and considerable coir
sistence; and when exposed to the air, becomes solid and brittle
Its smell is fragrant, and continues so even after the balsam has
become thick by age. When distilled with water it yields very
little volatile oil, but impregnates the water stfongly with its taste

* Liehtenberg, Golden's Jour. vj. 489.

t Hatchett’s Third Series of Experiments on Artificial Tannin, I’hil. Trans. 180fc.

and smell. A quantity of benzoic acid sublimes, if the distillation
be continued.* Like the rest of the balsams, it is soluble in the
alkalies. When digested in sulphuric acid, a considerable quan_
tity of pure benzoic acid sublimes; and when the solution is
evaporated to dryness, and the residue treated with alcohol, arti-
ficial tannin is obtained. When dissolved in nitric acid, it pre-
sents nearly the same phenomena as the resins ; but assumes the
odour of prussic acid. During the solution in nitric acid, a
portion of benzoic acid sublimes. 13y repeated digestions it is
converted into artificial tannin.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Peruvian balsam re-
sembles the balsam of Copaiba in its medical virtues ; it is
however more heating, and does not relax the bowels in its usual
doses. It has been employed as an expectorant in catarrh
and dyspnoea, when attended by an increased secretion of
mucus ; and from its stimulating the stomach, or from a similar
action on the exhalents or absorbents of the lungs, it has been
found serviceable. In consequence of its stimulating and tonic
powers, it has been prescribed as a remedy in paralysis, chronic
rheumatism, and leucorrhoca ; and in combination with calomel,
it has been efficaciously administered for the tremors which arise
from the noxious influence of lead. At one period it was held
high in repute as a detergent application to wounds and ulcers.
Kirkland and Rowley attest its efficacy in high terms of com-
mendation : and in those irritable ulcers of the leg, which have
a glassy surface, and are devoid of granulations, it was much
employed by the late Mr. Whately ; and in our own practice,
we place great reliance on it. It has also been much employed
as a local application to gangrenous affections, and a case is
recorded by Mr. Smith in the “ Lancet,” of a chancre, attended
with phymosis and extensive ulcerations of the prepuce, readily
yielding to its power. The mode of applying it is by drench-
ing a piece of lint in it, which is to be laid on the diseased part,
night and morning, till healthy granulations appear.

Dose. — From thirty drops to a drachm, repeated at proper
intervals.

* Lewis, Neumann’s Chem. p. 285.

Mistura Balsami Peruviani.

R Balsami Peruviani sij
Mellis depurati $i
Mistura; Amygdalae 5viss

Fiat Mistura, cujus sumat cochlearia tria magna sexta quaque
hora.

Balsamum Peruvianum cum Felle Boviko

R Fellis Bovini 3 i i j

Balsami Peruviani 3i Misce.

Dr. Hugh Smith recommended this application to be occasionally
dropped into the ear, when there is a fetid discharge from it ;
but these articles do not readily combine.

Unguentum Balsami Peruviani.

R Balsami Peruviani si

Unguent. Cetacei 3 vij Misce.

This is a useful application for ulcers requiring a gentle stimulus ;
and is a favourite and efficacious remedy for cracked nipples.

Tolu Balsam. — This balsam is stimulating and expectorant,
and is the mildest of all the balsams. Its tincture and syrup are
occasionally added to mucilaginous mixtures when prescribed for
chronic coughs; but Tolu balsam is little valued, excepting
for its pleasant flavour. In gleets it is sometimes useful, and
has been applied to wounds and ideers, when a slight stimulus
seemed to be required.

Off. Prep. — Syrupus Tolutani. L.

Tinctura Benzoini comp. L. E. D.

Toluiferae Balsami. E. D.

Other species of Myroxylon , as M. Pubescens, yield a balsam
very similar to the balsam of Peru, if not identical with it : in-
deed, Humboldt and Bonpland consider M. Peruiferum and M.
pubescens to be but varieties of one species, and Jacquin was of
the same opinion. He named the whole group Myrospermum.

v:

r /?

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K’Mic.

cm

POLYGALA SENEGA.

Rattlesnake Milkwort.

Class XVII. Diadelphia. — Order III. Octandria.

Nat. Ord. Lomentace*:, Lin. Pediculares, Juss. Poly-
gale.e, De Cand. Polygalace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-leaved, with two of the leaflets
wing-like and coloured. Standard of the corolla cylin-
drical. Capsule obcordate, 2-valved, and 2-celled,

Spec. Char. Leaves alternate, lanceolate. Flowers
alternate, beardless. Spike terminal, slender, solitary,
tapering. Stem erect, simple, herbaceous, leafy.

Syn. — Planta Marilandica, (Polygala 1) caule non ramoso, spico in fastigia singulari
e flosculis albis composita, Raii Syn. 640.

Polygala caule simplici erecto, &c. Grim. Flor. Virg. ed. 1. p. 80.

Polygala floribus imberbibus spicatis. See. Gron. Virg. 103.

Polygala Senega, Lin. Sp. PI. 990 ; ]Villd. v. 3. 894 ; Amtcn. Acad. 2. p. 139.
t. 2; Michaux Flor. Amer. Dor. 2. p. 53; T Voodv. v. 2. t. 93; Stokes, v. 3_
504 ; Dot. Mag. v. 26. t. 1051 ; Barton Mat. Med. U. S. v. 2. p. 111. (. 36 ;
Bigelow, Amer. Med. Bot. t. 30.

English. — Seneka Snake Root; Rattlesnake-root ; Officinal Milkwort, or Snake-root ;
Seiteka.

Foreign. — Polygalie de Virgin ie ; Senega ; Racine de serpent a sonnettes, Fr. ; Po-
ligala Virginiana, It. ; Senegawurz ; K lapperschlangenwurz , Ger.

The Polygala Senega is a hardy perennial, a native of North
America, growing in most latitudes in the United States, on the
sides of hills and in dry woods. It is abundant in Kentucky,
Ohio, and Tennessee; flowering from June to August. It was
first cultivated in England by Philip Miller in 1759 ; but having
little beauty to boast, it is rarely met with in our gardens. There
is a variety with whitish flowers in a dense spike or cluster, and
another with rose-coloured flowers in a lax spike and narrower

VOL. II.

R

leaves. The rose-coloured variety, as it has been considered by
Michaux and Pursh, is said to be a distinct species. Some
varieties, which Professor Bigelow possesses from Carolina, have
branching, pubescent stems, and very long loose spikes. Of this
genus M. l)e Candolle enumerates above one hundred and sixty
species, growing in every quarter of the globe ; but one only,
Polygala vulgaris, or common Milkwort, is British.

The root of Polygala Senega is woody, branched, contorted,
about half an inch in diameter, and covered with a thick dull
yellowish or greyish bark ; it sends up several annual stems,
about a foot in height, erect, slender, round, simple, smooth, of
a dull purple colour below, and greenish towards the top. The 1
leaves are alternate, scattered, lanceolate, pointed, smooth, some-
what undulated, occasionally tinged with red, and nearly or quite
sessile: towards the base they are smaller and nearly ovate.

The flowers are in loose, terminal spikes, apparently papilionace-
ous, generally white, often tinged with purple, and sometimes
pale yellow. The cnlvx, which in this genus is the most conspi-
cuous part of the flower, consists of five leaflets ; the two largest
of which are roundish-ovate, white, and slight veined. The co-
rolla is small, closed, having two obtuse lateral segments, and a
short crested extremity. The stamens are all united at the bot-
tom, and attached to the corolla; with eight tubular anthers
opening at the summit. The fruit is an obcordate, compress-
ed, 2-celled, 2-valved capsule, containing two oblong-obovate,
slightly hairy, curved, blackish seeds. The spike opens very
gradually, so that the lower flowers are in fruit, while the upper
ones are in blossom. — Fig. (a) represents the three smaller leaves
of the calyx ; (ft) the different parts of the corolla, &c. ; (c) the
capsule and seeds ; ( d ) the root.

The generic name is compounded of two Greek words, tto\vq,
much , and y a\a, milk, in allusion to its reputation of increasing
the secretion of milk in those animals that partake of it. But
at this time, the species which gave origin to the idea is not
known.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The root of the
Polygala Senega has little or no smell ; but to the taste it is bitter,

pungent, subtle, and peculiar. After chewing, it leaves a sensa-
tion of acrimony in the mouth, and still more so in the fauces,
if it have been swallowed. Both aqueous and spirituous men-
strua extract its virtue; but the alcoholic most completely. The
powder in substance is, however, more active than either the
tincture or decoction. The bark of the root contains the most
active principles of the plant : the ligneous portion being compa-
ratively inert. Alcohol dissolves a substance apparently of the
resinous kind, giving a precipitate when water is added Iron
produces little change in solution of this root, and gelatin occa-
sions no alteration whatever.

A peculiar vegetable principle has recently been discovered by
Gehlen, in the root of the Polygala Senega , to which he has
given the name of senegin. It is obtained by treating the alco-
holic extract with water and ether; the latter abstracting a
portion of resin, and the former dissolving a little mucilaginous
and saccharine matter. It is a solid substance of a brown colour,
and excites violent sneezing like tobacco. It has a disagreeable
taste, is soluble in alcohol, but insoluble in water and ether.

M. Reschier is also said to have isolated from six ounces of
the root of Senega, a hundred grains of a peculiar alkaline prin-
ciple, ‘ Polygaline which is united to an acid termed, ‘ Poly-
galinique ’ It is regarded as a substance sui generis , and as
containing the active principle of the plant; but we know not
whether it be identical with the senegin of Gehlen.

Analysis hy

Fenuille, Journ. Chim. Med.W. 437. Dulong, d’Astafort, Journ. Pliarm.

1827, 567.

Colouring matter, of a pale yellow.
Bitter matter.

Gum.

Pectic acid.

Albumen.

Volatile oil.

Fatty oil.

Malate of lime.

Sulphate, carbonate, and phosphate

action of sulphuric acid.
Pectic acid.

Phosphate of lime.

Malate of potass and lime.
Sulphate of potass.
Chloruret of potassium.
Iron.

Peculiar alkaline matter.

Resin.

Gummy matter.

Colouring ditto, analogous to wax
Yellow matter.

A substance turning to red by the

of lime.

Carbonate of potass.
Chloruret of potassium.

Silex.

k 2

Medical Properties. — This root is sudorific and expec-
torant in small doses, and emetic and cathartic in larger ones.
More than ninety years have elapsed since Dr. Tennant, of
America, invited the attention of physicians to this .medicine as
an antidote to the bite of the rattle-snake; and a reward was
voted him by the legislature of Pennsylvania for the promulgation
of this supposed property. It was from the Senegaroos, a tribe
of Indians, that he obtained a knowledge of this their secret
remedy ; which they applied externally and internally. Dr.
Tennant himself saw, or thought he saw, beneficial effects
ensue: but when we consider the number of cases of recovery
from the bite of this serpent, under every variety of treatment,
as recorded in many American publications, we naturally infer
that spontaneous recoveries are perhaps as frequent as those
which are promoted by medicine.

More certain success appears to attend the use of Senega in
pneumonia and some diseases related to it. In the advanced
stages of pneumonic inflammation, after venesection and the other
usual remedies have been carried to their proper extent, and the
cough still remains dry and painful, the debility of the patient
forbidding further depletion, it is said to afford very marked
relief by promoting expectoration and relieving the tightness
and oppression of the chest. Various medical writers have spoken
favourably of its employment in these cases, amongst whom are
Bigelow, Bouvart, De Jussieu, and Lemory.

Benefit has been derived in asthma from the use of the plant.
“ Decoction of Seneka,” says Dr. Bree, “ is eminently useful in
the first species, administered to old people; but in the paroxysms
of young persons I have found it too irritating. This distinction
applies to convulsive asthma purely uncomplicated, but the dis-
ease is frequently observed in middle-aged and elderly persons to
take the character of 'peripneumonia nothq in the winter and
spring, and seneka is then the most useful medicine that I have
tried. In such cases it should be united with the acetated am-
monia, during the febrile state, and as this state gives way, the
addition of squill and camphorated tincture of opium will be
found to promote expectoration, perspiration, and urine in a most
powerful manner.”

Sir Francis Millman, l)r. Percival, and others, have spoken
highly of it as a diuretic in dropsies; and in consequence of its
well ascertained power of exciting salivation, it was introduced
into notice by Dr. Archer of Maryland, as a remedy of great
power in croup. In the early stages of this complaint, however, it
may be questioned, as Professor Bigelow justly observes, how far
a medicine, which acts as a stimulant to the fauces and neigh-
bouring organs, is entitled to reliance in a local inflammation of
the trachea. Dr. Barton and other celebrated medical practi-
tioners in America, place great reliance on it as an auxiliary to
the other remedies that are usually employed in croup; and a
series of well-conducted experiments by any able man in our
country, to ascertain its real merits in this disease, would be a
boon gratefully received by the profession. Dr. Archer’s mode
of administering it is, to give a tea-spoonful of a strong decoction
once or twice in the hour, according to the urgency of the
symptoms; and during the intervals, a few drops occasionally,
to keep up a sensible action upon the mouth and throat, until it
acts as an emetic or cathartic. For amenorrhaea, a saturated
decoction, given to the extent of a pint in twenty-four hours,
commenced about a fortnight before the expected menstrual pe-
riod, has been found a very beneficial practice. In consequence
also of its universally stimulant and diaphoretic effects, it has
been found a powerful remedy in the treatment of chronic rheu-
matism.

Dose. — In powder, from twenty to thirty grains.

Decoctum Sexeg.e. L. E.

“ Take of the root, one ounce, water, two pints. Boil down
to a pint and strain.” Dose, one to three ounces three or four
times a day.

POLYGALA RUBELLA.— Bitter Milk-wort .

Spec. Char. “ Stems simple, Leaves linear, oblong,
mucronated. Flowers racemed ; those of the stem
winged ; those of the root apterous.’ — Big,

Sj/n. — Polygala Rubella, Muhlenberg, Catal. ; Bigelow Amer. Med. Bot. t. 54 ;
Punh. v. 2. 464 ; 1 Villi. Sp. Pl. v. 3. 87.5. Nuttall Gen. 2. 87.

Native of North America, in dry, gravelly, or sandy soils;
flowering in June and July.

The root somewhat fusiform, perennial, and branching. Stems
numerous, ascending, smooth, angular, simple. Leaves scat-
tered, smooth ; the lower ones ohovate, smaller ; the upper ones
linear-lanceolate, obtuse, mucronated, sessile. Flowers purple,
short-crested, in terminal racemes; hractes small, ovate-lanceolate,
caducous: corolla small, of three segments, the middle one
largest and crested.

Medical Properties. — Like some of the European species,
this plant is a powerful hitter, imparting its sensible properties
both to water and to alcohol. It has long attracted the notice
of medical practitioners in the United States of America, and is
administered in small doses as a useful tonic and stimulant to
the digestive organs. In large doses it operates as a cathartic,
and excites diaphoresis. “ Its powers,” says Dr. Bigelow, “ ap-
pear to resemble those of Polygala vulgaris , and P. amara of
Europe, to which it has a close botanical resemblance ; and
which have enjoyed a certain degree of medicinal reputation as
tonics and expectorants.’"

One species of Polygala, viz. P. venenosa , is affirmed to be
possessed of deleterious properties. It is a native of Java, and
Commerson says, “ that even from gathering a few of its leaves
and branches, he was attacked with giddiness, sickness, and other
unpleasant symptoms.

/ O./ f

•/sf/sr

i

CIV

MYRISTICA MOSCHATA.

Aromatic , or True Nutmeg Tree.

Class XXII. Dicecia. — Order XII. Monadelphia.

Nat. Ord. Holorace.e, Lin. Lauiu, Juss. Myristice.e, Brown.

Laurin.e Myristicace.e, Burn.

Gen. Chau. Male. Perianth single, subpetaloid, bell-
shaped, 3-cleft. Filaments united in a columnar
tube. Anthers 6 or 10 cohering.

Female. Calyx 0. Corolla bell-shaped, 3-cleft,
deciduous. Style 0. Stigmas L2. Seed solitary, in-
closed in a coriaceous many-cleft arillus (Mace.)

Spec. Chaii. Leaves eliptic-oblong, smooth, pointed,
paler beneath, with simple parallel nerves. Perianth
of one leaf, coriaceous, urceolate. Peduncles with
few liowers.

Syn. — Nux moschata, fructu rotundo, Bauh. Pin. 407 ; Pluk. Phyt.t. 219.

Nux Myristica seu Pala, Rumpli. Herb. Amb. v. 2. p. 14. t. 4.

Myristica aromatica, Lam. Act. Par. 1788. p. 155. t. 5 — 7 ; Lam. Diet. v. 4.
p. 385 ; Lam. 111. t. 382 ; Roib. PI. of Corom. v. 3. t. 267.

Myristica officinalis, Lin. Suppl. p. 265; Gart. de Fruct. v. 1. p. 194. f. 41.
f. 1 ; Hook. Exot. FL t. 155, 156 ; Bot. Mag. N. S. v. 1 . f. 2756, 2757.

Myristica moschata, Willd.Sp. Pl.v. 4. 869; Spreng. Sust. Veg. v. 3. p.

p. 64; Thunb. in Act. Holm. 1782. p. 45 ; Woodv. 1. 134.

Foreign. — I.e muscadier ; Noix muscade, Fr. ; Moscada ; Nuez moscada, Sp. ; Mos-
cadeira ; Noz moscada, Port.; Muskatnuss, Ger. ; Muskot-trad.-, Jaephal,
Hind.; Jatiphalo, Sans.; Pela, Malay. — Of the Mace. Mods, Fr. It.;
Macias, Sp. ; Moshat blumen, Ger.; Jawatri, Hind.; Jatipatri. Sans.;
Benga Pela, Malay.

The Nutmeg, called Nux myristica , or balsam not, by the old
writers, from the Greek yvpurTtKoc, balsamica , is a dioecious tree, a
native of the Moluccas, or Spice Islands ; but is principally con-
fined to that group denominated the islands of Banda, lying in

lat. 4° .‘30' south, where it bears blossoms and fruit all the year.
The islands comprehended under this general name are Banda
or Lantor, Neira, Pulo Ay or Way, Pulo-Rhon, Pulo-pisang, Ros-
singen, Pulo-prampon, Pulo-suanjee, Capal, and Gonong or
Guenanape, the last being a volcanic islet rising two thousand
feet above the level of the sea. They are all small, Banda
Proper or Lantor, one of the largest being only about eight
miles long, and not more than three broad. The soil of all these
islands, except that of Gonong, which is for the most part lava,
is an exceedingly rich black mould, which renders them fertile
in tropical fruits ; but their chief and well-known production is
nutmegs, for the cultivation of which Neira, Lantor, Pulo Ay,
and Pulo-Rohn are laid out in parks or plantations.

This tree is compared by Rumphius to a common pear-tree
with respect to size and appearance ; it is said to bear fruit at
ten years’ growth, which improves in quality, and increases in
quantity, until the tree has attained the age of an hundred years.
The trunk rises to the height of twenty or twenty-five feet,
clothed with a greyish-brown and tolerably smooth bark, abound-
ing in a yellow juice, and bearing many whorls of spreading
branches. The leaves, which stand alternately on short petioles,
are from three to six inches long, sub-bifarious, oblong, glabrous,
pointed, rather obtuse at the base, undulated, entire, of a dark
green colour, and somewhat glossy above, beneath much paler,
but neither pulverent nor downy ; with simple, parallel nerves, a
little branched at the extremities towards the margin, prominent,
and of a brownish colour beneath. When bruised, the leaves
are slightly aromatic. The flowers are present at the same time
with the fruit, in axillary, subumbellate racemes, and are sup-
ported on smooth, subclavate foot-stalks, each pedicel or flower-
stalk having a quickly deciduous bractea at the summit. The
stamineous flowers are from three to five or more on a peduncle.
The perianth is single, urceolate, petaloid, and not inaptly
compared by Rumphius to the flower of the Lily of the Valley ,
which it resembles in size and form ; it is of a thick fleshy
texture, clothed with a very indistinct pubescence, of a dingy
pale yellowish colour, and cut into three, rarely into four erecto-

patent teeth at the extremity. The filaments are united into
, a whitish cylindrical column, rounded at the top, and having
the upper half covered by about 11 longitudinal, linear-oblong,
2-celled anthers, free at their base, opening longitudinally, and
charged with a yellow pollen. The pistilline flowers are
scarcely recognizable, at first sight, from the stamineous ones,
except that the pedicel is very frequently solitary, on the
peduncle. The pistil is solitary, shorter than the perianth,
broadly ovate, a little tapering upwards, into a short style, and
bearing a 2-lobed persistent stigma. “As the germen swells
the perianth falls away ; the former then becomes obovate, and
from its weight pendent, constituting nearly a spherical drupe,
of the size and somewhat of the shape of a small pear. The flesh,
which abounds in an astringent juice, is of a yellowish colour
without, almost white within, and four or five lines in thickness :
this opens into two nearly equal longitudinal valves, and presents
to view the nut, surrounded by its arillus or mace , which soon
drops out, and the arillus withers : the arillus is thick, between
horny and fleshy, much laciniated, folded and anastomosing
towards the extremity, enveloping the nut almost entirely, and
so tightly as to form inequalities on its surface. The colour
when fresh is a brilliant scarlet. When dry it becomes nuich^.
more horny, of a yellow-brown, and very brittle. The nut is
broadly ovate or oval, the shell very hard, rugged, dark-brown,
glossy, about half a line thick, pale and smooth within. This
immediately envelops the seed (the nutmeg as sold in our shops)
which is of an oval or elliptical form, pale brown, quite smooth
when first deprived of its shell, but soon becoming shrivelled,
so as to have irregular, vertical lines or furrows on its surface.

Its outside is very thin ; its inner substance or albumen is firm,
but fleshy, whitish, but so traversed with red brown veins which
abound in oil, as to appear beautifully marbled. Near the base
of the albumen, and imbedded in its substance, is situated the
embryo , which is large, fleshy, yellowish white, rounded below,
where the’ radicle is ; the cotyledons are two, large, somewhat
foliaceous, plicate lobes, in the centre of which is seen the
plumule.” The figure here given represents a stamineous plant

of the Myristiea mosc/uila , the natural size. — Fig. (a) stanune-
ous flower cut open to show the column of stamens ; (b) anther,
copied from Roxburgh ; (c) pistilline flower cut open to show
the pistil ; (d) young fruit; (e) ripe fruit in the act of bursting;
(f) section of a fully-formed fruit, showing the nut included in
the mace, natural size ; (g) the mace from which the nut has
been removed ; (//) the nut ; (i) the seed or nutmeg ; (j) nut

cut through vertically, showing the ruminated albumen and the
embryo imbedded in the base of it ; ( k and l) the embryo — only
the two last are magnified.

According to Dr. Ainslie, the nutmeg-tree has of late years
been cultivated at llatavia, Sumatra, and Penang. An inferior
and long-shaped kind of nutmeg is common in the island of
Borneo, and there is a wild sort ( cat jadicai) frequently to be
met with in the woods of southern India, especially in Canara,
which Dr. Buchanan thinks might be greatly improved by culti-
vation. This is the Myristiea tomontosa of Willdenow. The
Nuat moschata fructu oblortgo of Caspar Bauhin, and the Nux
Moschata. mas oblongior of Lobel. The odour of the fruit of this
plant is but slight, and the flavour rather disagreeable, the oil
vielded both by its mace and seed is less in quantity and inferior
^in quality to that of the true nutmegs; and hence it is little es-
teemed and seldom met with in commerce. The true nutmeg-
tree now grows to a considerable size in certain sheltered situa-
tions in the Tinivelly district, especially at Courtalun, and bears
pretty good fruit; it is also said to grow in the island of Ceylon,
where it lias obtained the Cingalese name of sudikJca. Three
other species of Myristiea are also said to grow in that country.
Mr. Crawford, in his history of the Indian Archipelago, informs
us that there are no less than eight cultivated varieties of this
tree in the Indian islands; and M. de Comyn states that two
sorts grow in the Phillippine islands, one shaped like a pigeon’s
egg, the other perfectly spherical.

The nutmeg has been supposed to be the cdnaKov of Theo-
phrastus, but there seems little foundation for this opinion ; nor
can it with more probability be affirmed to be the xPl(Tofia^ayo c
of Galen. Our first knowledge of the nutmeg, as well as the

clove, was evidently derived from the Arabians, long before the
East India Islands were discovered by the Portuguese. By Avi-
cenna, who flourished about the year 1160, it was called
Jiansiban or Jansiban, which signifies Nut of Banda. Rum-
phius, who both figured and described this tree, says it was
called by the Arabians Giauzbaut, Jauzialbaud and Gjauz
Baica , which means Aromatic Nut. The figure given by Rum-
phius is, however, so imperfect, and the description so confused,
that Linnaeus, who gave it the generic name Myristica, was un-
able to assign its proper characters. Sonnerat’s account of the
muscadier is still more erroneous, and nothing was known of the
plant that produced this precious fruit, till M. Cere, director of
the Royal Gardens, in the Isle of France, communicated speci-
mens and observations to the Chevalier de Lamarck. For our
beautiful drawing and description, we are indebted to Samuel
Curtis, Esq. proprietor of the Botanical Magazine ; the former
was executed by the Rev. L. Guildng, who has supplied Dr.
Hooker with many other of the figures that have embellished
the new series of that valuable work.

In 1602, the Dutch having subjected the original inhabitants,
were the first European occupiers of the Banda isles. In 1609,
they entered into a treaty with the Oraucais or natives, who
bound themselves to send all their nutmegs and mace to the
Dutch fort of Nassau, in the island of Nera, at a fixed price,
while the Dutch pledged themselves to defend the natives against
enemies, and particularly against the Portuguese. The breach
of this agreement by the natives, and the murder of the Dutch
commissary, occasioned hostilities between the two powers. In
1616, a similar treaty was entered into with the English, who were
then at war with the Dutch ; but this also was broken by the in-
habitants of Banda. The English having refused, after they had
made peace with the Dutch, to join them in the reduction of the
Banda isles, the latter attacked them in 1621, and compelled the
natives to deliver up their towns, their forts, their arms, and all
their islands. In order to secure to themselves the nutmegs and
mace which these islands produced, the Dutch erected forts in all
of them, and divided the soil into orchards, which they distributed

among the Dutch colonists in proportion to the number of their
slaves. The Banda isles were taken from the Dutch by the
Lnglish Admiral Ranter in 1 <90, and in 1801 were restored to
them by the treaty of Amiens.

The chief settlement of the Dutch is in the island of Nera,
which has an excellent harbour, commanded by the cannon of
the forts Belgica and Nassau. The island of Banda, which is
about eight miles long, and five broad, contains twenty-five nut-
meg fields, which produce annually 570,000 pounds of nut-
megs, and 140,000 pounds of mace, called the flower of nutmeg.
The h urricane of 1778, however, nearly annihilated the nutmeg
trees of this island. These nutmeg fields occupy about 70,000
square toises. In all the other islands nutmegs are also produced
in more or less abundance, and the trees flourish even amidst the
lava of Gonong.

The real quantity of these valuable spices produced in the
Banda isles, has been stated as follows : — In the year 1796, the
annual produce was 163,000 pounds of nutmegs, and 46,000
pounds of mace. Between the years 1796 and 1798, the English
East India Company imported 817,312 pounds of cloves, 93,732
pounds of nutmegs, and 46,730 pounds of mace, and about a
third part more in private trade. In the year 1737, the Dutch
East India Company sold at one time 280,964 pounds of nutmegs.
In 1756, 241,427 pounds were sold; and in 1778, 264,189
pounds. The average has been considered to be about 250,000
pounds annually, which was sold in Europe at seventy-five livres
per pound, exclusive of 100,000 pounds sold in the Indies. The
average quantity of mace has been 90,000 pounds annually, and
10,000 in the East Indies.

« Tlie Dutch having possession of the Spice Islands in 1619, en-
couraged, to the utmost of their power, the cultivation of the nutmeg,
in a few of them, and were anxious, for the sake ol the monopoly, to
have the trees there so exclusively, that they either destroyed them them-
selves, in the remainder of the isles, or kept their princes in their pay
for the purpose of doing so. In fact, they pursued the same line of
policy with the nutmeg, as hath been already described with regard to the
clove. They have, more than once, suffered dearly for their insatiable
avarice; for “the dreadful hurricanes and earthquakes, which spared other
islands, nearly annihilated the nutmegs of Banda in 177$; so that the

Dutch were only able to have a few supplies for several years after-
wards. While the Dutch remained undisputed possessors of the Spice
Islands, the quantity of nutmegs and mace exported from their nutmeg-
grounds, circumscribed as they were, was truly enormous. Stavorinus,
in his f Voyage to the East Indies,’ gives an excellent account of
the commercial history of this spice. A quantity, estimated at no
less than 250,000 pounds annually, used to he vended in Europe, and
nearly half that amount in the East Indies. Of mace, the average
has been 90,000 pounds sold in Europe, and 10,000 pounds in the
East Indies. When the Spice Islands were taken by the British, in
1796, the importations of the East India Company into England alone,
in the two years following the capture, were, of nutmegs, 129,732
pounds, and of mace, 286,000 pounds. When the crops of spice have
been superabundant, and the price likely, in consequence, to he reduced,
the same contracted spirit has actuated the Dutch to destroy immense
quantities of the fruit, rather than suffer the markets to be lowered. A
Hollander, who had returned from the Spice Islands, informed Sir
William Temple, that, at one time, he saw three piles of nutmegs burnt,
each of which was more than a church of ordinary dimensions could
hold. In 1760, M. Beaumare witnessed, at Amsterdam, near the
Admiralty, the destruction by fire of a mass of spice, which was valued
at one million of livres, and an equal quantity was condemned to be
burnt on the day following : and Mr. Wilcocks, the translator of Stavo-
rinus’s Travels, relates, that he himself beheld such a conflagration of
cloves, nutmegs, and cinnamon, upon the little island of Newland, near
Middleburgh in Zealand, as perfumed the air with their aromatic scent
for many miles round.

“ M. Poivre had the honour of introducing this valuable plant into
the isles of France and Bourbon, in 1772, together with the clove ;
thence, by the liberal policy of the French, it was sent to Guiana and
to the West-India Islands.

“ In 1796 the British took possession of the Molucca Isles, and
two years afterwards planted the nutmeg at Bencoolen, in Sumatra,
where it is grown in the greatest luxuriance; so that in five years, the
trees had arrived from ten to fourteen feet in height, and in October
and November 1802, two hundred and forty-seven trees, out of about
six hundred, blossomed. About half of these were male and the rest
female. A second importation was made to that island by the assist-
ance of the Bengal government ; and the son of Dr. Roxburgh arrived
there with twenty-two thousand nutmeg plants from Amboyna, which,
in a few years, yielded 200,000 pounds weight of nutmegs, and 50,000
pounds of mace.

“ In the Moluccas, the Dutch appear to have been totally ignorant of
the dioecious nature of the trees, and of the cause of sterility in so many
of them. Where the trees are very abundant, this is a matter of com-
paratively trifling importance : but in colonies where but few plants
have been introduced, it is not only of essential consequence that the
female flowers should he fertilized by the male, but that the male plants
should be employed in the most economical manner. Tins has been
achieved by M. Joseph Hubert, in the Isle of France, in the most suc-
cessful manner. Ascertaining that oue male plant is sufficient for a
hundred females, hr resolved upon grafting the seedling stock of all his

plantations in that proportion, in the second year of their growth : by
this means there are no superfluous trees, and they come into bearing
the sooner. According to the old method, the trees did not bear flowers
till the seventh or eighth year ; and it was not till that period, that the
useless trees could be removed.

“ In our West-Indian colonies, the nutmeg was introduced about
thirty years ago ; and first, to the island of St. Vincent, from Cayenne,
though not without great difficulty, on account of the extreme jealousy
of the inhabitants of that colony, the two countries being then at war
with each other. The three trees which were originally imported,
have borne fruit for many years, and have atttained the height of
twenty feet, with a trunk eight or nine inches in diameter. It does
not, however, appear, that the culture of the nutmeg succeeds so well
in the West, as in the East Indies. Mr. Lockhart, who has the
charge of the plants introduced into the island of Trinidad, by his
excellency Sir Ralph Woodford, observes, in a letter to me, that the
plants flourish best in the rainy season ; even when moderate showers
fall requiring constantly artificial watering; although a soil saturated
with moisture is injurious. For a long time, though the trees intro-
duced into St. Vincent produced abundance of flowers, they bore small
crops of fruit, until Mr. Guilding recommended the same process as is
employed, with the caprification of the fig, when the crops were much
more productive, two trees at one period bearing three hundred ripe
fruits. The process of grafting adopted in the Mauritius might be
employed perhaps, to still greater advantage. Female flowers, which
had reached perfection on the 20tli of June, became ripe fruit from the
6th to the 12th of February following : this is the case, at least, in the
island of St. Vincent, according to Mr. Guilding, who further ob-
serves, that the trees are almost always in flower ; that fruit is most
abundant in April, May, and June; and that the seed vegetates at.
the expiration of six weeks from the period of its being put in the
ground.

“ Jn the East Indies, as I have already observed, the trees are almost
always loaded with flowers and fruit. In the Moluccas, the gathering
of the fruit takes place at three periods ol the year; in July and
August, when the nutmegs are most abundant, but the mace is thinner
than in the smaller fruits, which are gathered during November, the
second time of collecting : the third harvest takes place in the month
of March, or beginning of April, when the nuts, as well as the mace,
are in the greatest perfection, their number being then not so great,
and the season being dry. The outer pulpy coat is removed, and
afterwards the mace, with a knife. The nuts are placed over a slow
fire, when the shell becomes very brittle, and the seeds or nutmegs
dropout: these are then soaked in sea-water, and impregnated with
lime, a process which answers the double purpose ot securing the
seeds from the attack ot insects and ot destroying their vegetating
property. It further prevents the volatilization ol the aroma. 1 he
mace is simply dried in the sun, and then sprinkled with salt water, aftei
which it is lit for exportation.’’*

* Curtis’ Botan. Mag. N- S. vol. i.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Nutmegs should
be chosen large, of the shape of an olive, heavy , and firm,
of a lightish grey colour on the outside, beautifully striated, and
reddish within : of a strong fragrant odour, warm aromatic taste,
and of an unctuous feel. The oblong kind, and the smaller ones,
should be rejected. Distilled with water, they yield a large
quantity of essential oil, resembling the spice itself in flavour ;
after the distillation, an insipid subaceous matter is found
swimming on the water; the decoction, inspissated, gives an ex-
tract of an unctuous, very slightly bitterish taste, with little or
no astringency. Rectified spirit extracts the whole virtue of
nutmegs by infusion, and elevates very little of it in distillation ;
hence the spirituous extract possesses the flavour of the spice in
an eminent degree. From an analysis by Neumann, it appears
that the components of nutmegs are starch, gum, volatile oil,
wax, and a fixed fat oil.

But the examination of M. Bonastre is the most satisfactory
that has hitherto been made. He found that 500 parts consist of
A white insoluble matter (Stearine)

A coloured soluble butyraceous matter (Elaine)

Volatile oil ........

Acid (per approximation ) ......

Feeula .........

Gum (either natural or produced) .....

Ligneous residue
Loss

120

38

30

4

12

0

270

20

500

Journ. de Pharmacie, IX. 281.

The volatile oil, in which the active properties of the nutmeg
chiefly reside, is of a pale-straw colour, limpid, transparent, and
lighter than water. The expressed oil, erroneously called oil of
mace, when first drawn, is limpid and yellow, but on cooling,
acquires the consistence of spermaceti, and somewhat the ap-
pearance of Castile soap, being whitish, mottled with reddish
brown. Its odour is agreeable, and slightly aromatic, and its taste
fatty, pungent, and bitterish. It appears to be a vegetable cerate,
consisting of fixed oil, volatile oil, and wax. “ Nutmegs are fre-
quently punctured and boiled in order to obtain the essential oil,
and the orifices afterwards closed with powdered sassafras.”

Oil of Nutmegs is expressed from imperfect nutmegs, and
such as are unfit for the European market : there are three sorts
of it, commonly called oil of mace. The best is brought in
stone jars; softish, of a yellow colour, an agreeable fragrant

smell, greatly resembling that of the nutmeg. This is denomi-
nated Banda soap, and should be chosen free from impurities,
and of a good colour. The next comes from Holland, in solid
masses, generally Hat, and of a square figure : paler coloured,
weaker in smell, and inferior in its quality to that of India.
The last is the worst, and seems to be a composition of suet,
palm oil, or some such matter, flavoured with a little genuine oil.

Mace is a thin, flat membranaceous substance enveloping
the nutmeg; of a lively reddish brown or saffron colour, of a
pleasant aromatic smell, and a warm, bitterish pungent taste.
Mace should be chosen fresh, tough, oleaginous, of an extremely
pungent smell, of a bright reddish yellow, the brighter the
better ; the smaller pieces are esteemed the best. The state it is
in when packed, should be particularly attended to: if it be too
dry, it will be broken, and lose much of its fragrance ; if too
moist, it is subject to decay and to breed worms. It should be
packed in bales, pressed down close and firm, whereby its fra-
grance and consistence will be preserved.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Nutmegs, which are universally
known as a kind of delicate spice, are chiefly employed in medicine to
impart their grateful aromatic flavour, and to obviate the irritating effects
of drastic purgatives. They are supposed to be cordial, carminative,
anodyne, and astringent; and with a view to the last-mentioned effects,
they have been used in diarrhoea and dysentery. Given in large quanti-
ties, the nutmeg produces stupor, drowsiness, and other symptoms of
narcotic poisons, in consequence of which Cullen warns us not to admi-
nister it to patients disposed to apoplexy. Bontius also speaks of their
anodyne effects as a frequent occurrence in India. The volatile oil,
possessing the taste and odour of the fruit in a concentrated degree, is
occasionally used as an external stimulant ; and the expressed oil, im-
properly called oil of mace, is generally prescribed in the same manner.

Dose. — The dose of the nutmeg (which is sometimes employed to
relieve nausea and vomiting, or to check diarrhoea, when given in wine) is
from four grains to a scruple : of the volatile oil, from two to eight drops.
Custom, however,reconciles the constitution to much larger quantities than
could be borne bv untutored stomachs. In India, the consumption ol
nutmegs as a condiment, is immense : in the Moluccas, the natives mix
them with all their food, and drink, and medicines ; they even chew them
as a masticatory, and eat them preserved both in salt and sugar.

Mace is also chiefly used for culinary purposes ; but, according to Dr.
Ainslie, it “ is a favourite medicine with the 11 indoo doctors, who prescribe
it in the low stages of fever, in consumptive complaints, and humoral
asthma ; and also, when mixed with aromatics, in w asting and long-con-
tinued bowel complaints, in doses of from eight to twelve grains, and
sometimes to as much as hall a drachm ; but they generally administei
it cautiously, from having ascertained that an overdose is apt to produce
dangerous stupor and intoxication.”

Tinctura Nucis MosciiaT/e.

R. Nucis Moschatae contriti, ^iii.

Spirit, vini ten. lbij. M.

Off. Prep. — Spiritus Myristicae. L. E.

Spiritus Lavandulae compositus. L. E.D.

Mistura Fervi composita. L.

\

, a

cv

SOLIDAGO VIRGAUREA.

Common Golden-rod.

Class XIX. Syngenesia. Order II. Polyg. Super-

flua.

Nat. Ord. Composite, y, discoide.e, Lin.

CoitYMBIFER.E, JllSS. De Caild. <SfC.

Asterin.e, Asterace.e, Burn.

Spec. Char. Receptacle naked. Down simple. Invo-
lucrum imbricated, with close scales. Capitula
radiant. Florets of the radius about five.

Spec. Char. Stem slightly zizgag, angular. Clusters
downy, panicled, crouded, erect. Upper leaves lan-
ceolate, narrow at both ends ; lower elliptico-lan-
ceolate, hairy, partly serrated.

Syn. — Virga aurea, Raii Syn. 176 ; Ger. Em. 430. f. Park. 542 : Camer. E pit. 748.

749. f.f', Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 354. f. Dod. Pempt. 142. f.

Virga aurea vulgaris latifolia, Bauh. Hist. v. 2. 1062. f.

Solidago n. 69. Hall. Hist. v. 1. 29.

Solidago vulgaris, Gray Nat. Arraug. of Brit. PI. v. 2. p. 465.

Solidago Virgaurea, Lin. Sp. PI. 1235; Wiltd. v.3. 2065 ; FI. Brit. 889 ;

Eng. Bat. v. 5. t. 301 ; Hook. Scot. 244. Stokes, v. 4. 219.

Foreign. — La verge d’or ; Verge doree, Fr. ; Verga d'oro, It.; Vara de oro, Sp. ;

Varad'oiro, Port.; Die Goldruthe ; St. Peterstab ; Gulden Wundkraut, Ger.;

Gulbris, Swed. ; Solotoschnik, Rus.

One species only of the genus Solidago is found in this country,
but it is subject to many varieties, some of which have been
considered specifically distinct, such especially as the S. Cambrian,
of Hudson The Golden-rods are almost entirely North Ameri-
can plants ; they are all perennial, mostly herbaceous, with simple
undivided leaves, generally bearing small yellow flowers, in long
slender spikes or panicles, whence the names of Virgaurea and
Golden-rod. Few of the species were known to Linnams, but
the Ilortus Kewensis, enriched from Dr. Solander’s manuscript,
VOL. II.

s

SOLID AGO 01)011 A. — Sweet-scented Golden-rod.

Spec. Char. Stem nearly smooth. Leaves linear-
lanceolate, entire, smooth, with a rough margin, and
covered with pellucid dots. Racemes panicled, one
sided.

Syn. ^ irga aurea Americana, tarraconis facie, et sapore, panicula speciosissima,
Pluk. Phytol. t. 116. f. 6.

Solidngo odora, Ait. llort. Kew, ed. 2. n. 15 ; Willd. n. 22 ; Pursh. n. 24.

rJ ins plant is a native of America, growing in dry sunny situa-
tions, on fertile woodlands, from Canada to Carolina, principally
throughout the Allegany mountains, flowering from August to
October. The leaves have a delightful fragrant odour, partaking
of anise and sassifras, hut different from either. It yields on
distillation a volatile oil, possessing the taste and aroma of the
plant in a high degree. This oil appears to reside in the trans-
parent cells, which constitute the dotting of the leaves, the root
being wholly destitute of the fragrance of the herb.

This species of Solidago is said by Professor Bigelow to be a
pleasant aromatic, stimulant, diaphoretic, and carminative. An
essence made by dissolving the essential oil in proof spirit is used
as a remedy for complaints attended with flatulency, and as a
vehicle for unpleasant medicines of various kinds. It allays
vomiting and spasmodic pains in the stomach, and from its plea-
sant flavour, covers the taste of laudanum, castor oil, and other
medicines which the stomach frequently rejects.

Mr. Pursh states that the plant is dried in some parts of the
United States as an agreeable substitute for tea; and that it has
for some time been an article of exportation to China, where it
fetches a high price.

VUSu

C VI

ALPINIA vel MATONIA CAllDAMOMUM.
The Lesser or Malabar Cardamom.

Class I. Monandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Scitamine.e, Lin. Brown , c$-e. Can we, Jass.
SciTAMIN.E, ZlXGlBEitACE.E, Bum.

Gen. Char. Capsule 3-celled and 3-valved, with a
central receptacle. Anther of two distinct lobes.
Filament with two triangular lobes at the base, emar-
ginate and simple at the summit. Outer limb of the
corolla in three oblong lobes ; outer a single lip.
Seeds rough, tunicated.

Spec. Char. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, acute. Calyx
notched. Capsule ovate-oblong, obtusely triangular.

Syn. — Cardamomum simpliciter in officials dictum Cardamomum verum, Angl.
Bauh. Pin. p. 441.

Cardamomum cum siliquis sive tbecis brevibus, Bauh. Hist. Plant, v. 2.
lib. 15. p. 204.

Elletari, Van Rheede Hart. Mulab. v. 2. p. 9. i. 4, 5.

Cardamomum minus, Clusii tie Aromat. lib. 1. c. 24. p. 187 ; Matthiol. sur
Diosc. (Pinet) p. 6; Bodici Annot.in Theophrast.p. 1014. f.

Cardamomum Ensal dictum, Burman Thes. Zeyl.p. 54.

Amomum Cardamomum, White Trans, oj Lin. Soc. v. x.230. t. 4, 5.
Amomum repens, Sonner. Voy. tom. 2. p. 240. t. 136; Roscoe in Trans. Lin.
Soc. v. 8. p. 353.

Cardamomum minus, Matth. Valgr. v. 1.25; Camer. Epit. 11. f. 3; Ger.
Em. 1542 ; Geoffr. Mat. Med. p. 368 ; Lin. Mat. Med. p. 2.

Foreign. — Petit Cardamome, Fr.; Amomo minorc, It.; Cardamomo, Sp. and Port.;

Kleine Kardamamen, Ger. ; Kadamome, Dan.; Kardamome, Rus. ; Kdkula,
Arab. ; Purbi and Guzrate Clachi, Hind. ; Cupuluga, Malay.

The Malabar Cardamom has been regarded by most botanical
writers as a species of Amomum ; but Mr. Roscoe has shown
that it differs in the filament or antheriferous petal not being-
produced beyond the anther, as in that genus. Dr. Roxburgh,
in his account of the plants of Coromandel, considers it to be an
Alpinia; but in this the inflorescence is terminal, whereas in the

Cardamom it issues horizontally from the tuberous annulated
part of the stem: hence it has lately been removed to a new
genus, called Ei.kttakia, from Etettari, the original Malabar
appellation, as given in the Hortus Malabaricus; but the dif-
ference in the mode of flowering is scarcely sufficient to form a
generic character. The name Matonia, by which it is now dis-
tinguished, was, we believe, originally suggested by Sir James
Edward Smith, in honour of his friend Dr. Maton, the learned
physician and naturalist, who first clearly established the genus.

We have great pleasure in presenting to the public a correct
representation of the plant which yields Cardamom seeds. The
botanical description and natural history were first communicated
to the Directors of the East India Company, by Mr. David White,
surgeon on the Bombay establishment ; and it is to his paper,
together with the valuable remarks of Dr. Maton, published in
the tenth volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society, that
we are chiefly indebted for the account we now give.

The plant which produces the Cardamom seeds, (Matonia Car_
damormnn ,) is a native of the mountainous parts of Malabar, on
loftv hills, whose summits are ever clothed with clouds, growing
most luxuriantly in shady places, in a moist atmosphere; flowering
when the rainy season begins, in April and May, and ripening its
seeds in October and November. The district of Wyniaud,
situated on the summit of the western Ghauts, about the twelfth
degree of latitude, produces the best Cardamoms in India.

The Lesser or Malabar Cardamom has a whitish perennial,
annulated, tuberous root, sending off many long slender fibres.
The cultivated plant does not flower till it is four years old. The
stems which emerge from the root, are tuberous, clubbed, and
jointed at the base for two or three inches ; the lower part giving
out viviparous shoots, the upper part panicles. They are erect,
and tapering as the continued sheaths send off thelea\es , when in
bearing, they are from six to ten feet high, and from eight and twelve
to thirty in number, smooth, with varying shades of glossy green,
and pale at the base ; which distinguishes this species from a
congener frequent on the same site, but with a led 01 fuscous
base. The leaves are alternate and sheathing, elliptic-lanceolate,

pointed, from nine inches to two feet and a half long, and from
one to fiveinches broad, spreading, dark green, smooth, entire, pale
sea-green beneath, and glossy above, with a silky softness. The
midrib of the leaf on the upper surface i» channelled, on the
under keeled. The flowers are in panicles, which issue laterally
from the tuberous jointed base of each stem near the root. The
panicles are much branched, jointed, a span long, smooth, many-
flowered, and spread horizontally on the ground. The bracteas
are alternate, ovate, oblong, acute, at the base of each partial
stalk, withering; the partial ones solitary, tubular, closely em-
bracing the gerrnen and calyx, almost as long as the latter, and
resembling it in shape, but deciduous. Thecal vx is monophyllous,
double, tubular, cylindrical, and 2 or 3-cleft at the margin. The
corolla is monopetalous, and funnel-shaped ; tube longer than
the calyx, cylindrical, slender, curved ; outer limb in three equal,
oblong, recurved segments, inner a somewhat obovate, large,
notched crenate, undivided lip, with a short claw. The filament
is stout, erect, with a lanceolate, acute, horizontal lobe, simply
notched at the summit, without any crest or extension beyond
the anther, which consists of two oblong, distant lobes, about
half the length of the filament. The gerrnen is inferior, nearly
globular, basing a slender thread-shaped style lying close to the
filament between the lobes of the anther, and bearing a funnel-
shaped, obtusely triangular stigma. The capsule is 3-celled, with
three coriaceous valves ; when fresh it is fleshy, smooth, elliptic-
oblong, or somewhat ovate, but becoming bluntly triangular,
coriaceous and pale brown, when dried. The seeds are numerous,
roundish, somewhat angular, rough, each enveloped in a fine
membranous evanescent tunic. The receptacle is central, shorter
than the caj>sule, when dry, and originally connected with the
central ridge of the valve. The plate represents a full-grown
Cardamom plant, with its sterns cut off. — Fig. (a) the partial
panicle with its germs and flower viewed in front ; (b) the hack
view of the corolla; (c) the tube only of the corolla, with the
inner calyx, &c. ; (d) the same without the calyx; (e) part of
the style, stigma, and anthers in situ; (/and g) the naked pis-
tillau one with the germinal appendices a little separated, the

other with the same in situ ; (//) a half-grown germen, with the
persistent inner ealvx and its 3-toothed border; (i) the naked
pistil, style, and stigma ; (jj) longitudinal and transverse sec-
tions of the full-grown pericarp, as it is taken from the plant
before drying; (k) two seeds, a little magnified; ( l ) the bare
capsule, one side removed to show the triangular seed-receptacle ;
{mm) the Cardamom pod, as it comes to market from the drying
process.

The glistening polish of its stems, (says Mr. White,) the sea-
green glossy surface of its leaves waving with the least impulse,
and the general symmetry of the whole, easily distinguish it from
its rival neighbours in the woods. It outshines them also in the
elegance of its flowers : the vivid pink, surrounded by the pale
white of the spreading division of the upper border of the corolla,
presents a most delicate contrast.

In Malabar, its native soil, it is simply named Ela or Ela-tari,
and Ela-channa ; the former addition signifying a young plant,
the latter a full-grown one. The ripe pod is styled exclusively
Ela-tari , ari in Malabar signifying any small grain : e. g. art
rice, mont-ari , natcheny or raggee.

The Cardamom Farms. — “ The spots chosen for these,” continues
Mr. White, “ culled in the Malabar language Ela-Karidy , literally sig-
nifying Cardamom plots, are either level or gentle sloping surfaces on
the highest range of the Ghauts, after passing the first declivity from
their base. The extent of climate hitherto known in Malabar to pro-
duce them, lies between 11° and 12° 30' north latitude, or there-
abouts.

“ The months of February and March, arc, on account of the prevailing
dry weather, selected by the cutivatorsas the most proper for commencing
their labours, the first part of which consists in cutting down the large
and small trees promiscuously, leaving of -the former, standing at nearly
equal distances, certain tall and stately individuals, adapted to afford that
degree of perpendicular shade which experience teaches them to be
most favourable for the future crops. The grass and weeds are then
cleared away, and the ground disencumbered from the roots of the
brushwood : the large trees lie where they fall ; the shrubs, roots, and
grass are piled up in different small heaps, and their spontaneous and
gradual decomposition fertilizes the space they cover.

“ The size of the Ela-Kandv is various. The largest Mr. White
saw among fifty did not exceed sixty yards in diameter. Their form
varies likewise, very commonly oblong or oval, but sometimes irregu-
larlv rounded. The variety in these respects is chiefly owing to the
convenience of the standard or permanent trees for shade. Those with

witli lofty, straight stems, extensive heads, and those that are in an ado-
lescent state, and known to be long-lived, are preferred for this purpose,
and left standing at fifteen or twenty yards from each other. Much more
diminutive plots are also cultivated by a race of Hill people called
Kourchara and Cadura, who are not exactly slaves, but locally attached,
and acknowledging certain obligations of a feudal, and perhaps reciprocal
kind, to the Nairs in the neighbourhood.

“ After the operations now described, no further labour is bestowed
for four years. At the revolution of the fourth rainy season, and
towards its close, they look for a crop, and their hopes are rarely
disappointed ; this first effort of nature is generally scanty : for
instance, only one half of what is reaped the following year, and only
one-fourth of what is yielded after the sixth rains, at which period the
plant has reached its acme of prolific vigour. Now and then, how-
ever, this routine is interrupted, and its progress protracted, by causes
of which they are not very solicitous to investigate the nature; they
remark, however, excessive and uninterrupted rains to be one source
of failure.

“ In the dry season succeeding to the first crop, they grub up the
undergrowth of shrubs, and clear away the weeds and grass, laying them
up as before in heaps to rot ; but in no case do they set fire to these, the
consequence of which practice would be the certain failure of the crops.
This process of cleansing being yearly repeated, the same spot will con-
tinue productive for fifty years and upwards.

“ The barren state of the Ela-Kandy is replaced by the establishment
of another, on a fresh site, and with similar properties to the former ; in
the choice of which they can never be at a loss, from the great extent of
mountain and wood in a state of nature, and, the same operations
repeated, the customary routine of crops will follow.

“ As the Cardamom plants spring up from scattered seeds dormant
on the spot, or washed thither by rains from the adjacent parts, we do
not find any regularity in their disposition, nor is the industry of the
natives ever exerted to correct this. Accordingly we see them va-
riously grouped; in some places crowded and extremely luxuriant;
in others thin and stunted ; some roots sending forth from twenty to
thirty stems, two-thirds or three fourths of which hear, others from
eight to twelve, and down to four or five. Hence it is difficult to
calculate the rate of produce of any one plant. Each stem sends
forth from its thickened base from two to four strings of fructiferous
panicles ; from these issue alternately short clusters bearing from two to
three ripe pods. The length of the common string or stalk varies from
four inches to eighteen, and is sometimes two feet; but these last ex-
tremes are not fertile in proportion. In good years, from four to six
plants w ill yield of dried pods one dungally, a measure, of capacity equal
to four pints Winchester.

“ The abundance of crop is best insured by a moderate routine of
weather, with respect to dry and wet: the extremes of each are inju-
rious ; they dread most, however, deluging rains, particularly for the
young plantations, aud during the flowering season, which commences
on the first fall of the rains in April and May, and continues for two
months. The flower being very delicate, and the recumbent and

VOL. If. T

repent posture of the fruit-panicles, exposes them particularly to the
had effects of drenching moisture. Repeated torrents, descending
from above, commit their devastation by baring the roots, and sweeping
away the finest portion of the mould, which furnishes a nutriment
so essential to the vigour of the plants. In August and September
the pods increase and acquire the greatest size. In the first half of
October they begin to ripen ; then the gathering of the early part
commences ; the ripening proceeds through all that month and
November. A longer continuance of the rainy season may protract the
final gathering till the middle of December. About a fortnight earlier
than here stated, the Cardamoms on the western or sea-side of the
Ghauts are gathered. The process of reaping keeps pace with the
simplicity of the previous management. A dry day being chosen, the
fruit-stalks are plucked from the roots, carried to their houses, and laid
out to dry on mats placed upon a threshing-floor; a series of four or
five dry days is sufficient to complete the desiccation. The pods being
extricated by stripping with the fingers, are separated into three or
four sorts, denominated from their respective qualities: — 1. TnUi-Kai,
the head fruit; 2. Nadu-Kai, the middle; and 3. Poulo-Kai, the
abortive fruit. The last being thrown away, the former two are mixed
together ; the purpose of the separation being to ascertain the relative
proportions, and to render the whole uniform and marketable. They
are then laid up in mat-bags, made of the Pandanus sylvestris of
Rumphius, a plant growing every where around their houses and
fields. These bags are of two sizes, one holding thirty-two pounds
avoirdupois, or a company’s maund in Malabar, and the other sixteen
pounds.

“ The bundles thus prepared hy the cultivator are immediately
carried down to shops or little storehouses, erected by Mopla mer-
chants or agents in different places along the whole range of hills,
and at a little distance from the farms. Here they are subjected to
another and final operation by the venders to the wholesale merchants
on the coast. This consists in holding them over a gentle and slow
fire in flat baskets, while the assistants continue rubbing them betwixt
their hands for a certain time; which has the effect of detaching what
remains of the permanent calyx and foot-stalks, or other adhering
membranes, and gives the pod that appearance and marketable quality
delineated in pi. 106, figs, m and n. This operation is termed in Mala-
bar, Terimbous, a word expressive of its nature. The Cardamoms are
now weighed for the purpose of ascertaining the respective quotas of
rent payable by the different farmers. The result of this is expected
to correspond with a previous estimation of the quantity of the crops,
taken on the ground before they arrive at maturity ; on the approach
of which an official deputation, consisting of public officers and some
of the head men of the country, well acquainted with the subject,
repairs to the Ela-Kandy's, attended by the proprietors, and there
the calculation is made from the combined consideration of the extent
of ground, age of the plantation, and general appearance of the
fruit-stalks then in full bearing. Four or five of the visitors, whose
interests are supposed to be neutral, and equally unbiassed betwixt
Government and the Ryot, successively and seriously deliver their
opinions; from the average of which the official attendants strike a mean,
and mutual satisfaction is generally the consequence. The duties, or
customs, are paid only on exportation from the province : they amount

to twelve per cent., anil the average price is rated at 1200 rupees per
candy of 640 pounds avoirdupois.

“ The total produce of Wynaud may amount, one year with another,
to something above fifty candies, perhaps fifty-six ; and this grows on
an extent of more than 100 miles, reckoning the sinuosities and angles
of the hills. The kingdom or country of the Coorja Rajah "produces
less than ten or fifteen candies. The whole site of the growth of this
spice on the continent of Hindostan extends from the Soubramany
Ghaut, nearly due east from Mangalore, to Mannaar Ghaut in the same
direction from Calicut.”

Mr. White, to whom we are indebted for the preceding account of the
natural history of this plant and its cultivation, under the name of Amo-
mum Cardamomum, in Trans, of Lin. Soc. vol. x. speaks of the seed as
amongst the most important articles in modern luxury, and as “ a grate-
ful and salubrious necessary of diet.” Its general use in Asia, indeed,
renders the plant a very important and profitable object of culture, though
the harvest, occurring .at the most unhealthy season, is not unattended
by serious dangers. Fevers, fluxes, the bite of innumerable minute
leeches, (Hirudo geometra,) and the instantly fatal sting of the whip-
snake, are mentioned as not uncommon mischiefs ; to which is added the
caustic quality of a shrubby plant, called by the natives Mouricha, whose
botanical characters have not been ascertained, but whose leaves produce
dangerous and sometimes fatal ulcers of the skin. The profit of the Car-
damom farms, however, is so considerable as to overcome all difficulties
in their cultivation, and Mr. White thinks they might easily be greatly
extended.

What the cardamom of the ancieuts was, it is now scarcely pos-
sible to determine. It is extremely probable, however, as Dr. Maton
justly observes, that the article bearing that name in their materia
medica, w'as not the common cardamom of our shops. The plant
producing it was not satisfactorily made known, until the publication
of the Ilortus Malabar icus, in which the delineation of it is sufficiently
striking. From the mistake made by Burmann, in referring to Bontius’s
Java (j). 126) for the true cardamom, appears to have originated the
erroneous description and discordant references, on the subject of the
cardamom in the works of Linneus ; the latter illustrious author hav-
ing confounded the Javanese cardamom, Atnomum compac/um of So-
lander, with that of Malabar. In Java the plant grows wild in the
woods, and is there called kapaluga, but its produce is much inferior
to that of the Malabar cardamom The Amomum Cardamomum
(Cardamomum minus Rumph Amb. 5. p. 152. t. 65. f. 1.) is the spe-
cies, the seeds of which come the nearest in taste and virtues to the
officinal article, and are said to be used as a substitute for them bv the
Malays. The plant is a native of Sumatra and other islands to the
eastward of the bay of Bengal, and was’sent, according to Dr. Rox-
burgh, (Flora Indica, p. 37,) to the botanical garden at Calcutta,
where it blossoms in April.* Dr. Francis Hamilton, in his Account of

* “The true original Amomum of the shops, still to be met with at Venice, and
in other parts of the south of Europe, is the Amomum Cardamomum, Cluster Car-
damom, (Lin. Sp. PL 2 ; Wilttl. n. 1 ; Roscoe n. 1 ; A. verum, Ger. Em.) though
generally supplanted by the more valuable lesser Cardamom, Amomum repent of
Sonnerat, which Linneus confounded herewith.” — Smith in Rees’s Cvclopcedia,

T 2

the Kingdom of Nepal, mentions a large fruited species of cardamom
(Amornum?) which he found growing there, hitherto nndescribed by
botanists. The plant producing the greater cardamom seeds of com-
merce or Grains of Paradise, is the Amornum Gratia Paradisi, of Lin-
neus.

The oflicinal cardamoms are brought to this country from Bengal
in cases, each containing about 1201bs weight. The seeds are dried
and imported in their capsules, by which their flavour is better pre-
served.

Qualities. — These seeds have an extremely grateful aromatic
odour, and a warm pungent taste. They communicate all their virtues
to alcohol and ether, and nearly so to water. In distillation they
afford an essential oil, which is pungent to the taste, and in this seems
to reside all the active qualities. “ The watery infusion has a turbid
appearance, and lets fall a Hocculent precipitate, on the addition of
alcohol, the acids, solutions of sulphate of iron, muriate of mercury,
and acetate of lead ; but the sulphate of iron does not alter its colour.
The alcoholic tincture is rendered milky by water. The ethereal has
a yellowish green hue, and, when evaporated on the surface of water,
leaves neither resin nor extractive, but a considerable portion of es-
sential oil, which has the flavour and taste of the seeds in perfection.
Cardamoms, therefore, seem to be entirely composed of fecula, mucus,
and essential oil.”

Medical Properties and Uses. — Cardamom seeds have been long
employed in medicine as a valuable cordial, carminative, and stomachic.
They afford a grateful warm aromatic, less heating and stimulant than
many of the other species, and are, perhaps, on this account better adapted
for general use. They enter into several of the oflicinal preparations, and
are frequently combined with bitters in dyspeptic cases, or with purga-
tives, to obviate flatulence and griping. In India these seeds are highly
prized as an agreeable condiment, and their use as such is so universal,
that they are now regarded as a necessary of life by most of the natives of
Asia.

There are two tinctures of cardamoms in the British pharmacopoeia,
viz. a simple and a compound tincture; the first named, Tinctura Car-
damomi, prepared by digesting for eight days three ounces of the bruised
seeds in two pints of proof spirit. It possesses all the virtues of theseeds,
and may be given in doses of one drachm to three. The other, named
Tinctura Cardamomi composita, (formerly called Tinctura slomachica,)
prepared by digesting for fourteen days two drachms of the cardamom
seeds, two drachms of carraway seeds, two drachms of cochineal, half an
ounce of cinnamon, and four ounces of stoned raisins, in two pints of proof
spirit. It would be an improvement in this preparation, as Dr. li. Pear-
son justly observes, if the proportion of cardamom seeds were increased,
if the cochineal were omitted, and if, instead of four ounces of raisins, one
ounce of pulverized sugar-candv were to be added, after the digestion is
over. The usual dose is from two drachms to half an ounce, or more.
Both these tinctures are often ordered in stomachic infusions, and joined
with ether, opium, and other antispasmodics, in flatulent cholic, and in
gouty and spasmodic affections of the stomach. “ Among all the aroma-
tics,” says Dr. Parr, “ there are none that answer so well, in general, as
this simple tincture, for rendering mineral waters aud other saline solutions
easy and agreeable to the stomach. ’’

Dose. — The dose in powder is from grs. v. to Ji.

%

m c >?/ a /// , vra

<27

artt

CVI (2)

AMOMUM GRAN A PAR ADISI. — Grains of
Paradise Amomum.

Class I. Monandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Scitamine.e, Lin., Brown, <§~c. Cann.e, Juss.

SciTAMIN.E, ZlNGlBEKACE.E, Bui'Jl.

Gen. Char. Anther of two distinct lobes, attached by
the back, below the summit. Filament with a 3-lobed
crest, above the anther. Capsule 3-celled. Seeds
tun i cate d.

Spec. Char. Stalk simple. Bracteas numerous, closely
imbricated. Leaves crowded, ovate-lanceolate. Cap-
sule oblong1, bluntly triangular, minutely hipsid.

Syn. — Granura Paradisi officinale, Bauh. Pin. 413 ; Dale Pharmac. 277.

Amomum Grana Paradis). Lin. Sp. PI. 2 ; Ait. 3 ; Berg. Mat Med. v. 1. 3.

This species of Amomum, the fruit of which is well known under
the name of Grains of Paradise, or Mellegetta Pepper, is a native
of Guinea, about Sierra Leone, from whence the seeds were
brought very soon after the discovery of that country by European
navigators. The root is perennial, creeping horizontally. Stems
erect, simple, slender, three feet high, leafy, but destitute of
flowers. Leaves numerous, crowded, alternate, a span long, entire,
smooth, lanceolate or slightly ovate, with a long taper point.
Footstalks sheathing, linear, very long, smooth, and striated.
Flower-stalks radical, solitary, an inch or two in length, ascending,
clothed with numerous close sheathing bracteas ; the lower ones
very short; the upper gradually much larger. Of the pares of
the flower we have no satisfactory account C apsules an inch
and a half long, oblong, bluntly triangular, rough, with minute

hairs. Seeds numerous, roundish, of a shining golden brown
colour.

The old authors confounded this species with the Cardamomutn
mnjns , figured in Camerarius’s Epitome 11. f. 1, which is the
Amomum augustifolium of Sonnerat, Voyage aux Indes, v.
2. 242, found in marshy ground in Madagascar. The habit of
this plant is not very unlike what we have described, but the
capsule is ovate, flattened on one side, and nearly twice the size
of the above ; and the seeds have none of that extremely hot
acrid taste for which the Grains of Paradise are remarkable.

Uses. — These seeds are much less aromatic and grateful than
the lesser cardamom seeds; and the taste is extremely hot and
acrid, approaching in this respect to pepper, with which they
agree also in their medicinal properties.

CVII

CURCUMA ZEDOAllIA.

Zedoary.

Class I. Monandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Scitamine*:, Lin. Roscoe. Brown &c. Cann.e, Juss
SciTAMIN.E Z INGIBER ACE.E, Bum.

Gen. Char. Anther double, embracing1 the style, 2-
spurred. Filament petal-like, central lobe bearing
the anther. Capsule 3-celled. Seeds numerous.

Spec. Char. Leaves broad, lanceolate, smooth, with
a purple cloud down the middle. Spikes lateral.
Bracteas emarginate.

Syn. — Kua Rlieede Hort. Malab. v. 11. t. 7.

Zerumb. Rumph. Amb. v. 5. t. 6.

Amonmrn Zerumbet, Konigin Retz. Obs. 3. 55.

Curcuma Zerumbet. Roib. in Asiat. Res.v. 11. 333. & Flor. Ind. p. 20.

Curcuma Zedoaria, Bot. Mag. v. 37. t. 1546.

Amomum Zedoaria, Sp. PI. Willd. v. 1. 7.

1'Oreign. — Zedoire, Fr. ; Zedoaria, It.; Zedoar wurzel, Ger. ; Catchu, Cachura,
Cachoramu, &c. of the Hind, and Teling. ; Sat’hi or Sate, Beng.

This plant is a perennial, growing in sandy open places in various
parts of India, particularly in Ceylon and Malabar; flowering
during the hot season. The rhizoma is tuberous, oblong, about
the thickness of a man’s thumb, fleshy, aromatic, and of a pale
straw colour. The leaves are radical, as it is only the sheaths
that create the appearance of a short stem ; they are broad, lanceo-
late, inequilateral, smooth on both sides, of a green colour, with a
ferruginous or purple cloud down the middle on the upper surface,
and a fainter cloud in each side of the mid-rib below. They are
bifarious and herbaceous, making their appearance with the first

showers of April or May, and perish about the beginning of the
cool season in November. The inflorescence is a simple erect
scape, which rises from among the leaves, and is terminated by
a loosely imbricate, cylindrical, truncated, lateral spike of flowers.
I he outer limb of the corolla is straw-coloured ; the lip ovate,
emarginate, yellow towards the apex. The filament is petal-like,
3-lobed, bearing the anther in the middle. The anthers are
double ; the lobes separated by a deep groove, through which
the style passes; the lower end of each lobe ending in a large
conspicuous spur, which is the essential character of the genus.
1 he germen is superior and 3-celled ; style filiform; stigma
somewhat bilabiate. The capsule is ovate, smooth, of a pale
straw-colour, thin and nearly pellucid, 3-celled; seeds several in
each cell. Fig. ( a and b) represent the flower; (c) the root.

1 he pale colour of the roots, crimson bracteas, and ferruginous
mark down the centre of the leaves, which is a constant charac-
ter in this elegant species, readily distinguish it from every other.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The root is
brought over in oblong pieces, about the size of the little finger ;
or in roundish ones about an inch in diameter ; of an ash
colour on the outside, and white within. They vary little in
power, and are therefore used indiscriminately. Zedoary has an
agreeable camphoraceous smell, and a bitter aromatic taste. It
impregnates water with its smell, a slight bitterness, a consider-
able warmth and pungency, and a yellowish-brown colour. It
imparts more bitterness, but less odour to spirit. It yields in dis-
tillation with water, a ponderous, and pungent essential oil ; and
the decoction thus deprived of the aromatic matter, and concen-
trated by inspissation, is disagreeably bitter and subacrid.

Medical Properties and Uses. — “ This root is a very
useful aromatic and stomachic. It was formerly much celebrated
for colic, in hysteric affections, when attended by flatulency, and
in scurvy ; and, as its virtues depend principally on its camphora-
ceous volatile oil, we see no reason for so readily discarding it
from the materia medica, as some authors recommend.

Dr. Ainslie informs us, that the best comes from Ceylon, where
it is used as a tonic and carminative. It is evidently the sserum-

bet of Serapion, and zerumbad of Avicenna, who extols it highly :
“ Discutit flatus, cor recreat, vomitionem compescit ad venena-
tarum bestiolarum morsus efficax est.” — Canon. Med. lib. ii.
tract, ii. p. 11. The modern Arabs consider it to be tonic, de-
obstruent, and aphrodisiac. Its spirituous extract once made an
ingredient in the cordial confection of the London Pharmacopoeia;
but an infusion is the form generally prescribed.

Dose. — In substance, g r. x. to 5ss.

CURCUMA LONGA.— Turmeric , or Indian Saffron.

Spec. Char. Leaves ovate-lanceolate. Bracteas spa-
tulate.

Syn. — Amomum Curcuma, Jacquin, Hort. Vind. 3. r. 4.

Curcuma, Rumph. Amb.b. 162. t 67.

Curcuma longa, Rose. 3; Sp. PI. Witld. 2.

The root of this plant, which has been admitted into the Dublin
Pharmacopoeia, and is used by the dyers to give a yellow colour,
is a native of the East Indies, China, and Cochin-China, and is
very generally cultivated over the southern parts of Asia. The
root, or rather rhigoma, acccording to Louriero, is perennial,
creeping, fleshy, palmate, with cylindrical branches, and covered
with a pale saffron coloured bark. Stem none. Leaves broad,
lanceolate, large, quite entire, smooth, annual, pale green, densely
furrowed with oblique slender lines ; petioles long, erect, dilated
at their base, minutely supporting and clasping each other.
Scape external, three inches long. Flowers sessile, white, with
a yellow nectary, one within each scale of the spike.

It is brought chiefly from the East Indies; but is commo;
in the gardens of the Chinese, who use it as a sternutatory, and
it grows abundantly in Malacca, Java, and Balega. In England
it was first cultivated by Miller in 1759. The dried root is exter-
nally greyish, and internally of a bright yellow or saffron colour ;

is very hard, and somewhat resembles ginger in figure and size.
It should be chosen large, fresh, resinous, hard to break, and
heavy.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Turmeric has
a slightly aromatic odour, and a bitterish somewhat acrid taste.
It readily gives out its active matter, both to aqueous and spi-
rituous menstrua, communicating to the former a deep yellow,
and to the latter a fine yellowish-red tint. Distilled with water
it yields a small quantity of a gold-coloured essential oil. The
alcoholic extract is moderately warm, nauseous, and bitter.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The medical virtues of
turmeric are those of a slight stimulant and tonic. In Eastern
countries this root, besides its use in colouring food, is con-
sidered as cordial and stomachic, and is accounted one of the
most effectual remedies in mysenteric obstructions, uterine dis-
orders, and affections of the kidnies and urinary passages. It is
a constant ingredient in curries,* and is prescribed by the
Tamool doctors, in those watery diarrhoeas which are so trouble-
some and difficult to subdue in weak habits. Although the use
of this root has been celebrated formerly as a powerful remedy in
dropsies, intermittent fevers, and as a specific in the jaundice, it
is now very rarely prescribed. It tinges the urine of a deep
yellow, after being taken for a short time. The dose in substance
is from 5f$ to 5! j : in infusion, made with 5ft of the root in a
pint of water, two or three tablespoon sful, three times a day.

* CuiutY Powder. — The following receipt for curry powder is taken from the
*' Cook’s Oracle.’’ The ingredients are the same as those used in India, with this
difference only, that some of them are in a raw green state, and are mashed together,
and afterwards dried and powdered : — Turmeric, three ounces. Coriander seeds, three
ounces. Black pepper, mustard, and ginger, one ounce cf each. Lesser cardamoms,
half an ounce. Cayenne pepper, cummin seeds, a quarter of an ounce of each.
Thoroughly pound and mix together, and keep them in a well-stopped bottle.

evil I

FUCUS VESICULOSUS.

Bladder Fucus. Bladder-wrack .

Class XXIV. Cryptogamia. Order III. Alg.e.

Nat. Ord. Alg.e. Lin. Juss. §c. Algje,

Fuc alf.s, Fucace.e, Burn.

Ess. Char. Spores produced in clustered tubercles,
which burst at their summits.

Spec. Char. Frond coriaceous, Hat, linear, dichoto-
mous, entire, with a central rib ; vesicles innate in
pairs, receptacles distinct, terminal, turgid, mostly
elliptical.

Stiu. — Fucus sive Alga marina latifolia vulgatissima, Rail Syn. p. 40. n. 4.

Alga sive fucus, Quercus marina dictus, Baxter, Op. Subs. 2 p. 4.116. t. 11 .f.2.
Quercus Marina, Gmel. Hist. Fuc. p. 60.

Fucus vesiculosus, Lin. Sp. PI. v. 2. p. 1626 ; Eng. Bot. v. 15. t. 1066;
R ither. But. Arr. v. 4. p. 84; Esper Icon. Fuc. 1. p. 33. t. 12 ; FI. Fr. ed.
2 da. 2. p. 18 ; Turner Hist. Fuc. v. 2. p. 44. t. 83 ; Hook Scot.p. 95.

13. spiralis; frond twisted' in a spiral manner, vesicles none, receptacles roundish.
F. spiralis, Lin.; Eng. Bot. t. 1685.

y. volubilis; frond spirally twisted ; vesicles generally wanting ; apices long, ellip-
tical. Raii. Syn. 42. n. 6.

5. audits ; frond narrow, producing vesicles ; apices long, lanceolate, F. spiralis, Esp.

e. angustifolius ; frond narrow ; vesicles mostly wanting ; receptacles sub-pedun-

culated, long, between linear and lanceolate, acuminated. F. longifructus,
FI. Fran. ed. 2 da. 2 19.

f. Sherardi; frond narrow, dwarfish; vesicles none; receptacles short, oblong.

F. Sherardi, Stackh. Ker. Brit. p. 72. t. 13.

t]. linearis ; frond narrow, dwarfish; vesicles none; receptacles long, between
linear and lanceolate. F. Quercus Marina, Gmel. Hist. Fuc. p. 2.

Undek the term Fuel are comprehended a tribe of plants, com-
monly included with the Ulvae and marine Conferva;, under the
more general tide of submerged Algae, or Thalassiophyta, and
well known in this country by the popular name of Sea-weeds.

In Scotland the name Wrack, (probably from the French va rec,)
is often applied to those fuci, which are cut on the shores for the
manufacture of kelp. In the Linnean system, the fuci form part
of the third order Algae, of the last class Cryptogamia. The
word fucus, (<puk-oc,) which signifies paint, has been supposed to
allude to the quality possessed by some of the small reddish
species, of affording a sort of rouge. They are marine plants,
either floating freely in the water, and destitute of roots, or at-
tached by a fibrous or scutate base. Their texture is fibrous,
mostly coriaceous, sometimes gelatinous or membranaceous ; often
branched or shrub-like, and traversed with a longitudinal nerve
or midrib. They produce seeds or sporules, either immersed in
the frond, or in capsules or tubercles, variously situated ; and
many of them are furnished with air vesicles.

The economical uses of sea-weeds are numerous and important.
To the agriculturist they furnish a valuable manure. To the
glass-maker and soap-boiler they yield the fixed alkali, and the
manufacture of kelp for this purpose became a valuable source
of revenue to the proprietors of the rocky shores of Europe, par-
ticularly of Britain, and more especially of those of the Northern
and Western Islands of Scotland, during the late war. From
the ashes of the fuci the chemist has derived the very curious
elementary substance named Iodine. Several of them are so rich
in saccharine matter and vegetable mucilage, that on the shores
of the northern countries of Europe, and the Scottish islands,
much of the winter provender of cattle is derived from them.
A few of them also afford food to man ; some of the smaller
sorts are used as condiments; while others are employed as
medicines.

The Fucus vesiculosus is a perennial plant, growing every-
where on the British shores, on rocks and stones, or cast up on
the beach ; bearing its fructification in the spring. The root is
an expanded, black, woody, callous disc. The frond is smooth
and glossy, flat, winged, from one to four feet long, and from half
an inch to an inch and half wide, linear, forked near the root,
and afterwards repeatedly dichotomous, of a dark olive-green
colour, becoming paler near the apices, and when dry black and

dull. All the branches are nearly of equal height, with the
apices rounded, and not unfrequently notched ; the margins
entire. The substance of the frond is coriaceous, flexible and
tough, but brittle after it is dried ; and through its whole
length furnished with a midrib of a blackish colour, and as thick
as a goose-quill, but gradually growing pale and thin. In the
membranous part of the frond throughout its whole length are
found immersed spherical vesicles, varying in size from a pea to
a hazel-nut, externally smooth, and containing in their cavity a
quantity of air. Besides these, particularly in the spring, al-
most always near the apices, are often observable elliptical
swellings of a pale yellowish green colour, an inch or two in
length, and sometimes occupying the midrib, so that the whole
becomes inflated and nearly cylindrical. The fructification con-
sists of compressed, turgid receptacles, solitary or twin, placed at
the ends of the branches, varying in form, but mostly elliptical,
from one-fourth of an inch to two inches long, and perforated
with'very minute pores, under which lie imbedded spherical tu-
bercles, composed of short jointed fibres, mixed with seeds of an
elliptical form, surrounded with a pellucid limbus, and appear-
ing under a powerful microscope to contain six or seven roundish
grains : the centre of the receptacle is filled with a colourless
and tasteless mucus, through which passes a network of anas-
tomosing fibres. The varieties a. /3. y. and 3. are found upon the
shores of the British isles, and of all the north of Europe, plen-
tifully.— Fig. (a) part of the outside of a receptacle magnified ;
( b ) horizontal section of a receptacle; (c) tubercle; (d) spores;
(e) contents of a spore; ( f ) some of the same; ( g ) longitudinal
section of a vesicle.

In Scotland this is sometimes called Black Tang; sometimes
Kelp-ware , and when the receptacles are large and swollen.
Strawberry-ware. The Norwegians call it Kue-tang. It is the
Quercus marina or Sea Oak of the older writers.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The most im-
portant uses to which Fucus vesiculosus is applied is in the ma-
nufacture of Kelp, which is a very impure carbonate of soda,
containing sulphate and chloride of sodium, with a portion

of charcoal ; and is manufactured in Scotland chiefly in the
months of July and August. The kiln in which it is made
is a round pit or basin dug in the sand or earth on the beach,
and surrounded with a few loose stones. In the morning a fire

is kindled in the pit, generally by means of peat or turf. This
fire is generally fed with sea-weed, in such a state of dryness
that it will merely burn. In the course of eight or ten hours
the furnace is found to be nearly full of melted matter-
iron rakes are then drawn rapidly backward and forward
through the mass in the furnace in order to compact it, or bring
it into an equal state of fusion. It is then allowed to cool, when
it is broken into pieces, and carried into a storehouse, to remain
till shipped.

The fuci, which are chiefly used on our shores are the Fucus
vesiculosus , nodosus , and serratus. In some places, F. loreus
and Jilum are employed, but not to any extent. By means of a
boat and long sharp hooks, F. diyitatus is cut in some places,
and this species, together with F. saccharinus, bulbosus , and
esculentus, form much of the drift-ware employed in making
kelp. Some of them are no doubt richer than others in al-
kali, but when fit for burning they are all capable of yielding
about one-fifth of their weight in kelp.

Iodine, as already hinted, is also yielded by kelp. Its name
being derived from iwcbjc, violaceus , in allusion to the very
striking circumstance of its yielding a violet-coloured gas on
being exposed to an increase of temperature. It was first
discovered accidentally by M. Courtois, of Paris, and its pro-
perties have been since accurately examined by Clement and
Desormes, Gay Lussac, Sir H. Davy, Vauquelin, and Wollaston.
The latter was the first who gave a regular formula for ex-
tracting it ; he dissolved tne soluble part of kelp in water, and
after evaporating it as long as it continued to afford crystals,
he added a little more sulphuric acid to the remaining liquid
than was necessary to neutralize the free soda which it con-
tained, and after all action had ceased, he added as much black
oxide of manganese to the clear liquor which remained, and
on the application of heat, iodine was disengaged. I he soap

manufacturers obtain their principal supply of soda from kelp ;
and Dr. Ure found, that a very large quantity of iodine may
be obtained from the brown oily liquid which remains after
most of the soda has been abstracted from the kelp-ley. A
basin is filled about one-half with this liquid, after it has been
heated to 230, and for every eight ounces about one ounce of
sulphuric acid is added, previously diluted with its own bulk of
water ; a violent effervescence immediately ensues ; sulphur is
deposited, while sulphureted hydrogen, sulphurous, carbonic,
and muriatic acids are disengaged ; and on cooling, crystals are
deposited, consisting principally of sulphate of soda. The liquid
is filtered, put into a glass retort, and to every twelve ounces,
one thousand grains of the black oxide of manganese are to be
added ; heat is now to be applied, and the iodine rises in a rich
purple vapour, which condenses in crystalline plates. It is col-
lected by adapting a receiver to the retort, from which it is easily
withdrawn bv a little water.

Iodine is a solid substance of a bluish-black colour and me-
tallic lustre. It is soft and friable, andis obtained generally
in the form of small scales, sometimes in rhomboidal plates, and
even in elongated octohedrons ; it does not conduct electricity.
It has a pungent odour, an acrid taste, and stains the skin of a
deep brownish-yellow colour ; when taken in considerable quan-
tity, it acts as a strong poison. It evaporates at the ordinary
temperature of the atmosphere, melts at 227, and is sublimed at
350, When mixed with w'ater it passes to the gaseous state along
with its vapour at a boiling temperature. It is soluble in alco-
hol and ether, but sparingly so in water ; its solutions have an
orange-brown tint, destroying the vegetable colours. Starch is
the most delicate test of iodine, forming a compound of a very
rich blue colour, when added to any solution which contains it
in an uncombined state. In its general properties it bears a great
analogy to chlorine, and like it, is always attracted to the positive
pole of the galvanic battery, when disengaged from its combina-
tions with the metals or other inflammable bodies. The specific
gravity of iodine is 4.9-11, and that of its vapour 8.678, 100
cubic inches weighing about 270 grains.

Iodine is considered by the most eminent chemists to be a
simple body. It forms with oxygen the iodic acid , and with chlo-
rine the chloriodic acid. Iodates are prepared either by the direct
addition of iodic acid to salifiable bases, or by the action of iodine
on these substances in water. Thus the iodate of potash is ob-
tained by pouring a solution of potash on a fixed quantity of
iodine, till it loses colour. In this process part of the water is
decomposed ; its hydrogen combines with one portion of iodine,
and forms hydriodic acid, while oxygen at the same time
unites with another portion, and forms iodic acid ; these two acids
combine with the potash, and we thus obtain a mixed solution of
iodate and hydriodate of potash. This solution is then evapo-
rated to dryness and digested in alcohol, which dissolves the hy-
driodate, and leaves the iodate , which is insoluble in alcohol.
The supernatant liquor being poured off and evaporated, the
hydriodate is obtained, as it is very soluble in water.

Medical Properties and economical Uses. — The F.
vesiculosus is well known as an excellent manure for land, to
which purpose it is often applied in the maritime parts of Scot-
land and other countries. In the islands of Jura and Skye it
serves as a winter food for cattle, which regularly come down to
the shores at the recess of the tides to seek for it. Linneus in-
forms us that the inhabitants of Gothland boil it in water, and
mixing a little coarse meal or flour, feed their hogs with it ; for
which reason they call the plant swine-tang. And in Scania, he
says, the poor people cover their cottages with it, and sometimes
use it for fuel.

Its medical virtues have been much celebrated by Dr. Russell
in his Dissertation concerning the uses of Sea-water in the Diseases
of the Glands. He found the saponaceous liquor or mucus in
the vesicles of the plant to be an excellent resolvent, and useful in
dispersing scrofulous swellings. He recommends the patient to
rub the tumour with these vesicles bruised in the hand, and after-
wards to wash the part with sea-water. But the most beneficial
use to which the F. vesiculosus is applied is in making kelp, al-
ready mentioned : a work much practised in the Western Islands.

Dr. Coindet, of Geneva, suspecting from analogy that iodine

was the active principle in sponge, was induced to try it in
those cases for which burnt sponge was administered, and his
success in the treatment of bronchocele was very remarkable. It
has been used by many practitioners both on the continent and
in our own country, with undiminished reputation. Success is
most commonly to be expected in recent cases, and when the pa-
tient is young; several instances have, however, occurred, in
which old, hard, and very large goitres have yielded to this re-
medy ; but in such instances as the course of treatment is pro-
tracted, it may have injurious effects on the stomach ; to obviate
which it has been the object to introduce the remedy by means
of friction ; and a case is recorded by Mr. ltickwood, where a
patient was cured at the age of seventy years. Iodine has been
likewise employed in the treatment of scrofula with equal suc-
cess ; and in the hands of M. M. Hufeland and Osan, the efficacy
of the tincture of iodine, and hydriodateof potass have been fully
proved ; they have also employed the same preparations with ad-
vantage in scirrhus and cancer of the uterus. Dr. Wagner speaks
of its beneficial influence on a tumour situated in the neighbour-
hood of the jaw, which he considered cancerous ; and Dr. Ilan-
nemann is satisfied that iodine exerted a remarkable influence on
cancer of the uterus in the most advanced stage.

There seems to be no reason for doubting that this new remedy
exerts a very marked influence over scrofulous and adventitious
deposits. We have therefore numerous and well-attested cases of
its successful employment in an immense number of diseases, such
as white-swelling, deafness, paralysis, distortion of the spine, &c.
Professor Maunoir states, that a child laboured under a consi-
derable white swelling of the knee, and could not walk without
crutches. The usual modes of treatment proving unavailing, the
tumour was rubbed night and morning with iodine ointment,
while the tincture was given internally in small doses. After a
few weeks a perfect cure took place.

If iodine be taken in doses too large, or be not properly
watched as to its effects, it is apt to produce inflammation of the
stomach, attended by nausea, incessant vomiting, and general
emaciation ; while the testes and mamma? diminish in a remark-

VOL. II.

u

able manner. These facts, however important to he known, do
not in the least militate against the judicious employment of a
remedy, that should he viewed as a valuable boon, by every
scientific physician ; for we have the names of Dr. Gardner, Dr.
De Carro, Dr. Roots, Dr. Baron, Mr. Austin, and many other
eminent practitioners, especially Lugol, who, closely watching
its effects, in well-regulated doses, consider it as a remedy easily
to be managed ; and in our own practice, we continually employ
it with perfect satisfaction, not only as a safe, hut very effica-
cious agent.

Dr. Baron has employed it with some success in the treatment
of scrofulous phthisis, and other tuberculous affections; and the
late Mr. I laden also reports a case of phthisis supposed to have
been cured by iodine. Cases are also recorded of its success in
ovarian dropsy. Dr. Coindet praises it as a powerful emena-
gogue ; an opinion which has been confirmed by Professor Brera
and other physicians. In fact, that gentleman has employed
the remedy very extensively. Besides bronchocele, and suppres-
sions of the catamenia, which have been cured by it, he mentions
several cases of indurated glands, tabes mesenterica, chronic dy-
sentery, and haemoptde, supervening to suppressed menstruation ;
laryngeal phthisis, leucorrhcea, syphilitic enlargements, &c. as
having been also cured by it. Mr. Callaway, surgeon to Guy’s
Hospital, confirms its success in scrofulous cases and in enlarged
mesenteric glands. M. Magendie informs us that he gave iodine
in a case represented to him to be suppressed catamenia, and at
the end of three weeks abortion was the result !

It will be seen from this account, that the value of iodine as a
remedial agent in a vast variety of important diseases, does not
rest on the testimony of one or two individuals only ; but that its
employment is established through the concurrent testimonies of
many eminent men in different countries ; and we have chosen
rather to bring together many facts , than to speculate on its
mode of action, or to recommend it for particular diseases.

Tinctuhe or Iodine.

Take of. Alcohol at 35° 1 once.*

Iodine ... 48 grains. — Mix.

* An once is 7 drachms, 52£ grains, Troy weight.

This tincture, says M. Magendie, is less frequently employed
than the two following preparations. It is given in doses of
from four to ten drops, three times a day, in a glass of sugared
water, or infusion of liquorice; the doses may be gradually aug-
mented to twenty drops.

IoOIJKETTKD SULPHURIC EtHKR.

Take of, Sulphuric ether 1 gros.*

Pure iodine . 6 grains. — Dissolve.

Thirty drops contain one grain of iodine, and the patient
can scarcely bear more than ten drops at a time.

SOLUTION OF HyDRIODATK OK POTASS.

Take of, Hydriodate of Potass 3fi grains.

Distilled water . . 1 once. — Dissolve.

These two preparations, whose mode of exhibition is the same
as that of the tincture of iodine, are employed, as well as it, in
the treatment of bronchocele and scrophula; in the latter case
some tonic is generally combined. M. Magendie states, that the
solution of the hydriodate of potass may be gradually increased
to three gros a-day, without unpleasant consequences; debili-
tated and very nervous women have taken it in this quantity, for
many weeks, without any derangement of function : with this
dose two cases of cancer of the tongue recovered in the space
of a fortnight, in the incurable wards of LTIospice de la Salt-
jxjtriere.

Ointment of Hydbiodate of Potass.

Take of, Hydriodate of potass £ gros.

Spermaceti ointment once. — Mix.

A small piece of this ointment may be used night and morning,
in the way of friction upon enlarged glands. At the end of a
week it. may be increased in quantity, according to the age of
the patient and extent of the tumour. Sometimes, by these
means, the complete resolution of tumours is effected, which could
not be removed entirely by saline solutions. Occasionally it is
necessary to apply leeches likewise to the indurated glands.

There are some other preparations occasionally employed, such
as the iodate of zinc, iodu rets of mercury, &c. ; for accounts of
which the curious reader may consult Houlton’s Translation
of “ Magendie's Formulary.”

Th*.* %r<n is 59 grains.

Lugol, who has tried iodine and its various preparations more care-
fully and extensively than any one else, attributes many of its failures,
and the whole of its reputed untoward effects, to the improper doses in
which it has usually been administered ; which, according to his views,
are immoderately large. Lugol presented a memoir on the treatment
of scrofulous and cancerous diseases by iodine to the French Aca-
demy, and the report made by Magendie, Serres, and Dumeril, was most
conclusive and satisfactory. We cannot do better than conclude this no-
tice with some extracts from it, and from this memoir.

"In the first place, (say the reporters,) we would remind our hearers
that the scrofulous affections, long known under the names of cold
humours, or the evil, constitute a class of those slow, unsightly, and
often hereditary diseases, which strike despair into whole families, from
the absolute rarity of their cure, and from the irremediable light in which
they are regarded by the majority of physicians and by the hospital re-
gulations. Hence also the afflicted patients submit themselves to the
illusive practices suggested by superstition. For, though medicine has
successively tried all the remedies with which she is acquainted, the
number, and even the absurd variety of which attest too strongly the
want of a certain method of cure, it must still he confessed that an effica-
cious mode of treatment remained to he made known.

" Sometimes this disease is external and visible, and shows itself under
the skin by swellings which are slowly developed, become softened, burst,
and remain ulcerated for a lengthened period, and thus produce callous and
incurable scars ; it takes its place in the substance of the integuments,
which it renders deformed and disgusting ; attacks the ears, the eyelids,
the nostrils, and the lips, which become horridly tumid, or are corroded
to such an extent as utterly to disfigure human nature.

“ Sometimes, more deeply hidden, the scrofulous habit attacks the
bones and their articulations, obstructs the canal which transports the
lymph and chyle, or produces in the lungs, and other most important or-
gans, tubercles, which ultimately soften and degenerate to purulent
cancers, thus giving rise to serious morbid alterations in the living eco-
nomy, which eventually yields to the effects of the disease.

“ Such is the abridged view of this frightful malady, to which M. Lugol-
with zeal, perseverance, and success, has opposed a remedy not abso-
lutely new, but which had never previously been administered with so
much method and precaution, to such a number of individuals at once, or
with such evident and decided effects.

“ M. Lugol is one of the distinguished physicians attached to theLIopi-
tal Saint Louis, the only hospital in Paris where a great number of
scrofulous patients are admitted for internal treatment. This circumstance
explains how, in the short period of seventeen months, from the 10th of
August, 1827, to the 31st of December, 1828, M. Lugol has been
enabled to collect the detailed cases of upwards of one hundred patients ;
in whom he, of course, found great variety in the seat and intensity of the
disorder.

“ Before your commissioners proceed to give an analysis of the memoir,
they deem it right to declare, that they have not at all confined themselves
to the scrutiny of its contents ; but that they have seen, examined, and
questioned the patients under treatment ; and have also visited some of
those reported cured or convalescent; that all the author s assertions have

been found scrupulously exact ; that inanv of the patients who were under
treatment when the memoir was finished, have since been completely
cured.

“ Without restricting ourselves to the order followed by M. Lugol in
his treatise, we proceed to make known the principal results.

“ In the first place, we may observe, that he uses two preparations of
iodine : the one exclusively intended for internal administration is a so-
lution of this simple substance in distilled water ; the others are proper
for external application, whether as ointments for ulcers, pomades for
frictions, or watery solutions of varied strength, for collyria, lotions, and
injections.

“ The motives which have induced M. Lugol to employ by preference
the aqueous solution of iodine, appear exceedingly plausible. So active
a medicine can scarcely be administered in an hospital without inconve-
nience and uncertainty, except in the form of a drink. The alcoholic
tincture and syrup of iodine present many disadvantages in the exact
measurement and distribution of their doses, while a pint, or half a pint
of distilled water, containing in solution a little common salt, and a fixed
quantity of iodine, affords an easy, precise, and economical method of
dispensing the remedy. Two degrees of this solution intended for the
patients, and designated by the name of mineral water, Nos. 1 and 2,
(the first containing two-thirds of a grain, and the second one grain of
iodine in solution,) have furnished the means of dosing exactly from day
to day, and of recognizing the effects of what was previously employed :
thus, half of No. 2 is the first allowance, the entire of No. 1 the second,
and, finally, the whole of No. 2.

“As to the preparations intended for external treatment : these are
unctuous substances of a certain weight, and associated in determined
and successively increasing proportions with iodine, ioduret of potassium,
(hydriodate of potash,) or with the proto-ioduret of mercury.

“ These simple means have sufficed Mr. Lugol for the treatment and
cure of numerous cases, twelve of which, selected from the different spe-
cies of scrofulous affections, are described in the memoir. Three relate
to ulcerated tubercles, cured in three, seven, and twelve months. Two
cases are also described of ophthalmia and coryza, one of which yielded
to a treatment of forty-six days, whilst the other was prolonged to the
ninth month. A case of fistulous abscess, deeply situated in the cellu-
lar tissue, has required nearly a year’s cure. Some cases are also recorded
by M. Lugol, of that frightful form of the disease most usually denomi-
nated ‘ dartre rougeante,’ but which the author names the Esthiomenic,
(or corrosive) scrofula. Finally, a case of scrofulous caries is detailed :
this last form has generally been found very intractable. M. Lugol is
only able to advance this single case of cure. It will be remarked also,
that the proto-ioduret of mercury was used, and that there still remains
a small fistula as yet unhealed, but which appears to have a tendency to
cicatrization/

The cases referred to in the report are too numerous and too long for
extract, although we had marked many for transference to our pages ;
but they are so interesting and convincing, that we recommend them to
our readers’ perusal : suffice it for us to make known the general results,
and we fully agree with the author, that “ the importance of the facts
related is great, for they contain proofs that iodine, properly admini-

sieved, is not followed by any outward effects of emaciation, &c., as when
improperly employed ; and that numerous cases of severe scrofula have
been entirely cured, and others greatly relieved, to part of which he re-
fers in the following summary : “ Eugene Chateau, Francis l’orie,
Claude Michelot, Marguerite i linger, are among the first scrofulous cases
l treated. I did not place them under the same head, on account of the
cruelty of informing them that no hope was entertained of their cure.

“ Richard, affected with a disease which had mowed down eight of
her brothers and sisters, and who saw before her, in sad perspective,
a scrofulous sister two years older than herself, and labouring under
thoracic disease, with tubercles in her lungs.

“ Adele Gandil, the offspring of a tubercular mother, and herself
affected since the age of ten with scrofula in its worst form.

“ Amand Olivier, under similar hereditary circumstances to Gandil,
labouring under four fistula; in the most dangerous vicinities, and which
entitled us to apprehend the worst from the state of etiolation, debility,
and emaciation, into which profuse suppuration of four years had thrown
the unhappy patient.

“These facts, and a still greater number yet remaining to be described,
place iodine in the rank of the most active and efficacious remedies
which the art of healing possesses; its introduction into medicine should
therefore be considered as one of the most precious improvements in that
science. We have before our eyes patients attacked with scrofulous
lesions, usually productive of a state of marasmus and colliquation, and
which, under the influence of iodine, energetically resist the inroads of
the disease. In some even of this description, a marked tendency to cure
is observable, too weak or too transitory, it is true, to prevent the en-
couragement of rational hope.

“ Under this head are particularly placed cases of caries and of certain
tubercular tumours of great magnitude, and which could be expected to
yield but tediously to the influence of curative means.

“ In the earlier cases M. Lugol used an aqueous solution of iodine for
internal administration ; this he has subsequently changed for a com-
bination of iodine with hydriodate of potash ; it may, however, be the
most advantageous plan to afford our readers a view of both the earlier and
later formulae.

IoDU RETTED

Ointment.

No. 1.

No. 2.

No. 3.

Old.

New.

Fresh lard lbij

Hydriodate of potash Jiv
Iodine - - 3iv

$

yiv

grxij

lbij

9xiv

lbij

P .

iJxvi

“ Afterwards/’ says M. Lugol, “ I made use of a solution of iodine,
which occasionally forms a valuable substitute for the preceding ointment,
especially in scrofulous ophthalmia, and for the injection of fistulous

‘ <UKl^' I ODU RETTED SOLUTION.

For external use.

No. 1. No. 2. No. 3.

Be Iodine gnj g'iij g™

Distilled water Ibj lbij lbuj

The above solutions the author lias now abandoned for the following,
which he finds the most certain and least inconvenient method of pre-
scribing iodine for internal use.

IODURETTED MINERAL WATER.

No. 1.

No. 2.

No. 3.

R Iodine

Srf

grj

CTi

Hydriodate

of potash

Sn2

ffnj

gn.)i

Distilled water

3viij

Sviij

5v'iij

“ I commence (he continues) the internal treatment with half a grain
of iodine ; for this proportion I prescribe two-thirds of the mineral
water, No. 1. In the second fortnight I gave the entire of this num-
ber; that is, three-fourths of a grain daily, varying the dose within
narrow limits according to the peculiarities of the case.

“ During the fourth fortnight, or in the beginning of the fifth, I give a
grain daily, and usually I continue this quantity to the end of the treat-
ment. In some cases I have prescribed a grain and a quarter ; still more
rarely I have increased the dose to a grain and a half, but I have
never gone beyond this quantity daily.

“ Another advantageous form of preparing this mineral water on a
larger scale, is by first making a concentrated solution of iodine in hy-
driodate of potash, and then diluting it with a sufficient proportion ol
water; thus, —

ft Iodine 9i

Ilydriodate of potash Jii

Distilled water -vij

This solution contains one twenty-fourth of iodine poured ; into sixteen
pounds of distilled water, it forms thirty-two bottles of eight ounces of
the mineral water, No. 1. It is easy to understand that by diminish-
ing the distilled water one fourth, we compose No. 2, and by using three-
fifths of water, we obtain No. 3.

“ Again, the concentrated solution now used serves for the administra-
tion of the remedy in drops once or twice daily, a mode of prescribing I
frequently follow in my private practice. I commence with six drops
given in the morning fasting, and six in the afternoon, an hour before
dinner, in a glass of water flavoured with sugar. Every week the daily
dose is increased by two drops, until it shall have reached thirty, or even
thirty-six drops daily.

“ For children under seven years old I would recommend two drops
twice daily for the commencement, to be increased gradually to five
drops twice a day, morning and evening.

“ From seven to fourteen years I seldom order more than sixteen drops
daily. I deem it imprudent to exceed that quantity, (p. 166.)

“ Ointment of the proto-ioduret of Mercury. The following formulae
expresses the quantities of the ingredients in the several strengths of the
ointment which I am in the habit of prescribing.

& Proto-ioduret of mercury 9ij 9iij 9iv
Fresh lard - 3'j 3jj 3ij

“ In my first memoir I only mentioned one solution intended for ex-
ternal use, but similar reasons to those which induced me to change the
oiinu ,i 01 internal doses, have led to the use of the subjoined solutions,
which are at the same time more permanent in their constitution, and
uniform in their effects.

R Iodine

Hydriodate of potash
Distilled water

No. 1. No. 2. No. 3.

grij griij griv

griv grvi grviij

Ibj lbj lbj ‘

Injections may be made on the conjunctiva and the lachrymal pas-
sages with the solution ; also in cases of coryza and ozoena it should
be used several times a-day, and is best applied by means of a syringe.
In injections of the nasal fossa;, care should be taken not to direct too
much of the solution towards the internal fauces.

RunEFACJENT SOLUTION OF IODINE.

R Iodine - 3iv

Hydriodate of potash ^i

Distilled water - §vi

“ The above solution should be kept in a bottle with a glass stopper,
as it rapidly corrodes corks.

“ This solution is very useful in cases where scrofulous surfaces re-
quire stronger excitement than usual : for example, to the eyelids and
angles of the eyes in obstinate chronic ophthalmia, in coryza and other
forms of scrofulous disease in the nasal fossae. It is most conveniently
applied by means of pledgets of fine lint. Even after a cure, I have
frequently applied this solution to the deformed cicatrices characteristic
of this disease ; and it usually renders them smoother and les3 prominent
and livid.

“ The rubefacient solution may also serve two other important pur-
poses, viz. the preparation of local baths and ioduretted poultices.”

The ioduretted baths have been found singularly serviceable by M.
Lugot, and he warmly recommends them to be used in the treatment of
many cases. He finds that wooden vessels are the best for containing
the water impregnated with iodine ; and Dr. O’Shaugnessy, in his
translation of the original work, has given a very convenient table in-
dicating the proportions of the several ingredients.

Dr. A. T. Thompson has lately published an account of the medici-
nal effects of two new preparations of iodine, viz. the ioduret and the
hydriodate of iron. These have not as yet been very extensively admi-
nistered ; but the reports of their beneficial effects in strumous diseases,
and even in carcinoma are most encouraging.

FUCUS {pel GfGARTiNA.) HEMINTHOCORTON.

Corsican TF'orm-moss.

Spec. Char. — Fronds cartilaginous, cylindrical, capil-
lary, growing in matted tufts, jointed, irregularly
dichotomous ; apices acuminate. Capsules hemi-
spherical, scattered, lateral, sessile.

Syn. — Conferva Ilelminthocorton, Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. v.2. p. 1394.

Fucus Hehninthocortos, “ Hammer ten, Dis. cum icune ” teste Rnthio l'l. Fr.
ed. cZda ii. p. 37.

Ceramium Helmiuthocortos, Roth Cat. Bot. ii. p. 168. iii. p. 157.

This small species is found growing in the Mediterranean sea,
on the coast of Corsica, attached to calcareous rocks and other
marine bodies. The root is wholly composed of creeping fibres,
variously branched and thickly interwoven. The fronds are very
numerous, from the same base, clustered into compact, cushion-
like tufts, some inches in width, an inch or an inch and half long,
erect, straight, or slightly flexuose cylindrical, not thicker than
hog’s bristles, once or twice irregularly dichotomous at short in-
tervals, with erecto-patent segments of nearly equal height, all
remarkably acuminated. The fructification consists, according
to Dr. Roth, of small, hemispherical capsules, sessile upon the
sides of the branches, solitary, generally few in number and re-
mote from each other ; when young, composed of a very thin
membrane, white and pellucid; when old, their surface becomes
unequal as if tuberded, and in the midst is discernible a small
membranaceous pellucid vesicle : colour, light reddish-brown,
semi-transparent, turning white if long kept in fresh water, and
darker when dried : substance, cartilaginous, inclining to horny,
tough, and flexible. On the plate (No. 108) we have given a
tuft of F. H eminthocorton of the natural size, (a) A single
frond magnified ; (6) part of the same.

VOL. IT.

X

Medical Properties and Uses. -This plant, though al-
most entirely unknown among the practitioners of this country,
has long been celebrated on the continent, and is therein common
use as a vermifuge, under the name of the moss or the Coralline
of Corsica. It has also been recommended as a remedy in cancer !

urn.

CIX

ALOE VULGARIS.

Yellow-flowered Aloe.

Class VI. Hexandria. Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Liliace.e, Coronari.e, Lin. Aspiiodeli, Jnss.
AsrHODELE^s, De Cand. IIemerocallide.e, Brown.
Asphodf.lace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Perianth petaloid, tubular, border spread-
ing, 6-cleft, base nectariferous. Filaments exserted
from the receptacle. Capsule superior, oblong,
3-celled. Seeds several, angular.

Spec. Char. Leaves sword-shaped, toothed, upright.
Stem branched. Flowers yellow, in a dense panicle.

Syn. — Aloe, Trag. Ilist. 932 ; Fuchs. Hist. v. 2. 160 ; Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 45, 46 ;
Gamer. Epit. 450.

Aloe vulgaris, Bauh. Pin. 286; Tourn. Inst. 366; De Candolle PI. Grasses,
27, cum icone ; Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v. 2. 292 ; Ger. Em. 507 ; FI. Griec.
Sibth. v. iv. p. 34. t. 341.

Aloe perfoliata it, vera, Lin. Sp. PI. 458.

Aloe perfoliata A, vera, Willd. Sp. PI. v. 2. 186.

Aloe Barbadensis, Haworth in Trans, of Lin. Soc. v. 7. 19.

AAotj, Dios. lib. 3. cap. 25.

The Aloe vulgaris , which is the species that Sloane describes in
his History of Jamaica, as producing the Barbadoes extract, is
a native of the Levant and Barbary. Though generally known
under the name of Barbadoes Aloe, it is said not to be very com-
mon in the West Indian islands, where the plants are propagated
on the poorest soil for the purpose of obtaining the Hepatic aloes
of the shops. It is the aXorj of the ancient Greeks, and was found
by Dr. Sibthorpe growing spontaneously in the island of Cyprus.

The stem is short, thick, shrubby, branched, and, like the rest
of the plant, abounding in a clammy, bitter, fetid, yellowish

9

x

juice. The leaves are about four inches broad at their base,
crowded, sessile, nearly erect, or somewhat spreading, a foot long,
lanceolate, acute, fleshy, smooth, succulent, concave above, of a
seagreen colour, and when young, spotted with white. The flower
stem rises about three feet in height ; it is round, thick, erect,
smooth, of a brownish purple colour, branched at top, and termi-
nated by the flowers which form a slender, loose spike, and are
of a bright yellow colour. The flowers are numerous, spreading
horizontally in an elegant spike, and stand on short, smooth
footstalks, each flower being accompanied by a single bractea.
The bracteas attached to the flower stems are triangular, mem-
branaceous, and of a deep brown colour. The perianth is hexa-
petaloid, the pieces connate, the tube long, the limb deeply
6-cleft, cylindrical, and oblong; the outer segments are larger
than the inner, ovate, blunt, and spreading at the border. The
stamens are thread-shaped, as long as the corolla, or longer,
exserted from the receptacle, and furnished with oblong, incum-
bent anthers. The germen is oblong-ovate, angular, bearing a
style nearly of the length and shape of the stamens, with a
small, simple stigma. This species and A. stricta , are the softest
and most succulent of all the Aloes ; the former is the only
species whose flowers are yellow. Fig. ( a ) represents a flower
with its bractea; (c) the pistil with the base of the corolla; (6)
the same with the corolla removed.

germcn is oblong, with a simple slender style, and an obtuse
stigma.* The capsule is oblong, 3-celled, containing many
angular seeds. — Fig. ( a ) represents a flower cut open ; (6) the
ger*men and style.

All the species of this extensive genus are natives of hot cli-
mates, and most of them grow at the Cape of Good Hope.

It is now well known that numerous individuals of the Aloe
family furnish the concrete juice, met with in commerce under
the name of aloes ; but the subject is still surrounded with so
many difficulties, that we must crave the indulgence of our
readers, should we be so unfortunate as to perpetuate errors, or
fail to increase their present stock of knowledge. Six different
kinds of aloes are met with in commerce: —

1st. Barba does aloes, also called Hepatic aloes, and extract of
the common aloe, is, as stated before, the produce of the A. vul-
garis. The following account of the culture pursued at Barba-
does, and of the method by which the juice is collected, was
communicated by Mr. Millington to the Medical Journal,
vol. viii.

“ The lands in the vicinity of the sea, that is, from two to three miles,
which are rather subject to drought than otherwise, and are so stony
and shallow, as not to admit of planting sugar-canes with any prospect
of success, are generally found to answer best for the aloe-plant.
The stones, at least the largest ones, are first picked up, and either
packed in heaps upon the most shallow, barren spots, or laid round
the field as a dry wall. The land is then ploughed lightly, and very
carefully cleaned of noxious weeds, lined at one foot distance from row
to row, and the young plants set, like cabbages, at about five or six inches
from each other. This regular mode of lining, and setting the plants,
is practised by the most exact planters, in order to facilitate the weeding
of them by hand very frequently, because, if they are not kept perfectly
clean and free from weeds, the produce will be but very small.

“ They will bear being planted in any season of the year, even in the
driest, as they will live on the surface of the earth for many weeks,
without a drop of rain. The most general time, however, of planting
them is from April to June. In the March following, the labourers
carry a parcel of tubs and jars into the field, and each takes a slip or

* The figure here represented was made from a fine specimen, which blossomed
in April 1829, at Queen’s Elm, Chelsea, in the hot-house of our respected friend,
A. II. Haworth, Esq. E.L.S.

breadth of it, and begins by laying hold of a bunch of the blades, as
much as he can conveniently grasp with one hand, while with the
other he cuts it just above the surface of the earth, as quickly as pos-
sible, that the juice may not be wasted, and then places the blades in
the tub, bunch by bunch, or handful by handful. When the first tub
is thus packed quite full, a second is begun, each labourer having two ;
and by the time the second is full, all the juice is generally drained
out of the blades in the first tub. The blades are then lightly taker/
out, and thrown over the land by way of manure, and the juice is
poured out into a jar. The tub is then filled with blades, and so
alternately till the labourer has produced his jar full, or about four
gallons and a half, which is often done in six or seven hours, and he has
then the remainder of the day to himself, it being Ins employer’s interest
to get each day’s operation as quickly done as possible.

“ I should observe, that although aloes are often cut in nine, ten, or
twelve months after being planted, they are not in perfection till the second
and third year; and that they will be productive for ten or twelve years,
or even longer, if good dung, or manure of any kind, be strewed over the
field once in three or four years.

“The aloe juice will keep for several weeks without injury. It is,
therefore, not boiled till a sufficient quantity is procured to make it an
object for the boiling house. In the large way, three boilers, either of
iron or of copper, are placed to one fh*e, though some have but two,
and the small planters only one. The boilers are filled with the juice,
and as it ripens, or becomes more inspissated, by a constant but regular
fire, it is ladled forward from boiler to boiler, and fresh juice is added
to that farthest from the fire, till the juice in that nearest the fire (by
much the smallest of the three, and commonly called by the name of
latch as in the manufactory of sugar) becomes of a proper consist-
ence to be skipped or ladled out into gourds, or other small vessels
used for its final reception. The proper time to ladle it out is when it
has arrived at what is termed a resin height, or when it cuts freely, or
drops in thin flakes. A little lime water is used by some aloe boilers,
during the process, when the ebullition is too great. As to the sun-
dried aloes, which are more approved for medicinal purposes, very
little is made in Barbadoes. The process is very simple. The raw
juice is either put into bladders, left quite open at the top, and sus-
pended in the sun, or in broad shallow trays of wood, pewter, or tin,
exposed also to the sun, every dry day, until all the fluid parts are
exhaled, and a perfect resin formed, which is then packed up for use or for
exportation.”

2nd. Socotrine aloes. — The real Socotrine aloes, which is rarely
met with in commerce, is produced by the A. Socotrina. It grows
in abundance on the island of Zocotora, which was first disco-
vered by the Portuguese in 1503, and now belongs to the
Princess of Hadramanb, a province of Arabia, contiguous to
Yemen. The plant is also found in many parts of the South of
Africa, particularly in the kingdom of Melinda, where the

greater part of the extract is prepared that is now sold under
the name of Socotrine, and Cape aloes. India, Borneo, and
Sumatra, also furnish us with this kind of aloes, which are
sometimes packed in casks, and at others in skins.

In the island of Zocotora, the inhabitants cut or chop the
leaves, and make a slight pressure to obtain the juice, which is
left to settle. It deposits a feculent matter, which is thrown
away. The supernatant liquor thus freed from its grosser parts,
is left to spontaneous evaporation ; and it is this difference in the
two processes that accounts for the superiority of the real Soco-
trine aloes over that of the Cape : for there, the Hottentots cut
the end of the leaves and catch the liquor which flows from them
in proper vessels, the lower leaves of the plant generally serving
for canals to conduct it into them. The juice thus obtained, is
at once reduced to a suitable consistence over the fire, and
afterwards packed in boxes containing from one to thiee hundred
pounds.

Socotrine aloes is in solid fragments, compact, heavy, and
brittle. It is of a yellowish red or brown colour, in proportion to
its purity ; is glossy, and breaks with a smooth conchoidal frac-
ture. The thin edges are reddish, and semi-transparent. It is
rendered friable by cold, softens by heat, and is adhesive to the
touch : it is easily reduced to a powder, which is of a golden yellow
colour: but it soon condenses again into a mass, the particles of
which adhere strongly. The odour is strong, sui generis: the
inferior sorts fetid and nauseous. The taste is bitter, resem-
bling bile. According to Bouillon La Grange, and Vogel, it is
composed of 22 parts of resin, and 68 of extractive matter. It
dissolves almost entirely in spirits of wine, and yields a volatile
oil by distillation. It is considered to be more mild in its
operation than the other kinds of aloes. The Cape aloes differ
from the Socotrine in possessing a stronger and less agreeable
odour. They are also of a less yellow colour, and less vitreous in
appearance. The powder is of a greenish yellow, resembling
gamboge, but less bright.

3rd. Foetid, , or Caballine Aloes.— This sort is very impure,
having the appearance of bitumen. It is marked with fenu-

ginous spots on the outside, and is generally mixed with parti-
cles of burnt straw, fragments of bark, sand, &c. The powder
is of a greenish brown colour, and 25 parts are soluble in water.
It is not easily reduced to powder, and has the appearance of
being the residuum of the boilers in which the preceding sorts
were prepared, or rather, of being the residuum of the leaves
from which the better parts have been already taken by one of
the methods mentioned. It is chiefly used for horse medicine.

4th. Red Aloes. — This sort is rarely met with. It is in the
form of scales, of a red and transparent appearance ; and is sup-
posed to be a natural exudation from the A. socotrina , which has
concreted in the sun.

5th. Mocha Aloes resemble those brought from the Cape, but
are more purgative. Little is known of this kind ; but as the
isle of Zocotora is so near the coast of Mocha, it is probable
that they are only a variety of that so long known in commerce
as the Socotrine.

6th. Indian and Mozambique aloes are v^ry impure, and
seem to be of an intermediate quality between the hepatic and
caballine.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Barbadoes aloes
is generally deeper coloured and more opaque than the Soco-
trine; it is more tough, and when broken, presents surfaces less
shining ; while its odour is very strong and highly offensive.
Its colour when powdered is dirty yellow, and it is said to be
more active than Socotrine aloes ; and hence, though its price
usually exceeds that of the other, it is principally employed in
veterinary practice. It is composed of 42 parts of resin, 32 of
extractive, the remainder consisting of a matter analogous to
albumen.

Aloes, when pure, is completely soluble in water and alcohol ;
but the hepatic aloe only affords 36 parts of soluble matter to
these menstrua. Aloes puffs up and crackles while burning, and
gives out much thick smoke, that smells strongly of the aloes.
When boiled in water and reduced to an extract, it loses much
of its purgative property. It is stated by Murray, that the sub-
stance of the leaves does not partake of the qualities of the ex-

tract, which is contained only in vessels situate immediately
under the epidermis; and this explains why it is that the inha-
bitants of Cochin-china are able to prepare a wholesome fecula
from them. The aloes examined by Braconnot appeared to that
chemist to have some particular qualities, which induced him to
consider it as a distinct substance, for which he proposes the
name “ amer resineux .” Trommsdorf, on the other hand,

and Bouillon La Grange, and Vogel, consider it as composed of
resin, and a peculiar extractive matter. M. Fabroni, in the Ann.
de Chimie, (vol. xxv.) states that he procured from the leaves
of the A. Socotrina var. angustifolia , aviolet dye, which resists
the action of oxygen, acids, and alkalies. This juice, he says,
produces a superb transparent colour, which is highly proper for
works in miniature, and which, when dissolved in water, may
serve, either cold or warm, for dyeing silk from the lightest to
the darkest shades; and he reckons it one of the most durable
colours known in nature. Aloes was used among the ancients,
in embalming, to preserve bodies from putrefaction. Of this
kind interpreters understand the aloes to have been, which Ni-
codemus brought to embalm the body of Christ. (John xix. 39 )

Adulterations. — Aloes are frequently adulterated with
common resin ; but according to Dr. Paris, the fraud more gene-
rally committed is that of mixing with, or substituting the
inferior species for the Socotrine. The Barbadoes aloes may, in-
dependently of its want of aromatic flavour, be distinguished
from the Socotrine by a simple test, for the latter dissolves en-
tirely in boiling water and alcohol, whereas the former, when
treated in a similar manner, leaves a considerable residue.
Sometimes the Caballine aloes is made to appear so bright and
pure, as not to be easily distinguished by the eye, even from the
Socotrine , but its rank odour readily betrays the fraud.

Medical Properties and Uses. — It is the A. vulgaris
and A. Socotrina , that produce the gum-resins used for pharma-
ceutical purposes; and they differ little in their medicinal effects.
They are warm stimulating purgatives, particularly adapted for
what is termed the melancholic temperament; and exercise a
tonic power, proved by their extreme bitterness, and the bene-

ficial influence in chronic affections of the stomach and bowels,
as vomiting, flatulence, loss of appetite, and other symptoms
usually denominated dyspeptic. Their operation is slow, hut
generally effective, nor do large doses appear to exert much more
power than smaller ones. The medium dose of aloes is from
five to ten grains, but they are generally combined with other
purgatives to obviate habitual costiveness ; to remove viscidity
of the intestines ; and from their stimulating and tonic powers
are well adapted for jaundice, chlorosis, hypochondriasis, and
scrofula. Through their acting more particularly on the colon
and rectum, they are efficacious in expelling ascarides, but from
the same cause they occasionally produce haemorrhoids. They also
impart a stimulus to the uterine vessels, and are found beneficial
as enmianagogues : pregnant women should be, therefore, cau-
tious how they persist in their use.

In doses of two drachms, aloes produce nauseating and de-
pressing effects upon the horse, and are therefore much used in
the active diseases of this noble animal, when it is necessary to
diminish the force of the circulation. From six to eight drachms
of aloes, combined with soap and other ingredients, also consti-
tute the purgative-ball usually administered.

The following are some of the principal Quack or Patent Me-
dicines that owe their activity chiefly to the aloes they contain: —

Anderson’s Pills consist of 13arbadoes aloes, with a proportion
of jalap, and oil of aniseed.

Hoopers Pills. — Pil. aloes with myrrh, or Rufus’ pill ; sul-
phate of iron ; and eanella bark, to which is added a portion of
ivory black. Dr. Barlow, one of the physicians to the Bath
Hospital, relates a case in which these pills were retained in the
intestines nearly twelve months. The facts detailed in this case
are valuable, from the cautions which they suggest to regular
practitioners, — who in administering pills with iron, should be
careful to ensure their ready solution by appropriate combination,
and also by having them always freshly prepared. — See “ Lan-
cet,^ ” vol. xi. p. 806.

Dixon’s Antibilious Pills. — These are composed of aloes,
scammony, rhubarb, and tartar emetic.

Speediman's Pills. — Myrrh, aloes, rhubarb, of each one
ounce, extract of chamomile, half an ounce; beat into a mass
with syrup, and divided into four-grain pills.

James's Analeptic Pills. — Gum ammoniacum, pill aloes with
myrrh, antimonial powder, of each equal parts, made into a mass
with tincture of castor.

Dinner Pills : Lady Webster's, or Lady De Crespigny's Pills.
— These popular pills are the “ pilulae stomachic®,” vulgo “ pi-
lulae ante cibum” of the Codex Medicamentarius Parisiensis.
Editio Quinta, A. D. 1758.

Take of Aloes, 6 drachms.

Mastich ) c , ~ . ,

>01 each, 2 drachms.

Red rose leaves J

Syrup of wormword, as much as may be necessary to
form amass, which is to be divided into pills of 3 grains each.

Fothergill's Pills. — Aloes, scammony, colocynth, and oxide of
antimony.

Peter's Pills. — Aloes, jalap, scammony and gamboge, of each
2 drachms; calomel, 1 drachm.

Radcliff"s Elixir. — Take of Socotrine aloes, 6 drachms; cin-
namon bark, zedoary root, of each ^ drachm ; rhubarb, 1 drachm ;
cochineal, 8 drachm ; syrup of buckthorn, 2 ounces; proof
spirit, 1 pint; water, 5 ounces. Mix.

Beaume de Vie is the compound decoction of aloes.

Off. Prep. — Pulv. aloes comp. L. Pilula aloes. E.D. Pil.
aloes comp. L. Pil. aloes cum myrrha. L.E.D. Pil. aloes et
assafoetidae. E. Pil. aloes c. colocynthide. E. Pil. cambogiae
comp. L. Pil. Rhaei comp. E. Pil. scammonii comp, cum
aloe. D. Decoctum aloes comp. L. Extractum aloes. L.D.
Extractum colocynthidis comp. L.D. Tinctura aloes. L.E.D.
Tinctura aloes comp. L.E D. Tinctura aloes aetherea. E.
Tinct. benzoini. comp. L.E.D. Tinct. Rhaei et aloes. E. Vinum
aloes L.E.D.

//////

/'/////

(x&iulDJ,

CXI

ALLIUM SATIVUM.

Common Garlic.

Class VI. Hexandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Sfathace.e, Lin. Asphouf.lt, Juss. Aspho-
dele.e, Brown, SfC. Asphodelace.e, Barn.

Gen. Char. Perianth inferior, 6-parted, spreading-.
Spathe many-flowered. Umbel crowded. Stigma
acute. Seeds angular.

Spec. Char. Stem leafy ; leaves flat. Umbel bulbi-
ferous ; bulbs compound. Stamens 3-cleft.

Syn. — Allium, Ger. Em. 177 ; Park. Parad. t. 511 • f. 6; Camer. Epit. 328.

Allium vulgare et sativum, Bauh. Pin. 73; Hist. 2.554; Trag. Hist. 745 ;
Iiaii. Hist. 1125.

Allium hortense, Fuchs. Hist. 696. c. 282.

Allium staminibus alterne trifidis, &c. Hall. Opusc. 331. n. 1.

Allium sativum, Lin. Sp. PI. 425 ; Willd. v. 2. 63 ; Woodv. v. 3. (. 108 ;
Stokes, v. 2. p. 216.

Foreign. — Ail,Fr.; Ajo, Sp. ; Alho, Port. ; Ga rtenlauch, Ger. ; Hviloken, Swed. ;
Tsclienok , Russ. ; Slum, Chin.

The common or cultivated Garlic is a hardy, perennial, bulbi_
ferous plant, growing naturally in Sicily and the south of
France; flowering in July, and has been cultivated in this
country since 1548. It shows the same propensity to form
bulbs instead of flowers as the A. Scorodoprasum, or Rocam-
bole Garlic, which it also resembles in other respects.

The bulbs are composed of several oblong, subordinate bulbs,
called cloves, of a pale colour internally, frequently tinged with
purple on the outside, and enclosed in a common membrane,
from the base of which proceed long white fibrous roots. Each
clove being planted, grows, and in one season attains the size and
structure of the parent bulb. The stem is simple, erect,
solid, and rises about two feet in height, surrounded with
many long, flat, linear, pointed leaves, of a yellowish green
colour ; and is terminated by a dense umbel, inclosed in a spathe
containing both flowers and bulbs, which opens at one side
and withers. The flowers are small and white, the perianth
consists of six oblong petals, with tapering alternately 3-cleft
filaments, shorter than the corolla, and supporting oblong,
erect anthers : the germen is superior, short, angular, bearing a
simple style, with a pointed stigma : the capsule is short, broad,
3-lobed and 3-cclled, containing a few roundish, angular seeds.
Fig. (a) represents a flower ; (6) the bulb ; (c) a subordinate
bulb, or clove.

This plant is the Scopotiov of the Greeks, and is said to have been
called SwpoSov, quasi , <rt:upiov pohov, rudis rosa , on account of its
offensive odour. Amongst the Greeks, garlic was held in such
abhorrence, that those who partook of it were regarded as profane.
The Egyptians, however, worshipped it ; and the Romans gave
it to their labourers to impart strength, and to their soldiers
to excite courage: their game cocks were also fed with

garlic previous to fighting. From the following lines of
Persius, it appears that it tvas sometimes offered to propitiate
the Gods : —

“ Hinc gvandes Galli, et cum Sistro lusca sacerdos.

Incussere Deos inflan tes corpora, si non
Praedictum, ter mane, caput gustaveris Alii.

Let this be as it may, Horace having supped with Maecenas,
found himself very ill, in consequence of partaking of a dish of
herbs in which garlic had been put, and upon this writes an ode
to his friend, in which he condemns it in no measured terms.

Notwithstanding the denunciations of Horace, Oleiius states
that o-arlic was much used in his time by nobles and courtiers ;

ft

and Haller avers that the inhabitants of all countries are very
fond of it. It appears, from Tusser, to have been cultivated in
the time of Queen Mary ; who says in his twelfth verse for
November —

“ Set garlicke and beans at St. Edmund the king.”

Garlic is now usually propagated by detaching the cloves, and
planting them in February or March ; and in this way it seldom
throws up a flower-stem. The soil should be light and dry ; the
sets are placed about four inches asunder, and between two and
three inches deep. About the middle of June the leaves are
tied in knots, to prevent the stronger plants from spindling or
running to flower, and to promote the swelling of the bulbs.
The crop is dug up in autumn, when the leaves begin to wither;
the bulbs are then cleaned, tied in bunches, and hung in a dry
room for use.

Besides the common garlic, the following species are frequently
cultivated in our gardens for culinary and other domestic pur-
poses.

1. Allium Scikenoprasum. The Cive , or Chive Garlic ,
is a small plant, with a naked stalk seldom exceeding five or six
inches in height ; cylindrical, hollow, somewhat tapering leaves,
and simple stamens. It is a native of Britain, growing in mea-
dows and pastures, but is not common ; it occurs, according to
Mr. Neill, among other places, in the south of Scotland, on
low hills near Hawick ; and also in some parts of Westmore-
land: it is figured in “ English Botany,” v. 34, t. 2441. The
bulbs are very small and flat, and grow connected together in
clusters. The voung leaves are employed pidncipally for soups,
and as a salad ingredient, in the spring. Sometimes they are
added as a seasoning to omelets ; and they are often eaten with
bread and butter.

2. Allium Ascalonicum. The Ascalonian Garlic , or Shal-
lot, with a naked stem, awl-shaped leaves, globose umbels, and

3-cleft stamens, is a perennial plant, a native of the Holy Land,
where it was observed by Ilaselquist. Eschalot (Eschalotte, Fr.)
is the more correct appellation, the name being thus derived by
some old authors, (Bauhin for example,) and it is styled cepasteri-
hs, or barren onion, from the circumstance of its seldom sending
uj> a flower-stalk. It was cultivated here in 1C33. In size and
general growth the plant resembles the Chive ; but it produces
bulbous roots composed of cloves like garlic. These are used for
culinary purposes in the manner of garlic, but they are milder,
and do not communicate to the breath the offensive flavour which
garlic or even raw onions impart.

3. Allium Scoiiodoprasum. Rocambole Garlic; Ail
d'Espagne of the French, is a perennial plant, indigenous to
Sweden and Denmark, and was cultivated by Gerarde in 1596.
It has compound bulbs, like the common garlic, but the cloves
are much smaller. It sends up a stem two feet high, which is
bulbiferous ; the leaves are rather broad and crenate at the
edg es ; the flowers, which are collected in a sort of globular
head, are of a pale purple colour. The cloves are used in the
same manner as garlic or shallot, and nearly for the same pur-
poses.

4. Allium Fistulosum. Cibol or Welsh Onion ; Le Ci-
boule de St. Jaques of the French, is a perennial plant, a native
of Siberia. It appears to have been cultivated in 1629, but it
was known a long time previously. It produces no bulbs, but
the fistular leaves, and the lower part of the stems, are much used
in salads, in the spring months.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. -Every part of
the common garlic has an offensive odour, and a biting acrimo-
nious taste, particularly the bulbs, which when dried, lose nearly
two thirds of their weight. The expressed juice is of a thick
consistence like mucilage, and slightly reddens vegetable blues.
When diluted with water and filtered, it yields flakes of albumen
if h eat be applied The residue consists chiefly of mucilage,

v inch garlic j.ie'd* a very great proportion, and of extractive.
Tbi* la*t i* somewhat acrid iri it* nature. When garlic i>. di*-
tilled »ith water, it yield* a portion of' yd low-coloured volatile
oil, at first lighter than wa ter, hut grad .ally becoming heavier
;j$ the di*t illation ad vance*. To thiu oil garlic owe* it-. most
remarkable propertie*. It* taxte i* very acrid, and it* *roe 11
strong. When appl.ed to the -kin, it produce* an irritation not
inferior to cantharides, and, like it, n igrit lx.- employed to blister
the skin, When triturated w ith oxide of iron, it immediately
strike* with it a black colour ; but it ha* no effect upon any
other metallic oxide. When garlic is heated with alcohol,
tlie liquid assume* a reddish-yellow colour, and leaver*, on <-var
/rat ion, a brown extract, very acrid, which ‘-xtract* moixtur<-
frorn the air. When garlic is distilled, it yield* fir*t a liquid
slightly coloured, and having a very acrid ta«te ; then a thick
brown oil, and abundance of inflammable air and carbonic
acid. The liquid in the receiver emit* the smell of ammonia
w lien mixed with 1 ; rne. When 40320 part* of garlic were ioci~
m-rated, they left V.f.ft f/art* of ashes, or about one-eighth of
the original weight. From 172 part* of pure a* be* Cadet obtain-
ed the following substance*: —

Potash . 5H)

Sulphate of v/ia, with v/w/e muriate . MO

Alumina 2*0

Plx/*phate of lime , I -/'ft

Oxide of iron . . . . . I '0

Magnesia , . . » # . H

lame . 14*0

Silica S'O

1411

From 1 400 fart* of fresh garlic be obtained —

M ucilage
AJlxjJXien
Fibrous matter
Water, by estimate

. . .020

. . 37

. . - 4b

. bOl

1400

VOL. II.

V

Bouillon-Lagrange has detected in garlic, besides the acrid oil,
a quantity of sulphur, starch, and saccharine matter.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Garlic resembles the
squill in its medical properties, being diuretic, diaphoretic, and
expectorant. Cullen asserts that it acts as a stimulus more
promptly and energetically than any other, and it is much com-
mended by Bergius for its virtues in agues ; in dropsical affec-
tions by Sydenham ; and in scurvy by Dr. Lind. It has long
been celebrated as a domestic remedy for worms ; and instances
are related by Mosentein and Tissot of its expelling taenia; the
usual method of administering it being to give the expressed
juice in a little milk, or to boil it with sugar to form a syrup : it
is however rarely used in modern practice, having given place to
remedies of more decided utility, and less nauseous to the taste.
In France, the expressed juice diluted, is occasionally injected
into the rectum, to dislodge ascarides ; and is much employed
in asthma, catarrh, and torpor of the abdominal viscera. Syden-
ham extols the application of garlic to the soles of the feet, as
an efficacious method of producing revulsion from the head ; and
it is occasionally applied in the form of poultice to boils and in-
dolent tumours. Given in considerable doses, garlic is capable
of producing inflammation of the alimentary canal ; but taken
in moderation, is considered highly beneficial to soldiers and sail-
ors when exposed to a damp atmosphere ; and is recommended to
make part of the regimen of those who are exposed to the plague
and other pestilential disorders. Celsus recommends garlic mixed
with rue, as an external application against the bites of scorpions
and venomous spiders : “ Et ad scorpionis autem et ad aranei
ictum, allium cum ruta recte miscetur, ex oleoque contritum, su-
perimponitur.” — De Med. 1. v. c. xxv. 6.

Dr. Paris asserts, that the most powerful antidote to the fla-
vour of this tribe of vegetables will be found in the aromatic
leaves and seeds of the umbelliferce ; and if leek or garlic be
mixed with a combination of aromatic ingredients, their virulence
will be greatly mitigated and corrected ; a fact which did not
escape the observation of the husbandman in Virgil :

" Allia, Serpyllumque, lierbas contundit (dentes.’’

Eclog. 2. line 1 1 .

Menander also states that baked beet-root entirely takes off the
odour of garlic.

Off. Prep. — Syrupus allii. D.

Taylor’s Remedy for Deafness, is garlic infused in oil of almonds, and coloured
by alkanet root.

ALLIUM PORRUM.— The Leek.

Spec. Char. Umbel globose. Stem smooth. Leaves
flat. Three outer sepals scabrous on the outside.
Stamens 3-cleft. Bulb coated.

Syn. — Porrum capitatum, Ger. Em. 174; Fuchs. Hist. 605.

Porrum, Bau.li. Hist. v. 2. 55 1 ; Camer. Epit. 321 ; Park. t. 51 1. f. 5 ; Raii.
Hist. 1126.

Allium porrum, Lin. Sp. PI. 423 ; Willd. v. 2. p. 64 ; Hall. Helv.n. 1217;
Plenck. Icon. t. 253; Stokes, v. 2 ,p. 227.

Foreign.— Poireau, Fr. ; Porro, It. ; Spanische lauch, Ger.

The Leek is a biennial plant, a native of Switzerland, flowering
in May. It is mentioned by Tusser in 1562, but was no doubt
known in this country long before that date. There are three
varieties ; the narrow-leaved, or Flanders leek ; the Scotch, or
flag leek, sometimes called the Musselburgh leek ; and the
broad-leaved, or tall London leek. The latter variety is often
cultivated; but for exposed situations, Mr. Patrick Neill re-
commends the Scotch leek, being much the more hardy.

The bulbs are white, globose, composed of concentric circles,
on a radical plate, from which spring fibrous roots. The stem,

y 2

which is an erect scape, rises three feet, and is leafy at bottom ;
the leaves flat, linear, pointed, and an inch wide. The flowers are in
in close, very large spherical umbels, on purplish peduncles. The
corolla is bell-shaped ; petals purplish, rough-keeled, the three
outer oblong, lanceolate, glabrous at the margin, inner oblong,
broader ; stamens rather longer than the corolla, three of them
toothed at the margin ; germen superior ; style simple, stigma
acute.

Qualities. — The scent of the whole plant is pungent, and
its taste extremely acrimonious. By boiling, the essential oil is
dissipated on which its active properties depends, and it becomes
comparatively bland and insipid.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Its medical uses are
similar to those of garlic, but less energetic. Its great acrimony
renders it stimulant, and it is probably, as before said, diure-
tic; hence the expressed juice is sometimes given with advan-
tage in dropsical cases, in doses from 5fi. to jij, mixed with
mucilage or syrup. The whole plant is used as a pot-herb; but
the blanched stem is most esteemed. It is in season in winter
and spring, and is chiefly used in soups and for stewing.

ALLIUM CEPA. — Common Onion.

Spec. Char. — Scape naked, tubular, swelling out
below, longer than the leaves. Leaves cylindrical,
smooth. Umbel subglobose. Petals nearly equal.

Syn.--- Cepa vulgaris, Baii Hist. 1116.

Cepa alba, Ger. Em. 169.

Allium cepa, Lin. Sp. PI. 431 ; Willd. v. 2. p. 80 ; Plenck, Icon. t. 255.
Foreign.— Ognon, Fr. ; Cipolla, It. ; Cebolla. Sp.; Swiebel, Ger. ; Pecdj, Hind.

The common Onion is a biennial plant, too well known by its
fistular leaves, swelling stalk, and bulbous root, to require a par-
ticular description. Neither the native country of the plant, nor

the date of its introduction, is known. The bulb is globose,
simple, and formed of concentric circles. The stem is naked,
swelling below, with smooth tubular spreading pointed leaves
sheathing at the base. The flowers appear in a close head or
capitulum in June and July.

The principal varieties in cultivation are the Strasburgh, or
common oval ; the Spanish, silver skinned, and red skinned ;
the globe onion, the Reading, and the Portugal. The tree
onion , which is figured and described in the “ Botanical Maga-
zine,” t. 1469, as a variety of Allium Cepa, is cultivated in
some gardens. The scallion is another variety of A. Cepa , dis-
tinguished by the circumstance of its never forming a bulb.
Miller states, that the scallion is propagated by parting the
roots in autumn ; that it grows in almost any soil or situation,
and resists our severest winters. He adds, that being green
and fit for use very early in the spring, it is worthy of a
place in all kitchen gardens. It was, indeed, formerly much in
use ; but the true scallion is very little known ; and is said to
exist only in a few gardens, where it is preserved by way of cu-
riosity. The Egyptian onion, or Ground onion, has been con-
sidered another variety of Allium Cepa, but according to Mr.
Neill is more nearly allied to the A.Jistulosum. Instead of pro-
ducing bulbs at the top of the stem, like the former, this plant
produces clusters at the surface of the ground. It was
brought from Egypt, it is believed, during the occupation of
that country by the British army, and was first cultivated
in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh in 1811, by Lieut. Burn
of the Royal Navy. In quality the ground onion seems not
inferior to the common onion, and it more speedily reaches
maturity, being planted in April, and reaped in August and
September.

Qualities. — The sensible, as well as chemical qualities of
the onion resemble those of garlic ; but are much weaker. On
distillation it yields a small portion of acrid volatile essential oil,
combined with sulphur; and the recent juice contains sugar,
mucus, phosphoric acid, phosphate of lime, and citrate of lime.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The onion is chiefly

cultivated for culinary purposes. The bulbs afford a considera-
ble proportion of alimentary matter, principally mucilage, par-
ticularly when boiled ; but in dyspeptic habits they occasion flatu-
lence, thirst, and headache. The bulb is the most active part,
and is stimulant, diuretic, and expectorant. “ On account of
the free phosphoric acid it contains, the juice is supposed to be
useful in calculous cases, as it dissolves phosphate of lime out of
the body. Onions are, however, scarcely ever employed, except
externally, as suppurative cataplasms ; for which purpose they
are generally roasted, split, and applied to tumours.”

CXII

STYRAX BENZOIN.

*< C S<

n

Benzoin Storax , or Benjamin- Tree.

jffctliWb- ,/> — — ,/ -y.

Spec. Char. Leaves ovate, pointed, entire ; downy
beneath. Clusters axillary, compound.

Syn. — Arbor Benzoini, Grimm in Eph. Acad. Nat. Curios, dec. 2. a««. t. 370.

Benjui, Garcius, ab Horto in C/us. Exot.p. 155; Sylv. in Valent. Hist. Simpl.
p. 487.

Benzuin, Radermacher in Act. Societ. Batav. v. 3. p. 44.

Benjamin, or Benzoin, Marden Hist, of Sumatra, p. 123.

Laurus Benzoin, Houttwyn in Act. Harlem, v. 21. p. 265.

Styrax Benzoin, Dryander in Phil. Trans. t>. 77. 303. t. 12 ; I Villd. n. 2 ;
Woodv. t. 72.

Foreign. — Benzoin, Fr. ; Benzuino, It.; Benjui, Sp.; Benzoe, Ger. ; Lubdn, Hind,
and Arab.

Though Garcias ab Horto, Grimm, and Sylvius, were ac-
quainted with the real tree from which the resinous substance
called Benzoin is collected, its botanical characters were entirely
unknown to modern authors till about the year 1787, when
Dryander fully ascertained it to be a Styrax. This was done at
the request of the late Sir Joseph Banks, who obtained proper
specimens of the tree from Mr. Marsden at Sumatra, where it is
a native. Ray had erroneously supposed it to be the production
of a North American shrub, thence called by Linneus, Laurus
Benzoin. The latter, in correcting this error, fell into a no less
mistake, making the Benjamin-tree a Croton in Mant. 2,294
and a Terminalia in the Supplement 434. To this he is sup-
posed to have been led by the French name of this Croton or
Terminalia, (Bien-joint,) but he gives a better reason in justifi-
cation of himself in the Supplementum, where he informs us that
a piece of the true Benzoe , brought by Thunberg, very closely
agreed, in its singular bark, with the tree before him, which grew
in the stove at Upsal.

The Benzoin Styrax is of quick growth, and rises to a consi-
derable height ; it sends off many strong, round branches, which
are covered with a fine downy and hoary bark. The leaves
are about four inches long and two broad, alternate, on short
footstalks, quite entire, pointed, oblong, elegantly reticulated
with triply compound prominent veins, smooth on the upper
surface, and clothed beneath with a fine dense hoary down.
The flowers are in compound axillary clusters, seldom so long as
the leaves, alternately branched, with angular downy stalks, and
a few small, oblong, concave, more downy, deciduous bracteas.
The flowers are from six to twelve in one cluster, smaller than
those of Styrax officinale , and usually hang all upon the same
side. The calyx is bell-shaped, downy, with very minute teeth ;
the corolla consists of five linear obtuse petals, four times longer
than the calyx, connected together at the base, externally cineri-
tious, and somewhat silky rather than downy. The filaments
are ten, shorter than the petals, inserted into the receptacle
connected at the base into a tube almost as long as the calyx,
and crowned with linear erect anthers. The germen is superior,
ovate, and tomcntose, with a slender style, and simple stigma.
The fruit is similar to that of Styrax officinale. — Fig. (a) corolla ;
(6) anthers ; (c) calyx, germen, and style.

In some of the northern parts of Sumatra, particularly near
the sea-coast, there are several extensive plantations of these
trees. The fruit being sown in the rice fields, springs up, and
the young plants require only that the surrounding shrubs
should be cleared away from them. When the trees have attained
the age of six or seven years, incisions are made in the bark,
from which the balsam exudes in the form of a thick, whitish,
resinous juice. By exposure to the air, this juice soon hardens ;
it is then pared from the bark with a knife or chisel. For the
first three years the trees yield the purest resin : this is of a
white colour, inclining to yellow, soft and fragrant. After-
wards, for the next seven or eight years, an inferior sort is
yielded ; this is of a reddish yellow colour, degenerating to
brown. At length the trees, unable to bear a repetition of the
process, are cut down, and split into pieces. From these is pro-

cured, by scraping, a still worse sort of benzoin, which is dark-
coloured, hard, and mixed more or less with parings of the wood
and other impurities.

The inferior sorts of benzoin are exported to Arabia, Persia,
and some parts of India, where they are burned, to perfume,
with their smoke, the temples and houses of the inhabitants ; to
expel troublesome insects, and obviate the pernicious effects of
unwholesome air or noxious exhalations.

Benzoin is brought for sale to the mercantile parts of Sumatra,
in large cakes, covered with mats. In order to pack it in chests,
it is necessary to break these cakes, and to expose the benzoin to
the heat of the sun. The greater part which is brought to
England is re-exported to countries where the Roman Catholic
and Mahomedan religions prevail ; to be there burned in the
churches and temples. The exportation of benzoin from
London to Magadore only has been estimated at 30,000 pounds
weight per annum.

“ Chemical Properties. — Only three solid balsams are at present
known ; viz. Storax, Dragon’s blood, and Benzoin. Benzoin lias a
very agreeable odour, which is increased by heat. It has little taste.
Its specified gravity is 1,092. This substance has been used in medicine
for ages, and various processes have been pointed out by chemists for
extracting benzoic acid from it : but the only person who has examined
its properties in detail is Mr. Brande.

“ Cold water has very little effect on benzoin, but boiling water takes
up a portion of benzoic acid.

Alcohol dissolves it when assisted bv a gentle heat, and forms a
deep yellow solution inclining to reddish-brown. When this solution
is diluted with water, the benzoin precipitates in the form of a white
powder. It is precipitated also by muriatic and acetic acids, but not
by the alkalies. A few drops of sulphuric acid likewise precipitate the
benzoin; but an additional quantity will redissolve it, and form a liquid
of the colour of port wine. When equal quantities of the alcoholic so-
luiiou of benzoin and sulphuric acid are mixed, a dark-pink precipitate
falls. The liquid assumes a pink colour, which becomes lilac when di-
luted with water. Nitric acid occasions a strong effervescence, and
forms a dark-red fluid with the alcoholic solution, but throws down no
precipitate.

“Ether dissolves benzoin with facility, and the solution, with re-agents,
exhibits the same phenomena as the alcoholic.

“ Nitrid acid acts with violence on benzoin, and converts it into an
orange-coloured mass. When assisted by beat the acid dissolves the
benzoin ; and as the solution cools, crystals of benzoic acid gradually
separate. Mr. Hatchett ascertained that by this process a quantity of
artificial tannin is formed.

Sulphuric acid dissolves benzoin, while benzoic acid, as Hatchett
discovered, sublimes ; the solution is at first a deep red. By continuing
the digestion, a portion ol artificial tannin is formed, and the charcoal
evolved amounts to 0.48 of the benzoin dissolved.

“ Acetic acid dissolves benzoin without the assistance of heat. When
heat is applied, the solution, as it cools, becomes turbid, owing to the
separation of benzoic acid.

Benzoin is dissolved by a boiling lixivium of the fixed alkalies; a
dark-brown solution is formed, which becomes turbid after some days’
exposure to the air. Ammonia likewise dissolves benzoin sparingly.

When Mr. Brande exposed 100 grains of benzoin in a retort to a
heat gradually raised to redness, the products were.

Benzoic acid . . . . .9-0

Acidulous water . . . . 5-5

Butyraceous and empyreumatic oil . . G0*0

Charcoal . . . . 22.0

Carburetted hydrogen and carbonic acid . 3.5

100-0

Bucholz subjected 1500 grains of benzoin to a chemical analysis.
He obtained the following substances:

Kesin ...... 1250

Benzoic acid . . . . . . 187

Substance similar to balsam of Peru . . 25

Aromatic substance soluble in water and alcohol . 8

Woody fibres and impurities . . .30

1500

“ benzoic acid. — This substance was described, as long ago as 1608,
by Blaise de Vigenere, in his treatise on fire and salt, under a name by
which it is familiarly known, viz. Flowers of Benzoin or Benjamin.

“ The usual method of obtaining this acid is to put a quantity of
benzoin, coarsely powdered, into an earthen pot, to cover the mouth
of the pot with a cone of thick paper, and then to apply a very mode-
rate sand heat. The benzoic acid is sublimed, and attaches itself to
the paper. This method was tedious and difficult ; it being hardly
possible to prevent the heat from scorching the benzoin, and volatiliz-
ing some empyreumatic oil, which soils and injures the acid sublimed.
Neuman proposed moistening the benzoin with alcohol, and distilling
it in a retort with a slow heat. The acid comes over immediately after
the alcohol, partly in crystals, and partly of the consistence of butter.
Geoffroy ascertained, in 1738, that this acid may be obtained by di-
gesting benzoin in hot water. A portion is taken up, which is depo-
sited in crystals as the water cools. Scheele published a different
method in 1775; which being easier and more productive than any of
the preceding, is now preferred. This process is as follows: Upon
four parts of unslacked lime pour twelve parts of water, and after the
ebullition is over add 96 parts more of water ; then put twelve parts
of finely pounded benzoin into a tinned pan ; pour upon it first, about
six parts of the above milk of lime, mix them well together, and thus

successively add the rest of the mixture of lime and water. If it be
poured in all at once, the benzoin, instead of mixing with it, will coa-
gulate, and run together into a mass. This mixture ought to be boiled
over a gentle fire for half an hour with constant agitation ; then take
it from the fire, let it stand quiet for an hour, in order that it may set-
tle ; pour off the supernatant limpid liquor into a glass vessel. Upon
the remainder in the pan pour 96 parts of pure water : boil them toge-
ther for half an hour, then take it from the fire, and let it settle ; add
the supernatant liquor to the former ; pour upon the residuum some
more water, boil it as aforesaid, and repeat the same process once
more. At last put all the residuums upon a filtre, and pour hot water
several times upon them. During this process the calcareous earth
combines with the acid of benzoin, and separates it from the resinous
particles of this substance. A small quantity of the resin is dissolved
by the lime-water, whence it acquires a yellow colour. All these clear
yellow leys and decoctions are to be mixed together, and boiled down
to twenty-four parts, which are then to be strained into another glass
vessel.

“ After they are grown cold, muriatic acid is to be added, with constant
stirring, till there be no farther precipitation, or till the mass taste a little
sourish. The benzoic acid, which was before held in solution by the lime,
precipitates in the form of a fine powder.

“Mr. Hatchett has observed, that when benzoin is digested in sul-
phuric acid, a great quantity of beautifully crystallized benzoic acid is
sublimed. This process is the simplest of all, and yields the acid in a '
state of purity; it claims, therefore, the attention of manufacturers.

“ Benzoic acid, thus obtained, is a fine, light, whitish powder, which
is not brittle, but 1ms rather a kind of ductility. Its taste is sweet, hot,
and somewhat bitter. Its odour is slight, but peculiar and aromatic. Its
specific gravity is O6o7. It hardly affects the infusion of violets, but it
reddens that of turnsole, especially when hot.

“ Heat volatilizes this acid, and makes it give out a strong odour,
which excites coughing. W hen exposed to the heat of the blow-pipe
in a silver spoon, it melts, becomes as fluid as water, and evaporates
without taking fire. It only burns when in contact with flame, and
then it leaves no residuum behind. When thrown upon burning coals,
it rises in a white smoke. When allowed to cool after being melted, it
hardens, and a radiated crust forms on its surface. When distilled in
close vessels, the greater part of it sublimes unaltered, but some of it is
decomposed. This portion is converted almost entirely into oil and car-
buretted hydrogen gas.

“ This acid is not altered by exposure to the air. Two hundred parts
of cold water dissolve 1 part of it; but 1 part of it dissolves in 24 £ parts
of boiling water.

“Neither the simple supporters of combustions nor combustibles have
any sensible action on it at the common temperature of the air, as far
as is known. Hut very few experiments have been made on the subject.

“ It combines with alkalies, earths, and metallic oxides, and forms
salts known by the name of benzoates. The alkaline benzoates arc
soluble, in water. So are the benzoates of barytes, strontian, and
magnesia. Those of alumina, ytlria, and lime, are but sparingly solu-

ble. The only metallic salts which form insoluble precipitates when
mixed with benzoate of ammonia are those of tellurium, mercury, and
iron. Tellurium and mercury are precipitated white ; and iron orange.
Berzelius has proposed benzoate of ammonia as an excellent agent for
precipitating iron and separating it from other bodies with which it may
be united. From the experiments of Hisinger the method appears to
be a good one, provided the iron be in the state of peroxide and the liquid
contain no excess of acid.

“ Concentrated sulphuric acid dissolves benzoic acid without heat,
or any other change, except becoming somewhat brown: when water is
poured into the solution, the benzoic acid separates, and coagulates on
the surface without any alteration. Nitric acid presents precisely the
same phenomena, as does also the sulphurous acid. Neither the
muriatic' nor the phosphoric acids dissolve it. Acetic acid, when hot,
dissolves it precisely as water does ; but it crystallizes again when the
acid cools.

“ Alcohol dissolves it copiously, and lets it fall on the addition of
water. Boiling alcohol takes up its own weight. One hundred parts
of cold alcohol dissolve scarcely 56 parts of benzoic acid.

“ This acid is sometimes used as a medicine, but much less frequently
than formerly.

“ Benzoic acid has been analysed with much accuracy by Berzelius.
According to his experiments, it is a compound of

Hydrogen .

. . 5-16

or 6 atoms n

0-75

Carbon .

. . 74-41

15 =

11-25

Oxygen . .

. . 20-43

3 =

3-00

15-00.

“ According to this analysis it contains 24 atoms, and an integrant
particle of it weighs 15. The constitution of benzoate of lead agrees very
well with this determination. According to the analysis of Berzelius,
it is composed of

Benzoic acid ..... 100 .. . 14*893

Yellow oxide of lead . . 94 ... 14

The equivalent for benzoic acid according to this salt is 14 893, which
does not differ 1 per cent, from the number obtained by the analysis of
the acid itself.

“ Chemists had long suspected that an acid could be obtained from
tallow, on account of the acrid nature of the fumes which it emits at a
high temperature ; but it was M. Grutzmacber who first treated of it
particularly, in a dissertation De Ossium Medulla , published in 1748.
Mr. Rhades mentioned it in 1753: Segner published a dissertation on
it in 1754 ; and Crell examined its properties very fully in two disser-
tations published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1780 and 1782.
It was called at first acid of fat, and afterwards sebacic acid.

“ But at the period when these chemists made their experiments,
the characteristic properties of the different acids were not sufficiently
known to enable them to distinguish acids from each other with preci-
sion. Thenard examined the subject in 1801, tried all the processes of
Crell and Guyton Morveau, and found that the acids procured by them
were either acetic or the acid employed in the process. rl henard found,
however, that a peculiar acid was formed during the distillation of

(allow. To it he consigned the appellation of sebacic acid. The expe-
riments of this chemist were repeated in 1804 by Mr. Rose, who ob-
tained similar results, and confirmed all the observations of the French
philosopher. The subject soon after was resumed bv Berzelius, who in
an elaborate dissertation, published in 1806, proved that the sebacic acid
ofThenard is nothing else than benzoic acid contaminated with some
unknown substance derived from the fat, which alters some of its pro-
perties, but from which it may be freed by proper precautions. There
does not therefore exist, as far as we know at present, any acid to which
the name of sebacic acid belongs.”

Benzoic acid has been also found in the urine, particularly when
there is a deficiency of phosphoric acid in it. Fourcroy and Vauque-
lin state that it exists always in the urine of graminiverous animals ; but
this has been denied by M. Giese. When it exists in the animal king-
dom it is usually in combination with potash or lime.

Medical Properties and Uses. — This balsam was for-
merly considered to be expectorant, and was esteemed for its
virtues in asthma and other pulmonary affections: it is now,
however, little used in practice, and is chiefly valued as yielding
the benzoic acid which is somewhat stimulating, and imparts a
pleasant flavour to other medicines.

Benzoin is also used in the preparation of what is called court
plaster , which it sometimes renders too irritating. The mode of
making it, is as follows : — Five ounces of isinglass are dissolved
in a pint of water. A quantity of thin black sarcenet being
stretched on a frame, this solution is applied warm with a brush
equally over the surface; and, when drv, the process is repeated
a second or third time. It is finally brushed over with a weak
solution of benzoin in spirits of wine, which communicates to it
a pleasant aromatic smell.

Benzoin also enters into the composition of the following pre-
parations : —

Mucilage of gum tragacanth, as much as may be required, to
cause the mass to adhere ; after which it is to be divided and
cut into the usual form.

1. Fumigating Pastilles.
Take of Benzoin, 1 drachm.

Cascarilla bark, ^ drachm.
Myrrh, 1 scruple.

Nitrate of potass, ^ drachm.
Charcoal, 6 drachms.

The following is the French method of preparing pastilles: —

“ Pienez, Benjoin 16 parts.

Baintie du Perou sec 16

Qu’on a fait prealablement clans l’eau
pour enlever toutl’acide volatil.

Santal citrin 4

Ladanum 1

Charbon de tilleul 96

Nitrate de potasse 2

“ Reduisez toutes ces substances en poudre tres fine, melez-les exacte-
ment, et faites-en, avec du mucilage de gomme adraganthe, une masse
epaisse, dont vous formerez des cones echancres en trepied a la base, (pie
vous ferez secher dans un four faiblement chauffe."

2. Virgin s Milk. — A spirituous solution of benzoin mixed
with about 20 parts of rose water, forms a well-known cosmetic.
Goulard water is also sometimes sold under this title.

3. Friar's Balsam , Wade s Drops , Jesuit's Drops. — These
preparations are nothing more than the compound tincture of
benjamin.

4. Pectoral Balsam of Iloney. — This is merely a simple tinc-
ture of benzoin, or of tolu, and like the following, is highly
stimulant and improper for those diseases for which it is usually
commended.

5. Essence of Coltsfoot , consists of equal parts of balsam of
tolu, and the compound tincture of benzoin, to which is added
double the cpiantity of rectified spirits of wine. It is recom-
mended for coughs and consumptions! !

Riga Balsam. — Take of alcohol or rectified spirit, eight
ounces; compound tincture of benzoin, two drachms; tincture
of saffron, one drachm : mix. A popular nostrum for sprains
and bruises ; recommended also as a vulnerary !

Off. Pkep. — Acidum Benzoicum. L. E. D.

Tinct. Benzoini composita L. E. D.

CXIII

TRITICUM HYBERNUM.

Winter, or Lammas Wheat.

Class III. Triandra. — Order II. Digynta.

Nat. Ord. Gramina, Lin. Graminee, Jnss.
Graminales, Triticine, Hordeacee, Burn.

Gen. Ciiar. Glume of 2 transverse, nearly equal,
opposite valves, many-flowered, shorter than the
spikelet.

Spec. Char. Glume four-flowered, tumid, smooth,
imbricated, with little or no awns.

Syn. — Triticum spica mutica, Ger. Em. 65./. 1; P.nk. Theatr. 1120./. 1.

Triticum hybernum aristis careus, Bauh. Pin. 2 1 ; Mor. Hist. 3. t. 1 1 ."/. 1 .
Tourn. Inst. t. 29.

I

Triticum vulgare, Host. Gram. Austr. v. 3. 18. t. 26.

Triticum hybernum, Lin. Sp. PI. 126; Willd. t>. 1.477; Errh. PI. Offic. n.
151 ; Ait. Kew. v. 2. ed. 2. />. 180.

The native country of this valuable grain, which now constitutes
the chief food of the inhabitants of this and other European
nations, is entirely unknown. It has, however, been conjectured,
from the nature and habits of wheat, that it may have come origi-
nally from the hilly parts of Asia, and been rendered hardy by
time and cultivation, in this and most parts of J:he world. Under
the equator, wheat will seldom form an ear below the elevation
of 4,500 feet, or ripen above that of 10,800; and it will not
vegetate beyond the 62° of northern latitude. The English
counties most distinguished for the quantity, as well as the qua-
lity, of their wheat, are Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Rutland, Here-
fordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, and Hertfordshire. In the
more northern parts of the island, this grain is of inferior qua-
lity, being cold to the feel, dark coloured, and yielding compa-
ratively little flour. In the best wheat-counties, and in good
years, the weight of a bushel of wheat, eight gallons to the
bushel, is said to be from sixty to sixty-two pounds. In the
isle of Sheppy, in Kent (where, perhaps, the best samples of

wheat sent to the London market are produced,) this grain, in
some favourable seasons, weighs sixty-four pounds the bushel.
Where the climate is naturally colder, wetter, and more back-
ward, or in bad seasons, the weight of the bushel of wheat is
not more than fifty-six or fifty-seven pounds. The. kinds of
wheat cultivated by the farmer are numerous ; but the species
here figured, is sown in autumn, stands the winter, and ripens
its seed in the following summer. Of all the varieties this is
the most generally cultivated in this country as being the most
suited to the nature and quality of the soil and climate, and as
affording the finest kind of flour. The soils best adapted to
the growth of this grain are rich clays and heavy loams.

The root consists of many downy fibres. The stems are
jointed, from three to four feet high, straight, smooth, and ter-
minated by a longish ear or spike. The leaves are linear, smooth,
pale green, sheathing, and jointed. The spike is three or four
inches long, inclining, and composed of numerous imbricate,
oblong, ovate, 2-ranked spikelets; the glume consists of two
concave, oblong, keeled, smooth, nearly equal valves; the outer
ones near the top generally terminated by very short awns, which
distinguish it from spring wheat, (Triticum cpstivum,) which
has awns three inches long; they contain for the most part from
three to four florets, three of which are usually productive; the
outer valve of the glumella is concave and pointed, the inner one
flat, 2-toothed, and blunt ; the filaments are capillary, bearing
linear, forked anthers : the germen is turbinate, with a short

style, and feathery stigmas. The germen is ovate, translu-
cent, with a narrow channel along the upper side, and enveloped
in the glumella. — Fig. (a) represents a spicula of the 'Y .hybernum.
of its natural size ; (/;) the germen and glume ; (c) a flower ex-
panded and considerably magnified.*

* A common indigenous perennial grass, belonging to the present genus, vul-
garly denominated couch-grass, or creeping wheat-grass, (Triticum repens,) formerly
occupied a place in our Dispensatories, under the name of Gramen caninum. Its
long creeping roots, or rather rhizomata, which so greatly facilitate'the propagation of
this grass, to the no small inconvenience of the farmer, have a sweetish taste, and
are said to be mildly aperient, deobstruent, and diuretic. The expressed juice
taken in considerable quantities, and frequently repeated, is strongly recommended
by Boerhaave, and also by Bergius, for its singular efficacy in removing obstructions,
and schirrous affections of the liver.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Of all the varieties of
wheat cultivated in this country, that which is known by the name of
the White Dantzic is said to he the best, and yields a larger proportion
of flour than any other. After the operation of grinding, the flour, or
farinaceous matter, is separated from the bran by sifting or bolting.
It is inodorous, and nearly insipid. Water, with which it has been
macerated; becomes milky or turbid ; according to Dr. Thomson, it af-
fords precipitates with infusion of galls and the strong acids, and rapidly
becomes sour. If wheat-flour be made into a paste, and washed in a
large quantity of water, it is resolved into three distinct substances ; a
mucilaginous saccharine matter, which is readily dissolved in the liquor,
and may he separated from it by evaporation ; starch, which is suspended
in the fluid, and subsides to the bottom by repose : and gluten, which
remains in the hand, and is tenacious, very ductile, somewhat elastic,
and of a brown-grey colour. The first of these substances does not
essentially differ from other saccharine mucilages. The second, namely,
the starch, is particularly distinguished by its insolubility in cold water,
but forms a transparent and gelatinous mass with that fluid when hot.
M. Vauquelin found, that the flour which is used in Paris, consists of
72.8 parts of starch, 10.2 of gluten. 10 of water, 2.8 of a gummy kind
of matter, and 4.2 of a sweet substance. Flour, kneaded with water,
forms a tough, indigestible paste ; but when a small portion of leaven or
yeast, is added to the mass, it undergoes the panary fermentation, and
produces bread, a small quantity of salt being added to give it sapidity.
During the process, a large quantity of carbonic acid is evolved, but re-
mains confined by the mass, in which it is expanded by the heat in
baking, and thus raises the dough. This is the case of the porosity or
spqnginess of well-baked bread. When flour has been long kept, it
becomes musty, and undergoes the putrefactive fermentation, in which
state the bread made with it is very unwholesome. Flour is fit for mak-
ing bread only when all its constituents are entire ; and as gluten is the
most susceptible of decomposition among them, the ascertaining its
presence is a proof of the goodness of the flour. M. 'l’addei has taught
us that guiaic is a test of the presence of gluten, by striking with it a
beautiful blue colour; flour, therefore, which exhibits this colour when
rubbed with guiaic and a few drops of vinegar, may be pronounced
good.*

Bread purchased of the common baker is often unwholesome ; it is
generally highly fermented for the purpose of increasing its bulk, and
it is almost constantly too little baked, lest it should decrease in weight ;
added to this, it is not always certain that the flour is free from perni-
cious adulteration. Mr. Accum, in his Treatise on Culinary Poisons, in-
forms us, that the inferior kind ol flour, which the London bakers gene-
rally use for making loaves, requires the addition of alum to give them
the white appearance of bread made from fine flour. The baker’s flour
is very often made of the worst kinds of damaged foreign wheat, and
other cereal grains, mixed in grinding the wheat into flour. The
smallest quantity of alum that can be employed with effect to produce a
white, light, and porous bread from an inferior kind of flour, he states to
be from three to four ounces to a sack of flour weighing 240 lbs.

VOL. II.

London Dispensatory , p. 540.

Z

“ Another substance," continues Mr. Accum, " employed by fraudulent
bakers, is subcarbonate of ammonia. With this salt' they realize the
important consideration of producing light and porous bread from spoiled
or what is technically called sour flour. This salt, which becomes
wholly converted into a gaseous substance during the operation of baking
causes the dough to swell up into air bubbles, which carry before them
the stiff dough, and thus renders the dough porous ; the salt itself is at
the same time totally volatilized during the operation of baking.”
Potatoes are likewise, and perhaps constantly used by fraudulent bakers,
as a cheap ingredient, to enhance their profit ; and there are instances of
conviction on record, of bakers having used gypsum, chalk, and pipe-
clay, in the manufacture of bread.

Although the flour of wheat is better adapted for the purpose of
making bread than any other kind of flour, there are many farinaceous
vegetables, from the seeds or roots of which salutary and pleasant bread
can be prepared. Oaten bread is common, not only throughout Scot-
land, but likewise in Lancashire, and several of the northern counties of
England. In many parts of the former country bread is frequently
made of barley meal, and pease meal; but the latter is dry, heavy, and
difficult of digestion. In times of scarcity many attempts have been
made to compensate for the want of corn, by the substitution of other
vegetable substances, in the fabrication of bread. For this purpose re-
course has been had to the herb rag-wort, the thick root of which,
when dried and ground, yields a fine flour, which is said to be easilv
digested, and more nutritive than wheaten bread. The same properties
and effects are attributed to radishes. From the acorn also a kind of
meal is produced, which is said to make excellent bread, provided a little
barley meal be mingled with it, to counteract its astringent qualities. In
the wars of Westphalia, bread of this description was commonly used;
and when made with milk was extremely pleasant and nutritious.
The slightest preparation is sufficient to remove the harsh and disagree-
able taste which the acorn has in its natural state. Roasting or boiling
is all that is requisite to render it palatable. The acorns that are best
calculated for this purpose are those of the white oak. A very good
bread may be made of turnips boiled, and mixed with an equal quantity
in weight of coarse wheat flour. Millet is sometimes used for the same
purpose ; and rice is converted by the Americans into a light, whole-
some, and pleasant bread. Potatoes, mixed in various quantities with
flour, make a wholesome, nutritive, and agreeable bread. M. Parmentier
recommends the mixture of potatoes, in time of scarcity, with the flour
of wheat, in preference to rye, barley, or oats; when no grain can be
procured, he recommends the use of bread made from a mixture of
the amylaceous powder of potatoes and their pulp, fermented with
leaven and honey. Parmentier made bread very much resembling that
of wheat, by mixing four ounces of amylaceous powder of potatoes,
one drachm of mucilage extracted from barley, one drachm of the bran
of rye, and half a drachm of glutinous matter, dried and powdered.

In the absence of any of the farinaceous vegetables which we have
mentioned, various substitutes for bread have been employed in different
parts of the world. By far the most valuable of these is the fruit of the
Bread Tree, (Artocarpus incisa ,) which grows abundantly in the South

Sea islands. The fruit is about the size of a child’s head, covered with a
thick tough rind. When used instead of bread, it is roasted either whole
or cut into three or four pieces. In Iceland, Lapland, and other northern
countries a kind of bread is made of dried fish, beaten first into powder,
and then made up into cakes. In the lordship of Moscow, in upper
Lusatia, a kind of white earth is found, of which the poor, in times of
famine, have been compelled to make bread. Baron Humboldt informs
us, that there are savages on the Oroonoko, who receive into the stomach
large portions of potters clay ; and in the western parts of Louisiana, the
savage inhabitants are accustomed to eat great quantities of steatite,
mixed with salt.

Starch. Wheat contains a larger portion of starch than any other
source ; but it is also obtained from other vegetable substances, particu-
larly tuberous roots, in which it exists apparently iri a state of mechanical
mixture. They are rasped or pounded, and diffused through a large
quantity of cold water : the fibrous parts are removed after they have
been well washed, while the starch is mechanically suspended by the
water and falls to the bottom. The potato contains about one-third of its
weight of starch, and this is the substance from w hich it is usually pre-
pared ; but most vegetable substances yield more or less starch, when
treated in the same manner as the potato. Arrow-root is merely a
variety of starch, which is obtained by an analogous process from the root of
the Maranta Arundinacea, a plant which is cultivated to a great extent
in the West Indies. Sago is prepared in the same manner from the pith
of various species of palms, and tapioca and cassava are obtained from
the Jatropha Manihot, a South American plant. The substance com-
monly celled salep, is also another variety of starch, and is prepared from
the bulbs of the Orchis mascula.

Starch is a white, insipid substance ; insoluble in ether, alcohol, and
cold w ater, but forms a jelly with hot water. Alcohol, infusion of galls,
the acetate and nitrate of lead, and some other metallic salts, precipitate
it from its watery solution. Both acids and alkalies combined with water
dissolve it. The strong acids decompose it, especially the sulphuric and
nitric acids ; the latter converting it into malic and oxalic acids, if
starch be digested in twice its weight of water, and l -50th part of sul-
phuric acid, renewing the water gradually as it is evaporated, and stirring
it occasionally, it is almost entirely converted into sugar. When exposed
to a moderate heat it begins to swell, and is gradually changed into a
brownish substance, which is used in calico printing, commonly called
British gum. According to MM. Gay Lussac and Thenard, 100 parts
of starch consist of 49 68 parts of oxygen, 6.77 of hydrogen, and 43.55
of carbon. The most delicate test of starch is iodine, which renders its
solution in water, even when largely diluted, of a fine blue colour.

Gluten. This is obtained, as already observed, by forming wheat-flour
into a paste, and washing it repeatedly with cold water. It is a tough,
elastic, fibrous substance of a greyish colour, and when dried semi-
transparent, and much resembling glue. It has scarcely any taste, and
bears a considerable affinity, both in its composition and properties,
to the peculiar animal principle of the same name : it is dissolved by
the acids and alkalies ; the strong acids decomposing it at the same
time.

Signor Tad (lei, an Italian chemist, lias ascertained that the gluten of
wheat may he resolved into two distinct proximate principles, which he
has distinguished by the names glia dine, (from y\ia, gluten,) and
zimome (from ferment.) They are obtained by kneading newly

prepared gluten in successive portions of alcohol, until it is no longer
rendered milky by the addition of water. The alcoholic solution being
allowed to evaporate spontaneously, a small portion of gluten is at first
deposited, and tbe gliadine remains behind of the consistence of honey,
and mixed with a little yellow resinous matter, from which it mav be freed
by digestion in sulphuric ether. The portion of the gluten not dis-
solved by the alcohol is the zimome. Gluten appears to be one of tbe
most nutritive of vegetable substances ; and wheat seems to owe its su-
periority to all other grains from its containing it in larger quantities.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Medicinally, bread is employed
to form emollient poultices ; and is frequently the medium for those
active medicines which are given in very minute proportions, in the form
of pills. Toasted and infused in water, it forms a grateful beverage for
the parched mouth in fever; and is, or should be, tbe common drink of
tbe dyspeptic. A solution of starch has been occasionally recommended
as a demulcent for irritation of the fauces ; but is now commonly used only
for injections, when the rectum has been irritated or abraded by the
passage of bile, or any of the acrid poisons, or as a vehicle for narcotic
and other medicines in hypercatharsis.

Off. Prep. — Mucilago Amyli. L. E. D. Pulvis Tragacanthse Comp.

SECALE CEREALE. Cultivated Rye . Plate 113.

Gen. Char. Glume of CZ valves, solitary, 2-flowered,
on a toothed, elongated receptacle.

Spec. Char. Valves of the glume bordered with
minute parallel teeth.

Syn. — Secale, Ger. Em. 68 ; Matth. Valgr. v.364 ; Comer. Epit. 190.

Secale cereale, Lin. Sp. PI. 124; Willd. n. l.j Pursh. v. 1. 93 ; Host. Gram.
Austr. v. t. 28.

FonEiGN .—Seigle, Fr. ; Segale, It.; Centedo, Sp. ; Roggen. Ger.; Rag, Swed.;
Rog, Dut. ; Rosch, Russ.

To render our illustration of Medical Botany as complete as
possible, we judge it indispensable to give an original figure
of the present species, and the diseased rye bearing Ergot.

Rye, we need scarcely observe, is a grain, much more generally
cultivated in Britain in ancient than in modern times; being
only partially used in certain districts for making bread, or in
the distillation of spirits. Its native country is unknown ; but
Mr. Pursh says, it frequently occurs, apparently wild, in North
America; flowering in June. The root is fibrous and annual ;
the stem is jointed, slightly branched at the bottom, smooth ;
the leaves linear, glaucous, rough towards the apex; spike
terminal, solitary, erect, three or four inches long ; glume con-
taining two flowers, and consisting of two opposite, oblong,
pointed valves, smaller than the corolla ; florets sessile ; corolla
of two valves, the outermost ending in a long, straight, rough
awn, four or five times the length of the glumes ; filaments
three, hanging out of the flower, with oblong, forked anthers ;
germen turbinate; styles two, reflexed; stigmas cylindrical,
feathery ; the fruit, and seed solitary, oblong somewhat cylin-
drical.

Poisonous Effects of Ergot. — Most of the knowledge, says
Dr. John Thomson, which we at present possess respecting chronic or
dry gangrene has been obtained from watching the progress of the
disease, produced by eating unsound rye. This disease lias seldom or
never been observed in England, but is endemical in some districts in
France, in which rye forms the principal food of the inhabitants. It
occurs only, however, in those districts after very rainy or moist seasons ;
seasons in which that grain is liable to be affected with the particular
disease, well known in France by the name of ergot or the cockspur
in rye. Few years pass without the rye containing more or less vitiated
grain ; but in those years it is produced in such quantities as to form
nearly one-fourth of the whole produce. It is in those seasons in which
the ergot is most abundant that the mortification makes its appearance,
and it has from this circumstance been naturally inferred, that this disease
in the rye was the cause of the mortification.

The attention of the public was first called to this disease, in a par-
ticular manner, by M. Dodard, by a letter inserted in the Journal des
Savans for the year 1676. In this letter he mentions, that it had been
long known that those who made use of rye bread, containing much
of this corrupted grain, were liable to be affected in their extremities
by a gangrene, attended usually with but little fever, inflammation, or
pain, but during which the use of the limb affected was destroyed, or
the limb itself became dead, and separated from the body. The part
became at first insensible and cold, and in the progress of the disorder,
dry, hard, and withered. In very malignant cases M. Dodard mentions,
that this mortification was attended with a greater or less degree of
delirium. The account which this author gives of the symptoms and

progress of this disease is evidently imperfect, and the only fact stated
m Ins relation, which seemed decidedly to prove that the mortification
was owing to the use of corrupted rye, was, that the grain proves fatal
to fowls that are fed with it. M. Saviard mentions having seen this
distemper in the year 1694, at the Hotel Dieu of Orleans, He
contents himself with observing, that it is very frequent in Sologne ;
that it attacks those who eat rye affected with the cockspur ; and that
the upper and lower extremities of the patients, whom he saw, grew,
during the progress of this affection, as dry as touchwood, and as emaci-
ated as Egyptian mummies.

In the year 1710 several accounts of this disease were transmitted to
the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, hy gentlemen practising
physic and surgery in the districts in which it was known that season
to have prevailed. In particular M. Noel, surgeon to the Hotel Uieu
at Orleans, mentioned to the secretary, that about thirty people, men
and children, affected with a dry, black, and livid gangrene, had come
that season into the hospital ; that this affection always began in the
toes, and extended itself gradually along the foot and leg, till it some-
times rose to the upper part of the thigh ; and what is a singular
observation, and one peculiar to himself, that he had not seen any
female afllicted with this distemper, and had only in one case seen it
allect the upper extremities. In some patients the gangrened part
came away of its own accord ; in others it became necessary to use
scarifications and other topical remedies. In four or five instances
death succeeded to amputation, because, notwithstanding the perform-
ance of that operation, the disease continued to extend to the trunk.

The history of one case was communicated to the Academy, in
which the lower extremities were separated from the body, in the
articulation of the heads of the thigh bones with the acetabulum.
Hie example of this and of other cases in which these cavities were
in the process of the cure filled up with new and sound flesh, is what
probably suggested the operation of amputation at the hip joint.

It is particularly mentioned in this report, that this gangrene attacks
only the poor and ill fed of the districts in which it occurs. The rye
of Sologne, in the year 1709, contained, according to the relation of
M. Noel, fully one-fourth of the cockspur ; and the poor had taken no
pains to separate it from the good grain with which it was mixed. The
same M. Noel, in a letter which he addressed many years afterwards to
M. Quesnai, seems to he of opinion, that the diseased rye lost its
malignant quality after a certain time; this period he limited to two
or three months ; hut this opinion is not exactly confirmed hy sub-
sequent observations. During the thirty-three years in which M. Noel
had been surgeon to the Hotel Dieu of Orleans, that distemper had
appeared three or four times, and always in those rainy seasons in which
rye contained a large proportion of the cockspur. The disease in his
patients had always existed for some time before those patients applied
at the hospital for relief; so that lie could not give any very accurate
information from his own observation of the symptoms which manifested
themselves ; hut lie adds, that these unfortunate patients had often told
him, that the disease generally began in one or both feet, with pain,
redness, and a sensation of heat as burning as the fire ; and that at the
end of some days these symptoms ceased as quickly as they had come

on, when the extreme sensation of heat which they formerly felt was
changed into cold. “The part affected,” adds M. Noel, “was black
like a piece of charcoal, and as dry as if it had passed through the
fire.” After some time a line of separation was formed between the
dead and living parts, like that which appears in the separation of a
slough which has been produced by the application of the cautery,
and the complete separation of the limb, was, in many cases effected
by nature alone ; in others he had recourse to amputation, which he
found to prove sufficiently successful, unless in those patients who were
very much worn out with the disease, or who had naturally very bad
constitutions.

. This disease appeared in Switzerland in the years 1709 and 1716;
and a very accurate description of its symptoms and progress in that
country has been given by Langius, a native of Lucern, in a Dissertation,
entitled, “ Descriptio Morborum ex usu Clavarmn Secalinarum.”

M. Gassond, physician in Dauphiny, where this disease had appeared
also in 1709, says, that many of the people were affected with swellings
of the feet, legs, hands, and arms, which degenerated into a gangrene
that penetrated to the bone, and produced a separation of the affected
limb ; and which often required no assistance on the part of the surgeon,
except to correct the deformity which it sometimes left behind. This
gangrene was attended with different symptoms in different individuals ;
some suffered very violent pain, accompanied with insufferable heat,
although the part affected felt cold to the touch. In other patients,
redness, with much swelling, supervened, attended by delirium and fever.
Others were without these symptoms, though they suffered equal
pain. In some patients the parts affected became withered, dry, and
black like charcoal. The separation of the dead parts from the living
took place with the most excruciating pain, and a sensation resembling
that produced by the direct application of fire to the body. This sen-
sation was sometimes intermittent, and in other instances it was succeeded
by an equally barrassing sensation of cold.

M. Bossau, surgeon to the hospital of St. Antoine in Dauphiny, has
remarked some peculiarities in the history of this disease which are
worthy of notice. This author says, that the gangrene which he had
the opportunity of observing, was not in every instance of the dry kind,
but that the limb attacked with it sometimes became putrid, worms or
maggots were generated, and a most insupportable stench exhaled ;
that these symptoms were not the same in every patient, but that they
had this in common, that heat and cold were equally insupportable,
that the disease was not communicable by infection, that it attacked
indiscriminately men, women, and children, that there were now about
four hundred parishes attacked with this disease, each of which con-
tained six or more patients, and that between thirty and forty came to
the Hospital, upon whom it was judged necessary to perform amputation
of the arms or legs.

The degree of fatality attending the progress of this mortification in
different districts appears to have been very various. M. Duhamel
mentions, in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy for the year 1748,
that of one hundred and twenty persons attacked, scarcely four or five
had escaped with their lives. Langius mentions, that it was equally
fatal in Switzerland. A calamity so serious, and recurring so often.

would not fail to attract attention, and stimulate the curiosity ofmedicul
men ; and accordingly we find, that in France many attempts were
made to discover the true source from which it proceeded. In attending
to this subject it was soon observed, that animals of every kind, except
man, refused to eat rye affected with the cock spur ; and that many
o( them would rather starve, than taste bread or food of any bind, into
which a portion of it had, for the sake of experiment, been introduced.
Animals that were found to swallow it were observed to die of gangrene,
which, in different animals, attacked different parts of their bodies.
The observation of these facts, and the results of several trials made
with the corrupted rye, seemed to leave no room for doubt with regard
to the true origin of this disorder ; but in the discussion of many of the
questions relative to this disease, doubts began to be entertained by some,
and experiments were made by a number of individuals to prove that the
disease had its origin in other causes.

M. Model, a Russian apothecary, from some experiments, which are
detailed in the thirteenth volume of Bomare’s “ Dictionnaire dTIistoire
Naturelle,” was led to conclude that rye, vitiated with cockspur, does
not possess the quality of exciting gangrene in animals. He fed for
some time hens, pigeons, and dogs, with food containing a portion
of diseased rye, without observing any injurious effects to result; and
this emboldened him to try the use of it on his own person. But
the quantity of this substance which M. Model administered, or which
be took himself, was greatly inferior to what the people inhabiting
the countries where the disease prevails, consume of corrupted rye
in ordinary years, without being at all injured by it. His opinion,
however, having been eagerly adopted by some men of great reputation
in France, such as Parmentier, Schlegel, and Tillet, it became neces-
sary to bring its truth to the test of a fair trial, and to make such experi-
ments upon this subject as should leave no further room for doubt or
uncertainty. The Royal Society of Medicine in Paris employed M.
Tessier to go into the countries where this gangrene prevailed, to
collect a sufficient quantity of the cockspur rye, and to institute such
experiments as seemed best calculated to determine so important a point.
The result of M. Tessier’s observations and experiments are to be
found in two Memoirs, inserted into the first two volumes of the
Memoirs of the Society by which he was deputed. The first contains
an account of all the facts which he could learn respecting the pro-
duction of the cockspu’’ in rye ; and the second an account of the
results which he obtained, by feeding a number of animals with that
substance. Some of those results are sufficiently curious to be deserving
of particular attention. M. Tessier had learned in Sologne, and in
the other districts of I’rance, where this species of gangrene appears, that
the inhabitants eat rye with impunity for three or four months
together, one-fourth part of which consists of cockspur ; and this fact
served him as a guide in judging of the quantity that would be necessary
to mix with the food of animals, which he had chosen for the subject ot
his experiments.

His first experiment was made on two wild ducks, male and female.
He fed them with food containing one-seventh part of corrupted rye,
and increased the corrupted rye till it formed one-ninth. At the end
of the fifth day, drops of a very black coloured fluid were seen to

ooze from the nostrils of the duck. By this time she had taken
about an ounce and two drachms of cockspur rye. The tongue
had become yellow, swollen, and flabby. The beak became first brown,
and then black, particularly towards the root. The skin covering it
swelled and became cold, as well as the tongue, the point of which
became also pale and sphacelated. The parts affected began to emit
a bad smell, and the bird died between the ninth and tenth day of the
experiment. During that period it had taken an ounce and seven
drachms of ergot.

The drake was not sensibly affected before the eighth day, nor till
it had taken eleven drachms of the poison. In this bird the tongue
did not sphacelate, but the other symptoms were nearly the same
as in the duck. Death took place on the fourteenth day, after two
ounces and six drachms had been taken. On dissection, no marks of
gangrene or inflammation could be discovered in the course of the ali-
mentary canal.

The third experiment was on a turkey hen. She was seized with
vertigo ; her head assumed a violet colour, and the nostrils emitted a
reddish coloured liquor. A diarrhoea came on, and she died on the
twenty-second day. Marks of inflammation and gangrene were found in
different parts of the alimentary canal. Gangrene had also attacked
different parts of the body.

Experiments on pigs led also to results of a similar nature.

These experiments appearing to be sufficient to establish the injurious
effects of the cockspur rye, when used as an article of food, M. Tessier
made a number of curious experiments to ascertain the degrees of aver-
sion which animals show for this substance, either alone, or mixed with
the substances with which they are usually fed. In all his trials he found
it extremely difficult to disguise the rye so as to induce the animals to
swallow, voluntarily, any portion of food into the composition of which
the ergot was introduced.

These experiments of M. Tessier’s, in confirming the opinions of those
who believed that the use of this substance was the cause of those gan-
grenous diseases, which had repeatedly appeared as endemical in various
districts of France, afforded also a simple explanation of the fact, that
persons might live for a considerable time upon rye affected with the
cockspur, without suffering any sensible injury from its use ; since,
in ali the animals upon which it was tried experimentally, a given quan-
tity was required to produce the specific effect ; and they suggested the
only measure, that ot separating the diseased from the sound rye, which
could prevent so great a national calamity, as that which had been so
often produced by its use.

The spurred rye occasionally occurs in this country, but there are no
instances recorded o( its producing any such effects as those enumerated
above; but in the Philosophical Transactions Dr. Wollaston has nar-
rated several cases in which dry gangrene was produced in one family,
by partaking of damaged wheat : the following was the result, at the
time the paper was published : — Mary the mother, aetat. fort}'.
'I he right foot off at the ankle: the left leg mortified, a mere bone;
but not off.

Mary, aetat. fifteen. One leg off below the knee : the other perfectly-
sphacelated, but not yet off.

Elizabeth, zetat. thirteen. Both legs off below the knee.

Sarah, ffitat. ten. One foot off at the ancle.

Robert, aetat. eight. Both legs off below the knees.

Edward, aetat. four. Both feet off at the ancles.

An infant, four months old, dead.

The father escaped by merely losing two fingers.

The wheat used, was what is called in Suffolk, where the family resided,
“ rivets,” or “ bearded” wheat.

Nearly the same effects were produced in a family in Wiltshire, by the
Lolium temulenlum, entering largely into the composition of bread ; for
an account of which we refer to No. 1. of our work.

/

Qualities and Chemical Properties of Ergot. — The
true nature of ergot has not hitherto been fully ascertained,
notwithstanding the research and talent that have been brought
to the investigation. Some have observed a viscid, fermenting
juice in the glumes, previously to the formation of the ergot;
while others have detected small larvae, which being preserved,
have afterwards hatched into moths or butterflies. The Abbe
Fontana planted in his garden a number of single grains of wheat
and rye, and upon the top of each placed several grains of ergot.
The result was, a crop in which both the wheat and rye were
infected with ergot ; which experiment indicates something like
contagion in the disease, which may very possibly take place
through the agency of insects.

In an Essay on the genus Sclerotium by De Candolle, in the
“ Mtmoires du Museum cT Histoire Naturelle ,” the ergot is
stated to be a parasitic production belonging to this genus,
which he calls Sclerotium clavus ; by other Botanists it has
been named Acinula clavus and Sphacelia segetum , while
many persons, notwithstanding De Candolle’s researches, con-
sider the result of his investigation as by no means satis-
factory ; and contend that ergot is a diseased modification of the
grain of the rye itself.

The most satisfactory accounts we possess of the nature of
ergot is that given by M. Ltveille, who states, that the ergot
consists of two parts : — first, the spur, properly so called, which
is merely the abortive and degenerately developed germen,
which part is inert ; and secondly, of a small deliquescent
fungus growing on the summit of the spur, and which he

calls sphacelia. This is easily washed oft' by heavy rains,
which circumstance will readily account for the very different
states of activity of ergot as a medicine, and the very variable
effects of ergotised grain when taken as food.

Spurred rye, in its native state, is of a violet or brownish
colour. Its size is very variable, some grains being less than
healthy rye, and can scarcely be perceived in their husks, whilst
others are from one inch to an inch and a half in length, and
of a proportionate thickness. The spur is nearly cylindrical,
having its ends somewhat obtuse, at times a little pointed, and
bent a little in the shape of a crescent. But there is a great
variety in this respect, although in all the shape is more or less
monstrous. They have generally a longitudinal depression or
two running from end to end. Some grains have cracks, appa-
rently from dryness ; and others small cavities, perhaps the
bites of coleopterous insects. On being broken transversely,
they snap like dried almonds ; anil internally display a greenish-
white substance, closely covered by the coloured cortical part,
which does not separate from it on ebullition. Viewed through
a microscope, this fracture presents in its centre an appearance
of white brilliant grains like starch, and towards the circum-
ference a violet shading besprinkled with minute whitish spots.
When reduced to a powder it is of an ash-grey colour, and
is very dry. If quite fresh, spurred rye is of a disagreeable
sickly odour. A certain quantity, after having been kept for
some years in a close box, contracted the smell of putrid
fish. It was also of a black colour, and almost all the grains
were in a degree worm-eaten, with little of substance left ex-
cept the cortical part, so that it was quite friable to the touch.
However, no other traces of insects could be discovered about
them. When snuffed up into the nostrils it produces a slight
degree of irritation, like a small pinch of powdered tobacco,
occasioning a tendency to sneeze, and a pretty abundant secre-
tion of mucus. In the grain, and quite dry, spurred rye lias
scarcely any taste, and, on being chewed, leaves in the mouth a
slight acrimony. But in the powder its taste is nauseous,
bitter, and acrid, like that of corn when in a state of decay.

On kneading, with warm water, the flower of rye affected with
the spur, a fetid disagreeable smell is very perceptible. The
paste is not adherent, and the bread has neither the consistence
nor Smell of the common rye bread.

Parmentier, who had some made with flour, containing one-
third of spurred rye, asserts that the bread was quite inodorous,
and only slightly bitter. However, it may easily be conceived,
that the qualities of such bread must vary according to the
greater or less quantity of the spurred rye entering into its com-
position, which in a natural way can scarcely ever equal that
formed by Parmentier. According to Vauquelin, spurred rye
yields by analysis a yellowish-fawn coloured matter, soluble in
alcohol, exhaling a smell like that of fish oil ; a white oily mat-
ter of a bland taste; a violet coloured matter, insoluble in alco-
hol ; a free acid, which appears to be of the nature of phosphoric
acid ; a vegeto-animal matter in considerable quantity, much
disposed to putrefaction, and which on distillation furnishes
a considerable quantity of thick ammoniacal oil ; a minute
quantity of ammonia, exhaling at the temperature of boiling
water. It also appears from the result of the same analysis,
that rye in its spurred state no longer contains any starch ; that
its gluten has been altered, and that it abounds with a thick
ammoniacal oil, which is never to be met with in rye when in its
sound state. The same chemist, wishing to clear up an im-
portant point, has made a comparative analysis of another species
of Sclerotium, viz. S. stercorarium ; by means of which he
obtained results so totally different, that he has been led to
consider De Candolle’s opinion to be erroneous; but it is evident
that no satisfactory conclusion can be drawn from the compara-
tive analysis of two plants of acknowledged difference in
species; and probably belonging to distinct geneia.

Pot teh nh offer, is said to have demonstrated in 1819, the
existence of morphine in spurred rye ; and it is not improbable,
but that future analyses of this curious production will lead to
the discovery of an active principle, sui generis , on which its
virtues as a medical agent depend. The latest analysis is that
of M. Maas , of Hamburg, who states, that ergot contains

gluten, ammonia, or a peculiar alcali, acetic acid, colouring
matter of a violet hue, resin, fixed oil, and an alcaline acetate ;
but neither starch, nor hydrocyanic acid, nor narcotine, nor
phosphoric acid, as other chemists have supposed.

Medical Properties and Uses. — No notice occurs of
spurred rye as a uterine remedy till 16S8, when Camerarius
stated, that the women in certain parts of Germany were in the
habit of employing it to accelerate parturition. From that
period till 1774 no author had made mention of its being used;
and it was only then that a very brief letter from Parmentier to
the editor of the Journal de Physique , made known that it was
frequently given as a child-bed remedy by Madame Depelle, a
midwife at Chaumont, in the Vexin. But this letter, which is
a mere announcement of the fact, contained no other information.
It was reserved from M. Desgranges to make known more fully
the singular property of ergot. Having met with several mid-
wives in 1777, both in Lyons and its environs, who, from a tra-
ditionary knowledge, were accustomed to employ it with no
little mystery, he at length made trials of it, which for the most
part were crowned with success. He published, at different times,
and in various journals, the results of his practice, and specified
the peculiar circumstances which admit, or contra-indicate
the employment of this remedy. It is, therefore, to the zeal
and knowledge of Desgranges that the world is indebted
for the precise acquaintance of this valuable remedy, which he
propagated with all his talents, against the strongest prejudice.
When this discovery was first announced, it was only employed
in the department of the Rhone and some of the frontier depart-
ments. Soon after, its use began gradually to spread from
various points throughout the kingdom, as may be proved by
the number of cases published since in periodical works, by
practitioners in the different departments. According to Ditt-
mer, it is also used in different countries in Germany, and par-
ticularly in the environs of Ludwisbourg, in Wirtemberg, where
it is principally in the hands of the mid wives, who give it usually
to be swallowed whole in its natural state, administering either

five or nine grains for a close, but always in odd numbers. At
Florence, also, as well as in other partsof Italy; and in America,
this substance appears to be held in ns much estimation as any
article of the materia medica. And it is a singular fact, and
well worthy of our notice, as tending to establish its claims, that
its property of acting specifically on the uterus was first an-
nounced to the public of America by Dr. Stearns of New York
State, in 1807 ; who, according to a statement by Dr. Bigelow,
published in No. 2, vol. 5. of the New England Journal of Me-
dicine and Surgery, was ignorant of its ever being so employed
in Europe: “ The use of this article in medicine,” says Dr.
Bigelow, “ is, to the best of our knowledge, an exclusively Ame-
rican practice, and if it is now introduced into any part of
Europe, it must be from the publications of this country.”

Like all other powerful remedies, the use of ergot might inad-
vertently be abused. It is therefore necessary to lay down some
general rules for its administration.

(1st.) It must never be given when there is malformation of
the bones of the pelvis, or of the soft parts of the mother, capable
of opposing any remarkable obstacle to the passage of the foetus.
If the dimension of the pelvis be less than three inches and a
half between the pubes and sacrum, the expulsion of a full grown
foetus will be very difficult ; in which case the ergot, by exciting
strong uterine contractions, without overcoming the mechanical
obstacle, might produce rupture of the uterus itself ; and in a
case that a few years ago occurred in the vicinity of London, it
is very evident that the disproportion between the size of the
child’s head and the pelvis should have prevented the medical
attendant from employing this powerfid agent. A similar in-
convenience might result too, if the passage were obstructed by
any large tumour, or by any excessive rigidity of the orifice or
sides of the vulva.

(2d.) The os uteri should be supple and yielding, and partly
dilated ; and the time of parturition should have decidedly com-
menced, or already existed for some time.

(3d.) It must not be used so long as the natural pains are effi-

cient, and competent to the end ; for art should never precede
nature in hastening the natural act of delivery.

(4th.) The foetus should be presenting in such a manner as to be
expelled naturally ; there being no necessity to change its posi-
tion ; nor should its bulk be too great for the natural passages.
If it be, the ergot cannot with propriety be employed till that
bulk be reduced.

(5th.) If the labour be accompanied by flooding, convulsions,
syncope, &c. it may be sometimes employed with great advantage,
provided the membranes are ruptured and the os uteri dilated.

(6th.) It may be used very often with much advantage in
every kind of premature labour; and at full time, when the pla-
centa is not thrown off, and the uterus is found in a state of atony.

(7th.) When flooding takes place after the rupture of the
membranes ; the os uteri well dilated ; the pains feeble, but the
c.hild well situated.

(8th.) When the head of the child has been left in the uterus,
by being separated from the body.

(9th.) When the uterus is painfully distended with coagula.

The ergot powdered is the most simple of the preparations, and
its properties are most apparent in proportion to its freshness and
fineness. The dose usually given is from ten to sixty grains, and
even more, during the labour, in a small wine-glass full of barley
water, capillaire and water, cinnamon water, or other convenient
vehicle. As we must for the most part be ignorant to what
extent this substance may act, and as there might arise
much inconvenience in hurrying a labour too much, we ought
never to exceed twenty grains for the first dose ; and even
this had better be given in two proportions, with a short interval
between their administration. But if at the end of an
hour, it should produce no apparent effect on the uterus,
we may give a scruple for a dose ; and should it become ne-
cessary to administer it a third time, we may then give thirty
grains. It may be easily imagined, that the manner of giving
the spurred rye may vary infinitely ; and that what we have ad-
vanced on this subject is far from constituting an invariable rule ;

as the ergot may be prescribed in different ways according to
the circumstances of the patient, and the particular views of the
practitioner. We ought however to observe, that when given in
doses too small, it only produces very weak muscular contrac-
tions of the womb, which serve to fatigue and wear out the
strength of the patient instead of inciting that organ to expel its
contents.

The infusion , or tea of black rye of the American practitioners,
is made by infusing a drachm of the powder in a wine-glass of
boiling water, till cold. To this preparation many persons give
the preference, and administer half the quantity at the interval
of an hour. Some persons boil the same proportions for a quarter
of an hour, and this constitutes the decoctum parturiens of
some writers.

M. Villeneuve, and many others, recommend the ergot to be
administered in lavements , whenever there is too much suscepti-
bility of stomach, nausea, or vomiting, and repugnance on the
part of the patient to swallow it. It is of course given in this
manner in much larger doses, two or three drachms being boiled
in half a pint of water ; and administered at intervals as may be
necessary.

The action of the ergot appears to be specifically upon the
uterine fibres ; urging them sooner or later to more or less violent
contraction. It is not the alternate contraction alone that is in-
creased by this substance ; the tonic, which is of much more
value, is also powerfully augmented ; since it can, in consequence
of this power, be most advantageously employed, in many cases
where this effect is all-important. In this respect it appears
different from other stimuli, which may exert an influence upon
this organ ; such as opium, volatile alkali, &c. ; or the mechani-
cal stimulus of the forceps, vectis, or the hand. Dr. Dewees
states, that he never witnessed any exaltation of the power of the
arterial action from the exhibition of ergot, which is contrary to
our own experience ; as in several cases in which we have tried it,
it has increased the fulness and frequency of the pulse ; pro-
duced a glow of skin ; and it has also been known to excite nau-
sea, vomiting, and vertigo.

Each of the stimulants just referred to has been known to
rouse the feeble contractions of the uterus into a temporary,
and sometimes successful action ; but by neither is the tonic
contraction roused, with any degree of certainty ; on the con-
trary, inertia of this organ is very apt to follow their employ-
ment. Thus haemorrhage sometimes succeeds the use of either
of the remedies just named ; but extensive inquiry will justify
the declaration that no such consequence arises from ergot. A
very remarkable fact, is, that spurred rye does not appear to
exert any very decided action upon the uterus, excepting when that
organ lias already put on the disposition .to expel its contents.
The experience of many years proves this important fact ; and it
will be found on investigation that amongst the many accidents
that are said to arise from its use in bread, that no mention is made
of abortion or premature birth, as its immediate effect. We
therefore consider this as a settled point, strengthened as it is by
the knowledge, that it is familiarly used near Lyons to aid the
parturient cow ; France being the country in which the most in-
genious methods are employed to accomplish this object ; the
desire for which, however urgent, proves a refined depravity,
from the stigma of which England is happily free.

It is a singular fact, that the Chenopodium olidum , which has
been proved by Mr. Iloulton, and subsequently in our own prac-
tice, to have a direct action as an emmenagogue, agrees in its sen-
sible properties with those of the ergot ; and to preserve the par-
ticular odour of the latter, it is absolutely necessary that it
should be kept whole in a glass bottle with a ground stopper, and
only powdered when required for use ; nor should it, if possible,
be used when it exceeds a year in age ; for, like every other vege-
table substance, it is easily acted upon by heat and moisture ;
and its producing no effects in the practice of some can only be
accounted for by its being effete; a circumstance of no uncom-
mon occurrence, especially in this country.

In a case of profuse haemorrhage which lately occurred in our
own practice, we found the membranes entire, the so uteri di-
lated to the size of a crown-piece, attended by complete inertia,
of that organ. On examination, the placenta was not to be found

VOL. II.

A A

'vi t h m reach: we therefore discharged the liquor amnii, but
without arousing the expulsive efforts. We then had recourse to
scruple doses of ergot, given at an interval of ten minutes, and
fore a quaver of an hour had elapsed the pains came on, the
haemorrhage ceased, and the child was soon expelled ; the pla-
centa followed in due time, and no untoward symptom ensued.

HORDEUM VULGARE. — Common Barley.

Gen. Char. Glume lateral, 2-valved, single-flowered,
ternate.

Spec. Char. Flowers all perfect, awned ; two of the
rows more erect than the rest.

Syn. — Hordeum polystacbium verum, Ger. Em. 70.

Hordeum vulgare, Lin. Sp. PI.V25.; Errh. PI. Offic. 421.; Lob. Icon. 28.;
Host. Gram. Anstr. v. 3. 35.

Foreign. — L’orge avancd, Fr. ; Orzo, It. ; Cebada rornuna, Sp. ; Gemeine Gerste, Ger.

Next to wheat, the most valuable grain is barley. It is an
annual plant, and is said to have been found wild in Sicily and
Russia. The flowers are disposed in four rows, on a common
receptacle or main stalk, which is elongated into a long, flat,
jointed spike or ear. The glume , or outer chaff, consists of two
narrow, pointed valves, one half shorter than the inner or glu-
mella , each containing a single sessile flower ; the glumelle or
inner chaff* is ovate, concave, and terminates in a very long, flat,
serrated awn or beard. The filaments are capillary, shorter
than the glumelle, with notched anthers. The germen is ovate,
channelled, and firmly coated with both valves of the glumelle.

This is the barley most generally cultivated ; but Hordeum
distichon, two-rowed barley, is the species admitted into the
Dublin Pharmacopoeia, from which the pearl barley of the shops
is said to be principally prepared.

Barley is used in some countries for making bread ; but it is chiefly
cultivated here for the purpose of forming malt liquors, or distilled spirits.
To prepare mail, barley is the grain usually employed. It is steeped
for two or three days in water until it swells, becomes tender, and
imparts its colour to the liquid. The water is then withdrawn, and the
grain is spread out on the floor to the depth of two feet, where its
temperature rising spontaneously, it begins to germinate, bursting,
and shooting out the radicle. This process is soon stopped by spread-
ing the grains over a large surface, and turning them repeatedly,
which is continued for two days; after which, they are again made into
a heap, arid allowed to remain in this state till they turn warm, and
arc then dried in a kiln by a gentle heat. Beer is made from malt pre-
viously ground by a mill. This is put into a large vessel or tub with a
false bottom, termed the mash-tub; hot water is poured upon it, and
the whole stirred up at intervals. The temperature of the water in
this operation, called Mashing, must not be equal to boiling ; for, in
that case, the malt would be converted into a paste, from which the
impregnated water could not be separated. This is called Setting.
After the infusion has remained for some time upon the malt, it is
drawn off, and is then distinguished by the name of sweet wort. By
one or more subsequent infusions in water, a quantity of weak wort is
made, which is either added to the foregoing, or kept apart, according
to the intention of the operator. The wort is then boiled with hops,
which gives it an aromatic, bitter taste, and renders it less liable to be
spoiled in keeping ; after which it is cooled in shallow vessels, and
suffered to ferment, with the addition of a proper quantity of yeast.
During the fermentation, an internal commotion takes place in every
part of the liquor, caused by the extrication of gas, raising to the
surface a quantity of yeast, in which the air bubbles are enveloped.
After this fermentation has continued a certain time, and the herd
does not seem likely to rise any higher, it is necessary to put a stop
to it, as it would be succeeded by the acetous fermentation ; this being-
called the vinous, producing alcohol or spirit. This is performed by
drawing off the beer, and putting it into small casks, where it conti-
nues to ferment, and discharge yeast for some time, the casks being
filled up as they diminish in their contents. When the working
ceases, the casks are bunged up, and the beer is set aside for table. The
strength and quality of the liquor differs greatly according to the na-
ture of the grain, the particular substances that have been added to
flavour it, the length to which the fermentation is allowed to proceed,
and the various manipulations which are adopted by different manu-
facturers, both in the preparation of the malt, and in the subsequent
processes.

Pearl barley is prepared in Holland and Germany, by first moisten-
ing and shelling the grains, and then grinding them into round granules,

A a 2

in a mill. Pearl barley consists principally of starch, with a small
portion of gluten, mucilage, anil saccharine matter.

Uses. — Barley bread is much used by some northern nations ;
but it is less nutritious than that prepared from wheat or rye.
The decoctions of barley, barley water, and barley broth, are well
known. The former is much employed as an agreeable and
wholesome nourishment for the sick, and barley water, acidu-
lated with the juice of lemons or oranges, forms one of the most
salutary beverages in febrile diseases. Sweet wort was formerly
much used as an antiscorbutic in the navy ; and a cataplasm of
yeast, with barley meal, or ground malt, is sometimes employed
as a stimulant and antiseptic, to foul spreading ulcers and gan-
grenous parts. When properly fermented, of a moderate
strength, and used within the limits of propriety, malt liquors
are refreshing, wholesome, and considerably nutritive. It is a
common observation, that those who drink sound malt liquors
are stronger than those who drink wine ; and to those who are
trained to boxing and other athletic exercises, home-brewed beer
is particularly recommended. Hence Jackson, the celebrated
trainer, affirms, that if any person accustomed to drink wine
would try malt liquor for a month, he will find himself so much
the better for it, that he would soon take to the one and aban-
don the other. Malt liquors are divided into small beer, strong
beer, ale, and porter. Small beer, and the weaker ales, are re-
freshing, gently stimulant, and nutritive drinks. Porter, and
the stronger ales, are exceedingly nutritious, and strengthening
when used within the limits of sobriety ; but these liquors can
seldom be procured genuine when purchased in small quantities,
at least in London.

Off. Piiep. — Decoctum Hordei L. E. D. Decoct. Hordei
Compositum, L. D.

AVENA SATIVA. — Common Oat.

Gen. Char. Glume 2-valved, many-flowered ; with a
twisted awn on the back.

Spec. Char. Inflorescence pannicled ; glumes 2-flow-
ered \ fruit very smooth, 1-awned.

Syn. — Avena, Corner. Epit. 191 ; Fuchs. Hist. 185.

Avena sativa, Lin. Sp. PI. 118 ; T1 illd. i. 443.

Foreign. — L’ avoine cultivee, Fr. ; Tuttenhaver , Ger.

The Oat was found by Anson growing wild upon the island of
Juan Fernandez, but no one has been able to ascertain satisfac-
torily the place from whence it was first brought to Europe. The
root is an annual, sending up a culm or straw, about two feet in
height. The inflorescence is in a loose panicle, with the sub-
divisions on long pendulous peduncles. The two glumes or outer
chaffs are marked with lines, pointed, unequal, and longer than
the flower. There are usually two flowers and seeds in each
glume ; they are alternate, conical, the smaller one is awnless,
the larger puts forth a strong, two-coloured, bent awn, from the
middle of the back. Of this grain, the varieties are more nu-
merous than any other of the culmiferous tribe ; but in this
country, that which is called the potato oat , is considered the
best.

Qualities. — M. Vogel could detect no gluten in oats ; but
he obtained an azotized substance, destitute of elasticity, and
having no resemblance to gluten. Oats contain, besides fecula
or starch, a saccharine matter, a bitter principle, and a fixed oil,
of a yellowish green colour.

Uses. — The flour or meal made into cakes and pottage, is the
common food of the country people in the north. Grits, or groats,
are oats freed from their cuticle, are much used in making
broths and gruels. They are wholesome and gently laxative.
Gruel is prepared by boiling, either the meal or grits, for a

proper length of time, in water. The purest and most conve-
nient form is, however, that which has been perfected in its
manipulations by Mr. Robinson, whose patient groats are superior
to any others we have seen. It is moderately nutritive, and
demulcent, hence it is frequently prescribed in inflammatory
diseases, diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, and other diseases. The
meal, boiled in water, forms an excellent suppurative poultice.

/. "..rkt Jt! ,

CXIV

COCHLEARIA ARMORACIA.
Horse-radish.

Class XV. Tetrad yn ami a. Order I. Siliculosa.

Nat. Ord. Siliquos.e, Lin. Crucifer.e, Juss., De Cand,

Brassicace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Pod emarginate, turgid, rugged, 2-valved*
Seeds several.

Spec. Char. Radical leaves oblong, crenate ; those of
the stem lanceolate, either cut or entire.

Syn. — Rapbanus rusticanus, Rail Syn. 301 ; Ger. Em. 241, f. ; Matth. Valgr. v. 1.
401./.; Camer. Fpit. 225.

Rapbanus svlvestris, Fuchs. Hist. 660. f. t. 379. f.

Nasturtium n. 504. Hall. Hist. v. 1. 218.

Cocblearia Armoracia, Lin. Sp. PI. 904; Willd. v. 3,451; FI. Brit. 690;
Eng. Bat. v. 33. t. 2323; Woodv. t. 150.

Foreign. — Cranson de Bretagne ; Raifort Sauvage ; Moutarde des Allemands, Fr. .
Rafano rusticano, It. ; Marvisco, Sp. ; Murrettich, Ger.

Horse-radish is a perennial plant, growing naturally by the
sides of ditches, on the banks of rivers, and in waste grounds,
from the refuse of gardens. It has long been received into our
materia medica, and was cultivated in Britain in the time of
Gerard, who says, “ Horse-radish for the most part groweth, and
is planted in gardens, yet have I found it wild in sundrie places,
as at Namptwich in Cheshire, in a place called the Milne Eye,
and also at a small village near London, called Ilogsdon, in the
field next vnto a farm house, leading to Kingsland, where my
verie good friend Master Bred well, practitioner in physick, a
learned and diligent sercher of symples, and Master William
Martin, one of the Fellowship of Barbers and Chirurgians, my
deere and louing friende, in company with him, found it, and
gaue me knowledge of the place where it flourisheth to this day.’*
The specimen from which our figure was taken, grew by the
side of the Thames, between the Red-House, Battersea, and

COCHLEAR I A OFFICINALIS.- Common Scurvy-

grass.

Spec. Char. Radical leaves roundish, those on the
stem oblong and somewhat sinuated. Pod globose.

Syn.— Cochlearia, llaii Syn. 302 ; Bauh. Hist. v. 2. 942./, ; Corner Epit. 271. /. ;

Cochlearia rotundifolia, Ger. Em. 401. f.

Nasturtium, n. 503. ; Hall. Hist. v. 1. 218.

Cochlearia officinalis, Liu. Sp. PI. 903 ; Willd. v. 3. 448. ; FI. Brit. 688. Eng.

Bot. v. 8. t. 551. ; II oodv. t. 29. ; Hook. Lond. 195.

Foreign. — Cranson officinal, Fr. ; Cochlearia, It.; Gemeine Loffenhraut, Ger.

Scurvy-grass is a low, annual plant, growing wild on the
sea-coasts of Britain and other countries, and not unfrequently
in mountainous situations far inland. It varies considerably in
size and luxuriance, and somewhat in the shape of its foliage.
The stem is angular, smooth, usually a foot high, and, in the
month of May, ornamented with numerous tufts of flowers of^a
snow-white colour. The leaves are all smooth, and rather suc-
culent : the radical ones on long footstalks, of a roundish-heart
shape, and wavy ; the cauline ones smaller, embracing the stem,
oblong, sinuated, or deeply toothed. The calyx leaves are ovate,
obtuse, concave ; petals obovate, with longish claws ; stamens
six, incurved ; pod nearly globular, slightly rugose, and crowned
with a short style. A thick-leaved variety called Dutch scurvy-
grass is sometimes cultivated in gardens for medicinal purposes.

Qualities. — The whole herb has a warm, acrid taste, and a pun-
gent rather unpleasant smell when bruised. It’s active matter is ex-
tracted by maceration, both by water and alcohol ; but its principal
virtue seems to reside in an essential oil, separable in very small quantity
by distillation in water.

Uses. — Scurvy-grass has long enjoyed the reputation of being
one of the most powerful of the antiscorbutic plants. Syden-
ham and Lewis recommend it strongly, combined with arum
and wood-sorrel, in rheumatic and paralytic affections. As an
antiscorbutic, the expressed juice of the plant should be taken
in the quantity of a pint a day, or the smaller leaves daily eaten
as a salad. Of equal virtue, however, with scurvy-grass, is the
horse-radish, mustard, the tops of turnips, water-cress, lime-juice,
oranges, and many other vegetables.

'« ■ !

(tJUM m.

■msmiR

ea

cxv

PYRUS CYDONIA, vel CYDONIA VULGARIS.

Common Quince-tree.

Class XII. Icosandria. — Order IV. Pentagynia.

Nat. Ord. Pomaces, Lin. De Cand, fyc. Rosace.e, Juss.
Pyrace.e, Pyrid.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx superior, 5-cleft. Petals 5.
Germen inferior, with from 2 to 5 cells, many-seeded.

Spec. Char. Leaves roundish, elliptical, entire;
downy beneath. Flowers solitary, stalked. Calyx
serrated, reflexed.

Syn.— Malus cotonea, Ger. Em. 1452 ; Raii Hist. p. 1452 ; Bauh. Hist. v. 1. p. 35 ;
Maith. Valgr. v. 1. 217.

Cotonia et Cidonia mala, Lob. lc. v. 2. p. 152.

Pyrus Cydonia, Lin. Sp. PI. 687. Willd. 2.n. 17. Jacq. Austr. t. 342.;
Woodv. v. 2. t. 79.

Foreign. — Coignassier , Fr. ; Melacotogna, It. ; Quittenkorner, Ger.; A bee, Hind.

The Quince-tree is a native of the rocky banks of the Danube,
and is naturalized in the hedges of Germany. Dr. Sibthorp
found it wild in the northern parts of Greece, in which country
it still retains the ancient name k-vdoovia', so called from Cydon, a
town in Crete, where it grew. Thunberg found it growing in
Japan, where it is called nmbats. It was among the first of the
exotic fruits cultivated in England, where it blossoms in May
or June, and ripens its fruit in November.

The tree is of low growth, much branched, and generally dis-
torted. The leaves are roundish or ovate, entire, varying in size,
smooth, and of a dusky green colour above, paler and downy
beneath, and stand upon short foot-stalks. The flowers are
large, solitary, and of a pale rose-colour, or white ; the calyx is
superior, villous, persistent, and divided into five spreading
segments : the corolla is composed of five petals; these are con-
cave, roundish, and inserted into the calyx : the filaments are
about twenty, awl-shaped, shorter than the corolla, and support

yellow anthers : the germen is orbicular, with five slender styles,
ami simple stigmas. The fruit is large, varying in shape, yellow,
downy, umbilicated, and when ripe has a peculiar fragrant odour,
and a very austere acidulous taste; each of its cells contains
two or three ovate, angular, reddish brown, cartilaginous seeds,
ranged horizontally. — Fig. (a) section of the fruit ; (b) a seed.

There are different varieties of the fruit ; as the globular, or apple-
quince ; oblong, or Portugal quince ; and the pear-shaped, or pear-quince.
The Portugal quince is the best, but the fruit is produced sparingly.
The quince-tree is propagated by layers, by suckers, or by cuttings. It
thrives best in a moist soil, but the fruit is superior in a dry one. The
quince is supposed by some persons to be the golden apple of the lles-
perides, so famous in ancient fable.

Qualities and Uses. — The seeds are inodorous, nearly in-
sipid, and abound with an impure mucilage, which they yield to
boiling water. One drachm makes six ounces of a nearly colour-
less transparent mucilage, resembling in consistency the white of
egg; which is occasionally prescribed asademulcentin gonorrhoea,
tenesmus, dysentery, and in aphthous affections and excoriations
of the mouth and fauces ; in the latter case it is generally com-
bined with borax and honey. A diluted solution of it injected
beneath the eye-lids is recommended by Dr. Thompson, for
obtunding the acrimony of the discharge in violent inflammations
of the eye. It is the most agreeable of all the mucilages; but
is apt to spoil and become mouldy in a short time.

In its raw state the fruit is not eatable ; but when prepared, it
becomes mild, and to many persons highly grateful. A small
portion of it added to stewed or baked apples is useful forgiving
pungency and flavour. The expressed juice taken in small
quantities is cooling, antiseptic, and astringent, useful in nau-
sea and vomiting, as well as in some kinds of diarrhoea ; by boil-
ing, it loses its astringency. Formerly the juice was directed
in the London Pharmacopoeia to be made into a syrup ; but the
only preparation of the quince which it now directs, is the decoc-
tion of the seeds. An elegant sweetmeat or marmalade ( Miva
cydoniarum ) is prepared by boiling the pulp over a gentle fire
with an equal weight of sugar.

Off. Fret. — Decoctum Cydoniae, L.

^ S/r //r/ ('f ■/„

///

r/f/y/t '/ r

CXVI

TANACETUM VULGARE.

Common Tansy.

Class XIX. Syngenesia. — Order II. Polygamia

SUPERFLUA.

Nat. Ord. Composite, y, discoide.e, Lin. Corymbifer.e,
Juss. Be Cand. §c. Asterace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Receptacle naked. Fruit with a mem-
branous crown. Jnvolucrum imbricated, hemisphe-
rical. Florets of the circumference 3-cleft, obsolete,
sometimes wanting.

Spec. Char. Leaves doubly pinnatifid, deeply ser-
rated, naked.

Syn. — Tanacetnm, Rail Hist . 108 ; Ger. Em. 650. f. ; Matth. Valg. v. 2. 259./. ;
Corner. Epit. 650./. ; Trag. Hist. 158./.

Tanacetum millefolii foliis, Lob. Ic. 749./.

Tanacetum, n. 132 ; Hall. Hist. v. 1. 57.

Artemisia monoclonos, Fuchs. Hist. 46. f.

Atbanasia seu Tanacetum, Dalech. Hist. 955.

Tanacetum vulgare, Lin. Sp. PI. 1184 ; Willd. v. 3. 1814: FI. Brit. 862 ;
Eng. But. v. 18. t. 1229 ; Hook. Scot. 239. Bull. Fr. t. 187 ; Woodv. t.
115; Stokes v. 4. 180.

Fojieign. — Tanassie, Fr. ; Tanaceto, It.; Atanasia, Sp.; Rheitfarn, Ger. ; Worm-
kruid, Dut. ; Rheinfan. Dan. ; Dikaja riabina, Russ.

Tansy is a well-known perennial plant, a native of most parts
of Britain, growing generally on the banks of rivers, hedges,
and the borders of fields; flowering in July and August.

The root is long, somewhat creeping, and fibrous. In a wild
state it seldom exceeds two feet in height ; the stem is erect,
rather angular, striated, leafy, solid, unbranched, smooth, and
frequently reddish towards the top ; the leaves alternate, dark
green, smooth, doubly pinnatifid, and notched or deeply serrated.
The flowers are numerous, of a golden yellow colour, flattish, and
terminate the stem in a dense corymb. The involucre is
hemispherical and imbricated ; the scales are acute and mem-

branaceous at the margin. The Horets are of two kinds; those
of the disk hermaphrodite , numerous, tubular, and 5-cleft; those
of the radius female , few, sometimes wanting, tubular at the
base, and 3-cleft. There are five capillary, very short filaments,
in the florets of the disc only, with the anthers forming a cylin-
drical tube; the germen in both is obovate, compressed; the
style thread-shaped ; and the stigma bifid and reflexed ; the per-
manent involucre contains solitary, oblong, angular akenia, or
rather, akenopsides crowned with a membranous border. — Fig.
(a) a floret of the disc ; (/>) floret of the radius ; (c) involucre ;

( d ) receptacle.

Besides the common tansy, there are two or three other species, very
generally cultivated in our gardens, particularly the annual tansy, (T.
annuum;) and the costinary tansy, or ale-cost (T. Balsamita.) Of the
former there is a variety with curled leaves, which is often called double
tansy, and likewise a sort with variegated leaves, which is sometimes
admitted into shrubberies.

Qualities. — The leaves and flowers have a warm, bitter taste, and a
strong, peculiar, not unpleasant odour. These qualities they readily im-
part both to water and alcohol ; and a greenish -yellow essential oil is af-
forded by distillation with water, smelling strongly of the herb.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Tansy is tonic, sto-
machic, and anthelmintic ; and as such is useful in dyspepsia,
dropsy, hysteria, intermittent fever, obstructed menstruation, and
other diseases; it also forms a popular remedy for expelling
worms, particularly the lumbricus teres , or round worm. Not
only the leaves and flowers have been employed with this inten-
tion, but also the seeds, which, according to Dr. Woodville, are
sometimes substituted for those of Santonicum. The infusion
in boiling water has been strongly recommended by l)r. Clarke
as a preventive of the return of gout ;* but experience has not
confirmed its utility. The young leaves are sometimes shredded
and employed to give flavour and colour to puddings; and the
Finlanders prepare a red dye from them. If dead animal matter
be rubbed with this plant, Dr. Withering says, the flesh-fly will
not attack it.

Dose. — In powder, the dose may be from 3j to 5j, twice or
thrice a-day ; but it is more commonly taken in infusion, under
the name of Tansy tea.

* Clarke’s Essays Physical and Literary, v. 3, j>. 4.>H.

- rr/ s/,j //.J

CXVII

PRUNUS LAURO-CERASUS.

Common Cherry- Laurel.

Class XII. Icosandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Pomace.e, Lin. Rosace.®, Amygdale.e, Juss.
Drupace.e, De Cand. Prunace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx inferior, 5-cleft. Petals 5. Nut
of the drupe with prominent sutures.

Spec. Char. Flowers in racemes. Leaves evergreen,
bi-glandular at the base.

Syn. — Laurocerasus, Ger. Em. 1603 ; Rail Hist. 1549 ; Corner. Hort. t.' 23; Ctus-
Hist. 1. 4; Tourn . lust. 627 ; Du Hamel Arbr. 1. t. 133.

Cerasus trapezuntina, sive Laurocerasus, Park. Theatr. I5l8.y. 2; Farad.
401. t. 399. f. 6.

Cerasus folio laurino, Bauh. Pin. 450.

Padus Laurocerasus, Mill. Dict. n. 4 ; Lin. Hort. Cliff. 185.

Prunus Laurocerasus, Lin. Sp. PL 678; Willd. ii. p. 988; Hort. Keiv. ii.
164; Bull. Fr. 153; Pallas FI. Bos.v. 1. p. 17; Pleach. Icon. 383;
Woodo. 2d. ed. 515. t. 185.

FonEiGN. — Laurier-cerise, Fr. ; Lauro regio ; Laura di Trabesonda, It.; Loirocerejo,
Port. ; Lorbeerkirsche ; Kirschlorbere, Ger.

The cherry-laurel is a native of the Levant, and was culti-
vated in Britain as early as 1629 ; but the precise period of its
introduction is uncertain. It is a hardy evergreen shrub, "or
small tree, and is planted near houses, and in shrubberies,
as an ornamental plant, producing its elegant spikes of odorous
white blossoms early in May. We may remark, that it is fre-
quently mistaken for the bay, and is erroneously regarded as the
plant which furnished crowns for the Roman heroes. There is
no doubt, however, that it was the sweet-bay (Laurus nobilis)
which furnished the wreath worn on the brow of the victor, and
of the priestess of Delphi. The mistake is supposed to have
arisen from the bay, which is a true laurus, having formerly

been called laurel, and the fruit of it only named baijes , while in
modern times the cherry-laurel has usurped its name.

The cherry-laurel attains the ordinary stature of a plum or
cherry-tree, sending off long spreading branches, covered with a
smooth brown bark. The leaves are alternate, and stand upon
short foot-stalks ; they are elliptical or obovate, tapering towards
the base, pointed and curved at the apex, minutely toothed,
smooth, and polished with a prominent midrib, and of a deep green
colour. At their base, underneath, are two small yellow glands.
The flowers are in spikes, on short, simple, axillary peduncles.
The calyx is inferior, bell-shaped, and divided at the brim into
five obtuse segments. The corolla consists of five small white
concave, roundish, spreading segments. The filaments, which
are alternately long and short, are about eighteen, awl-shaped,
inserted into the calyx, and furnished with roundish yellow
anthers. Before the petals unfold, the stamens are indexed, and
the anthers disposed in a circular form within the rim of the
calyx, as is well represented on the plate (fig. a). The germen
is roundish, supporting a columnar style, and terminated by an
orbicular stigma. The fruit, or drupe, is globular, of a shining
black colour, and resembling a small cherry, both in its external
appearance and internal structure. Fig. (a) represents a section
of a flower, showing the position of the stamens ; ( b ) the ger-
men and style ; (c) the fruit ; ( d ) a drupe cut across, to show the
nut or stone.

The plum, the cherry, and the cherry-laurel, all included by
Linnaeus in his genus Primus were considered generically dis-
tinct by the older botanists ; and in modern times they are again
admitted as sub-genera, even by those who deny their differences
to be sufficient to constitute generic characters.

The Pruni are easily distinguished from the Cerasi and Lauro-
cerasi by the fruit being pruinose or covered with a resinous
excretion called bloom, while in both the latter the drupes are
glaucous ; but in the Cerasi or true cherries, the inflorescence is
in tufts or sertula, while in the Lauro-cerasi it is in racemes : the
distinction is important, because it is in the latter group that
prussic acid is the most abundant.

Poisonous Effects. — The distilled water of this plant, the virtues
of which depend on the prussic acid that it contains, is a deadly poison.
When applied to wounds in animals it induces vomiting, convulsions,
great prostration of strength, diminished sensibility, and death. Injected
into the stomach and rectum, it excites a similar train of symptoms, ex-
cepting that, in the latter, the convulsions are more violent, and tetanus
of the extremities is produced. Its action has been found most rapid and
intense when injected into the jugular vein.

Many cases are on record of its effects on man ; the earliest with which
we are acquainted, are contained in the 37th vol. of the Phil. Trans., in
a paper communicated by Dr. Madden of Dublin, part of which we give.
“ A very extraordinary accident that fell out here some months ago, has
discovered to us a most dangerous poison, which was never before
known to be so, though it has been in frequent use among ns. The thing
I mean is a simple water, distilled from the leaves of the Lauro-cerasus.
The water is, at first, of a milky colour, but the’ oil which comes over
with it, being in a good measure separated from the phlegm ; by
passing it through a flannel-bag, it becomes as clear as common water.
It has the smell of the bitter almond, or peach -kernel, and has been for
many years in frequent use among our housewives and cooks, to give that
agreeable flavour to their creams and puddings. It has also been much
in use among our drinkers of drams ; and the proportion they generally
use it in, has been one part of laurel-water, to four of brandy. Nor has
the practice, (however frequent,) ever been attended with any apparent
ill consequences, till some time in the month of September, 1728, when
it happened that one Martha Bovse, a servant, who lived with a person
that sold great quantities of this water, got a bottle of it from her mis-
tress, and gave it to her mother, Anne Boyse, as a very rich cordial.

“ Anne Boyse made a present of it to Frances Eaton, her sister,
who was a shopkeeper in the town, and who she thought might oblige
her customers with it. Accordingly, in a few days, she gave about two
ounces of the water to a woman called Mary Whaley, who had bought
some goods of her. Mary Whaley drank about two-thirds of what was
filled out, and went away. Frances Eaton drank the rest. Mary Whaley
went to another shop, and in about a quarter of an hour after she had
drank the water, she complained of a violent disorder in her stomach.
She was carried home, and from that time she lost her spirits, and died in
about an hour, without vomiting, or purging, or any convulsion.

“ The shopkeeper, Frances Eaton, sent word to her sister, Anne
Boyse, of what had happened, who came to her aud affirmed that it
was not possible that the cordial, as she called it, could have occa-
sioned the death of the woman ; and to convince her of it, she filled out
about three spoonsful, and drank it. She continued talking with Frances
Eaton about two minutes longer, and was so earnest to persuade her of
the liquor being inoffensive, that she poured out two spoonsful more, and
drank it off likewise. She was hardly well seated in her chair, when she
died, without the least groan or convulsion. Frances Eaton, who had
drank somewhat above a spoonful, found no disorder in her stomach or
elsewhere; but to prevent any ill consequences, she took a vomit, and
has been well ever since.

“ Mary Whaley was buried without being examined by any one that

VOL. II. C C

I can find, except the coroner. I went to see Anne Boyse about twenty-
four hours after her death, hut could not prevail to have her opened. She
was about sixty years old ; her countenance and skin appeared well co-
loured, and her features were hardly altered, so that she looked as one
asleep. Her belly was liot swelled, nor had she any other external
mark of poison.

“ This accident brought into discourse another of the like nature,
which happened about four years since in the town of Kilkenny. A young
gentleman, son to Alderman Evans, mistook a bottle of laurel-water fin-
one of ptisan. What quantity he drank is uncertain, hut he died in a
few minutes, complaining of a violent disorder in his stomach. The
affair was not much regarded at that time, because he laboured under a
distemper, to which, or to an improper use of remedies, his death was
attributed by those about him.”

Then follow Dr. Madden’s experiments on animals; and the same
volume contains also a narration of Dr. Mortimer’s.

Fodere states, that “when he was attending his studies at Turin,
in 1784, the chambermaid and man-servant of a noble family of that
town, stole, for the purpose of regaling themselves, a bottle of distilled
laurel-water, which they mistook for an excellent cordial. Fearful of being
surprised, they hastily swallowed, one after the other, several mouthfuls of
it : hut they soon paid a fearful price for their dishonesty, as they expired
almost instantly in convulsions. The dead bodies were carried to the
university for examination. The stomach was found highly inflamed, hut
the rest of the organs were in a sound state.” *

A very interesting trial took place during the last century, from a
supposition (well grounded we conceive) that the distilled laurel-water
had been administered. As it is often referred to by medico-legal
writers, we think it right to give the account, which, with some remarks
of Professor Beck, are quoted from his valuable work on Medical Juris-
prudence ; the pamphlet, containing an account of the trial, taken in
short-hand by Mr. Gurney, being so scarce that we are unable to obtain
it.

“ Sir Theodosius Boughton was a young gentleman of fortune in the
county of Warwick, and nearly arrived at the age of twenty-one. His
mother and his brother-in-law, Captain Donellan, and his sister, (Mrs.
Donellan,) resided with him. In the event of his dying before the pe-
riod of his majority, the greatest part of his fortune descended to his
sister, and Captain Donellan would thus become entitled to a life-
estate in it. Sir Theodosius was labouring under a slight syphilitic af-
fection, for which he was attended by Mr. Powell of Rugby. His
general health was, however, stated to have been good. On the 29th
of August, 1780, Mr. Powell sent him a draught to be taken op the
next morning, consisting of rhubarb and jalap, each fifteen grains ;
spirits of lavender, twenty drops; nutmeg-water, two drachms; simple
syrup, two drachms ; ancl an ounce and a half of simple water. The
bottle containing this draught was placed on a shelf in his bed-room. He
returned in the afternoon of this day from fishing, in good health
and spirits. In the morning, a servant awoke bim at an early hour, for

* Fodere, vol. iv. p. 27.

the purpose of obtaining some straps for a net. lie arose, and went
into the next room for them. Even now he appeared in perfect health.
About seven a. m. Lady Boughton got up and went into his room, as
he had before desired her, to give him the medicine. She inquired
whether he had taken it, or whether he chose that she should give it.
to him. He desired her to reach down the draught which was labelled
“ Purging Draught for Sir T. B.,” and she poured it into a cup, for
the purpose of his taking it. He had not, however, swallowed more
than half of it, when he complained that it was so nauseous to the
taste, and disagreeable to the smell, that he did not apprehend he
should be able to keep it on his stomach. This remark induced Lady
Boughton to smell the draught. She found it very peculiar in this
respect, and observed to him that it smelt very strongly of bitter-
almonds. He ate some cheese in order to take the taste out of his
mouth, and afterwards washed his mouth with some water. In about two
minutes after swallowing the draught, he appeared to struggle very
much, as if to keep it down, and had a rattling and guggling in his
stomach. These symptoms continued about ten minutes, when he seemed
to Lady Boughton to he inclined to go to site]), and she left the room.
She returned again in ab >ut five minutes, and was surprised to find him
with his eyes fixed upwards, his teeth clenched, and froth running out of
his mouth. He died in about half-an-hour afterwards, never having
spoken since he took the draught.

“ Captain Donellan came into the room when Sir Theodosius was
dying, and inquired of Lady Boughton where the physic-bottle was. She
showed it to him. He immediately took and poured water into it,
shook it, and then emptied its contents into the wash-hand basin. And
he persisted in doing this with another bottle, although Lady Boughton
remonstrated, and objected to his conduct. Mr. Powell was sent for,
but arrived after the death of Sir Theodosius. It appeared also in evi-
dence, that Captain Donellan had a still in his own room, and that he
had used it for distilling roses.

“ Some days after the death of Sir T., he brought this still to one of
the servants to be cleaned. It was full of lime, and the lime was wet.
On the other hand, it appeared on the cross-examination of Lady Bough-
ton, that Sir T., a short time before his death, had bought arsenic to
poison fish, and some of this was afterwards found locked up in his closet.
Suspicions soon began to be excited as to the cause of this sudden
decease, and when these reached the ears of Sir W. Wheeler, the
guardian of the young baronet, be wrote to Captain Donellan, informing
him of the rumours that were abroad, and requesting him to have the
body opened, to satisfy the family and the public. Donellan immedi-
ately assented to this, and sent for some medical gentlemen. He, how-
ever, did not explain to them the cause of his request; and as they
were led to suppose it merely an ordinary case, they declined the per-
formance, on account of the putrefaction of the body. It is not neces-
sary, nor indeed does it belong to this statement, to enumerate the
various devices by which Donellan evidently attempted to elude the
wishes of Sir W. Wheeler respecting a dissection. Oil the eighth day
after death the body was buried ; but it was taken up immediately after
by the coroner and opened. It was found swollen and distended, the
face was black, the lips swollen and retracted, and showing the gums,

c c 2

tlie teeth black, the tongue protruding, and the skin spotted in various
parts of the hod v. ‘ lhe orifices and small arch of the stomach, and '
the intestines, bore the appearance of inflammation ; the heart was na-
tural, the lungs were suffused with blood, looking red, and spotted in
many places with black specks ; and on the back part, the blood had
settled in a deep-red colour, almost approaching to purple; the dia-
phragm was in the same state, and in general upon the depending sur-
faces of the body, the blood was settled in the like manner: the kidneys
appeared black as tinder, and the liver was much in the same state.’
*1 here was also some extravasated blood in the thorax.

“ Several physicians and surgeons deposed, that they performed ex-
periments on animals with laurel water, and found the effects very similar
to the symptoms produced in Sir T. Boughton’s case. Death succeeded
in a few minutes, after having been preceded by convulsions. The ap-
pearances on dissection also agreed.

“ It may be mentioned in this place that Mr. Powell prepared a
draught precisely alike to that which he had sent to the Baronet, with
the addition of some laurel-water ; and Lady Boughton on being re-
quested to smell to it, stated that it resembled the one she had given to
her son.

“ The counsel for the prisoner, in their cross-examination, inquired of
the medical witnesses, whether the presence of epilepsy or apoplexy would
not account for the symptoms observed P To this a negative answer was
given. Dr. Parsons thought they resembled the latter most, but he was
decided in attributing them to the effects of the medicine. Sir Theo-
dosius was young, of a spare habit, and it was, therefore, very impro-
bable that apoplexy should have caused his death. They also inquired,
whether the appearances observed on dissection might not be the effects
of putrefaction. It was allowed that the external might; but not the
internal.

“ On the part of the prisoner, the celebrated John Hunter was
summoned as a witness: and the judge (the Hon. F. Buller) in sum-
ming up the evidence, after stating that four medical witnesses were de-
cided in attributing death to the effects of the laurel water, made the fol-
lowing comments on his testimony : — ‘ For the prisoner, you have had
one gentleman called, who is likewise one of the faculty, and a very able
man. I can hardly say what his opinion is, for he does not seem to
have formed any opinion at all of the matter. He, at first, said he could
not form an opinion whether the death was or was not occasioned by the
poison, because he could conceive that it might be ascribed to other
causes. I wished very much to have got a direct answer from Mr.
Hunter, if I could, what, upon the whole, was the result of his atten-
tion and application to the subject, and what was his present opinion,
but he says he can say nothing decisive. So that upon this point, if
you are to determine upon the evidence of the gentlemen who are skilled
in the faculty only, you have the very positive opinion of four or five
gentlemen of the faculty that the deceased died of poison. On the other
side, you have what I really cannot myself call more than the doubt of
another; for it is agreed by Mr. Hunter, that the laurel-water would
produce the symptoms which are described. He says an epilepsy or
apoplexy would produce the same symptoms; but as to an apoplexy, it
is not likely to attack so young and so thin a man as Sir Theodosius was;

and as to epilepsy, the other witnesses tell you they don’t think the
symptoms which have been spoken of, do show that Sir Theodosius had
epilepsy at the time.’ ”

The jury retired for about an hour, and then brought in a verdict of
guilty, and Capt. Donellan was executed.

It was and still is (says professor Beck) a prevailing opinion with
many, that Sir T. Boughton was not poisoned, and that the captain was
innocent. Dr. Male notices this case as “ a melancholy and striking
instance of the unhappy effects of popular prejudice, uud the fatal con-
sequences of medical ignorance.” Mr. Phillips, in his “ Theory of
Presumptive Proofs,” adduces it as an instance where a man was unwar-
rantably condemned on circumstantial evidence.*

As a medical man it might be inquired of Dr. Male, whether the
symptoms preceding this death have not been most strikingly and
astonishingly verified, as probably originating from laurel-water, bv
the subsequent investigations of chemists and physicians. Mr. Hunter
says, in his testimony, that he had never known laurel-water to act so
raj) idly as the other medical witnesses described. He had injected it
into the veins and into the stomach of animals, but it never produced
so quick an effect. Who have subsequent trials proved to be correct
on this point — Mr. Hunter, or the other witnesses P

The fact of Captain Donellan s having a still is cautiously omitted in
Mr. Phillips’s statement of the case, and it is evident from his comments,
that they are founded on imperfect information concerning the subject in
dispute.

Another circumstance has also been overlooked or not mentioned, viz.
that in Captain Donellan 's secretary there was found, that part of the
Philosophical Transactions, and that alone, in which the essay on the
ellects of cherrv-laurel water, and its mode of preparation, are described :
and curiously enough the paye was turned down at that particular part,
as if to afford evidence of its having been the subject of study.

The oil of laurel also acts as a virulent poison, and in a similar man-
ner to the distilled water. The watery extract, however, according
to Orfila, is very feeble, and comparatively innoxious in its operation.
For the effects of bitter almonds, and of their essential oil, we refer our
readers to Art. XLIII. Vol. I. of this work.

The kernels of the peach are very often distilled for the purpose of
impregnating eau de noyau, and if too strongly impregnated with the
oil, it must prove noxious. The late Duke Charles of Lorrain nearly
lost his life by swallowing a small quantity of this liquor, and although
we are unable to furnish our readers with the particulars, several fatal
cases have occurred in England.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The leaves and
bark of this tree are of a bitter, somewhat acrid taste, and have
a smell characteristic of the volatile oil which they contain.
This oil is most abundant in the leaves when gathered in the
autumn. It is formed of two parts ; one crystallizable, the other

* Appendix to his Law of Evidence, p. 30.

uncrystallizable and very poisonous. A particular vegetable
principle which has been long known, hut has till lately been
confounded with gum, exudes nearly in a pure state from this
and some other trees. To it, Dr. John gave the name of cerasin.
Cerasin is a solid substance possessing the appearance of gum,
and is distinguished by a similar taste. It is usually harder
than gum, and not so easily reduced to powder; when put into
water, it imbibes that liquid, swells up considerably, and be-
comes semi-transparent, and gelatinous, but is not in the least
soluble. It dissolves in boiling water, hut again precipitates
when the licjuid cools, and remains in the state of a jelly. Ce-
rasin is insoluble in alcohol and ether. Gum Tragacanth may
he considered as pure cerasin. But the most important product
of the Prunus lauro-cerasus is the volatile oil (prussic or hy-
drocyanic acid) which it yields on distillation, and the poisonous
effects of which are particularly adverted to in the remarks on
distilled laurel- water.

Prussic acid, when obtained for medicinal purposes, is however
procured in a different manner; and as it is all-important that
it he of uniform power, we give Vauquelin’s method, which is
principally recommended by British practitioners, and resorted to
by our best chemists. M. Vauquelin obtains it by decomposing
the cyanuret of mercury by sulphuretted hydrogen. To a retort
he adapts a globe, containing a mixture of sulphuret of iron
and diluted sulphuric acid. The cyanuret of mercury is placed
in a horizontal tube, bent to a right angle, at the extremity of
which, enters the globe. The cyanuret of mercury is placed in
the horizontal part of the tube, near the extremity attached to
the globe. Beyond the deuto-cyanuret, fragments of carbonate
of lead and of chloruret of calcium are placed, the former to
absorb the small quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen which might
remain undecomposed by the cyanuret of mercury, the latter to
take up the water which the hydrocyanic acid might otherwise
carry along with it.

Scheeles’ method furnishes an impure product, and when the
new Pharmacopoeia appears, we hope to find a standard rule for
procuring so powerful a medicine.

Prussic acid , at the ordinary temperature, is liquid, transpa-
rent, and colourless ; its taste, at first of an agreeable freshness,
soon becomes acrid and irritating ; it slightly reddens the tinc-
ture of turnsol. Its odour is powerful and noxious ; being in-
supportable when not mixed with a large proportion of air — it
then resembles the smell of bitter almonds. Prussic acid is ex-
tremely volatile ; in fact, it boils at 26°. 5, under a pressure of
0°. 76; and at 10° sustains a column of mercury at 0°. 38. Its
congelation is however easily effected, and takes place at 15° of
Fahr.: so that when a few drops of this acid are poured upon
paper, the portion which evaporates instantly produces a degree
of cold sufficient to crystallize the other : it is the only liquid
which possesses this property. It is but slightly soluble in
water, on which account, when agitated with ten or twelve times
its bulk of this fluid, it collects on the surface in the manner of
oil or ether. It is readily soluble in alcohol. Left to itself in
ill-stopped vessels, it sometimes decomposes in less than an
hour; according to M. Majendie, it can rarely be preserved
longer than a fortnight. Messrs. Waugh, in Regent Street, are
said, however, to prepare it after the formula of Dr. Nimmo, and
warrant it to keep, without deterioration, for six months.

Perhaps the most safe and elegant mode of administering mi-
nute and accurate doses of Prussic acid, is to liberate it from the
cyanuretof potassium, as recommended by Mr. Laming.

Prussic acid exerts the same deadly powers that the distilled
laurel-water does, but in a more eminent degree. One drop, in
a pure state, placed on the tongue of a dog or cat, induces a
few hurried inspirations, and death immediately ensues. Dropped
into the eye, it produces effects equally sudden. One drop di-
luted with several drops of alcohol, injected into the jugular vein,
will kill the animal as suddenly, as if it were struck with light-
ning; and in animals poisoned in this manner, scarcely any traces
of muscular irritability can be detected a few moments after
death.

Cases are continually occurring in this country, in which prus-
sic acid has been taken with the express intention of producing
death ; and in the Annales de C/iimie for 1814, the following one

is recoi tied. A professor of chemistry left a Hask containing
alcohol saturated with prussic acid; the servant-maid, seduced
by the agreeable smell of the liquor, swallowed a glass of it. At
the expiration of two minutes she fell dead, as if she had been
struck with apoplexy. The laxly was not opened.

Orfila also mentions that Professor Scharinger, of Vienna, pre-
pared some pure and concentrated prussic acid, a certain quan-
tity of which he diffused on his naked arm, and died a short
time after.

Hufeland relates the following case. “ D. L., a robust and
healthy man, aetat. 36, on being seized as a thief bv the police,
snatched a small sealed phial from his pocket, broke off the neck,
and swallowed the greater part of its contents. A strong smell
of bitter-almonds soon spread around, which almost stupefied all
present. The culprit staggered a few minutes, then, without a
groan, fell on his knees, and sunk lifeless on the ground. Me-
dical assistance being called in, not the slightest trace of pulse
or breathing could be found. A few minutes afterwards, a single
and violent inspiration occurred, which was again repeated in
about two minutes. The extremities were perfectly cold, the
breast and abdomen still warm, the eyes half open and shining,
clear, lively, full, almost projecting, and as brilliant as those of
the most ardent youth under violent emotion. The face was
neither distorted nor convulsed, but bore the image of quiet
sleep. The corpse exhaled a strong odour of bitter-almonds.
And the remaining liquid in the phial being analysed, was found
to be a concentrated solution of prussic acid in alcohol.

Even its vapour should be carefully avoided ; for if respired
it causes considerable pain in the chest, and a feeling of oppres-
sion which does not go off for several hours. It also has a very
deleterious effect on germination, exerting an influence on living
vegetables, almost as powerful as on animals, speedily destroying
their vitality.

Tests. — It having been denied that the presence of the vege-
table poisons could be detected, the attention of chemists has been
directed to this point; and in the Archives Generates for August
1824, M. Lassaigne has made known the proper method of dc-

tecting hydrocyanic acid in the human body. Before devoting
himself to the research on this substance in the stomach of ani-
mals, he considered it proper to study the actions of the re-agents
on this acid. He is satisfied that, by saturating an aqueous
solution of hydrocyanic acid, with a small quantity of potass,
and then touching it with a littl e sulphate of iron, he could detect
the raU part of the weight of water. If instead of the sulphate
of iron, he employed sulphate of copper , and then added a suf-
ficient quantity of muriatic acid to dissolve the excess of oxyde of
copper which had been precipitated by the alkali ; the solution
assumed a milky appearance, at the time when it only contains
i*ksB part of its weight of acid. If we dilute this solution in a
large quantity of water, the precipitation disappears in a few
hours, and the fluid becomes clear, especially if the liquid in
which the precipitation first took place has the muriatic acid a
little in excess.

A fact well worthy of remark is, that in making the two-fold
experiment by these tests, that made by the sulphate of copper
will have its effect disappear, and the fluid will become clear
frequently before that which has been treated by the sulphate
of iron has acquired the blue colour proper to it. It sometimes
happens, that this colour does not show itself for twelve, and
sometimes for eighteen hours afterwards.

It is by the help of these tests that M. Lassaigne has disco-
vered, forty-eight hours after the death of a cat, the hydrocyanic
acid in the intestinal tube. The method of procedure is to dis-
til in a tubulated retort, the fluid that has been obtained from
the intestines by cutting them into small pieces. As the hydro-
cyanic acid is very volatile, it passes over in distillation. When
you have obtained about ^ of the fluid, you need not carry the
operation further, but saturate the product by potash, and exa-
mine it by the two modes before described. The following
observation has been deduced from the experiments of this
chemist : —

1. That by these two tests he could detect, in a distilled fluid,
hydrocyanic acid in the proportion of n>feo to wfoo of the
weight of water.

2. 1 hat it is possible to detect it, in poisoned animals, more
than forty-eight hours after death.

3. That it is always in the viscera that its vestiges can be
discovered.

4. That not the least portion can be detected in the brain,
spinal marrow, or heart. Although they give out ah odour
which causes its existence to be suspected.

From a paper read, however, before the Royal Academy of
Medicine at Paris, by M. Itard, it appears that a spontaneous
development of prussic acid is occasionally met with in the
alvine evacuations. He quoted two cases of the kind. The first
subject had inflammation of the intestines; the other symptoms
of inflammation of the liver. In both individuals, the stools smelt
strongly of bitter almonds. These facts are certainly highly
important in a medico-legal point of view ; as the existence
merely of the odour of prussic acid in the fieces cannot, under
sucl) circumstances, be received as evidence that the person had
been poisoned with this medicine. M. De Lens related, on
the same occasion, several facts, which showed that prussic acid
had been found in the perspiration, urine, and expectoration, ac-
counting for the blue colour of those liquids. M. Dupay ob-
served, that cows fed in certain pastures gave blue milk. M.
Virey quoted a case where cows fed with the piiunus Padus,
exhaled a very strong smell of bitter almonds.

The existence of prussic acid in the excrements of these ani-
mals was ascertained by the sulphate of iron. M. Mark related
that in Germany some persons had been poisoned by eating sau-
sages, in all of whom a great quantity of prussic acid was spon-
taneously developed.

Treatment. — The effects of this poison are so instanta-
neous, that when taken with a view to suicide, the fatal purpose
is generally at once accomplished. Occasionally, however, serious
effects are produced by overdoses in medicine ; and under such
circumstances, in addition to the means recommended in Art.
XXXVII. under the head of Nicotiana Tabacum, we should
recommend cold affusion to the head, and repeated doses of am-
monia, solutions of chlorine, or chloride of lime, warm brandy
and water, or the spirits of turpentine.

Medical Properties and Uses — Dr. Elliotson justly
observes in his valuable work, * that hydrocyanic acid can
scarcely he called a new medicine, as the leaves of the lauro-
ccrasus, bitter almond, and other substances containing it, and
from which they derive their virtues, were long ago employed as
remedies. Dr. Brown Langrishf tells us that the powder of the
dry leaves of the lauro-cerasus was frequently employed in his
neighbourhood as a certain cure for ague, “ by giving as much
as will lie on a shilling, in a glass of white wine, two hours be-
fore the fit, and repeating it three times. It is held in great
esteem among the poorer sort of people, and is said to have good
success.” By referring also to the account of Amygdalus coin-
munis, in our work, it will be seen that Bergius successfully
treated ague with bitter almonds. Nurses occasionally put a
leaf of the lauro-cerasus in pap, to relieve flatulence; while
Baylies boasts of its virtues in hectic, and speaks of it as effica-
cious in attenuating the blood : that it was given during the last
century as a remedy for consumption, is evident from a refer-
ence to it by Cullen, who says, “ that it has been of no use in
cases of phthisis puhnonalis, or in resolving obstructions of the
liver, seems to be concluded upon too few experiments.’-'

Not only every class of agents produces peculiar effects upon the
living body, but every individual, besides the general properties
of its class, is characterized by peculiar effects. The hydro-
cyanic acid is a narcotic, but it has not the property of lessening
pain in general, nor of procuring sleep in a direct manner like
opium ; neither has it the power of controlling the pulse like
Digitalis. In a large dose, short of fatal effects, it, as we have
already hinted, occasions insensibility and extreme feebleness of
the heart’s action ; in a smaller, vertigo, faintness, and perhaps
rapidity of pulse, sickness, and a sense of constriction at the
pra;cordia : in a still smaller, nausea only, with perhaps momen-
tary vertigo, and even pain of the stomach. Although, in too
large a dose it irritates the stomach, it has a remarkable power

* Numerous cases illustrative of the Efficacy of the Hydrocyanic or Prussic Acid
in Affections of the Stomach, &c. By John Elliotson, M.D.
t Physical Expeiiments upon Brutes, p. 122. 1746.

when properly exhibited of soothing this organ when in a state of
morbid irritability. In Dr. Elliotson’s extensive practice at St.
Thomas’s Hospital, it has been satisfactorily proved, we under-
stand. to be the best remedy in gastrodynia and in pyrosis ; but
its powers are most conspicuous in vomiting unconnected with
inflammation of this organ. Frequently, as in pregnant women,
it is observed to arrest, at the first few doses, perhaps at the very
first, vomiting which had existed for several weeks, merely from
morbid irritability ; and hiccough also has frequently yielded
to it. V et, what is singular, it will not mitigate pain in the in-
testines. It cannot therefore be expected to relieve, nor does
it even lessen pain generally, in other parts; and as a conse-
quence, cannot be employed as a general anodyne.

The attacks of pain which occur in angina pectoris, and so
closely resemble gastrodynia in situation and course, as probably
to be mistaken, are said to be more relieved by it than by any
other means.

It is also employed with advantage in the hooping, and what
is called spasmodic cough ; i. e. when there is no inflammation or
organic disease ; or where these exist, the cough is dispropor-
tionately violent. After proper antiphlogistic measures in inflam-
mations of the chest, it has been useful ; and occasionally in
consumption, in palliating symptoms; but as it ]X)ssesses no
power over organic disease, it is not a cure for consumption, as some
have too fondly wished ; and a physician asserting in the nine-
teenth century, what time has proved to be incorrect, that it has
cured several hundred cases, either shows a disregard of truth,
or an ignorance of the symptoms and pathology of this fatal dis-
ease— for which he is alike culpable.

Nervous patients it sometimes soothes considerably. Hut, ex-
cepting in affections of the stomach, we may doubt whether it
possesses any advantages over opium, properly administered ; and
in procuring sleep, relieving pain in general, or as a remedy for
diabetes, it will be found a poor substitute.

When palpitation depends upon dyspepsia, it, in common with
other symptoms, is greatly mitigated by this acid.

The external application of the prussic acid, greatly diluted,

has been recommended to soothe irritation of the skin. But it
more frequently causes smarting sensations, and a degree of dry-
ness, even when extremely diluted, that renders it worse than
useless. Externally, though occasionally beneficial, it is infi-
nitely inferior in its effects to the chloruret of soda, which, as
a disinfecting agent, and as a cleanser of sloughing ulcers, we
particularly recommend.

Dose. — The largest dose of the acid generally borne, prepared
by Vauquelin’s method, varies from one to five drops. We should
begin with one drop, and increase the dose one drop daily, or
every other day, till the symptoms yield, or signs of its disagree-
ing appear, such as severe vomiting, vertigo, or a sense of debi-
lity. The dose should be then reduced to what is borne with
comfort. It may be continued any length of time without fear
of accumulation of effect, or constitutional operation. It should
not be given on an empty stomach ; and when several doses are
combined, the mixture should be well shaken previously to its
administration.

PRUNUS DOMESTICA — Common Plum-tree.

Spec. Char. Flower -.stalk a solitary or in pairs. Leaves
lanceolate-ovate, convolute while young. Branches
without thorns.

Syn. — Primus, n. 1079. Hall. Hist. v. 227.

Prunus sativa, Fuchs Hist. 403. f.

Prunus domestica, Lin. Sp. PI. 680 ; Wild. v. 2. 995; FI. Brit. 527 ; Eng.
But. v. 25. t. 1/83 ; Hook. Scot. 150; Ger. Em. 1497. f. ; Woodv. t. 85.
Foreign. Prunier, Prune, Fr ; Prvgno ; Susino, It.; Ciruelo, Sp: ; Ameriera,
Port.; Ppjlaumen, Ger.; Plomman, Swell.; Sliwnik, Russ.

The plum-tree is frequently found growing wild in our woods
and hedges, bearing flowers in April anti May ; but the country
from whence it originally came has not been ascertained.
“ Whether,” says Sir J. E. Smith, “ all our cultivated plums
may formerly have originated from the Prunus insitia , (Wilt!
Bui lace- tree,) its thorns having disappeared by culture, like those
of the pear-tree, is a question which perhaps no botanist can
ever solve.” With respect to the varieties, Parkinson, in 1629,
enumerates no fewer than sixty, “ all of which,” he says, “ are to
be had of my good friend Master John Tradescant, who hath
wonderfully laboured to obtain all the rarest fruits he can hear of
in any place in Christendom, Turkey, yea, or the whole world.”
Professor Martyn, in his edition of Miller’s Gardener’s Diction-
ary, also enumerates sixty varieties of the plum. We have now,
however, nearly three hundred garden varieties.

The plum-tree rises about fifteen feet in height, and is desti-
tute of spines. The leaves are pale green, oval, serrated, on
short footstalks, and when young, convoluted and pubescent
underneath ; the stipules are pointed, and placed in pairs at the
base of the footstalks. The flowers are large, on short peduncles,
with a bell-shaped, deciduous calyx, and five, obovate white
petals. The filaments are numerous, and inserted into the calyx :
the germen is round, and supports a simple style. The fruit is
an oblong drupe, internally consisting of a sweet fleshy pulp, and
inclosing a smooth almond-shaped nut or stone.

Although in deference to our collegiate authorities, who follow
Linneus, in associating the cherries and plums in the same genus,
the Cherry-laurel has been treated of here as a species of Prte-
nus, it may be as well to observe that modern botanists have
found it advisable to separate the cherries from the plums, and to
revert to those distinctions which were acknowledged by Miller,
and which have always been popularly maintained; for not
only do the cherries and plums differ in the shape of the stone,
but the drupes of the former are smooth and shining, while those
of the latter are pruinose, or covered with a resinous secretion,
commonly called bloom. But even the cherries thus separated
from the plums, both need and admit of a further subdivision,
as they differ in properties and habit, as well as in structure.
Hence the genus Cerastes has been divided by some botanists
into two or three genera ; but as the structural differences occur
in the organs of vegetation, they are perhaps with more propriety
considered as only forming subgeneric groups.

In ( Cerastes , or Cerasophora,) the true cherry, the inflores-
cence is in tufts, or sertula, not in racemes. In (La uro cerastes,)
the Cherry-laurel, the flowers and fruit are in racemes, and the
leaves are evergreen. AVhile in Padus, a group sometimes se-
parated from Lauro-cerasus, and sometimes combined with it,
although the inflorescence is racemose, the leaves are deciduous.
These subgeneric distinctions are at least as important, if not
more so, in an economical as in a systematic point of view,
for prussic acid, which abounds in the Latero-cercesi, even in
their leaves, is almost absent from the true cherries, and in the
intermediate Padi, it occurs only in very moderate proportions.
— Vide Outlines of Botany , <SfC. 2265.

Qualities. — Three sorts of this fruit are ranked among the
articles of the materia medica ; they are all met with in our gar-
dens, but the shops are supplied with them moderately dried
from abroad. These are the Brignole plum, or Prunelle, brought
from Brignole in Provence, of a reddish yellow colour, and a very
grateful sweet, subacid taste ; the common or French prunes,
called by our gardeners the little black damask plum, and dam-
sons, the larger damask violet plum of Tours, which is seldom

kept in the shops, its place having generally been supplied by the
common prunes. All these fruits possess the same general qua-
lities with the other summer fruits. When perfectly ripe, they
are pleasant to the palate, and moderately nutritive; hut when
eaten too freely they are apt to occasion flatulence, griping, and
diarrhoea. They are nearly inodorous, and contain chiefly mucus,
saccharine matter, and malic acid.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The dried fruit, or
prunes, are gently laxative, and enter as an ingredient into the
Confectio sennce of our pharmacopoeias. They are advanta-
geously employed as an article of diet? jn costive habits, and in
febrile and other diseases.

The fruit of the sloe, (Prunus spinosa ,) is a powerful astrin-
gent; and the inspissated juice is a substitute for the Indian
catechu. This juice is also largely used in factitious or adulte-
rated port-wine, and the leaves are reckoned among the adulte-
rations of tea in England.

/

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CXVIII

ERYTHIGEA CENTAUR1UM .

Common Centaury.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat,. Ord. Rotace.e, Lin. Gextian.e, Juss. Gextiaxe.e,
De Cand. Gextianace.e, Gentianid.e, Burn.

Gex. Char. Capsule 2-celled. Corolla salver-shaped.

Anthers becoming- spiral. Stigma 2-lobed.

Spec. Char. Stem nearly simple. Panicle forked,
corymbose. Leaves ovate-lanceolate. Calyx halt
the length of the tube, its segments partly combined
by a membrane.

Syn. — Centaurium minus, Uaii Spn. 286 ; Bauli. Pin. 278 ; Camer. Epit. 428. f.
Centauriuni parvum, Ger. Em. 347. f. ; Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 19. f.
Centaurium, n. 638, Hall. Hist.v. 1. 288.

Gentiana Centaurium, Lin. Sp. PI. 332 ; Cull. * Fr . t. 253 ; FI. Dan. t. 617.
Chironia Centaurium, Ft. Brit. 257 ; Eng. Bot. v. 6. t. 417 ; Willd. Sp. PI.
v. 1. 1068 ; Curt. Land. fasc. 4. t. 22 ; Woodv. 1. 157.

Foreign. — Gentiane centaurelle ; Petit Gentanree, Fr. ; Centaur ea minor e, It. ; Cen-
taurea menor, Sp. ; Tausendgdldenkraut, Ger. ; Solotnik-polewoi, Russ.

This elegant annual grows spontaneously in most parts of Bri-
tain, in dry gravelly pastures, and in woods; flowering in July
and August. Dr. Milne found it in great abundance in Charl-
ton Wood, near the seven mile-stone, on the lower road to Wool-
wich ; in the meadows about Eltham and Sidcup ; in Shooter’s
Hill Wood ; and in the chalk-pits at Northfleet. We also
observed it plentifully in Birch Wood, Kent. A white variety
was gathered by Mr. Lawson, near the medicinal well at Cart-
mel, in Lancashire; and is affirmed by the editor of the third
edition of Ray’s Synopsis, to be pretty common in Kent and in
the isle of Sheppey. It occurs generally throughout Europe, as
far northward as Sweden.

The plant rises from a small woody, fibrous root, to the height
of ten or twelve inches. The stem is slender, erect, angular,
leafy, sometimes branched at the upper part, and when very

VOL. II.

L> n

luxuriant, from the base also. The leaves grow close to the stalk,
in pairs, tending upwards, and are pointed, ovate, or elliptic-
lanceolate. Those next the root are numerous, obovate, and
form a tuft near the ground : they arc all smooth, ribbed like
those of plaintain or soap-wort, and of a bright green colour.
The flowers, which open in the day-time and shut at night, are
disposed in a beautiful more or less dense panicle, at the extre-
mity of the forked branches. They have a smooth, striated,
5-cleft calyx, about half the length of the tube of the corolla,
whose limb is of a brilliant pink or rose-colour, rarely white, and
divided into five elliptical spreading segments, succeeded by an
oblong cylindrical capsule, that opens by two valves, disclosing a
number of small seeds. The filaments are thread-shaped, and fur-
nished with oblong, yellow anthers, which become spiral or three-
times twisted, after bursting, as represented by fig. a, on the
plate. The gcrmen is oblong, bearing a straight style, with a
roundish bifid stigma.

The genus Erytlmca, so named from the red colour of most of die
flowers, contains four British species. It differs from Chironia, (which
was originally appropriated to an African genus,) in habit, in the long
tube anil short limb of the corolla, and in other less important charac-
ters. The term Centaurium was bestowed on this species in honour of
Chiron the Centaur, the celebrated preceptor of Achilles, who by the
testimony of Pliny, (1. xxv. c. 6,) cured with it Hercules s foot, which
had been wounded with a poisoned arrow.

Qualities. — The flowering tops are principally used in medicine;
they are intensely bitter, without any peculiar smell. fl heir active
powers are extracted both by water and alcohol. The decoction with
water affords, by inspissation, a bitter extract.

Meihcai. Properties and Uses.— Common, or Lesser Centaury, as
it is sometimes called, has long been celebrated for its medicinal virtues,
and is justly esteemed as one of the most efficacious of our indigenous
bitters. It is a useful stomachic and antiseptic, and before the discovery
of cinchona, was much employed as a useful tonic, in the cure of inter-
mittent and continued fevers. As a bitter, it may be given with advan-
tage in dyspeptic complaints, and in all cases where that class of remedies
is indicated. The tops enter as an ingredient into the Portland powder ;
once in the highest repute as a remedy against the gout, but now veiy
properl v discarded from medical practice, lhe extract agrees in its me-
dical properties with that of gentian, and being less expensive, is peihaps
preferable. The dose of the powder is from ^ls to ~j ; of the extiact gr.
v. to 9j ; of an infusion, made by macerating |ij of the dried tops in lb.fs of
boiling water, 5ij may be taken three or four times a day.

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CXIX

RHAMNUS CATHARTICUS.

Common Buckthorn.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Dumos.e, Lin. Rhamni, Juss. Rhamnee, De Cand.

Rhamnace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx funnel-shaped, bearing1 the pe-
tals. Berry of several cells. Seeds with a cartila-
ginous strophiole.

Spec. Char. Leaves ovate, serrated. Flowers 4-cleft,
dioecious. Thorns terminal Berry with four seeds.

Syn. — Rliaranus solutivus, Ger. Em. 1337. /. 1. 2; Dod. Pempt. 736. f.

Rbamnus n. 824 ; Hall. Hist. v. 1. 336.

Cervispina, Corel. Hist. 175 ./.

Spina infectoria, Matth. Valg. v. 1. 143./ ; Camer. Epit. 82/.

Rbamnus catharticus, Lin. Sp. PI. 279; Willd. v. 1. 1092; FI. Rrit. 260 ;
Eng. Bot. v. 23. t. 1629; Hook. Scot. 80 ; llaii Syn. 466 ; Bauh. Pin. 478;
Woodv. t. 114.

Foheion. — Nerprun ; nerpmn purgatif ordinaire, Fr. , Ramuno ratartico ; Spino cer-
vino. It.; Ramno catartico ; espina de ciervo, Sp.; Escambrociero, Port;
Gemeine Kreusdorn, Ger. ; Getappel, Swed. : Korsbcertorn, Dan. ;

Pridoroschnaja igolkei, Russ.

Buckthorn is, perhaps, as well known among herbalists and
rustic practitioners as any indigenous medicinal plant of Great
Britain. It has been long celebrated for the cathartic qualities
of its berries, which are gathered by the common people in some
places in considerable quantities, and the juice expressed for the
use of the apothecaries. It grows wild in hedges, groves, and
thickets, flowering in May, and ripening its fruit in September.
It is rather uncommon in the neighbourhood of London ; but
Dr. Milne found it in some lanes betwixt Plumstead and East
Wickham ; in a chalk-pit betwixt Gravesend and Chatham, and
in copses above Purfleet. The specimen from which our figure
was designed, grew in the lane leading from the Fox and Hounds
public house to Darentli Wood, two miles beyond Hartford, in

n n 2

Kent. We have also observed it in great abundance in the
hedges near Thames Ditton ; and Mr. W. Anderson, of the Bo-
tanic Garden, Chelsea, informs us it grows plentifully about
Norwood, in Surrey.

Buckthorn is a shrub, which rises to the height of seven or
eight feet, with a smooth dark-brown bark, and yellowish wood.
The branches are alternate, or nearly opposite, spreading, and
each terminating in a strong spine, after the first year. The
leaves are simple, entire, ribbed, smooth, finely serrated, and of
a bright green colour ; the earlier ones downy, and in tufts from
the flowering buds; those on the young shoots, opposite, and
smooth. The flowers are small, sustained on pedicels, and stand
in thick clusters on the extremities of the last year’s branches.
They are generally of different sexes on distinct plants; the fer-
tile flowers, with the rudiments of stamens, narrow petals, and a
deeply four-cleft style ; the barren ones with an abortive germen,
and broader petals. The anthers are small, roundish, on short
awl-shaped filaments, and inserted in the mouth of the four-cleft
calyx, opposite to each petal. The berries, which succeed the
germen in the female flowers, are black when ripe, globular, of
the size of a pea, and contain a green pulp, with four cells, and
as many seeds, that are smooth, elliptical, convex on one side,
and flattened on the other. By this last character they are easily
known by druggists, from the fruit of the Rhamnus Frangula ,
which has only two seeds, and is supposed to be less active.
Fig. (a) represents a male flower ; (6) female flower ; (c) a sta-
men; (d) the fruit ; (e) the section of a berry, showing the four
cells; (f) the seed.

There are two British species of Buckthorn: Common Buck-
thorn, ah’eadv described, and Alder Buckthorn, or Berry-bear-
ing Alder, (R. Frangula.) The latter is a shrub, which, like the
preceding, grows to a considerable height, with smooth entire
leaves, and flowers in May. It is destitute of thorns; and the
berries, which ripen in July, are dark purple, each containing
two large yellowish seeds. This plant formerly obtained a place
in the foreign dispensatories, under the name of Frangula. The
inner bark, the only part used in medicine, when dried is a dras-

tic purgative; emetic, when green The berries gathered before
they are ripe dye wool green, and yellow ; when ripe, blue-grey,
blue, and green. The bark dyes yellow, and, with preparations
of iron, black.

The species usually cultivated, or introduced as objects of cu-
riosity are, — the Turkey-berry buckthorn, (R. infectorius ; )
the shining-leaved buckthorn, or common jujube, (R- zizyphus ;)
the common alaternus, (R. Alaternus\) the pubescent rhamnus,
or Bahama red-wood, (R. colubrinus ;) the common Christ’s thorn,
(R. Paliurus;) the pointed-leaved buckthorn, (R. anoplia ;)
and the Syrian Christ’s-thorn (R. spina Christi.)

The first is a native of the south of Europe. It is frequent in
rough stony places in Greece, and is regarded by Dr. Sibthorp
as the Avkiov, Lycium, of Dioscorides. The unripe berries are
much used for dyeing, and are imported into England under the
name of French berries. They are chiefly used for topical
dyeing in calico printing; but the colour which they communi-
cate is very fugitive ; they are also used to give the colour to
Turkey leather, or yellow morocco. This shrub is very nearly
related to the R. catharticus , but grows procumbent, not erect,
and the leaves are smaller and narrower.

The fruit of the shining-leaved buckthorn, or common jujube,
is sold in the market at Canton during the autumn. It is about
the size of an olive, of a yellowish-red colour, sweetish and
clammy. In Italy and Spain it is served up at table, in desserts
during the winter season, as a dry sweetmeat. It was formerly
kept in the shops, under the name of jujubes^ and recommended
in coughs and other pulmonary complaints, but has now fallen
into disuse in England, although in France it is still esteemed.

The natives of Siberia use the wood of an unarmed species,
the Rhamnus Erythroxylon, or Siberian Red-wrood, to make their
images, on account of its hardness and colour. According to
Osbeck, the poor in China, where the shrub is a native, use the
leaves of the It. (now Segeretia) Theezans , as a substitute for
the genuine tea, and it is even called by them Tin. Another
species (It. Paliurus , or Paliurus aculeatus,) which is affirmed
by travellers to be one of the most common shrubs in Judea,

is supposed by some to be the plant from which the crown of
thorns put upon the head of Christ was composed ; but Dr.
Hasselquist is rather disposed to think it was the R. spina
Chrisli of Linneus. The true Lotus of the Greeks (Rhamnus
or Zizyphus Lotus) is one of the most common shrubs in
many parts of Africa. The fruit is described by Park, as a small
farinaceous berry, of a yellow colour, and delicious taste.

Qualities. — The odour of the buckthorn-berries is faint and
unpleasant ; and to the taste they are bitter, acrid, and nauseous.
They are said to contain acetic acid, mucilage, sugar, and an azo-
tized substance.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The juice of the berries
is a violent griping, drastic purgative, capable of exerting very
injurious effects; and although occasionally employed as a do-
mestic remedy, it is now chiefly used in veterinary practice. A
syrup is still prepared from buckthorn-berries, as directed by
the London and Edinburgh colleges. The London form is pre-
ferred on account of the aromatics which enter into its composi-
tion, preventing its griping effects. It is, however, a violent
remedy, and produces most unconquerable dryness of the mouth
and throat, and intolerable thirst. The dose is from six drachms
to an ounce.

From the inspissated juice of the ripe berries, with a very small
addition of alum, is obtained that green colour so well known by
the name of verte-de-vessie or sap green. Sometimes it is pre-
pared by adding eight pounds of lime-water to twelve pounds of
the expressed juice, and six ounces of gum arabic; which mix-
ture is afterwards evaporated to the consistence of an extract,
and dried for use.

cxx

ULMUS CAMPESTRIS.

Common Small-leaved Elm.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order II. Digynja.

Nat. Ord. Scabrid^e, Lin. Amentace.e, Juss.
Ulmace.e, Mirb. Cei.tide.e, Rich.

Gen. Char. Corolla 0. Capsule compressed, inem-
- branous, superior.

Spec. Char. Leaves doubly serrated, rough. Flowers
nearly sessile, 4«-cleft. Capsule oblong, deeply cloven,
naked.

Syn. — Ulmus minor, folio augusto scabro, Good in Ger. Em. 1480 f. ; Raii. Syn. 469.
Ulmus, Dod. Pempt. 137 f.

Ulmus campestris, Lin. Sp. PI. 327 ; II illd. v. 1. 1324 ; FI. Brit. 281 ; Eng.
Bot. v. 27. 1. 1886 ; Woodv. 2 d. ed. 710. t. 242.

Foreign. — Orme, Fr. ; Olmo, It. Sp. and Port.; Ulmrinde, Ger. ; Aim, Dan. and
Swed ; Otm, Dut. ; Him, Russ.

The common small-leaved elm is generally understood to be
indigenous to the south of England, though the fact has been
doubted by Evelyn and others. Several superstitious customs
were practised on this and other elm-trees by our Saxon ances-
tors. A canon of king Edgar, in the tenth century, may be
thus literally translated. “ We decree that every priest shall
anxiously advance Christianity, entirely abolish all heathenism,
and forbid tree-worship, divination with the dead, omens, charms
with songs, man-worship, and many other illusions which are
practised in asylums on elms, (hence perhaps the name Witch
or Wych-Elm,) and on various other trees, by which many are
perverted who ought not so to be.” Dr. Hunter justly remarks,
there can be no stronger proof of its being known at a very early
period, than that many compound names of places, of which the
word “ elm” forms a part, are to be met with in “ Doomsday
Book,” the drawing up of which was finished in 1086.

The small-leaved elm grows abundantly in the woods and
hedges near London, flowering in April, long before the foliage
expands. It is a lofty tree, sending off' many round, spreading,
crooked, leafy branches, and is covered with a rugged dark-brown
bark. The leaves are elliptical, contracted toward each end,
doubly serrated, and unequal at the base; they are very rough,
wrinkled, and veined, stand alternately on footstalks, and are of
a dark green colour. The flowers are small, and grow in numer-
ous dense, round, dark-purple clusters, from the sides of the
branches before the evolution of the leaves, each flower being
nearly sessile, with an oblong fringed bractea at its base. The
calyx is inferior, turbinate, wrinkled, permanent, and divided at
the lind) into four oblong obtuse segments of a pale brownish red
colour. There is no corolla. The filaments are four or five,
twice as long as the calyx, and bearing dark-purple anthers.
The germen is oblong, compressed, anti supports two styles,
which bend outwards, and are terminated by the stigmas, which
consist of a downy line along the upper surface of each style.
The flowers are succeeded each by an oblong, wedge-shaped flat
pale- brown capsule, which has a deep sinus at the extremity, and
incloses a single seed. Fig. («) represents a flower with its
bractea magnified ; ( b ) the styles; (c) the capsules; ( d ) Scolytus
destructor of the natural size.

Of the elm there are about fifteen species, four of which, besides
the campestris , are natives, or naturalized in Britain, viz. — the
broad-leaved elm, called also the wych hazel, (U. montana ;) the
common cork-barked elm, (U. suberosa ;) the Dutch cork-barked
elm, (U. major;) and the smooth-leaved, or wych elm, (U-
glabra.) In the first of these, the leaves are larger than in any of
the native species; the bark is smooth and even, and the flowers
are stalked and in looser tufts. The common cork-barked elm
has stalked, four or 5-cleft flowers, and like the Dutch elm,
(which has sessile flowers,) is chiefly remarkable for its quick
growth and rough corky bark. The wych elm, which is very
common in Essex, has small leaves, smooth on both sides, nearly
sessile, 5-cleft flowers, and obovate, deeply cloven capsules. Lin-
r\eus confounded all the European elms under the name of
Ulmus campestris.

The elm attains a large size, and lives to a great age. Men-
tion is made of one planted by Henry IV. of France, which was
standing at the Luxemburg Gardens in Paris at the com-
meneement of the French revolution. One at the upper end of
Church-lane, Chelsea, (said to have been planted by Queen
Elizabeth,) was felled in 1783. It was thirteen feet in circum-
ference at the bottom, and one hundred and ten feet high. Mr.
Coxe mentions an ancient elm at Raglan Castle, in Monmouth-
shire, which was twenty-eight feet five inches in circumference
near the root. Piffes’ elm, near the Boddington Oak, in the
vale of Gloucester, was, in 1783, about eighty feet high, and
the smallest girth of the principal trunk was sixteen feet. From
the planting of Sir Francis Bacon’s elms, in Gray’s Inn Walk,
in 1600, and their decay about 1720, one would be disposed to
assign the healthy period of the elm to be about one hundred
and twenty years. The health of these must have been, how-
ever, affected in some degree by the smoke of London. The
superb avenue called the “ Long Walk,” at Windsor, was
planted at the beginning of the last century. Most of the trees
have evidently passed their prime. The most profitable age of
elms, both for quantity and quality of timber, is supposed to be
about fifty or sixty years. The predominance of resin insoluble
in water, and not liable to be acted on by the atmospheric air,
has been assigned as the cause why the pine and the larch are
more durable than the silver fir and the spruce. “ It is possible,”
says Miller, “ that the elm is injured by too much humidity in
the soil upon which it grows ; and the Dutch elm, which is
usually classed as a different species from the common elm, may
be merely the common one debased in the humid soil of
Holland.”

The elm has been always considered as one of the trees which
can be most safely transplanted after attaining a considerable
size. Evelyn gives several accounts of this species being thus
removed into other soils. In the year 1816, a much improved
mode of transplanting this and other forest trees was introduced
by Sir Henry Stewart, of Allanton, for an account of which we
must refer our readers to his valuable work, “the Planter’s Guide.”

The culture of the elm is effected in different ways ; as by
seed, suckers, layers, and grafts. All the sorts and varieties
are of hardy growth, and will succeed perfectly well in any com-
mon soil and exposure, but delight most in a deep rich earth of
a stiffish loamy nature, which is rather inclined to moisture, the
English sorts having the best situations and soil, and the Wych
and Dutch kinds those which are inferior in these respects. The
common small-leaved elm is of slower growth than our other
wild species, with a harder, more durable, and consequently
more valuable wood, which is preferred for most kinds of wheel-
work, pipes for conducting water under the ground, pumps,
coffins, and various other useful purposes.

The elm-tree is liable to be injured, and is sometimes entirely
destroyed by a minute beetle, (Scolytus destructor,) which, in its
preparatory state of metamorphosis, feeds upon the soft inner bark.
This insect, which inhabits the elms of France and Germany, as
well as England, was particularly prevalent, and caused incalcu-
lable mischief in St. James’s and Hyde Parks a few years ago.
The leaves of the trees infested by the scolytus first become yellow,
the trees themselves then die at the top, and ultimately altogether
perish. “ From March to September,” says Mr. Curtis, (to whose
valuable and elegant work we are indebted for the accompanying
figure,) “ the female may be found upon the trunks of elm-trees,
making her way through the bark ; after which she proceeds
between the bark and the wood ; forming a passage, and de-
positing her eggs on each side in her course till site is exhausted,
when she dies, and may generally be found at the extremity of
the channel ; when the eggs which are deposited being close to
each other, hatch, the larvae beginning to feed, working nearly
at right angles from the path of the parent, and proceeding almost
parallel to each other, as expressed in the engraving.”

In order to check the ravages occasioned by these formidable
little animals, Mr. Macleay recommends the infected trees to be
brushed over in March, with a mixture of tar and train oil, a
certain height above ground, which will destroy the larva?.* An

* See Macleay in Edinburgh Philos, Journ. No. XXI. July 1834, p. 123. Curtis
British Entomology, v. 1. t. 43.

insect, similar in its economy, but belonging to a different genus,
the Bostrichus typographic of Fabricius, and known in Ger-
many under the name of Wurm troknvss , (decay caused by
worms,) occasioned terrible devastation among the pines in the
Hartz forest, about the year 1783.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The inner bark,
which is the part used in medicine, has a yellowish colour, and a
mucilaginous bitter astringent taste, without smell. The bark
in the spring is most advantageously stripped from the small,
but not from the smallest branches; and in autumn from the
branching roots. The decoction, when evaporated, leaves a
little semi-transparent substance, soluble in water, but insoluble
in alcohol and ether, which Dr. Thomson, in his Dispensatory,
regards as ulmin ; or rather, as a peculiar modification of mucus,
combined with extractive, gallic acid, and super-tartrate of
potass. Ulmin is the name given to a peculiar substance which
was discovered by the celebrated Klaproth, in the bark of the
elm. It exists in the bark of almost all trees, but is generally
obtained by spontaneous exudation from the elm. It may be pre-
pared by acting on elm-bark by hot alcohol and cold water, and
then digesting the residue in water which contains an alkaline car-
bonate in solution. In the solid state it has the appearance of
gum. It has no taste, and is soluble, though sparingly, in water
and alcohol. The alkaline carbonates dissolve it more abundantly,
and it is precipitated from its solution in them by acids and me-
tallic salts. Dobreiner states, that gallic acid is converted into
ulmin, by dissolving it in ammonia, and exposing the solution to
oxygen gas. Ulmin has not hitherto been applied to any parti-
cular use.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The decoction of elm-
bark has been recommended in various cutaneous diseases; par-
ticularly of the herpetic and leprous kind. Banau recommends
its use in fluor albus, chronic rheumatism, scrofulous affections,
tinea capitis, scurvy, and in old inveterate ulcers. In Yol. II. of
the Medical Transactions, five cases of inveterate eruptions are
narrated by Dr. Lysons, as having been cured by this remedy,
but it is doubtful whether adjuncts are not the chief causes of

relief, Dr. Lettsom also cured what he supposed to be the lepra
ichthyosis of Sauvages by it ; but it is now fallen into disuse as a
remedy of very little power. We think, however, that it deserves
more extensive trials before being discarded from our materia
medica. The Decoction ( Decoctum Ulmi of the pharmacopoeias)
is made by boiling four ounces of the inner bark in four pints of
water down to two pints. Dose from four to six or eight ounces
twice a day.

The bark of the elm dried and ground to powder has been
mixed with meal, in Norway, to make bread in times of scarcity.
The leaves also afford a pleasant nourishment to cattle, and in
some parts of Hertfordshire the poor people gather them in sacks
for this purpose.

CXXI

DIOSMA [vel BAROSMA] CRENATA.
Crenated Diosma.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Multisiliqu.e, Lin. Rut.e, Jnss. Rutace.e, De
Cand. Rutace.e Rutid.e, Diosmea:, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-parted. Nectary or disk peri-
gynous, lobed, or bearing five scales, sometimes re-
sembling filaments, and sometimes petaloid. Cap-
sules three or five, connected, bivalved and mucro-
nate at the apex.

Spec. Char. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, crenate, punc-
tured underneath ; flowers solitary.

Spn. — Hartogia betulina, Berg. Cap. 67.

Diosma crenata, Lin. Sp. PI. 287 ; Am&n. Acad. 6. p. 308 ; Houttugn Lin.

Spits. 3. p. 286 ; Willd. 2. 1 138 ; Tliunb. Dissert, p. 14 ; Ait. IJort. Kew. v.

2. p. 32. Bot. Cab. n. 404.

Barosma crenata, Bartling.

All the species of this genus are shrubs, and natives of the
Cape of Good Hope. The subject of the present article was
introduced by Mr. Francis Masson in the year 1774. It forms
a thin branching shrub, flowering in its native soil throughout
August, September, and October. It is still rare in our collec-
tions ; but blossoms occasionally in March, at Messrs. Loddiges,
at Hackney. For its culture the soil should be sandy peat, and
the plant requires the usual greenhouse protection in winter.

The plant is perennial, erect, everywhere smooth, and rises
about two feet high ; the brandies are round or somewhat angu-
lar, loose, wand-like, and of a purplish colour. The leaves are
opposite, scattered, ovate, pointed, of a dark green colour above,
paler underneath, crenated, and full of small transparent punc-
tures, particularly at the edges between each tooth. The flowers
are solitary on short pedicels, delicate, white, or of a pale reddish

tint, and arise at the ends of short opposite lateral shoots. The
calyx consists of five deep ovate, acute, permanent segments,
'fhe corolla is composed of five elliptic oblong bluntish segments,
slightly spreading. The nectaries are five linear-lanceolate scales
crowning the germen ; or, in other words, the disk is perigynous,
lobed, or bearing filamentoid or petaloid processes. The filaments
are five, awl-shaped, bearing ovate, incumbent anthers. The
germen is superior, and turbinate ; the style erect, the length of
the stamens, with a simple stigma. The capsule is ovate, con-
taining an oblong solitary seed, inclosed in an elastic coat.

The old genus Diosma has been subdivided by modern bota-
nists, and the Buchu belongs to the subdivision now called
Barosma — a change of appellation well deserved by its sensible
qualities, for the scent of its infused leaves is most disgusting,
and little accordant with the etymological signification of its
former name, which is said to be a compound of &oc and 007*17.

Qualities anii Chemical Properties. — The odour of the
whole of this plant is very strong and peculiar. It affords an
essential oil, which resembles a mixture of oil of rue, cubcbs,
and camphor. The extractive matter is slightly bitter and muci-
laginous. It yields to water, on long-continued boiling, a quan-
tity of mucilage; and the essential oil, which is imparted to
boiling water by infusion, is dissipated by decoction. To an
analysis by M. Cadet, jun. the leaves of this plant yielded, *

Essential oil
Gum

Extractive .

Chlorophylle

Resin

0.665

21.17

6.17

1.10

2.151

Medical Properties and Uses. — To this plant the na-
tives of Southern Africa ascribe incredible virtues in numerous
diseases, and of a very opposite nature. To Dr. Recce, of Bolton
Row, we are indebted for the Krameria triandra , as an article of
our authorized materia medica, which as an astringent tonic is

* Journ. Chim. iii. 44.

much prized by Sir H. Halford, at whose recommendation it
found a place in our pharmacopoeia. The former gentleman,
whose therapeutical knowledge is deservedly esteemed, was also
the first to excite the attention of British practitioners to the D.
crenata ; and as the subsequent experience of several able men
in Ireland has confirmed its efficacy, it now ranks amongst the
officinal drugs of the Dublin pharmacopoeia. For several years
it appears to have been successfully prescribed in Holland, for
rheumatism and inflammatory affections of the mucous mem-
branes, particularly of the bladder, urethra, prostate gland, and
rectum. The natives of the Cape, from whom the Dutch de-
rived their knowledge on the subject, are partial to the spirit of
buchu, made by distilling the leaves in the dregs of wine,
which they term buchu-brandy, and regard as a sovereign re-
medy for all chronic diseases, and even acute ones, of the stomach
and bladder, but especially spasmodic affections of the stomach
and intestines. By referring to Burchell’s travels in Africa, it
will be found, that the Hottentots apply a decoction of buchu
leaves to fresh wounds, and also use them as a cosmetic, which
is referred to by Thunberg, when speaking of the uses of the
plants belonging to this genus: “ Inserviunt imprimis uniflora,
pulche/la , crenata , et betulma, quarum folia inter lapides in pul-
verem redigunt Hottentotti, eoque cognomine Buchu, corpus
pinguedine ovina arte inunctum adspergunt, unde odor eorum
graveolens et insuetus valde ingratus.” *

The Diosma crenata appears to be an excellent aromatic sto-
machic, and is very efficacious as a diuretic. It also exerts very
powerful effects on the urinary apparatus, as in irritative affec-
tions and chronic inflammations of the bladder and urethra,
which so often follow mismanaged gonorrhoea, or are the conse-
quences of the retention of urine, diseased prostate gland, stric-
ture of the urethra, the action of calculi, or the rude use of the
bougie. Dr. M'Dowall + has given many cases of these kinds in
which it has been eminently successful, and the correctness of
his assertions is fully borne out by Dr. Cumming, of Dublin.

* Dissert. llotan. de Diosma, p. ‘2.0. f Vide Dublin Medical Transactions.

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CXXII

ANCHUSA TINCTORIA.

Dyer’s Alkanet.

Class V. Pentandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. Asperifoli.e, Lin. Boragine.e, .hiss. De Candy
fyc. BoRAGINACEiE, BoRAGINID.E, 1 Bum.

Gen. Char. Corolla closed with concave obtuse valves ;
funnel-shaped ; tube straight, tumid below. Akenia
concave at the base.

Spec. Char. Downy ; leaves lanceolate, obtuse ;
stamens shorter than the corolla.

Syn. — Ancbusa Monspeliana, Bauh. Hist. v. 3. 584.

Anchusa parva. Lob. Icon. 578.

Ancbusa prima, Mattli. Vulgr. v. 2. 341.

Litbospermum tinctorium, Andr. Repos, t. 576.

Buglossum radice rubril, sive Ancbusa vulgatior, Tourn. Inst. 134.

Ancbusa tinctoria, Desfont. AtLint. v. 1. 156 ; Ait. Hort. Kero. ed.2. v. 1 . 290 ;

Linn. FI. Grtcc. Sibth. v. 2. t. 166.

Ayxovcra, Diosc.

Foreign — Le buglos teignante, Fr. ; Ancnsa tintoria, It.; Anchusa de tinte, Sp. ;
Farber-Ochsenzunge, Ger. ; Orkanette, Dan. andSwed.

This plant is a perennial, a native of the south of Europe, and
was found by Sibthorp in Greece. It is sometimes raised in our
gardens ; but the roots do not acquire in this country the fine
red colour for which the foreign alkanet is prized. It has long
been extensively cultivated for medicinal purposes in the neigh-
bourhood of Montpellier, in France. It flowers from June to
October.

The root is woody, long, round, tapering, branched, and
covered with a blackish-red coloured bark. The herb is all over
rough with short bristly hairs, proceeding from small carti-
laginous tubercles or warts. Several stems arise from one root ;
they are round, leafy, branched, panicled above, and about a foot
or eighteen inches high. The leaves are oblong, entire, convex
above, and keeled underneath ; the radical ones forming a tuft
on the ground, elongated and tapering towards the base; the
rest smaller, alternate, slightly dilated at the base, and partly

VOL. II.

E E

embracing the stem. The spikes are generally in pairs, bent
towards the top, many-flowered, with ovate bracteas, twice the
length of the calyx. The calyx is reddish, with short hairs, and
divided into five oblong-lanceolate segments. The corolla is
funnel-shaped, consisting of a straight cylindrical tube, tumid
at the lower part, closed at the mouth with five small roundish
convex valves, and divided at the limb into five deep, obtuse,
ecpial segments, of a deep azure colour. The filaments are shorter
than the corolla, bearing roundish anthers: the carpels four, with
awl-shaped styles, nearly as long as the tube, with a small notched
stigma. The seeds are oblong, and rough with tubercles. Fig. («)
the flower somewhat magnified, showing the stamens and arched
valves; (b) the calyx and pistil a little magnified ; (c) the fruit.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — Alkanet root, as met with
in commerce, is inodorous and nearly tasteless. The red colouring
matter, according to Pelletier, with which the cortical part abounds, is of
a brownish red colour, runs into a mass, which breaks with a resinous
fracture, is soluble in alcohol, ether, and fat oils, which it colours red,
while they preserve their transparency. It imparts scarcely any colour
to water. It forms blue combinations with potass, soda, barytes, stron-
tia, and lime : is decomposed by the action of concentrated sulphuric
acid ; and is converted into oxalic acid by nitric acid. When precipi-
tated from its alcoholic menstrua by the aid of metallic solutions, it forms
an excellent varnish. This colouring matter is considered by John to be
a peculiar proximate principle which he has called Pseudo- Alkannin.
M. Chevreul has lately discovered in the Anchusa tiuctoria, and in the
root of the Viburnum Opulus a new acid, which he terms Phocenique.
Sometimes the roots of the Onosma echioides. , and O. tinctoria, are
substituted for the Anchusa tinctoria. Anchusa Virginiana and Echiuni
rub rum have roots almost equally rich in colouring matter with the true
alkanet, and are sometimes used instead of it. Bergius states that the
roots of the Borago officinalis are occasionally boiled in a decoction of
Brazil wood, and sold for alkanet : the fraud, however, is easily de-
tected by inspection, and by the substitute failing to yield its colour to the
fixed oils.

Uses. — This plant was formerly administered as an astringent; hut
has given place to medicines much more worthy of regard. It is useless,
excepting as a colouring matter for oils, lip-salve, and plasters.

' / / '// / f’ff /// (hs/ /ft / f rr y

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-

CXXIII

ARNICA MONTANA.

Mountain Arnica , or Leopard's- Bane.

Class XIX. Syngenesia. — Order II. Polyg. Super-

flua.

Nat. Ord. Composite Discoidee, Lin. Corymbifer.e, Juss.

Asterace.e, Buryi.

Gen. Char. Receptacle naked. Seed-down simple.
Involmrum with equal leaflets. Corollules of the
ray having five filaments without anthers.

Spec. Char. Leaves ovate, entire ; stem leaves oppo-
site, in pairs.

Syn. — Alisma, Matth. Diosc. 934; Bauh. Hist. 3. pars 1. p. 20.

Chrysanthemum latifolium. Dodon.263 ; Ger. Em. 742.

Caltha alpina, Tabern. 337. ed. Germ. p. 714.

Doronicum Plantaginis folio altemum, Bauh, Pin. 185.

Doronicum austriacum quartum, Cius. Pan. 522.

Doronicum oppositifolium, Lamar. Diet. 2. p. 312.

Arnica foliis conjugatis ovatis integerrimus, n. 90. Hall. Hist.

Arnica, Collin Obs. v. 1. cum icone.

Arnica montana, Lin. Sp. PI. 1245; lVilld.3. 2406 ; Hort. heu). ed. 2d.
FI. Dan. t. 63 ; Scop. Cam. n. 1086 ; Gcertn. Fruet. 2. p. 451. t. 173. f. 1 ;
Leers Herb, n, 651 ; Villars Dauph. 3. p. 207 ; FI. Franc. 4. p. 175; Bot.
Mag. v. 42. t. 1749 ; Woodv. p. 10.

Foreign. — Doronic a feuilles oppostes, vulg. ; I.e tabac des Vosges, Fr. ; Arnica mon-
tana, It. ; Arnica; tabaco de montana, Sp. ; Wolverley ; Wolferley, Ger. ;
Wolverley, Dan. ; Fibler, Swed. ; Valkruid, Dut.

This is a hardy perennial, a native of the northern parts of the
continent of Europe and Siberia, delighting in moist shady situa-
tions, and flowering in June and July. It is also found on the
Pyrenees, and was cultivated by Philip Miller in 1759. The
specimen from which our figure was drawn blossomed this season
at the Botanic Garden, Chelsea, and for it we are indebted to
Mr. Anderson, the curator.

E E 2

The root is blackish, woody, abrupt at the lower end, and
furnished with many long slender fibres. The stem, which rises
about a foot in height in our gardens, but not more than six
inches in alpine situations, is simple, obscurely angular, striated,
rough, hairy, and terminated by two or three upright peduncles,
each bearing one flower, of a deep yellow colour, tinged with
brown. The radical leaves are ovate, entire, ciliated, and obtuse;
rhe cauline ones stand in opposite pairs, and are lance-shaped.
rrhe involucrum is cylindrical, and composed of fifteen or sixteen
rough hairy lanceolate scales, of a dingy green colour, and purple
at the points. The florets of the disc are very numerous, tubu-
lar, with a five-lobed margin ; those of the radius about four-
teen, ligulate, striated, three-toothed, and hairy at the base.
The fruit is oblong, blackish, hairy, and crowned with a straw-
coloured down. — Fig. ( a ) represents a floret.

Qualities and Chemical Properties. — The leaves of the
dried plant have a pleasant aromatic odour, and excite sneezing,
while their taste is somewhat aromatic, bitter, and pungent. The
root is bitter and acrid ; the flowers have a fetid smell and
a penetrating bitter taste ; and according to an analysis by MM.
Chevalier and Lassaigne, the following constituents were ob-
tained.

A resin, having the odour of the flowers.

A bitter nauseous matter, resembling cytisine.

Gallic acid.

Yellow colouring matter.

Albumen.

Gum.

Muriate of potass.

Phosphate of ditto.

Trace of sulphur.

Carbonate of lime.

A trace of silex.

Medical Properties and Uses. — In over doses the Arnica
montana exerts peculiar effects on the animal economy. It in
duces great anxiety, particularly in the region of the stomach,

followed by pinching pains, nausea, a How of saliva, and some-
times vomiting;. If it reach to the intestines, it induces colic
pains, which are rarely followed by alvine evacuations. These
effects generally pass off' soon, without leaving any derangement
of the system, provided the dose be not too large. If it be, the
brain and spinal marrow are peculiarly affected, twitchings and
involuntary motions of the extremities generally preceding the
other effects on the nervous system.

Dr. Collin of Vienna, endeavoured in the year 1773 to recall
this plant from disuse by the publication of numerous cases of
putrid fever, intermittents, palsies, tremors, and amaurosis, from
which it would appear to be a very powerful and successful re_
medy.

Dr. Crichton states, that in the worst stages of typhus, treated
by Stoll in the hospital at Vienna, it succeeded wonderfully well
when the pulse was exceedingly weak, small, and quick, and
when petechiae had appeared ; and even when the patients
seemed exhausted by a colliquative diarrhoea, this remedy gene-
rally produced the happiest effects.

Dr. Collin says that he has cured thirty-six quotidian, forty-six
tertian, and fifty-eight quartan agues with the extract of arnica,
a drachm of which was given in the course of the day. Its
success in these cases is confirmed by the testimony of Pro-
fessor Sebold of Prague.

In Jutland it is a popular remedy for ague, and Dr. Manger
states that he has experienced the best effects from an infusion
of about half an ounce of the flowers, drank two hours before the
access of the paroxysm. It has also been given in tremors, palsy,
and amaurosis, with different degrees of success; and as it evi-
dently possesses some power over the nervous system, it is de-
serving of the attention of British practitioners, although it may
not be quite so potent a medicament, as by some persons it has
been esteemed.

The whole plant is generally used in infusion or decoction, in
the proportion of an ounce of it to a pint and a half of water,
which quantity may be given in doses of a cupful in the course
of twenty-four hours.

Of the flowers, two or three drachms are generally sufficient ;
although an ounce has been taken without injury in the course
of the day. The extract made from the whole plant is preferred
by Dr. Crichton, who gives a drachm in the same time.

In addition to the physical effects which we have already
adverted to, it is stated to be capable of indicating the place
where any injury has taken place, from an external cause, by
augmenting the pain in the part, or renewing it if it have ceased
to exist. The root seldom produces such disagreeable symptoms
as the flowers, but as these are considered auspicious signs, they
must not, we are told, be heeded unless violent. A little of
the extract of gentian prevents its untoward effects on the sto-
mach, and co-operates in its beneficial results; which are ge-
nerally accompanied by an increase, but not velocity of pulse.

/ //tr// f/f

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KidtUtc

CXXIV

MYRTUS PIMENTA, vel PIMENTA VULGARIS.
Pimento , All- Spice, or Jamaica Pepper.

Class XII. Icosandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nut. Ord. Hesperide.e, Lin. Myrti, Juss. Myrtine.e,
De Cand. Myrtoide.e, Vent. Myrtace*:, Brown.

Gen. Char. Calyx 5-cleft, superior. Petals five.
Berry two or three-celled, many-seeded.

Spec. Char. Leaves oblong-lanceolate. Flowers in
three-forked panicles.

Sun. — Amomum quorundam odore Caryophylli, Clus. Exot. lib. 1. c. 17 ; Bauh. Hist.
2. p. 194.

Mvrtus arborea aromatica, foliis laurinis, Sloane's Jam. t>. 2. 76. 1. 191./.
Caryophyllus aromaticus Americanus, Pluk. Alin. 88. t. 1.55./. 4.

Piper Jamaicense, Black, t. 355.

Bay-berry -tree, Hughes Barbad.p. 135. t. 10.

Myrtus Pimenta, Lin. Sp. Pt. 676 ; Willd. 2. 967 ; Woodv. t. 26 ; Sims in
Bot. Mag. t. 1 236.

Foreign. — Poivre de la Jamaique ; Pimente ; Toute-epice, Fr. ; Gewwrzmyrte ; Jamaika
Pfeffer, Ger. ; Skryddpippar, Swed.

The Pimento or All-spice tree is a native of South America and
of the West Indies. It succeeds well in our stoves, if allowed
a strong heat, flowering copiously in May and June. It grows
abundantly on the hilly parts of the north side of Jamaica,
flowering in July, and soon afterwards ripening its fruit. It was
cultivated by Philip Miller in 1732, but the date of its intro-
duction is uncertain.

In its native soil this handsome evergreen tree usually rises
with a straight or upright trunk to the height of thirty feet,
branched towards the top, and covered with a smooth grey bark.

The leaves are opposite, on short foot-stalks, often two or three
together, and vary in si/e and shape, but are commonly about
four inches long, oblong- lanceolate, smooth, shining, pointed,
and of a deep green colour. In their recent state, they have an
agreeable aromatic taste, and abound in an essential oil, which
appears in minute pellucid dots. The flowers are very numerous
but small, and are produced in bunches or trichotomous panicles
at the extremity of the branches. The calyx is divided into four
roundish segments. The petals are four, reflected, and of a
greenish-white colour. The filaments are numerous, longer than
the corolla, spreading, of the same colour as the petals, sup-
porting roundish white anthers. The style is simple, erect, with
an obtuse stigma. The fruit is a smooth, shining, succulent
berry, crowned with the persistent calyx, of a black or dark
purple colour when ripe, and containing two kidney-shaped,
fluttish seeds. — Fig. (a) represents the fruit.

The pimento tree begins to bear fruit in three years after it is
planted, and arrives at maturity at seven, when it abundantly
repays the patience of the planter. It is particularly fond of a
white marly or chalky soil, having a shallow surface of mould,
and therefore grows well on those rocky lands which are fit for
little else. The berries are picked from the branches in their
green state, and are then laid on cloths spread on terraced floors.
During the first and second days they are often turned, to be
fully exposed to the sun. When they begin to dry they are
frequently winnowed, and laid in cloths to preserve them from
rain and dews, still being exposed to the sun every day, and
removed under cover every evening, till sufficiently dry ; which
usually happens in twelve days, and is known by the darkness
of their complexion and the rattling of the seeds. At this time
they appear wrinkled, and are of a very dark brown colour, in
which state they are stowed in bags or casks for market. Some
planters kiln-dry them, and it seems the most eligible method, as
dispatch and security against rain are so very essential, and
especially when the crops are more than usually abundant.

The more odoriferous and smaller the berries arc, the better

are they reckoned. The leaves and bark of the tree are full of
aromatic inflammable particles, on account of which the growers
are extremely cautious not to suffer any fire to be made near the
walks, for if it once catch the trees, they consume with great
rapidity. Nothing, it is said, can be more delicious than the
odour of the walks in which the trees are planted, particularly
when they are in blossom. The friction of the leaves and smaller
branches, even in a gentle breeze, diffuse a most grateful fragrance
through the air, which is thought to render it very salubrious.

Qualities and Chemical Properties.— The berries of
the pimento have a resemblance in smell and taste to cloves,
juniper-berries, cinnamon, and pepper, or rather a peculiar mix-
ture, somewhat akin to them all; hence their name of All-spice.
The aromatic odour and warm pungent taste reside chiefly in the
rind, or cortical part of the berry. Its virtues are extracted by
water, alcohol, and ether. The watery infusion is of a brown
colour, and reddens infusion of litmus. With sulphate of iron
it strikes a black colour, and lets fall a precipitate. Nitrate of
mercury precipitates it of a yellowish brown; superacetate of
lead, of a dirty green ; and nitrate of silver, of a deep reddish
brown colour. It forms a precipitate with the infusion of yellow
bark. The sulphuric and muriatic acids redden it, and throw
down a rose-coloured precipitate. The nitric acid forms no pre-
cipitate, but gives a yellow hue. The alcoholic tincture is ren-
dered milky, and after a time precipitates by water ; the ethe-
real. when evaporated in water, deposits drops of a greenish
yellow volatile oil, a pellicle of pungent nauseous tasted resin,
and some extractive. Hence pimento appears to contain a vola-
tile oil, resin, extractive, tannin, and gallic acid. The essen-
tial oil is very grateful, and so ponderous as to sink in water.

Medical Properties and Uses. — As a condiment, pimento
is very generally employed ; and in medicine is much used as an
adjunct to bitters in dyspepsia when attended with much flatu-
lence; also in arthritic and hysterical affections. The wate^
infusion, sweetened with sugar and added to a little milk, is
readily taken by children, and is an excellent cordial in malignant

measles, scarlatina, small-pox, and other fevers of a typhoid
description. But it is principally employed to cover the taste
of other medicines, and to impart warmth.

Off. Prep. — Aqua pimenta. L. E. D
Oleum pimentse. L. E. D
Pilulae opiatae. E.
Spiritus pimentse. L. E. D
Syrupus rhamni. L.

c /'

//< ////. j.

cxxv

LAURUS NOBILIS.

Common Sweet-bay.

Class IX. Enneandria. — Order I. Monogynia.

Nat. Ord. H. Olorace.e, Lin. Ladtit, Juss. Laurine.e,
Vent. Laurace.e, Burn.

Gen. Char. Calyx corolla-like, 4 or 6-cleft. Innermost
filaments bearing- glands. Anthers 2-valved, gaping
at the base. Drupe superior, one-seeded.

Spec. Char. Leaves lanceolate, veined, finely reticu-
lated, evergreen. Flowers 4-cleft, dioecious, in short
axillary clusters.

Spn. — Laurus vulgaris, Bauh. Pin. 460 ; Tourn. Inst. 597.

Laurus, Matth. Valgr. v. 119 ; Bauh. Hist, v.l.p.l. 409; Camer. Epit. 60
Ger. Em. 1407.

Acupvr), Diosc. lap. 1. cap. 106.

Laurus nobilis, Lin. Sp. PI. 529; Willd.v. 2. 479; A it. Hort.Kew.ed. 2d.
428 ; Z am. Icon. 52 ; FI. Grocu Sihlh. v. 4. t. 265.

Foreign.— Fourier commun, Fr. ; Alloro, Lauro, It.; Laurel, Sp.; Loiro ; Loriero,
Port.; Gemeine Lorbeerbuum, Germ. ; Lagerbdrstrad, Swed.; Law)-, Russ.

The Sweet-bay, which is a considerable tree in the South of
Europe, appears but as a shrub in this country, producing its
flowers only in sheltered situations in April and May. It is a
hardy evergreen, a native of Italy and Greece ; being without
doubt the Satpvt] of Dioscorides, and consequently the classical
laurel.

In its native soil and climate the Sweet-bay frequently rises
twenty or thirty feet in height ; much branched, and covered
with a smooth, olive-coloured bark. The leaves lanceolate about
three inches long, but varying in size, on short, channelled foot-
stalks, alternate, pointed, smooth, veined, entire, often waved at
the margin, of a firm texture, and deep green colour. The
flowers are male and female on different plants ; they appear in
short racemes, and stand upon short, smooth pedicles at the

axillae of the leaves. The corolla in both descriptions of flowers,
is divided into four oval, concave segments, which stand erect,
and are of an herbaceous, or yellowish white colour. The fila-
ments are as long as the calyx ; the four outer ones simple, the
rest compound, bearing two lateral glands, or abortive anthers.
The true anthers are yellow, ovate, bilocular, and composed of
two valves, with a recurved dehiscence. The style of the female
flowers is very short, and the germen becomes an oval drupe,
which is fleshy, very smooth, of a dark purple, or almost black
colour, and containing a large nut of a similar shape. Fig. ( a )
the male flower magnified ; (b) the drupe or berry ; (c) the nut.

Qualities. — Both the leaves and berries have a sweet odour,
and an aromatic, astringent, bitter taste. Thefruit yields by distil-
lation a brown volatile oil : and by expression and boiling in water,
agreen fixed oil, which is recommended to be Cinploved internally;
but the article known in commerce by the name of oil of bays, is
made by boiling the berries in hog’s-lard, to which they impart
their colour and some little odour. The leaves are said to con-
tain prussic acid. But although the assertion has been often
made, its correctness is doubtful. We have not been able to find
any record of experiments upon the subject, therefore cannot but
agree with Dr. Hancock in the belief that the statement has
arisen from erroneously confounding this, which is the true laurel
or bay, with the Lauro-cerasus or cherry laurel, the poisonous
properties of which have already been described ; and this the
more especially, as the presence of prussic acid in the bay would
be an anomaly in the natural group to which the plant belongs.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The leaves and berries of
this tree are somewhat carminative and sedative. In former times
they were employed in flatulent colic, hysteria, and uterine affec-
tions, but they are never prescribed by modern practitioners,
either internally or externally, and might without loss be expunged
from the materia medica.

END of vol. ii.