"'F>
I

UC-NRLF

B 3

flbE

\

I

<

A*

!
!

•THE-

•JOHN -FRYER*
CHINESE- LIBRARY

i*}.A!N LIBRARY

Main Lib.

JOHN FRYER
CHINESE LIBRARY

{&

v*

BIOLOGY
LIBRA RV

'

D.Blair auiriat.cleL«itl£LK

M dels .Hariarc , I

SOLANUM DULCAMARA, Luw.

190

N. Ord. SOLANACE^E.
Tribe Solanece.

Genus Solanum,* Linn, (emend.) Dunal in DC. Prod., xiii
(1852), pp. 27—387. One of the largest known genera,
containing about 1000 species, for the most part tropica} ^

and S. American.

190. Solanum Dulcamara, t Linn., Sp. PL ed. 1, p. 186 (1753).
Bitter- Sweet. Woody Nightshade.

Syn. — Dulcamara flexuosa, Moench.

Figures.— Woodville, t. 85 ; Steph. & Ch., 1. 17 ; Bigelow, i, 1. 18 ; Hayne,
ii, t. 39; Nees, t. 188 ; Berg & Sch., t. 20 b ; Curt., Fl. Lond., fasc. i ;
Syme,E. Bot., vi, t. 930; Reich., Ic. Germ., xx, t. 1633.

Description. — A climbing shrub, reaching, when supported by
other plants, many feet in height. Rootstock woody, widely
creeping, irregular, branched, pale yellow. Stem woody at base,
dying far back in the winter, much branched, hollow, wood soft,
bark greyish yellow ; branches flexuose, weak, green, glabrous or
pubescent. Leaves alternate, stalked, 2 or 3 inches long; the
lower ones ovate, usually cordate at the base, the upper ones
hastate or auricled, or even with two nearly separate leaflets at
the base, margin entire, usually pubescent beneath. Inflorescence
consisting of stalked corymbose cymes of 10 — 20 flowers, projecting
at right angles from one side of the stem, extra-axillary, longer
than the leaves ; flowers stalked, pedicels slender, tapering down-
wards, downy or hairy, purple, divaricate, surrounded at the base
by a cup- shaped projection of the axis, ebracteate. Calyx small,
5-lobed. Corolla deeply cut into 5 lanceolate acute segments,
lurid purple, each with two green spots at the base, spreading or
reflexed. Stamens 5, filaments very short, triangular, inserted on

* The Latin equivalent of the Greek orpvxvov, applied to several plants.

f Dulcis, sweet, amarus, bitter. It was also called by the mediaeval
botanists Amara dulcis and yXvKVTrtKpov — words with the same signification
as the English Bitter-sweet.

4

190 SOLANUM DULCAMARA

the tube of the corolla; anthers large, bright yellow, cohering to form
a projecting conical tube round the style which protrudes beyond it,
each opening by 2 small terminal pores. Ovary 2-celled, with
nun?erpuj3; ovules attached to the axis ; style simple. Berries
droopiil'g, red, semi-transparent, about \ an inch long, ovoid, skin
.'tluiijf seeds numerous, immersed in red pulp, pale yellow, the
surface very minutely pitted with indentations with sinuous walls ;
embryo strongly curved, and surrounded by abundant endosperm.
Habitat. — This beautiful plant is a well-known and abundant
ornament of our hedges, especially if bordered by a ditch, it being
one of those species which luxuriate in the close proximity of
water, though in no way an aquatic plant. It becomes more scarce
in Scotland, and runs out northwards in Aberdeen and Argyle.
About London it is a very common plant, and is one of the last to
linger in the outskirts of the town. Out of England it has a wide
distribution throughout Europe, except the extreme north, and
through Western Asia to North-West India and China; it also
occurs wild in Northern Africa and Asia Minor, and is naturalized
in many parts of North America. It is sometimes found with
white flowers.

Dunal in DC. 1. c., p. 78 ; Syme, E. Bot., vi, p. 95 ; Hook, f., Stud.
FL, p. 256 ; Watson, Comp. Cyb. Br., p. 252 ; Gren. & Godr., Fl.
France, ii, p. 544 ; A. Gray, Man. Bot. U. S., p. 339. Lindl.,
FL Med., p. 511.

Official Part and Name. — DULCAMARA. The dried young branches ;
from indigenous plants which have shed their leaves (B. P.) — The
dried young branches (Dulcamara) ; collected after the plants have
shed their leaves (I. P.) — DULCAMARA. The young branches
(U. S. P.)

General Characters and Composition. — For medicinal use the
young branches are cut into short lengths, and dried. These pieces
are light, usually about the thickness of a goose-quill, nearly
cylindrical in form, and of an ash-grey colour. When fresh they
have a peculiar and unpleasant odour, which they lose in a great
measure by drying. Their taste is at first slightly bitter, and
afterwards sweetish ; hence the origin of the common name bitter-

190 SOLANUM DULCAMARA

sweet which, is given to the plant. They consist of a thin shining
bark surrounding the wood, which is lined internally by a whitish
pith, but as this only partially fills the axis the centre is hollow.

The composition of dulcamara has been variously given by
different chemists. The taste is said to be due to a bitter principle,
which yields by decomposition an alkaloid solania, and sugar. A.
bitterish- sweet, amorphous alkaloid, called dulcamarine or picro-
glycion has also been obtained from dulcamara by Winckler.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The action of dulcamara is
unknown. Garrod states that it does not dilate the pupils or pro-
duce dryness of the throat like belladonna, henbane, or stramonium,
but it seems to act on the skin and kidneys. It is reputed to
operate as a diuretic and diaphoretic, and in excessive doses as an
aero-narcotic poison. It has been thought serviceable in chronic
pulmonary catarrh, in chronic rheumatism, in some obstinate skin
diseases, as lepra, eczema, and psoriasis, and in cachectic cases, in
which sarsaparilla has been found beneficial. Waring states that
with fresh Hemidesmus root at hand the practitioner in India is
independent of this article. In this country it is but very little
esteemed, and several physicians have given the preparations of
dulcamara in very large doses without any obvious effects.

Pereira Mat. Med., vol. ii, part 1, p. 592 ; Pharmacographia, by
Fliickiger and Hanbury, p. 405 ; United States Dispensatory,
by Wood and Bache, p. 370 ; Garrod, Essentials of Materia
Medica, 1868, p. 285 ; Pharmacopoeia of India, p. 179.

DESCEIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen gathered in the Regent's Park, London. 1. A
branch of the year with flowers and fruit. 2. Half of the corolla. 3. Vertical
section through ovary. 4. The stamens flattened out. 5. Calyx with pistil.
6. Transverse section of ovary. 7. Ditto of berry. 8. Seed. 9. Section of
the same. (2—7 enlarged ; 8, 9 much magnified.)

195.

6

D.Blair, ad nat dd d-litK

M&N.Haji}iarb imp.

DIGITALIS PURPUREA

195

N. Ord. SCROPHULARIACE^E. Lindl., Veg. Kingd., p. 681; Le
Maout & Dec., p. 583.

Tribe Digitalece.

Genus Digitalis,* Linn. Lindley, Monogr., Gen. Digit. (1822) ;
Benth. in DC. Prod., x, pp. 449—453. Species about 18 or
20, natives of Europe and Central Asia.

195. Digitalis purpurea, Linn., Sp. PI. ed. 1, p. 621 (1753).

Foxglove.

Syn. — D. tomentosa, Link & Ho/m.

Figures.— Woodv., t. 78; Steph. & Ch., t. 18; Hayne, i, t. 45; Nees,
1. 154 ; Berg & Sch., t. 21 b ; Curt., Fl. Lond., f asc. i ; Syme, E. Bot. ,
t. 952 ; Reich. Ic. Germ., xx, t. 1688 ; Lindl., Monogr., t. 2.

Description. — A tall herbaceous biennial (or perennial ?) . Koot of
numerous long thick fibres. Stem upright, from 2 to 7 or more feet
high, solitary or several, simple or slightly branched ; branches erect,
round, closely downy. Radical leaves very large, often a foot or more
long, contracted at the base into a long, winged petiole, ovate, sub-
acute, irregularly crenate- dentate, somewhat rugose, slightly hairy
and dull green above, densely pubescent and grey beneath ; the
upper ones becoming gradually narrower and more shortly stalked,
and at length passing into the sessile bracts. Inflorescence a much
elongated terminal raceme, the pedicels spreading, and, like the
rachis, closely pubescent ; flowers large, numerous (often 60 or 70),
closely placed, overlapping, pendulous, unilateral. Calyx divided
almost to the base into 5 acute spreading segments, the uppermost
one smallest, all pulverulent. Corolla \\ — 2J inches long, tubular-
bell-shaped, flattened above, inflated beneath, suddenly contracted
into a cylindrical base, obscurely 2 -lipped, the upper entire or
faintly bilobed, somewhat recurved, the lower distinctly 3-lobed
with the central one much the longest, crimson outside above, paler
beneath, the lower lip furnished with long hairs inside, and marked
with dark crimson spots, each surrounded with a white border.

* From digitals, the finger of a glove.

195 DIGITALIS PUBPUREA

Stamens 4, arising from the base of the corolla, and entirely
included in it ; filaments thick, the two lower kneed, longer than
the upper ; anthers 2 -celled, cells diverging. Ovary conical, 2-
celled ; ovules numerous ; placentas large, spongy, axile ; style
filiform, shortly bifid. Capsule ovoid, acuminate,, about fths of an
inch long ; pericarp thin, papery, splitting septicidally into 2 valves,
which also separate from the axis; seeds abundant, minute,
oblong or ovoid, cylindrical, light brown, deeply alveolate ; embryo
straight in axis of endosperm.

Habitat. — Perhaps the handsomest of our indigenous plants,
and common in most parts of the country on dry sandy or gravelly
soils in open woods, heaths, and hedgebanks, making a great show
in places where it is abundant; in perfection in July. It is
curiously absent from a few of the eastern counties, for example,
Cambridgeshire. It grows in most parts of Europe, but is entirely
absent from some calcareous districts, e. g. the chain of the Jura ;
it also occurs in Madeira and the Azores, but is perhaps introduced
there.

Benth. in DC. Prod., x, p. 451 ; Syme, E. Bot., vi, p. 127 ; Hook, f .,
Stud. FL, p. 266 ; Wats., Comp. Cyb. Br., p. 262 ; Gren. & Godr.,
PI. France, ii, p. 602 ; Lindl. Fl. Med., p. 502.

Official Part and Name. — DIGITALIS FOLIA. The dried leaf;
collected from wild indigenous plants when about two thirds
of the flowers are expanded (B. P.) — The leaves (Digitalis Folia) ;
gathered when about two thirds of the flowers are expanded
(I. P.) — DIGITALIS. The leaves ; from plants of the second year's
growth (U. S. P.)

Collection. — The leaves are directed to be gathered when about
two thirds of the flowers are expanded, because at this time,
that is, before the ripening of the seeds, they are in the most
active state. The reason of this may be explained as follows : —
There are two series of compounds formed by the action of light
and air in plants, those of one series having for their object their
nutrition, and being therefore directly concerned in their growth and
development, and those of the other series, called secretions,
playing no active part in plants after their perfect formation, and

195 DIGITALIS PUKPUREA

being also commonly formed later in their life. In the process of
flowering the only compounds that are taken up in any amount
are those which are concerned in the growth and development
of new tissues ; no further growth can therefore take place (to any
great extent at least),, in the vegetative organs of a plant, after the
flowering stage has commenced ; but the secretions by the removal
of these nutritive products become more concentrated, and the
organs in which they are produced, by being left for a longer
period in connection with the plant, have time to elaborate them
more perfectly.

The leaves should be collected in the second year of the plant's
growth, as directly stated in the United States Pharmacopoeia, and
also implied in the directions of the British and Indian pharma-
copoeias, as the plant does not flower till the second year. But
the first year's leaves are frequently substituted for those of the
second year's growth ; as are also the leaves of Inula Gonyza, DC.,
Ploughman's Spikenard, and those of Symphytum offidnale, Linn.,
Comfrey, Verbascum Thapsus, Linn., Mullein, and other plants ; and
as these are sometimes not readily distinguished from the official
leaves, it is better for pharmacists to purchase the fresh plant when
in flower, which can scarcely be mistaken for any other, and strip
and dry the leaves for themselves.

General Characters and Composition. — The botanical characters
of the fresh leaves have been already given. When bruised, they
have an unpleasant herbaceous odour ; but when dried their odour
is agreeable, and resembles tea. The dried leaf has a very bitter
taste. Digitalis seeds were formerly official, and are by some pre-
ferred to the leaves.

Digitalis leaves and seeds contain a non-nitrogenised neutral
principle called digitalin, to which their properties are essentially
due ; but this name has been applied by chemists to widely dif-
ferent substances, both crystalline and amorphous, but what relation
these substances have to one another, as well as their respective
physiological actions, are questions yet to be solved. The digitalin
which is official in the British, Indian, and United States
pharmacopoeias, as well as in the French Codex, is the Digitalin

195 DIGITALIS PURPUREA

of Homolle. One hundred parts of dried leaves yield about 1*25
of this digitalin.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Digitalis is a very powerful drug,
acting especially as a sedative of the heart's action, and also as a
diuretic. Digitalin also produces effects similar to those of digi-
talis leaves, but the experiments of Homolle, Bourchardat, and
Sandras show that it is at least one hundred times as powerful
as the powder of the dried herb. Much care is necessary in the
administration of digitalis, and more especially so of digitalin, as
the latter is a very powerful poison. Digitalis also acts as an
aero-narcotic poison in large doses, and even when administered
in small doses for a length of time, it is liable to accumulate in the
system, and to manifest its presence all at once by its poisonous
action. Hence the action of digitalis in all the forms in which it
is administered should be carefully watched. Digitalis is a powerful
and valuable remedy in dropsy, especially when this is connected
with affections of the heart. In some heart diseases it is also a
most effectual remedy in reducing the force and velocity of the
circulation. It has also been employed in fever, in various inflam-
matory diseases, in delirium tremens, with marked success in large
doses, frequently repeated, in acute mania, spermatorrhoea, epi-
lepsy, croup, haemoptysis, menorrhagia and other forms of uterine
haemorrhages, and in various other diseases, with real or supposed
benefit. Digitalin has similar uses to digitalis ; it is reputed to
be a powerful anaphrodisiac.

, Ph. Jl., 2nd ser., vol. iii, p. 475 ; Per. Mat. Med., by Bentley and

Redwood, p. 588 ; Pharmacographia, p. 423 ; U. S. Disp., by
W. and B., p. 361; Gar. Mat. Med., 1868, p. 296; Per. Mat.
Med., vol. ii, part 1, pp. 523, and 528—537.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the R. Botanic Soc.'s Garden, Regent's Park.
1. Plant (induced). 2. Summit of raceme. 3. Radical leaf. 4. Corolla laid
open from below. 5. Summit of style and vertical section of ovary. 6. Trans-
verse section of the ovary. 7. Capsule burst and the seeds fallen. 8. A seed.
9. Section of same. (5 and 6 enlarged ; 8 and 9 highly magnified.)

D-Bleur an nat.deLetJith .

.Ha/rharb

MENTHA

202

N. Ord. LABIATE.
Tribe Satureiece.

Genus Mentha, Linn.

202, Mentha viridis, Linn., Sp. Plant, ed. 2, p. 804 (1762).
Spear Mint. Common Garden Mint. Mackerel Mint.

Syn. — M. sylvestris, var. glabra, Koch. M. spicata, Crantz.

Figures.— Woodville, 1. 121 ? ; Steph. & Ch., t. 45 ; Nees, 1. 166 ; Hayne,
xi, t. 36; Sole, Brit. Mints, t. 5; Syme, E. Bot., vii, t. 1023; Reich.,
Ic. Germ., xviii, t. 1284, fig. 1.

Description. — E/ootstock perennial, with elongated suckers.
Stems herbaceous, 2 — 3 feet or more high, erect, acutely quad-
rangular, with erect-patent, opposite branches, smooth or very
slightly hairy, often tinged with bright purple. Leaves opposite,
sessile, or the lowest very slightly stalked, lanceolate or oblong-
lanceolate, 2 — 4 inches long, rounded at the base, acute at the apex,
dark green, serrate, smooth on both surfaces, or slightly hairy on
the veins below, paler and thickly glandular beneath. Inflores-
cence of numerous spikes of verticils terminating the stem and
branches ; spikes narrow, acute, elongated, with numerous distinct
whorls, the lower ones considerably separated ; flowers small, on
perfectly smooth pedicels ; bracteoles linear, subulate, slightly
fringed. Calyx nearly regular, bell-shaped, cylindrical, 10-ribbed,
purplish, dotted with glands, quite smooth, 5-toothed, the teeth
lanceolate- subulate, as long as the tube, ciliate. Corolla about
twice the length of the calyx, pale purple, naked within and
without. Stamens 4, included or exserted, filaments equal. Style
exserted, bifid at apex. Achenes smooth.

Habitat. — The common mint is a well-known garden plant, and
is in all probability a cultivated race of M. sylvestris, L. (Horse-
mint), a coarse woolly plant of wide distribution. It has been in
cultivation in England for many centuries, and occurs occasionally
here in a semi- wild state. Mr. Baker considers it truly indi-

202 MENTHA YIRIDIS

genous in the north of England. It also grows in kitchen
gardens in most parts of Europe, Asia, and the Cape of
Good Hope, North and South America, &c., and is cultivated
for medicinal purposes at Mitcham, Surrey, and in the United
States. It flowers in August and September, and is sometimes
found with crisped leaves.

Smith, E. FL, iii, p. 75 ; Baker in Journ. Bot., 1865, p. 239 ; Syme,
E. Bot., vii, p. 7; Hook, f., Stud. Fl., p. 279; Gren. & Godr.,
Fl. Fr., ii, p. 649; Benth. in DC., 1. c., p. 168; Lindl. Fl. Med.,
p. 486.

Official Parts and Names. — OLEUM MENTHA VIRIDIS. The oil
distilled in Britain from fresh flowering spearmint (B. P.) —
The oil (Oleum Mentha viridis), obtained by distillation from the
fresh herb when in flower (I. P.) — MENTHA YIEIDIS. The leaves
and tops (U. S. P.)

General Characters and Composition. — The botanical characters
of the herb have been already given. It has a strong aromatic
peculiar odour, and a warm slightly bitter taste resembling that of
peppermint, but less pungent, and to many more agreeable.
These properties are somewhat less marked in the dried herb, but
are retained for a long time. The medicinal virtues of the plant
essentially reside in the official oil of spearmint. This oil is
colourless, pale yellow, or greenish when recently prepared, but
it becomes red by age. It has the odour and taste of the herb ;
it has a specific gravity of 0'914, and boils at 320°. According
to Gladstone, it consists of a hydrocarbon almost identical with oil
of turpentine mixed with an oxidised^ oil, to which is due the
peculiar smell of the plant.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The medical properties of spear-
mint are similar to, although feebler than, peppermint. These
are aromatic, carminative, mildly stimulant, and stomachic. The
oil is carminative and stimulant, and is also used as a flavouring
ingredient. Spearmint water possesses similar properties, but is
chiefly used as a vehicle for other medicines. Spearmint is also
frequently employed for culinary purposes ; and the oil is used

202 MENTHA VIRIDIS

in the United States as a perfume by soap manufacturers, and
as a flavouring agent, &c., by confectioners.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, part I, p. 510 ; U. S. Disp., by W. and
B., pp. 560 and 1310 ; Pharmacographia, p. 431 ; Stephenson
and Churchill's Medical Botany, by Burnett, vol. i, pi. 45.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a plant grown in the Royal Botanic Society's Garden,
Regent's Park, London.

1. A flower.

2. Corolla cut open.

3. Vertical section through calyx and ovary.

(1—3 enlarged.)

L.Blair adMJb.dal.eLhth.

MENTHA PIPERITA,5»/,

203

N. Ord. LABIATE.
Tribe Satureiete .
Genus Mentha.

203. Mentha piperita, Smith in Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. V (1800)
p. 189. (non Linn.)

Peppermint.

i. — M. officinalis and M. hircina, Hull. M. piperita, var. offieinalis,
Koch. M. viridi-aquatica, F. Schultz.

Figures.— Woodv., 1. 120 ; Steph. & Oh., t. 45 ; Nees, t. 163 ? ; Hayne, xi,
t. 37; Berg & Sch., t. 23 c; Sole, Brit. Mints, tt. 7 and 8; Syme,
E. Bot, vii, 1. 1024, 1025.

Description. — A perennial herb, with a rootstock which gives
off long -Suckers. Stems erect or nearly so, 3 — 4 feet high,
square, smooth or slightly hairy, green or purplish, branched at
the base ; branches long, spreading. Leaves all stalked ; petioles
of the lower ones \ an inch or more long, of the upper shorter ;
leaves dark dull green above, paler and covered with minute
glands beneath, smooth or nearly so, lanceolate, oval or ovate,
varying in width, sharply serrate, the base narrowed or rounded,
the apex acute. Inflorescence composed of several whorls, forming
a terminal, loose, conical spike, the whorls separated below ; lower
bracts leaf -like, apex of spike pointed or rounded ; flowers shortly
stalked ; pedicels smooth, purplish, glandular ; bracteoles lanceo-
late, acuminate, slightly fringed. Calyx cylindrical, campanu-
late, glabrous, dotted with glands, purple ; the teeth triangular,
cuspidate, half as long as the tube, ciliate. Corolla about twice as
long as calyx, pale purplish red, glabrous inside and out, upper
lip emarginate. Stamens 4, filaments short, equal, included.
Style exserted, bifid at its extremity. Achenes smooth or
rugose.

Peppermint is readily recognised from spearmint by its
uniformly stalked leaves, thicker and more crowded inflorescence,
larger flowers, and shorter calyx-teeth, as well as by the familiar
warm pungent odour and taste. It presents two forms, distin-

203 MENTHA PIPERITA

guislied as var. officinalis (M. piperita, Huds.), with narrower
leaves and more elongated spikes, and var. j3. vulgaris (M.
piperita, Hull) with broader leaves more rounded at the base, and
with spikes more blunt and close; but many specimens are
intermediate in character, as was the case in the one figured. It
is probably correct to regard the plant as a cultivated race of the
common water mint, M. hirsuta, Linn., with which var. /3 is
indeed connected by numerous intermediate forms.

Habitat. — It is doubtful whether M. piperita is anywhere known
truly wild, but it is recorded from watery places in many parts of
England and Scotland, extending as far north as Forfarshire and
Inverness-shire, flowering in August and September. It is diffi-
cult to trace its distribution out of England ; but it occurs in many
parts of Europe, Asia and North America, under similar conditions
to those under which it exists in this country. It is extensively
cultivated for medicinal use at Mitcham, Surrey, and in Lincoln,
Cambridge and Herts (Hitchin). At the first-named place two
kinds are recognised, and we are indebted to Dr. Piesse, of New
Bond Street, for specimens of the " black " and " white " mints of
the Mitcham fields. The former is a much coarser plant than the
latter, and is more tinged with purple ; it also flowers somewhat
later, and the oil it affords, though more abundant, is less valued ;
there are no botanical characters to separate the plants. Pepper-
mint is also grown on a large scale in America, and in France,
Germany and Southern India.

Sm., E. FL, iii, p. 76; Baker in Journ. Bot., 1865, p. 240; Syme,
E. Bot., vii, p. 9 ; Watson, Comp. Cyb. Br., p. 268 ; Hook, f.,
Stud. PL, p. 279; Benth. in DC., 1. c., p. 169; Lindl. PI. Med.,
p. 487.

Official Parts and Names. — OLEUM MENTHA PIPERITA. The oil
distilled in Britain from fresh flowering peppermint (B. P.) —
The oil (Oleum Menthce piperita), obtained by distillation from
the fresh herb when in flower (I. P.) — MENTHA PIPERITA. The
leaves and tops (U. S. P.)

General Characters and Composition. — The botanical characters
of the herb have been described above. Peppermint is more
pungent than any of the other mints. The herb both in a fresh

203 MENTHA PIPERITA

and dried state has a peculiar, aromatic, and agreeable odour, and
an aromatic, warm, burning, bitterish taste, followed by a sensa-
tion of coolness when air is drawn into the mouth. The proper-
ties of the herb depend essentially upon the official oil of pepper-
mint. This oil is colourless, pale yellow, or greenish when
recent, but like the oil of spearmint it becomes reddish by age.
Its sp. gr. varies from 0*84 to 0'92. It has a powerful pene-
trating aromatic taste, like that of the herb, followed by a sensa-
tion of cold, and a strong agreeable odour. Oil of peppermint
consists of two substances, one fluid, the other solid ; the
chemical nature of the former has not been determined; the
latter, which is sometimes deposited from oil of peppermint, when
it is subjected to a cold of about 8° below the zero of Fahrenheit,
in the form of colourless hexagonal crystals, is called menthol or
peppermint camphor. Its proportion varies much in different
oils. The so-called Chinese oil of peppermint of commerce is
distilled at Canton from Mentha javanica, Bl. It is pure crystal-
lised menthol. Oil of peppermint upon long standing also deposits
a solid crystalline portion, which is commonly termed the Stea-
roptene of oil of peppermint.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Peppermint is the most agree-
able and powerful of all the mints. It possesses aromatic,
carminative, stimulant, antispasmodic, and stomachic properties.
These qualities are especially possessed by the official oil, which is
employed in medicine in flatulence, nausea, flatulent colic of
children, spasmodic affections of the stomach and bowels, and is a
frequent addition to other medicines to cover their unpleasant
taste. It is also extensively employed for flavouring cordials and
sweetmeats.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. and R., p. 283; Pharmacographia, p. 434 ;
U. S. Disp., by W. and B., pp. 559 and 1309 ; Per. Mat. Med.,
vol. ii, part 1, p. 512; Ph. Jl., Feb. 25, 1871, p. 682, and Oct.
14, 1871, p. 321.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a plant grown in the garden of the Royal Botanic Soc., London.

1. A flower.

2. Corolla cut open.

3. Vertical section of calyx and ovary (1 — 3 enlarged.).

236

N. Ord. EUPHORBIACE.E.
Tribe Acalyphece.

Genus Mallotus,* Loureiro. Miill. Arg. in DC., 1. c., pp.
956—983 ; Baill., Hist. PI., v, p. 196. Species 72, natives of
the hot parts of the Old World.

236. MallotllS philippinensis, Miill, Arg. in Lmncca, xxxiv,

p. 196 (1865).

Kamela, Kamal, fyc. (N. India), Punndga Kesara (Sanskrit).

Syn— Oroton philippense, Lam. (1786). C. punctatus, Retz. C. coc-
cineus, Willd. Rottleraf tinctoria, Roxb. (1798). R. aurantiaca,

H. & A. Echinus philippinensis, Baill.

Figures. — Rheede, Hort. Malab., pt. 5, t. 21 (and t. 24, which represents
a state with fasciated branches) ; Roxb. Coroin, PL, iii, t. 168 ; Bed-
dome, Fl. Sylv., t. 289.

Description. — A tree of 20 — 30 feet, with a trunk 3 — 4 feet
round ; branches slender, with a pale bark, the younger ones
covered with a more or less dense ferrugineous tomentum.
Leaves articulated, alternate, petioles 1 — 2 inches long, rusty-
tomentose, swollen at the end, blade 3 — 6 or more inches long,
ovate or rhombic-ovate, with two obscure glands at the base,
entire, coriaceous, upper surface glabrous, 3-nerved at base, veins
very prominent on under surface, which is densely covered with a
tomentum of minute, rusty, stellate hairs. Flowers dioecious;
female flowers in lax spike-like terminal and axillary racemes ; male
flowers 3 together in the axils of small bracts, arranged in longer
often much branched axillary panicles ; both more or less set with
ferrugineous tomentum. Male flowers : — perianth of 3 or 4 thin
lanceolate reflexed leaves j stamens about 20 or more on long
filaments, the connective tipped by a small red gland. Female
flowers : — perianth of 2 (3, or more) broadly ovate leaves slightly

* From /uaXXwrog, woolly.

f Named after the Rev. Dr. Rottler, a Danish missionary at Tranqucbar,
in India, who died in 1836.

236 MALLOTUS PHILIPPINENSIS

connected below ; ovary included in the perianth, densely clothed
with a thick covering of stellate hairs and minute red granular
bodies ; styles 3, broad, spreading, covered on their inner surface
with long papillary processes. Capsule trigonous-globular, about
§ths of an inch in diameter; pericarp tough, greenish, more or
less covered with a bright crimson layer of minute, readily
detached granules, dehiscing septifragally by 3 valves. Seeds one
in each cell, short, round on back, flat in front, attached to
summit of axis, dark purple-brown, smooth, without a caruncle.

Habitat. — This tree is widely distributed through the Bast, from
Abyssinia (Hanbury) to the Indian peninsula, where it is common
in the sub-Himalayan tract, ascending to 4500 feet, Ceylon,
Malaya, the Philippines, Hongkong, and Australia, flowering
November to January. It is cultivated in a few botanic gardens
in this country, but has not yet flowered with us.

Roxb., PL Ind., iii, p. 827 ; Benth., PL Hongkong., p. 307 ; Benth.,
PL Austral., vi, p. 141 ; Miill. Arg. in DC. Prod., 1. c., p. 980 ;
Brandis, Forest PL Ind., p. 444.

Official Part and Names. — KAMALA. A powder which consists of
the minute glands that cover the capsules of Rottlera tinctoria,
Roxb. (B» P.)- — A powder which consists of minute glands
(Kamala) that cover the capsules (I. P.) — EOTTLERA, Kameela.
The glandular powder and hairs obtained from the capsules of
Hottlera tinctoria, Roxburgh (U. S. P. Secondary).

Production and Collection. — Kamala is produced in several parts
of India, from which it is imported into this country and else-
where. The following particulars of its collection in the north-
west provinces of the Madras Presidency are derived from
Pharmacographia : — " Enormous quantities of Rottlera tinctoria
are found growing at the feet of these hills, and every
season numbers of people, chiefly women and children, are
engaged in collecting the powder for exportation to the plains.
They gather the berries in large quantities, and throw them into
a great basket, in which they roll them about, rubbing them with
their hands so as to divest them of the powder, which falls

23G MALLOTUS PHILIPPINENSIS

through the basket as through a sieve, and is received below on
a cloth spread for the purpose. This powder forms the Kn-'nudn
of commerce, and is in great repute as an anthelminitic, but is
most extensively used as a dye. The adulterations are chiefly the
powdered leaves, and the fruit- stalks with a little earthy matter,
but the percentage is not large. The operations of picking the
fruit and rubbing off the powder commence here in the beginning
of March and last about a month." Kamala is also collected in
Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia.

General Characters and Composition. — Kainala is a fine,
granular, mobile powder, of a brick-red or madder colour, with
but little smell or taste. It is insoluble in cold water, and nearly
so in boiling water, but ether, alcohol, chloroform, and benzol
dissolve its resinous portion, and form deep red solutions. It
resembles lycopodium by floating on water, and by igniting when
sprinkled over a flame. When examined by a microscope it is
seen to consist of minute irregular spherical, semi-transparent,
garnet-red glands with a wavy surface, more or less mixed with
stellate hairs and sand. The glands or pure kamala may be
removed by sifting.

Much doubt exists as to the chemical constitution of kamala.
Some years since Dr. Thomas Anderson, of Glasgow, obtained a
principle, which he called Rottlerin, in the form of minute, yellow,
platy crystals with a satiny lustre. These crystals were readily
soluble in water, sparingly soluble in cold alcohol, but more so in hot
alcohol, and insoluble in water. Leube, who afterwards examined
kamala, was unable to obtain this principle, but he found two
resins which together formed 80 per cent, of the drug, and these
he regarded as the active constituents. It is certain, however, that
minute crystals may be obtained in some cases from an ethereal
solution of kamala by spontaneous evaporation, but the exact
nature of these crystals is unknown.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Kamala acts speedily and actively
as a purgative, but it not unfrequently causes much nausea and
griping. In India it has long been employed as an anthelmintic,
being especially adapted for the expulsion of tape-worm. Dr. Mac-

236 MALLOTUS PHILIPPINENSIS

kinnon, after an extended trial, says that kamala is a safe and
efficient remedy for tape-worm, and more certain than either
turpentine or kousso. Dr. Anderson, an army surgeon in India,
also speaks highly of its value. He writes, " The worm is gene-
rally passed entire, and almost always dead, and in all the cases
I have examined (fifteen) I was able to detect the head." It is,
however, but little esteemed in this country as an anthelmintic,
fern rhizome being generally regarded as more efficacious. Grarrod
says, however, that he has used it with success in some cases.
Kamala has also been used externally in this country in herpetic
ring- worm. In India kamala is also frequently employed as an ex-
,ternal application in scabies and various other affections of the skin.
It is also used in India for dyeing silk a rich orange-brown. The

dye is also known at Aden under the name of Waras or Wurrus*

&

Pharmacographia, p. 515 ; Ph. JL, vol. xii (1853), 386, 589, and
vol. xvii (1858), 408; Per. Mat. Med., by B. and R, p. 536";
U. S. Disp., by W. and B., p. 744 ; Gar. Mat. Med, p. 312.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from Indian specimens in the herbarium of the Brit. Museum, ibe
male plant collected by Wallich ; the female collected by Dr. Thomson. 1. A
male panicle. 2. A male flower. 3. Extremity of branch of a female plant.
4. A female flower. 5. Vertical section of the same. 6. Transverse section
of the ovary. 7 and 8. Fruit. 9. Front and 10. Back view of a seed.
11. Some of the small glands removed from the capsule. (2, 4 — 6, and 8
enlarged. 11 greatly magnified.)

D, Blair ai sic

CROTON

M&NHanhart imp

238

N. Ord. EUPHORBIACE.E.
Tribe Crotonea.

Genus Croton,* Linn, (emend). Baill., Hist. PI., v, p. 129;
Miill. Arg. in DC. Prod., xv, sect. 2, pp. 512—700. Species
about 450, mostly tropical.

238. Croton Eluteria,t /. /. Dennett, in Journ, Linn. Soc., iv
(1859), p. 29 (non Swartz).

Sweetwood Bark. Sweet Bark. Bahama Cascarilla.

Syn — Elutheria, Linn., Hort. Cliff. Clutia Eluteria, Linn., 8p. Plant.

Figures.— Woodville, t. 223, fig. 2 ; cop. in Steph. & Ch., t. 150 (drawn
from Dean's specimens in Brit. Museum) ; Daniell, in Pharm. Journ.,
1862, 1st plate.

Description. — A compact shrub or small tree, attaining at the
most 20 feet, and usually much smaller, with slender wand-like
branches, which frequently divide dichotomously at an acute
angle. Bark fissured, pale yellow-brown, scented; the young
twigs covered with minute peltate scales. Leaves few, alternate,
without stipules, on longish petioles; blade 1| — 2£ inches long,
ovate-lanceolate, rounded or sub-cordate at the base, much
attenuated into the blunt apex ; margin somewhat undulated or
irregularly dentate ; the under surface, as also the petioles, entirely
covered, so that the venation is concealed, by a close coating
of minute, peltate, radiated scales, white with a bronze centre,
giving the surface a metallic bronzed- silver appearance; on the
upper surface the scales are entirely white, more scattered, not
forming an unbroken layer. Flowers monoecious, in erect axillary
racemes ; the pedicels and calices rusty-looking, with bronzed
stellate scales, bracts shorter than the pedicels, buds nearly
globular ; petals white. Male flowers numerous in each raceme :
calyx deeply 5-partite, the divisions broad and rounded ; petals

* From Kportav, a tick.

f The name Eluteria is derived from Eleuthera, one of the Bahama Is.
adjacent to Providence Island.

238 CROTON ELUTERIA

5, fringed ; stamens about 15, inserted on the receptacle.
Female flowers few at the base of the racemes : calyx deeply
o -partite, the divisions lanceolate, acute ; petals 5, fringed, shorter
than the calyx ; ovary rounded, covered externally with scales,
3-celled, with one suspended ovule in each cell; styles 3, thick,
cylindrical, each three times dichotomous. Capsule ovoid, §ths of
an inch long, silvery-grey with stellate scales, 3-celled ; pericarp
thin, dehiscing septicidally into 3 valves, which afterwards separate
from the axis and split loculicidally. Seeds solitary in each cell,
smooth, shining, orange-brown, with the caruncle paldr; rounded
on the back, flat on the sides, and strongly ridged by the ventral
raphe ; embryo straight in axis of endosperm.

Habitat. — The Sweet Bark grows in all the islands of the
Bahamas group, chiefly on low hills, and in Cuba. The British
Museum contains also a specimen collected by Michaux in " the
southern parts of N. America;" but the species is not included in
Chapman's Flora of these States. The shrub is said to have been
introduced into England by P. Miller in the last century, but it is
not now, we believe, in cultivation. The flowers are described
as deliciously sweet-scented, and appear in March and April.

Daniell in Pharm. Journ., ser. 2, iv (1862), p. 145 ; Miill., Arg.,
1. c., p. 516; Grisebach, Fl. W. Ind. (1864), p. 39*

Official Part and Names. — CASCAEILLJE COETEX. The bark
(B. P.)— The bark (Cascarilla! Cortex) (I. P.)— CASCAEILLA. The
bark (U. S. P.)

Commerce. — Cascarilla bark is imported from Nassau, the
principal town in New Providence, one of the Bahama Islands.

General Characters and Composition. — Cascarilla bark usually
occurs in quills, which vary in length from one, to two, three, or
more inches, and in diameter from the size of a common goose-

* Grisebach here recombines this shrub with C. Sloanei, J. J. Benn. (C.
Eluteria, Swartz, C. gldbellus, Miill. Arg.), a native of Jamaica, figured very
badly in Woodville, t. 223, fig. 1, and beautifully in Hayne, xiv, t. 1, Daniell,
2nd plate, and B. & S., t. 28, b. But the species seem so thoroughly distinct,
and were so clearly distinguished by Bennett, that this retrograde step is
little likely to be followed.

238 CROTON ELUTERIA

quill to that of the little finger. The external suberous coat is
easily separated from the inner coats, and is more or less covered
with a silvery-white minute lichen ( Verrucaria albissima, Ach.),
the perithecium of which is seen in the form of black
specks. The colour of the suberous coat when not coated with
lichens is dull brown, which is also the colour of the bark gene-
rally. The bark is moderately hard, has a compact texture, and
breaks readily with a short resinous fracture. The taste is warm
and nauseously bitter, and its odour agreeable and aromatic, more
especially when burned : hence by this character cascarilla is
readily distinguished from other barks.

The principal constituents of cascarilla bark are a volatile oil,
resin, and a bitter crystalline principle, first isolated by Duval,
and named by him Gascarillin.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Cascarilla bark is aromatic,
bitter, and tonic. Formerly it was much used, especially in
Germany, as a substitute for cinchona; but although it is very
far inferior to this bark as a tonic and febrifuge, it is a useful
tonic in convalescence after fevers. In this country it is princi-
pally employed in atonic dyspepsia, in chronic bronchial affections
to check excessive secretion of mucus, and in chronic diarrhoea
and dysentery. The agreeable musky odour which it produces
when burned also renders it a useful ingredient in fumigating
pastilles, for which purpose it is frequently used. For the
same reason it is sometimes mixed in small quantities with
tobacco, in order to render it more agreeable for smoking. It
is said, when thus used, to cause giddiness and intoxication, but
this is scarcely probable.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, part 1, p. 412 ; Pharmacographia, p. 506 ;
U. S. Disp., by W. and B., p. 234 ; Journ. de Pharm., 3rd ser.
viii, 96.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from specimens collected in Providence Island, Bahamas, by Dr.
W. F. Daniell in 1858 (Brit. Museum). 1. Small branch, with leaves and
several racemes of fruit and flowers. 2. Male flower. 3. The same in vertical
section. 4. Female flower. 5. Vertical section of the same. 6 and 7. Fruit
8. Transverse section of the same. 9 and 10. Seed, inner surface. 11. Scale
from leaf. (2—5, 7, 8, and 10 enlarged. 11 greatly magnified.)

D Blair aditaJbdd efcHth

sjr.haXw iorp

CROTON TIGLIUM.//^z/.

239

Ord. EUPHORBIACE.E.
Tribe Crotoneee.
Genus Croton, Linn.

239. Croton (Eu-croton) Tiglium,* Linn., Sp. Plant., ed. i,

p. 1004 (1753).

Jamalgota. Jepdl. Purging Croton.

Syn. — Tiglium officinale, Klotzsch. Croton Jamalgota, F. Hamilton.

Figures. — Nees, 1. 138 ; Woodville, vol. v ; Hayne, xiv, t. 3 ; Berg & Sch.,
1. 17 e ; [Steph. & Ch., t. 4, " taken from a drawing in the Medico-
Botanical Society in London," can scarcely be this species] ; Burm.,
Thes. Zeyl., t. 90; Rheede, Malab., pt. ii, t. 33; Marchand in
Adansonia,i,t. 9, 10; BaiUon, Hist. PL, v, f. 196—202.

Description. — A small tree, 15 — 20 feet high; trunk rather
crooked, with smooth bark ; branches slender, smooth, terete ;
bark pale whitish-brown, marked with scars of the fallen leaves.
Leaves alternate, on stalks nearly half as long as the blade ;
blade about 4J inches long by 2 inches wide when full grown,
thin, glabrous, ovate, attenuate at the apex, faintly and rather
distantly serrate, pale bright green, veins prominent beneath,
petiole breaking up immediately on entering the leaf into 5 veins,
the two lateral faint, the two intermediate well marked, giving
with the mid-rib a triple-nerved aspect to the leaf; on either side
of base of the blade and connected with the petiole is a prominent
sessile gland ; stipules minute, filiform, deciduous ; the young
leaves and buds with scattered stellate hairs. Flowers in lax,
terminal, erect racemes, unisexual ; the male at the upper part of
the raceme, the female less numerous at the lower part ; pedicels
longer than the flowers ; bracts minute. Male flower : calyx of
5 spreading, broadly triangular, blunt sepals, with valvate aestiva-
tion; petals 5, inserted on the flat receptacle, alternate with and
reflexed between the sepals, oblong-linear, blunt, set with rather

* The seeds were called Grana Tiglii or Grana Tilli by the pharmacists of
the 17th century ; but we do not know the origin of these names.

239 CROTON TIGLIUM

long white hairs above, glabrous beneath, pale green ; a promi-
nent roundish yellow gland stands within each sepal, alter-
nating with the petals ; stamens 14 — 20, as long as the petals,
one opposite each petal and sepal, the remainder irregularly dis-
persed over the receptacle, which is covered with short white
hairs, anthers small, broad, innate, cells semilunar. Female
flower; calyx deeply 5-partite, divisions ovate, acute, spreading
or reflexed, set with few or more numerous stellate hairs and
with a small rounded prominence in the angle between each ;
glands 5, blunt, prominent, opposite the sep., as in the male
flowers ; petals round ; ovary sessile, thickly covered with
stellate hairs, 3-celled, with a single pendulous ovule in each;
styles 3, deeply bifid. Fruit about the size of a hazel-nut, slightly
inflated, pale, smooth, brownish-yellow, capsular, 3-celled, with
a single large seed in each cell ; dehiscing septicidally into
3 cocci, and afterwards loculicidally. Seeds nearly \ an inch long
by about |ths wide, ovoid, rounded on the back, marked on the
ventral surface by a fine raised raphe ; testa thin, brittle, light
brown, black within; embryo with large foliaceous cotyledons,
lying in the centre of the oily endosperm.

Habitat. — The croton oil plant is common throughout the
Indian Peninsula, both wild and cultivated; it also grows in
Ceylon, Borneo, and the Philippines, and as an introduced tree
in Mauritius and Japan. It was first cultivated in this country
in 1798, and is now to be seen in many botanic gardens, though
it rarely flowers.

Marchand in Adansonia, i, p. 232; Miill. Arg., 1. c., p. 600;
Roxb., Fl. Ind., iii, p. 682; F. Hamilton in Trans. Linn. Soc.,
vol. xiv, p. 258.

Official Parts and Names. — OLEUM CEOTONIS. The oil expressed
from the seeds (B. P.) — The seeds (Grotonis semina) (I. P.) —
OLEUM TIGLII. The fixed oil obtained from the seed (U. S. P.)

General Characters and Composition of Croton Seeds. — The
croton seeds of commerce are about the size of coffee beans, oval
in shape and imperfectly quadrangular in form. The testa is of a
dark cinnamon-brown colour on the surface, but when scraped it

239 CROTON TIGLIUM

presents a black appearance. This testa is brittle, and encloses a
pale-coloured, delicate seed-coat, within which is the yellowish-
oily albumen enclosing the embryo which has been already
described. The seeds have no odour, and at first they have but a
mildly oleaginous taste, but soon become persistently acrid and
burning.

The principal constituents of croton seeds are a fatty fixed oil
(see Characters of Croton Oil), tiglinic acid, crotonic or quartenylic
acid, and crotonol. The latter is asserted by Schlippe, who has
alone isolated it, to be the drastic principle of croton oil. The
purgative principle has not been isolated. Tuson has indicated
the presence of an alkaloid in croton seeds analogous to
cascarillin from cascarilla bark, but his experiments require con-
firmation.

General Characters of Croton Oil. — Two varieties of croton oil
are known in this country ; one which is imported from India,
and another, the one now almost generally in use, is expressed
here from croton seeds which are Chiefly imported from Cochin
or Bombay. In India, in order to obtain the oil, the seeds are
first subjected to slight torrefaction, by which the shell is more
easily separated, and the kernel or nucleus is then submitted to
pressure. In this country the commercial seeds, after having
their shells removed, are submitted to pressure. The kernels
yield from 50 to 60 per cent, of oil. Croton oil has a fluorescent
appearance, more especially the English pressed oil, a viscid
consistence, which is increased by age, a faint, peculiar, some-
what rancid, disagreeable odour, and an oily, acrid taste. The
colour of the two varieties varies, that of the East Indian croton
oil being pale yellow, and the English oil varying from
brownish yellow to dark reddish brown like the deepest coloured
sherry. Both kinds are soluble in ether and oil of turpentine,
but they vary in their relations to alcohol — that of English oil
being entirely soluble, while the Indian oil forms an opaque
mixture with alcohol, which becomes clear if heat be applied, but
the oil separates again by standing. Croton oil essentially consists
of the fatty fixed oil mixed with the other constituents of the seeds.

239 CROTON TIGLIUM

Medical Properties and Uses. — Croton seeds when applied
externally act as a powerful local irritant, and when given inter-
nally, in doses of a grain, as a very active drastic purgative.
From their poisonous character when given in over doses they are
not now used in this country. It is said, however, that in India,
where the seeds are sometimes known under the name of
Jamalgata pills, they have been used with great success in
amenorrhoea ; and Professor Erasmus Wilson speaks highly of a
diluted tincture of croton seeds as a stimulant application in
certain cutaneous affections, more especially in eczema, lichen,
ichthyosis, and erythema.

Croton oil when rubbed on the skin acts as a rubefacient and
counter-irritant, and when administered internally it operates as
a powerful hydragogue cathartic. It is a most useful, and
frequently a very valuable cathartic in any case in which it is
desired to act speedily and powerfully on the bowels, as in
obstinate constipation, in dropsy, in apoplexy, in paralysis, in
torpid conditions of the intestinal canal, &c ; and also in cases
where the patient cannot or will not swallow, when it may be
dropped on the tongue, as in some affections of the throat,
mania, &c. The official liniments of the British and Indian phar-
macopoeias when rubbed on the skin produce redness and a pustular
eruption. They act as useful stimulants when thus applied in
chronic rheumatism, neuralgia, glandular and other indolent swell-
ings, and in chronic bronchitis and other pulmonary affections.

U. S. Disp., by W. and B., p. 624 ; Pharmacographia, p. 508 ;
Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, part i, p. 409 ; Ph. Jl., vol. iv, 2nd series,
382 and 387 ; Per. Mat. Med., by B. and R, p. 525 ; Wilson,
Diseases of the Skin, p. 177.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen kindly sent by Dr. D. Moore from Glasnevin
Garden, Dublin, where it flowered in September, 1874 ; the fruit added from
examples in the Museum of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. 1. A
flowering branch. 2. Male flower. 3. Section of the same. 4. A female
flower. 5. Section of same. 6. Fruit. 7. Transverse section of the same.
8. Seed, ventral surface. 9. Vertical section of the same. 10. A stellate hair
from the inflorescence. (2 — 5 enlarged. 10 much magnified.)

D. Blair al siftc <3datMi.

SJ1LLLNGIA SYLVATICA

241

N. Ord. EUPHORBIACEJR,
Tribe Hippomanece.

Genus Stillingia,* Garden, in Linn. Mant. Miill. Arg., 1. c.,
pp. 1155—1162; Bam., Hist. PL, v, p. 135. Species 12,
natives of tropical regions in both hemispheres.

241, Stillingia sylvatica, Linn., Mant., p. 126 (1767).

Queen's Delight.

8yn.~ Sapium sylvaticum, Tvrrey.
Not previously figured.

Description. — Stems numerous from a large woody root, erect
or ascending, 1 — 3 feet high, herbaceous or slightly woody
below, simple, umbellately branched above, smooth, terete, with a
milky juice. Leaves numerous, alternate, irregularly scattered or
crowded, nearly sessile, variable in form from narrow-lanceolate to
broad -oval, tapering at base, closely crenate- serrate, with a gland
in each crenature, rather thick ; stipules minute, setaceous, deeply
divided, early deciduous. Inflorescence arranged upon a thick,
terminal, compressed, yellowish axis, afterwards exceeded by the
two or more branches which are given off from below its base,
2 — 4 inches long. Flowers unisexual ; the male flowers in
dense clusters of 8 or 10, arranged round the spike for nearly
its whole length, each cluster in the axil of a thin, broad, acute
scale with a scarious margin, and provided on either side with a
large, circular, shallow, cup- shaped gland attached by its centre ;
the female flowers very few (or none) at the base of the spike,
solitary, in the axil of similar bracts to those of the male clusters.
Male flowers shortly stalked, consisting of 2 stamens on long
filaments connected for half their length and surrounded by (at
first enclosed in) a membranous, cup-shaped, two-cleft calyx.

* Named after Dr. Benjamin Stillingfleet, an English botanist of the 18th
century, author of ' Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Natural History, Ac/
1759. '

241 STILLINGIA SYLVATICA

Female flowers ; calyx 3-lobed ; style slender, articulated below,
with 3 spreading branches, Capsule roundish, slightly rough,
greenish brown, 3-celled, with a single seed in each cell, separating
into 3 cocci, which open down their dorsal suture. Seeds nearly
globular, silvery white, roughish, with a well-marked caruncle.

Habitat, — Common in dry sandy soil in - the Southern United
States of America from Virginia to Florida and westward to
Texas. It is an insignificant weed-like plant, and is not in
cultivation in English gardens.

Miill. Arg., 1. c., p. 1158; A. Gray, Man. Bot. U. S., p. 391;
Chapman, Fl. S. States, p. 404.

Official Part and Name. — STILLINGIA. Queen's Root. The root
of Stillingia sylvatica (U. S. P.) — Not official in either the British
Pharmacopoeia or the Pharmacopoeia of India.

General Characters and Composition. — Stillingia has been fully
described by Dr. Wood in the United States Dispensatory. It
occurs in long cylindrical pieces, from a third of an inch to more
than an inch thick, wrinkled from drying, of a dirty yellowish-
brown colour externally, and, when cut across, exhibiting an
interior soft, yellowish, ligneous portion, surrounded by a pinkish-
coloured bark. The odour is slight, peculiar, and somewhat
oleaginous, but in the recent root is said by Dr. Frost to be
strong and acrimonious. The taste is bitterish and pungent,
leaving an impression of disagreeable acrimony in the mouth and
fauces. Nothing certain is known of its composition, but the
active principle is said to be volatile, and the root consequently
loses much of its activity when kept. Its virtues are imparted to
both water and alcohol.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Stillingia is emetic, cathartic,
and alterative. It is regarded by Dr. T. Young Symons, of the
United States, who first introduced it to the notice of the profes-
sion, as a valuable alterative in syphilis and other affections where
mercury is commonly employed. Other physicians have also
spoken highly in favour of its use, and from their testimony its
value is regarded in the United States of America, as established

241 STILLINGIA SYLVATICA

in secondary syphilis, scrofula, various cutaneous diseases, chronic
diseases of the liver, and other complaints ordinarily benefited by
alterative medicines. It may be either given alone or combined
with sarsaparilla and other alteratives. So far as we know, this
remedy has not been used in this country, but from the testi-
mony given of its value by medical practitioners in the United
States it is well deserving of a trial.

United States Dispensatory, by "Wood and Bache, p. 838.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the Brit. Mus. collected by Dr. Garden in Carolina;
the fruit added from a Texan specimen collected by Lindheimer, in the same
herbarium.

1. Upper part of a flowering stem.

2. Portion of spike showing male clusters.

3. A male flower.

4. Fruit.

6. Transverse section of same.

6, 7. A seed.

8. The same seen from side.

(2, 3, 7, 8 enlarged,)

00

CO

38

N. Ord. STERCULIACE^I. Lo Maout & Dec., p. 283.

Tribe Byttneriacea. Lindl., Veg. K., p. 363 (N. Ord.) ; Baill., Hist.
PL iv, p. 75.

Genus Theobroma, Linn* B. & H., Gen., i, p. 225 ; Baill., 1. c.,
p. 77; Bernoulli in Nouv. Mem. de la Soc. Helvet. des
So. Nat., vol. xxiv (1871). Species about 8, natives of
tropical America.

38. Theobroma Cacao Linn., Sp. PL ed. 1, p. 782 (1753).
Cacao. Cocoa or Chocolate' Tree.

Syn. — Cacao sativa, Lam. C. Theobroma, Tussac. C. minus, Gaertn.

Figures. — Nees, t. 419 ; Tussac, PI. Antilles, i, t. 13, cop. in Hayne, ix, t.
35; Berg & Sch., t. 33 e & f; Sloane, Hist. Jamaica, t. 160; Ber-
noulli, 1. c., t. 1 & 2.

Description. — A tree of no great size, with round branches covered
with a smooth greyish bark. Leaves alternate, stalked, 8 or 9
inches long by 2J wide or even larger, ovate-lanceolate or ovate-
oblong, acute, rounded at the base, entire, veins prominent beneath ;
petiole 1 inch long, thickened at both ends ; stipules caulinary, sub-
ulate-linear, acutely serrate, young leaves pink. Flowers on delicate,
pubescent, articulated, often branched stalks, in clusters from the
old wood of the branches and trunk, occupying the position of
former leaf-axils. Calyx very deeply 5 -cleft, divisions ovate-
acuminate, pale red, membranous, woolly on the edge. Petals 5,
alternating with the calyx- segments, the lower half erect, hood-
shaped, pale-pink, marked on the inside with two crimson prominent
nerves, the upper half spreading, spathulate, on a filiform stalk,
lemon-yellow. Androecium forming at its base a hypogynous tube
surrounding the ovary, and consisting of 5 stamens opposite the
petals, which are bent outwards and received into the cucullate bases
of the latter, and, alternating with these, 5 elongated linear processes
(staminodes), which stand erect, and are of a brilliant crimson; fila-
ments short, anthers small, green, extrorse, each consisting of 4 cells
arranged crosswise (2 anthers combined ?). Ovary small, sessile, pen-

* Name from QIOQ, a god, and /3/jw/ia, food.

38 THEOBROMA CACAO

tagonous, pilose, 5 -celled ; style tapering, a little longer than the sta-
mens, dividing into 5 short branches at the summit; ovules numerous,
placentation axile. Fruit pendulous, solitary or two or three together,
large, 6 or 7 inches long, of an elongated pyriform shape, tapering
at the end, marked with (usually) 10 shallow furrows and blunt
ridges, surface more or less tubercular, at first yellow, afterwards
red or purple, pericarp thick, tough, inner portion harder ; 5-celled.
Seeds numerous and closely packed in tiers in each cell, about the
size of almonds, but more irregular in form from mutual pressure,
immersed in copious sweet buttery pulp ; seed-coats two, the outer
membranous, veined ; cotyledons large, thick, irregularly crumpled
and divided, with a process of the inner seed-coat passing into each
fissure, radicle conical, indistinct, endosperm wanting.

Habitat. — The chocolate tree is a native of parts of Brazil
and other northern portions of South America, extending also into
Central America as far north as Mexico. It is extensively culti-
vated throughout the tropics of both the new and old worlds,
especially in some of the West Indian Islands. Examples may be
seen here in the hot-houses of several botanic gardens, the tree
having been introduced in 1759. There are several varieties or
races in cultivation

DC. Prod., i, p. 484; Triana & Planch., Fl. Nov. Granat.,
p. 208 ; Humb., Bonpl. & Kunth, v, p. 316 ; Sloane, Jamaica, ii,
p. 15 ; Griesbach, Fl. W. Ind., p. 91 ; Lindl., Med. Bot., p. 138.

Official Part and Name. — OLEUM THEOBEOMJE. A concrete oil
obtained by expression and heat from the ground seeds (B. P.).
A concrete oil (Theobromte Oleum) obtained by expression and
heat from the ground seeds (I. P.). OLEUM THEOBEOM^E. The
concrete oil of the kernels of the fruit (U. S. P.).

Production. — Oil of Theobroma, or, as it is commonly termed,
Cacao butter, is generally obtained from the Chocolate manufac-
turers, who procure it by submitting the warmed seeds to pressure.
The kernels of cocoa seeds yield on an average about half their
weight of oil.

General Description and Composition. — Oil of Theobroma is
usually seen in the form of oblong cakes or tablets, weighing
about half a pound each. It is a yellowish, opaque, dry substance,

38 THEOBROMA CACAO

about the consistence of tallow, with a bland agreeable taste, and
a pleasant odour resembling chocolate. It breaks readily, and
presents a dull waxy fracture. Its sp. gr. is 0*961, and it melts
at a temperature of 122° Fahr. It does not become rancid from
exposure to the air. Its chief constituent is stearin, hence it is
nut> of the best fats for the preparation of stearic acid.

Uses. — Cacao butter has been but lately introduced into the
British and United States pharmacopoeias, but it has been long used
on the Continent. It is peculiarly well adapted from its consistency,
blandness, and freedom from rancidity, for the preparation of
suppositories, for which purpose it is official. It is also used as a
basis for pessaries, as an ingredient in cosmetic ointments, and for
coating pills and other purposes.

COCOA or CACAO SEEDS. — The principal use of cocoa seeds is not,
however, on account of the concrete oil they yield, but for the
preparation of chocolate and cocoa ; hence they are sometimes
called chocolate nuts. Cocoa seeds are principally imported into
this country from our West Indian Colonies, and more especially
Trinidad and Granada.

Chocolate, which derives its name from the Indian term
chocolat, is prepared as follows : — The seeds are first roasted,
then divested of their husks or shells, and the kernels after-
wards crushed between heated stones or rollers, by which they are
reduced to a pasty consistence. This paste is then mixed with
sugar, and some vanilla or cinnamon added for flavouring, and
usually a small quantity of arnatto as a colouring agent, and, finally,
it is moulded into cakes. This is essentially the mode of prepara-
tion of the finer qualities of chocolate, but the flavouring of the
inferior kinds is sometimes produced by adding sassafras nuts,
cloves, or some other spice. Chocolate is adulterated in some
cases with rice flour, various starches, lard, and other substances.

Cocoa is prepared either by grinding up the roasted seeds
with their husks between hot cylinders into a paste, wnich is then
mixed with variable amounts of sugar, starch &c., and formed
into common cocoa, rock cocoa, soluble cocoa, &c. ; or, the roasted
seeds, divested of their husks, are broken into small fragments,
in which state they form cocoa nibs, the purest kind of cocoa.

38 THEOBROMA CACAO

Both cocoa and chocolate are very largely used for the prepara-
tion of agreeable and nutritious beverages ; indeed, the generic
name Theobroma was given to the tree yielding cocoa seeds by
Linnaeus, to mark his high opinion of the agreeable and valuable
properties of the beverages prepared from them, although Belzoni,
a traveller of the sixteenth century, regarded them in a very
different light, for he declared that cocoa was a drink " fitter for
a pig than for a man." Cocoa and chocolate are not such
refreshing and stimulating beverages as tea and coffee, but they
are much more nutritious in consequence of the large quantity of
concrete oil (Oleum Theobroma) they contain, although, from the
same cause, they disagree with many persons. To such persons
cocoa nibs should be recommended.

Cocoa and chocolate form the common unfermented beverages of
about fifty millions of persons in Spain, Italy, France, and Central
America, and it has been estimated that more than 100,000,000 Ibs.
of cocoa seeds are annually consumed in these countries,|ppain
alone consuming forty millions of pounds. Cocoa is also now
largely used in this country, and its consumption has enormously
increased of late years. Thus, in 1820 the consumption of cocoa
seeds was only 276,321 Ibs., in 1860 it had increased to 4,583,124
Ibs., while in 1873 it was over eight millions of pounds.

Cocoa seeds owe their properties to the concrete oil already fully
described (Oleum Theobromee) , and to an alkaloid named theo-
bromin, which resembles both them and caffein, the alkaloids
respectively of tea and coffee, both in its chemical characters and
effects. (See Tea and Coffee.)

Per. Mat. Med., by B. and R., p. 920; Pharmacographia, p. 88;
U. S. Disp., by W. and B., p. 620; Bentl. Man. Bot., p. 440 ;
Chem. Gaz., Aug. 15, 1854, p. 306 ; Soc. Arts JL, March 13,

1874.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the tropical house of the Royal Gardens, Kew,
flowering in June. The fruit added from a specimen preserved in spirit in the
British Museum. 1. Portion of the trunk bearing flowers and foliage. 2. A
single flower. 3. A petal. 4. The staminal whorl partly cut away and
flattened out. 5. Vertical, and 6, transverse sections of ovary. 7. Fruit.
8. Seed. 9. Embryo. 10. The same, with one cotyledon removed. (2 — 6
enlarged.)

D.BLsur

RHAMNUS CATHARTICUS.Z.

64

N. Ord. RHAMNACE.E. Lindl, Veg. Kingd., p. 581 ; Le Maout and

Dec., p. 346 ; Bail!., Hist. PI., vi.
Tribe Rhamnete.

Genus Rhamnus,* Linn, (in part). B. & H., Gen., i, p. 377 ;
Bail!., 1. c., p. 51. Species about 60, generally distributed ;
rare in the tropics.

64. Rhamnus catharticus, Linn., Sp. PI. ed. I, P. 193 (1753).

Buckthorn.

8yn. — Cervispina cathartica, Moench.

Figures.— Woodv., t. 210 ; Steph. & Ch., 1. 119 ; Hayne, v, t. 43 ; Nees,
t. 360 ; Berg & Sch., t. 16 f ; Syme, E. B., ii, t. 318.

Description. — A dense, spreading, much-branched bush or small
tree, not reaching more than about 12 feet high, the smaller
branches often ending in a sharp spine ; bark rather smooth, dark
grey. Leaves variously arranged : fasciculate on the short twigs
of the previous year, alternate or sub-opposite on the young green
shoots of the current year ; dingy-green, smooth, petioles about
half as long as the blade ; stipules small, linear, deciduous ; blade
1 — 1| inches long, broadly oval, rounded or slightly attenuated at
the apex, finely serrulate; veins very prominent beneath, the
lateral ones few, arched in a direction parallel with the margin.
Flowers dioecious, very small, yellowish-green, stalked, in small
sessile umbels or solitary from the axils of the fascicles of leaves
on the previous year's twigs. Male flowers : calyx-tube campanu-
late ; limb in 4 ovate-lanceolate segments ; petals 4, linear-
spathulate, much smaller than the calyx-segments with which they
alternate; stamens 4, immediately opposite the petals, and with
them inserted on the upper margin of the calyx-tube (disk) ; pistil
quite rudimentary. Female flowers : calyx as in the male, but tube
wider to accommodate the ovary ; petals much smaller than in the
male, and stamens rudimentary ; ovary superior, enclosed in the

* 'Pa'fjivoQ, the classical name, originally applied to the spiny Paliurus.

64 RHAMNUS CATHARTICUS

calyx-tube but free from it, 4-celled, with one erect ovule in each
cell ; style cleft about half-way down into 4 blunt branches. Fruit
fleshy, round, about the size of a pea, umbilicated at the apex,
surrounded at the base by a circular persistent portion of the calyx-
tube, shining, at first green, then black ; skin thin ; pulp scanty,
containing 4 hard, indehiscent, dark-brown stones (pyrenes), which
are obovoid, grooved on their outer surface, where the walls are
folded inwards, hollow in the centre, angled at the inner edge,
where they meet in the middle of the fruit. Seeds one in each
stone, furrowed deeply on back, shallowly on front, curved from
side to side in a revolute manner (so as to make a horseshoe on
section) round the central cavity of the stone, the convexity
inwards ; embryo in the axis of scanty endosperm, and similarly
curved, cotyledons large, raphe running to the top of the seed in
the dorsal furrow.

Habitat. — In England this shrub is chiefly, though not exclu-
sively, found in chalky districts, where it occurs in thickets and
small woods. It is not unfrequent in the south, but becomes rare
northwards, and is not native in Scotland. In Europe it is found
in all parts except the extreme north, and extends far eastwards
into Siberia ; it has also been observed in Algeria, and is culti-
vated in the United States. The structure of the fruit is remark-
able and quite unlike that of a true berry, to which its outward
appearance is so similar ; one or two of the stones are frequently
abortive.

Syme, E. Bot., ii, p. 226; Hook, f., Stud. Fl., p. 82; "Wats.,

Comp. Cyb. Br., p. 136 ; Gren. and Godr., Fl. France, i, p. 335 ;

Lindl. FL Med., p. 167.

Official Part and Name. — EHAMNI Succus. The recently ex-
pressed juice of the ripe berries (B. P.). The recently expressed
juice of the ripe berries (Ehamni Succus, Buckthorn juice (I. P.).
Not official in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States.

Collection'. — Buckthorn fruits are plentiful in certain parts
of Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire,
and some other counties in England, and from these parts

64 RHAMNUS CATHARTICUS

our supplies are chiefly obtained ; but the collectors commonly
prefer to supply the juice expressed by themselves rather than the
ripe fruit, and as this juice is generally, as shown by Umney,
largely diluted with water, the supply of the ripe fruit ought to
be insisted on.

General Characters and Composition of the Juice. — The fresh juice
is green, and has a very unpleasant odour, and a bitterish, some-
what acrid, disagreeable taste. Its specific gravity, according to
Umney, should be 1*070 to 1*080. By keeping, its colour
gradually changes to red, and its specific gravity, from a deposi-
tion of solid matter, is reduced to T035.

Buckthorn fruit and juice have been repeatedly analysed, and
several colouring principles have been obtained from them and
similar parts of other species of Rhamnus, but at present we have no
satisfactory evidence of the source of their active purgative proper-
ties, although Winckler believes that this resides in a principle
which he has termed cathartin. A yellow crystalline principle
has also been indicated by Fleury, who named it rhamnine, and
more recently this has been examined by Lefort and other chemists,
but with very conflicting results.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Buckthorn juice is a powerful
hydragogue cathartic, but as its action is frequently attended with
severe griping, nausea, and thirst, it is but very little used at the
present day, except as a domestic remedy and in veterinary
practice. It is generally prescribed in the form of syrup for
children.

Formerly buckthorn juice was frequently employed in cases
where an active cathartic was required, as in gout and rheu-
matism, obstinate constipation, and dropsical affections. Lately,
the bark of Rhamnus Frangula, Alder Buckthorn, which has
been long employed in Germany, has been highly recom-
mended for use in this country as being a valuable cathartic
without causing any of the distressing effects so frequently found
to accompany the action of buckthorn juice. (See Rhamnus
Frangula.)

The pigment, so well known as sap-green, the vert de vessie of

64 RHAMNUS CATHARTICUS

the French, is prepared by evaporating to dryness fresh buckthorn
juice which has been previously mixed with lime.

Pharmacographia, p. 139 ; Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, part ii, p. 388 ;
U. S. Disp., by W. and B., p. 728; Garr. Mat. Med., 4 ed., p.
229; Bentl., Man. Bot., p. 490; Ph. Jl., July 11, 1874, p. 21.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the garden of the Apothecaries' Company at
Chelsea, assisted by a wild example from Box Hill, Surrey.

1. Branch with clusters of male flowers.

2. A male flower cut vertically.

3. Petal.

4. Stamen.

5. A female flower cut vertically.

6. Transverse section of ovary.

7. A branch with ripe fruit.

8. Base of fruit showing persistent base of calyx-tube.

9. Transverse section of fruit.
10, 11. Back of a single stone.

12. Front view of same.

13. Transverse section of same.

14. Back view of a seed.

,(2—6 and 8—13 enlarged.)

D. Blair ainai. del etfcth.

PRUNUS

99

N. Ord. ROSACEJE.
Tribe Prunece.

Genus Prunus, Linn.

99. Primus Amygdalus,* Stokes, Bot. Mat. Med., iii, p. 101

(1812).

Almond.

Syn. — Amygdalus communis, Linn, and many authors. A. amara and
A. dulcis, DC., Fl. Franc.

Figures.— Woodville, 1. 183 ; Hayne, iv, t. 39 ; Steph. & Ch., t. 43 ; Nees,
tt. 312 & 313 ; Berg & Sch., t. 4 d.

Description. — A small tree; bark pale purplish-brown, slightly
wrinkled. Leaves broadly or narrowly lanceolate, acute, sharply
serrate, thin, bright green, stalked, alternate, fasciculate on the
short lateral branchlets, distant on the young terminal ones ;
stipules linear, acuminate, sharply serrate, deciduous. Flowers
nearly sessile, solitary or few together on the sides of the previous
year's branches, appearing just before the leaves, surrounded by a
few scaly bracts. Calyx reddish, glabrous, the tube urceolate, the
segments 5, broadly oblong, blunt. Petals 5, much larger than the
calyx-segments, but variable in size, ovate, thin, concave, bright
pale pink. Stamens about 30, about half the length of the petals,
inserted at the margin of the calyx- tube in two rows. Ovary (and
base of simple style) woolly, one-celled, with two ovules attached
to the side near the top. Fruit a drupe about 1| inch long,
irregularly ovoid, with a furrow down one side, closely downy
when young; sarcocarp leathery, irregularly splitting into two valves
when ripe and falling away from the stone ; endocarp hard, ovoid,
acute, rugged with irregular pits and furrows externally, smooth
and shining within. Seed solitary, about 1 inch long, somewhat
compressed, pointed at top, blunt at lower end, connected with the
side of the endocarp by a broad funicle ; chalaza at the round

* Amygdalus, the classical name.

99 PRUNUS AMYGDALUS

end ; testa reddish brown, thin,, rough, with ramifying veins from
the chalaza ; embryo with a small blunt radicle, and 'two very
large plane-convex cotyledons with the flat plumule between them ;
no endosperm.

There are no structural characters distinguishing the sweet and
bitter almond trees, which cannot, therefore, in spite of the
different qualities of their seeds, be separated, even as varieties ;
the bitter almond seed is somewhat smaller than the best varieties
of the sweet kind.

Habitat. — The almond tree is considered to be a native of
Morocco, Syria, Persia, and Turkestan; it is doubtfully wild in
Sicily, Greece, and Anatolia, and is cultivated throughout tem-
perate Europe, including England, where it ripens its fruit in the
south only. As an ornamental, early-flowering tree it is very
familiar, producing its- beautiful flowers in March. The ovary is
very frequently abortive, the flowers being practically male, in
English gardens.

Amygdalus, as a genus, is distinguished from Prunus only by
possessing a leathery separable shell in the place of a soft pulp
connected with the stone. Boissier, in his ' Flora Orientalis/
describes 17 species.

Boiss., Fl. Orient, ii, p. 641 ; Seringe in DC. Prod., ii, p. 531 ;
Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 231.

Official Parts and Names. — 1. AMYGDALA DULCIS. The seed of
the sweet almond tree, Amygdalus communis, var. dulcis, DC ;
2. AMYGDALA AMAEA. The seed of the bitter almond tree,
Amygdalus communis, var. amara, DG ; 3. OLEUM AMYGDALA.
The oil expressed from bitter and sweet almonds (B. P.). 1. The
seeds (Amyydala dulces) ; 2. The seeds (Amygdala amarte)
(I. P.). 1. AMYGDALA DULCIS. The kernel of the fruit; 2.
AMYGDALA AMAEA. The kernel of the fruit ; 3. OLEUM AMYGDALA
EXPEESSUM. The fixed oil obtained from the kernel of the fruit
of Amygdalus communis; 4. OLEUM AMYGDALA AMAE^;. The
volatile oil obtained from the kernel of the fruit of Amygdalus
communis, variety amara (U. S. P.).

1. AMYGDALA DULCES. Sweet Almonds. — These seeds have a

99 PRUNUS AMYGDALUS

bland, sweetish, agreeable, nutty taste, and when triturated with
water they afford a pure white, milk-like emulsion of an agreeable
taste, but without any marked odour. They are covered with a
scurfy cinnamon-brown skin or testa ; this is easily removed by
maceration in warm water, together with the thin, closely attached
endopleura or inner membrane, and the kernels, which are
entirely formed of the embryo as already described, then alone
remain. These are termed blanched almonds.

There are four varieties of sweet almonds now distinguished in
the London market, namely, Jordan, Valencia, Sicily, and Barbary,
which are arranged in the order of their value. The different
kinds vary in the form and size of their kernels and in the
firmness of their shells. When imported in the shell (endocarp)
they are known as almonds in the shell.

Jordan Almonds are the finest kind ; they are imported from
Malaga, and generally without the shell. They differ from all the
other varieties by their more oval shape and greater length ; hence
they are sometimes termed long almonds. Jordan almonds are alone
official in the British Pharmacopoeia, as is indicated by the charac-
ters there given and the statement that they come from Malaga.

The other varieties of sweet almonds are shorter and more
ovate, resembling in these respects bitter almonds ; indeed,
it is principally on this account, and in order to guard against
any admixture or substitution of bitter for sweet almonds, that
Jordan almonds, which from their greater length cannot well
be mistaken, are directed to be used in the British Pharma-
copoeia in the preparations of sweet almonds, which are ordered
in that volume.

The principal constituents of sweet almonds are fixed oil (see
Oleum Amygdala), sugar, and two albuminous substances called
synaptase or emulsin, and amandin, which the recent experiments
of Bitthausen tend to indicate, are both modifications of casein.
It would seem also that sweet almonds must contain a very minute
proportion of some substance analogous to amygdalin (see Amyg-
dalae Amarae), as when warmed with solution of potash they yield
a small quantity of hydrocyanic acid.

99 PRUNUS AMYGDALUS

Medical Properties and Uses. — Sweet almonds are emollient and
nutritive. They may be employed for the extraction of the fixed
oil of almonds, but are rarely used for this purpose on account of
their cost being greater than that of bitter almonds, and the
residual cake of inferior value.

The principal use of the sweet almond in medicine is for making
almond mixture, which is largely used as a demulcent and
emollient in pulmonary affections, &c., and is an excellent
vehicle for the administration of expectorants, saline refrigerants,
&c. For dietetical purposes almonds are employed as a dessert,
and for puddings, cakes, &c. When almonds are used for the
table they should always be blanched, as their husk possesses
irritant properties. An almond cake made from the non-amy-
laceous powder of the sweet almond has been recommended by
Dr. Pavy as a substitute for bread in the treatment of diabetes.

2. AMYGDALAE AMAE^I. Bitter Almonds. — As already noticed,
these almonds very much resemble in form and appearance the
inferior kinds of sweet almonds, but are readily known from
Jordan almonds by being less elongated and more ovate in form.
They are distinguished from all kinds of sweet almonds by their
bitter taste and by the emulsion which they afford when triturated
with water, having a strong odour resembling ratafia, or peach-blos-
soms, which arises from the production under such circumstances
of an essential oil and hydrocyanic acid.

There are three varieties of bitter almonds, namely, French,
Sicily, and Barbary, which are placed in the order of their value.

Bitter almonds, like sweet almonds, contain a fixed oil (see
Oleum Amygdala), emulsin, and sugar, but they also contain a
crystalline substance called amygdalin, which is not a constituent
of sweet almonds. It is, therefore, in the presence of this
substance that bitter almonds owe their peculiar characteristics.
The volatile oil and hydrocyanic acid which are developed when
bitter almonds are triturated with water are not contained in these
seeds, but are products resulting from the decomposition of
amygdalin under the influence of emulsin and water, the emulsin
acting as a kind of ferment.

99 PRUNUS AMYGDALUS

Medical Properties and Uses. — Bitter almonds produce analogous
effects to those of hydrocyanic acid ; and may be therefore used
medicinally in similar cases, but their administration is not
desirable, as the amount of hydrocyanic acid generated is liable to
great variation, and their effects, therefore, cannot be relied on
with the same degree of certainty as those of hydrocyanic acid.
In large quantities bitter almonds have caused serious and even
fatal consequences, their poisonous effects being similar to those
of hydrocyanic acid. In some persons, even in small quantities,
they cause nausea, vomiting, purging, and a peculiar eruption like
nettle-rash. The emulsion of bitter almonds is, however, a useful
lotion in various skin diseases, as herpes, acne, prurigo, &c.
Bitter almond paste is said to destroy the odour of camphor, musk,
most volatile oils, creasote, &c., and has therefore been used to
free mortars, &c., from the odour of assafcetida and other sub-
stances possessing a disagreeable smell.

Bitter almonds are also sometimes used for flavouring, scenting,
&c., but their principal consumption is for expressing the fixed
oil of almonds ; the residual cake being also used when mixed with
water for the distillation of the volatile oil of bitter almonds (see
Oleum Amygdala Amarte). Almond powder is the ground cake;
this is employed as a soap for washing the hands and as a lute, &c.
The cake after the volatile oil has been distilled may be used as
a food for pigs, &c.

3. OLEUM AMYGDALA. Almond Oil. — Although, as already
mentioned, both sweet and bitter almonds are official as sources
of almond oil in the British and other pharmacopoeias, the oil of
commerce is almost exclusively obtained from bitter almonds on
account of their less cost and the greater value of their residual
cake. The produce of oil is, however, somewhat less from
bitter than sweet almonds, for while the latter yield commonly
50 per cent, of oil, the former, according to Umney, only yield
about 44 per cent. The oil is rarely expressed in the United
States, but is usually imported from Europe. The properties
and composition of the oil are the same, whether derived from
sweet or bitter almonds. Almond oil is a thin, pale-yellow fluid,

99 PRUNUS AMYGDALUS

of a specific gravity varying from 0*912 to 0*920, and when fresh
it is almost or entirely inodorous, and has a mild, oleaginous,
nutty taste. It congeals less readily than olive oil. It is com-
posed almost wholly of oleic acid combined with glycerin. It
soon becomes rancid by exposure to the air.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Almond oil possesses the medi-
cinal and dietetical properties of fixed oils generally. When
applied locally it is emollient, and when taken in small quantities
it is nutritive, and in large doses laxative. It may be employed
for the same purposes as olive oil, and when made into an emulsion
with mucilage, or yolk of eggs and sugar, it may be used in
allaying troublesome cough, &c.

In pharmacy it is employed in the preparation of several of the
official ointments.

4. OLEUM AMYGDALA AMAR^]. Volatile Oil of Sitter Almonds. —
This oil has already been referred to under the head of Amygdalae
Amarse as resulting from the decomposition of amygdalin under
the influence of emulsin and water, and stated to be obtained by
submitting the bitter almond cake left after the expression of the
fixed oil to distillation with water, either alone or more commonly
with salt. The yield of volatile oil, as shown by the experiments
of Umney, is liable to great variation, the amount obtained by
him being, in some cases, as much as 0*95 per cent., while in
others it was only 0*42 per cent. This volatile oil is a mixture
or compound of various substances, as hydride of benzoyl, hydro-
cyanic acid, benzoine, and benzamide, and is commonly known as
crude oil of bitter almonds. It is this oil which is official in the
Pharmacopoeia of the United States. It has a golden-yellow colour,
and varies in sp. gr. from 1*052 to 1*082. Umney gives it from
1*061 to 1*065. This crude oil is highly poisonous on account of
the hydrocyanic acid which it contains, the proportion of which,
however, varies from 8 to 14 per cent. The hydrocyanic acid is
frequently separated by manufacturers from the crude oil, and the
oil is then supplied as oil of bitter almonds free from hydrocyanic
acid, or purified oil of bitter almonds. Various processes have
been given by different chemists for the separation of hydrocyanic

99 PRUNUS AMYGDALUS

acid, but all these purified oils are liable to oxidation unless
agitated with fused chloride of calcium so as to deprive them of
water. Umney gives the sp. gr. of the purified oil as 1'049.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The effects of the unpurified or
crude oil of bitter almonds are almost identical with those of hydro-
cyanic acid, but as the proportion of hydrocyanic in different oils is
liable to great variation, it is very rarely or never employed in
medicine in this country, although sometimes prescribed both for
external and internal use in the United States of America.

The volatile oil of bitter almonds is very largely used for
flavouring by the cook and confectioner ; and by the perfumer for
scenting toilet soap, and for other purposes. When used for
flavouring the purified oil ought always to be employed on account
of the dangerous poisonous properties of the crude oil. For this
purpose an essence of bitter almonds or almond flavour is
commonly supplied, which may be prepared by adding one
volume of the purified oil to three volumes of rectified spirit.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, pp. 244 and 250 ; Pharmacographia,
pp. 218—221 ; U. S. Disp., by W. and B., pp. 117, 588, and
590 ; Per. Mat. Med., by B. and R., pp. 808—811.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen grown in the Royal Gardens, Kew.

1. A flowering shoot,

2. Vertical section of a flower.

3. A branch with young fruit.

4. Ripe fruit with the sarcocarp split away.

5. Section through fruit to show the seed.

6. Seed with one cotyledon removed.

LOI

D.Blair a<lna£ del dLMi.

PYRUS CYDONIA. ^^

106

N. Ord. ROSACE^E.

Tribe Potneae. Lindl., Veg. Kingd., p. 559 (N. Ord. Pomaces).
Genus Pyrus, Linn* B. & H., Gen. I, t. 626 ; Baill., 1. c., pp.
392 & 463. Species about 40, natives of the temperate
regions of the northern hemisphere.

106. Pyrus Cydonia,t Linn., Sp. PL, ed. I, p. 480 (1753).

Quince.

Syn. — Cydonia vulgaris, Pers. & other authors. C. europsea, Savi. Sorbus
Cydonia, Crantz.

Figures.— Woodville, t. 182 ; Hayne, iv, t. 47 ; Steph. & Ch., t. 115 ;
Nees, t. 305 ; Berg & Sch., t. 46 c ; Berg, Charact., t. 63, f. 479 ; Bot.
Reg., t. 905; Jacq., Fl. Austr., t. 312.

I Description. — A bush or small tree with spreading branches,
the bark purplish-brown, thin, the young twigs covered with a
dense, yellowish-grey tomentum. Leaves shortly stalked, entire,
ovate, blunt or acute, 1^ — 2J inches long. Stipules roundish
or oblong-oval, serrate and denticulate, with marginal glands ;
petioles and under surface densely covered with short, thick,
yellowish wool, which when the leaves are young also covers their
upper surface. Flowers usually solitary at the ends of the branches,
with several bracts at the base of similar form to the stipules.
Calyx-tube globular-ovoid, densely tomentose. Teeth 5, large,
oval-oblong, acute, glandular- serrate, foliaceous, reflexed during
flowering, persistent. Corolla of 5 petals, more than 2 inches
across. Petals round- obovate, woolly at the base, white or pink.
Stamens about 20 in two rows, the inner ones shorter, inserted on
the prominent rim of the calyx-tube (hollow receptacle). Ovary
surrounded by the thick " calyx-tube," 5-celled, ovules numerous in
two rows in each cell, ascending ; styles 5, densely woolly below ;
stigmas capitate. Fruit a large pome, woolly when young, some-

* Pyrus, a pear tree ; the classical name.

t From KvSwvia, a town in Crete, where, according to Pliny, this shrub was
indigenous.

106 PYRUS CYDONIA

times apple-shaped, more usually pyriform, bright golden yellow,
very fragrant, crowned with the persistent leafy calyx- segments ;
flesh yellowish ; endocarp cartilaginous, surrounding the cells.
Seeds about 12 or 14 in each cell, somewhat coherent and flattened
by mutual pressure, pointed at the hilum, and marked on one side
at the other end by the chalaza, with a ridge, the raphe, connecting
these two points ; testa brown, cartilaginous, covered with an epi-
dermal layer of a single row of cylindrical cells, which swell up into
a mucilage if treated with water ; embryo entirely filling the seed,
cotyledons large, radicle prominent, pointing to the hilum.

Habitat. — The native country of the quince is doubtful, but, like
so many other fruits, it appears to be wild in some of the
Caucasian provinces, Persia and Asia Minor. It was very anciently
cultivated, and is now found apparently wild throughout the Mediter-
ranean region, and in gardens in all temperate parts of Europe,
and many parts of Asia and America. It produces fruit abun-
dantly in the South of England.

Cydonia as a genus differs from Pyrus (in which it is now
usually included) only in the cells of the fruit containing numerous
seeds instead of two. Four species are known. The structure of
the seed-coat is figured in Berg's ' Characteristik ' quoted above.

DC. Prod., ii, p. 638; Boiss, Fl. Orient., ii, p. 656; Wenzig in
Linnaea, xxxviii (1873), p. 7; Gren. & Godr., FL France, i, p.
569; LindL, Fl. Med., p. 234.

Official Part and Name. — CYDONITJM. The seed (U. S. P.
Secondary). Not ofiicial in the British Pharmacopoeia, or the
Pharmacopoeia of India.

Commerce.— Quince seeds are imported into England from the
South of France, from the Cape of Good Hope, and from Ham-
burg, where they are known as Eussian quince seeds. They are
largely imported into India from the Persian Gulf, and by land
from Affghanistan.

General Characters and Composition. — Quince seeds of commerce
are flattened, ovate, acute, more or less angular, and mahogany or
reddish-brown in colour. They have no odour, and only a simply

106 PYRUS CYDONIA

mucilaginous taste when unbroken, but when bruised and rubbed
up with water the kernels have the odour and taste of bitter
almonds, from the formation of hydrocyanic acid.

The seed- coats contain so large a quantity of mucilage that it
is said that the seed readily coagulates forty times its weight of
water. Pereira considers this mucilage as peculiar, and calls it
cydonin. Hanbury and Fliickiger regard it as a soluble modifica-
tion of cellulose.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Quince seeds are only employed
in medicine on account of their mucilage, which possesses emollient
and demulcent properties. In this country they are only used
externally in the form of a decoction, which is commonly known
as mucilage of quince seeds, as a demulcent in skin diseases,
affections of the eye, erysipelas, and other cases where mucilaginous
applications are useful. In the United States infusion of sassafras
pith is preferred to quince mucilage in such cases. Quince seeds
are highly valued by the Mahomedans in India and all over the
East, as a demulcent tonic and restorative. Europeans have
also employed them with success in dysentery. The mucilage of
quince seeds is one of the substances used by hair-dressers
under the name of bandoline, for dressing the hair, &c.

Quince fruit must be carefully distinguished from Indian Bael
fruit, which is known in India as the Bengal quince. Quince fruit
is not eatable in its raw state on account of its strong odour and
astringent taste, but when stewed in pies and tarts with apples it
is much esteemed. An excellent marmalade is also prepared from
the pulp (miva cydoniarum) ; indeed, it is said that the name of
marmalade was originally derived from marmelo, the Portuguese

name of the quince.

Pharmacographia, p. 240 ; Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, part 2, p. 304 ;
Per., by B. & R., p. 826; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 358;
Pharm. of India, p. 86.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a plant in the Royal Gardens, Kew. 1. Branch with foliage
and young flowers. 2. Vertical section of flower, petals omitted. 3. Trans-
verse section of ovary. 4. Ripe fruit. 5. Section of same. 6, 7. Seed. 8.
Vertical section of same. (2, 3, 7, 8 enlarged.)

D.Blair. a^.nat.&Lc

MO-Harfiarfc «|

LOBELIA INFLATA

162

N. Ord. LOBELIACEJC. LindL, Veg. K., p. 692; Le Maout &

Decaisne, p. 512.
Tribe Lobeliece.

Genus Lobelia, Linn* Alph. DC. in DC. Prod., vii, pp. 357—
391. Species 170 or more, natives, of the warmer regions
chiefly, of both hemispheres ; especially frequent in America
and at the Cape of Good Hope.

162. Lobelia inflata, Linn., in Act. Upsal. 1741, p. 23.

Indian Tobacco.

Syn.— Eapuntium inflatum, Mill.

Figures.— Barton, t. 16; Bigelow, t. 19; Nees, t. 206; Berg & Sch.,
1. 1 a; Pereira, Mat. Med., p. 1546 (seed).

Description. — An erect annual or biennial herb, 1 — 2 feet high,
slightly branched above. Boots fibrous, stem round, striate, more
or less hairy. Leaves alternate ; lowest ones stalked, the others
sessile ; slightly decurrent, thin, light green, pilose on both surfaces,
1J — 3 inches long, broadly or narrowly oval, denticulate or erose,
obtuse. Inflorescence branched below ; lower bracts large, leafy ;
flowers stalked, erect, small, in upright racemes ; pedicels shorter
than bracts. Calyx-tube united with ovary, marked with 10 veins,
and with a prominent ring below the teeth ; teeth 5, longer than
the tube, linear, tapering, acute, glabrous. Corolla tubular, split
down the centre above to the very base ; bilabiate, the upper lip
of two narrow, lanceolate, erect segments, the lower of three nearly
equal, spreading, triangular-ovate lobes with two short lines of
hairs within, pale violet-blue, the lower lip yellowish within.
Stamens 5, epigynous, not adherent to corolla ; both filaments and
anthers united into a tube surrounding the style. Ovary inferior,
ovoid, two-celled, with numerous ovules closely packed on large,
spongy, axile placentas ; style simple ; stigmas 2, with a tuft of hair

* Named after Matthias de Lobel, " botanographer to King James I," and
author of some valuable works. He was a native of Lille, but lived much in
London, where he died in 1616.

162 LOBELIA INFLATA

below, enclosed in the tube of the anthers. Fruit inflated, obovoid
or nearly globular, crowned by the persistent sepals and remains
of the corolla ; pericarp very thin when ripe, papery and
crumpled, pale brown, 2 -celled, indehiscent or opening irregularly
at the summit. Seeds very numerous, exceedingly small, oblong-
ovoid, rich orange brown, with a raised network of golden
yellowy embryo straight in axis of the endosperm.

Habitat. — Found in dry places throughout the northern United
States, and extending northward to Hudson' s Bay and Saskatchawan,
and southward to Mississippi. It also occurs in Kamtschatka.
It readily grows in English gardens, but has little beauty to
recommend it in comparison with many other species of the
genus.

Hook., PI. Bor. Am., ii, p. 30; A. Gray, Man. Bot. IT. S., p. 283;
Chapman, PL South States, p. 254; Alph. DC., 1. c., p. 380;
Lindl., Med. Bot, p. 403.

Official Part and Name. — LOBELIA. The dried flowering herb
(B. P.). The flowering herb (Lobelia) (I. P.). LOBELIA. The
leaves and tops (U. S. P.).

Commerce. — The herb is imported into England from North
America, usually in the form of compressed, oblong, rectangular
cakes or packages, weighing from half a pound to a pound each,
and from 1 to 1| inches thick. These packages are wrapped in
paper sealed at the ends, and properly labelled with the name of
the herb and of some herb -grower ; they are usually prepared by
the Shakers of New Lebanon. Lobelia is also occasionally found
in commerce in an uncompressed state.

General Characters and Composition. — Lobelia of commerce,
both from the packages and in an uncompressed state, consists of
the dried herb cut up into pieces of varying sizes. Its colour
is yellowish green ; its odour somewhat irritating ; and its taste
after being chewed burning and acrid, very similiar to that of
tobacco, and causing, like it, a flow of saliva. The powder has a
greenish colour.

Lobelia seeds, from forming one of the best means for detecting

162 LOBELIA INFLATA

lobelia when death has been occasioned by its improper use, which
has frequently happened, require a more detailed description.
They have a brownish colour, and are very small, being on an
average only -g^th of an inch long, by 7^5 th broad, and when
viewed by a magnifying lens are seen to be oval or almond-
shaped, and to have their surface marked with longitudinal and
transverse ridges with intervening furrows, so as to resemble
basket-work. Their powder is of a brownish colour, and commu-
nicates a greasy stain to paper.

The properties of lobelia are especially due to a liquid volatile
alkaloid, which was first discovered by Professor Procter, who named
it lobelina, and his observations were afterwards confirmed by
Bastick in this country in ignorance of his experiments. The herb
also contains traces of volatile oil, which was first obtained by
Pereira and named by him lobelianin. Lobelia has also been
examined by Enders at the desire of the authors of Pharmaco-
graphia, with a view to isolate the acrid principle to which it owes
its taste, and he has discovered this substance in the form of
warty tufts of a brownish colour. This has been termed lobelacrin ;
it is resolved by the influence of acids or alkalies into sugar and
an acid called lobelic add, which had been previously discovered
by Pereira and afterwards examined by several chemists.

Medical Properties and Uses. — In small doses lobelia is expec-
torant and diaphoretic ; in full medicinal doses it acts as a
nauseating emetic ; and in excessive doses its effects are those of
a powerful aero-narcotic poison, producing great depression,
nausea, cold sweats, and in some cases death. Its effects are
very similar to those of tobacco ; hence one of its commonest
names, Indian tobacco. Waring says, as an emetic it is inferior to
ipecacuanha in safety and certainty of operation. It is regarded
by many as a medicine of much value in spasmodic asthma, and
generally in affections of the air-passages where there is dyspnoea.
As an addition to diuretic medicines it is believed by some practi-

162 LOBELIA INFLATA

tioners to have a useful effect. As a medicine lobelia should in all
cases be employed with caution.

Per Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. ii, p. 9 ; Pharmacographia, p. 358 ; Per.,
by B. & B-, p. 677 ; U. S. Disp., by W. & B, p. 533 ; Pharm.
of Ind., p. 128.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the Garden of the Apothecaries' Company,

Chelsea.

1. Upper part of a plant.

2. A flower.

3. Corolla flattened out.

4. Yertical section of flower, corolla cut off.

5. Transverse section of ovary.

6. Ripe fruit.

7. Transverse section of same.

8. Seed.

9. Vertical section of same.

(2—7 enlarged ; 8, 9 much magnified.)

D.Blair ainatdd etHtK

GAULTHERIA PROCUMBENS. //

164

N. Ord. ERICACEAE.
Tribe Andromedece.

Genus Gaultheria, Kalm* DC. Prod., vii, pp. 592-597.
Species 43, natives chiefly of America, a few Indian.

164. Gaultheria procumbens, Linn., Sp. PL, ed. I, p. 395

(1753).

Wintergreen. Mountain Tea. Tea-berry. Checker-berry. Part-
ridge-berry. Box-berry. Jersey Tea. Spice-berry. Ground
Holly.

Syn. — G. humilis, Salisb. Gautiera repens, Rafinesque.

Figures.—BaYton, t. 15 (not good) ; Bigelow, t. 22 ; Andr., Bot. Repos.,
t. 116; Bot. Mag., t. 1966.

Description. — A small creeping shrub ; stem long, prostrate,
very slender, with brown scaly bark, giving off root-fibres below,
and above numerous erect branches, 3 — 6 inches high, naked and
glabrous below, downy and with crowded leaves above. Leaves
alternate, shortly stalked, 1 — 1J inches long, oval but varying
somewhat in width, tapering at base, acute at apex, thick,
smooth, shining, sharply serrate, the serratures bristle- tipped.
Flowers few, solitary from the leaf -axils ; pedicels shorter than
flowers, curved downwards, so that the flowers are pendulous,
with two small broad bracts immediately below the calyx, crimson.
Calyx saucer- shaped, deeply cut into 5 broad acute segments.
Corolla urceolate, narrowed at the mouth, with 5 small spreading
teeth, pale pink, waxy-looking, hairy within. Stamens 10,
hypogynous, entirely included in the corolla ; filaments curved,
hairy ; anthers 2-celled, each cell prolonged above into 2 awns,
opening by a terminal pore. Ovary depressed, 5-lobed, smooth,
5 -celled, surrounded at the base by a 5-lobed hypogynous disk,
placentation axile ; style simple, thick, longer than stamens. Fruit
bright crimson-red, berry-like, sub-globular, the exterior formed

* Named to commemorate Dr. Gaultier, a physician of Quebec in the 18th
century.

164 GAULTHERIA PROCUMBENS

of the greatly enlarged and fleshy calyx, which surrounds the
small thin-walled capsule, 5-celled. Seeds numerous, attached to
the axis, small, slightly reticulated on the surface, embryo in the
axis of fleshy endosperm.

Habitat. — This pretty little creeping shrub grows in shady
woods, on sandy soil, especially in mountainous districts, in the
southern parts of Canada and the northern United States,
extending as far south as North Carolina. It is especially
abundant in the pine-barrens of New Jersey. The whole plant
has a pleasant aromatic flavour, and is evergreen, but the leaves
frequently assume brilliant autumnal colouring. The structure
of the so-called berry is very singular; the capsule itself is
described by American writers as dehiscent with 5 valves ; Salisbury
considers it to be indehiscent, but rotting and crumbling away,
when the placentas easily fall away from the axis. The plant
was introduced into England by P. Miller in 1762 and is quite
hardy here, flowering and fruiting almost throughout the year.

DC. Prod., 1. c., p. 592; Hook., PI. Bor. Am., ii, p. 35; A. Gray,
Man. Bot. U. S., p. 293; Chapman, PL South. States, p. 261 j
Lindl., Med. Bot., p. 381.

Official Part and Name. — GAULTHEEIA. The leaves (U. S. P.).
Not official in the British Pharmacopoeia, or the Pharmacopoeia
of India.

General Characters and Composition. — The botanical characters
of these leaves have been already given. They have a very
peculiar, aromatic, agreeable odour and taste, and a marked
astringency.

The aromatic properties reside in a volatile oil, which may be
separated by distillation. It is commonly known in England
under the name of Oil of Winter Green. A similar oil may be
obtained from the bark of Betula lenta or Sweet Birch, and is also
supposed to exist in other plants. It is the heaviest of all the
known essential oils, having the sp. gr. 1*173, which character
affords a convenient test of its purity. Gaultheria also contains
tannic acid, to which its astringency is due.

164 GAULTHERIA PROCUMBENS

Medical Properties and Uses. — Gaultheria possesses aromatic,
stimulant, and astringent properties, and has been employed with
benefit in chronic diarrhoea. It has also been used, but with
doubtful advantage, as an emmenagogue, and with the view of
increasing the secretion of milk. Oil of Gaultheria or Winter
Green also possesses aromatic and stimulant properties, but it is
chiefly used on account of its agreeable flavour to cover the un-
pleasant taste of other medicines.

Besides their medicinal use, an infusion of the leaves is
employed in some parts of North America as a substitute for
China tea, under the name of Mountain or Salvador Tea.

The fruits under the name of Partridge berries or Deer berries
are much relished by some persons, and afford winter food to
partridges, deers, and other wild animals.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 7 ; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., pp.
420 and 1307.

DESCRIPTION Ofl PLATE,

1. A flowering branch from the Garden of the Apothecaries' Society*
2k A branch with fruit from the Royal Gardens, Kew,
3k A flower.

4. Vertical section of the same.

5. Vertical section of ovary,.

6. Transverse section of ovary.

7. A stamen.

8. Fruit.

9. The same with the enlarged calyx partly removed.

10. Transverse section of same.

11. Seed,

(4—7, 10 and 11 enlarged,)

D Blair ainai del elMk .

CINNAMOMUM

224

N. Ord. LAURACEvE.
Tribe Laurinece.

Genus Cinnamomum, Burman.

224. Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Breyn. in Ephem. Acad.
Nat. Our., Dec. I, ann. 4, p. 139, 140 (ex Hayne).

Cinnamon.

fifyn.—Laurus Cinnamomum, Linn. &many authors. L. Cassia, Bwm. and
other authors ; not of Nees.

Figures.— Steph. & Ch., t. 127; Nees, t. 128; Hayne, xii, tt. 20, 21;
Berg & Sch., t. 5 c ; Bot. Mag., 1. 1636 ; Wight, Ic. PL Ind., tt. 123—
128; Bedd., Fl. Sylv., t. 262 (C. Wightii, Meissn.).

Description. — An evergreen tree, usually of small size; bark
pale-brown ; the young twigs slightly quadrangular, smooth .
Leaves opposite, spreading or drooping, stalked; the pedicels
channelled above ; blade 4-6 inches long, oblong-ovate, rounded
at the base, bluntly acuminate at the apex, but often somewhat
irregular in outline, coriaceous, shining, bright green above,
glaucous beneath, with 3 or 5 strong nerves from the base, only
the midrib reaching the apex, especially prominent beneath, con-
nected by transverse anastomosing veins, entire. Inflorescence
large, terminal, definite, panicled, much branched, the lower
branches coming off from the axils of the upper leaves ; ultimate
branchlets di- or trichotomous ; flowers rather distant, terminal,
ebracteate. Perianth deeply divided into 6 oblong, rather blunt,
equal lobes, imbricated in two rows, about J inch long, finely
downy outside, more densely so within; the upper half of the
lobes usually breaking away by a transverse fission from the rest
of the perianth. Andrcecium consisting of 9 antheriferous stamens
and 3 staminodes, perigynous, the outer whorl of 6 opposite the
segments of the perianth, introrse, the inner whorl of 3 opposite
the outer segments, extrorse and with a small, stalked, obcordate-
conical " gland " on either side of the filament at its base, fila-
ments hairy, short, anthers oval with 4 cells, 2 placed above

224 CINNAMOMUM ZETLANICUM

the others and smaller, each opening by a valve with its hinge
above ; staminodes opposite the inner perianth-segments, similar in
form to the " glands " at the base of the inner stamens, but
larger. Ovary superior, 1 -celled, with a single pendulous, anatro-
pous ovule ; style shorter than the stamens ; stigma bilobed.
Fruit slightly fleshy, ovoid, more than \ inch long, smooth, sur-
rounded at base by the enlarged, cup-shaped, truncate or 6-lobed
perianth. Seed not filling the fruit, without endosperm ; coty-
ledons large, plano-convex.

The above description applies to the form which is considered
by botanists as the type of the species j but there are various
cinnamon trees differing in height, in the form, size and texture
of the leaves, and in other points. Meissner makes 6 varieties of
the present species, and gives also many other allied species
which have been described by various authors ; but it is now
generally considered (see Thwaites and Beddome) that many of
these cannot be maintained as distinct, being united by chains of
intermediate forms. Figures of several will be found in the
works quoted above of Hayne, Nees, and Wight.

Habitat. — G. zeylanicum, as its name indicates, is a native of
Ceylon, where it is general in forest districts, reaching to 3000 ft.
in the hills, and is also very extensively cultivated in plantations,
called " gardens." It has been introduced into India, Java, China,
Senegal, Brazil, and the West Indies, but the bark yielded in
those countries is deficient in aromatic qualities. It is a stove
plant in England, where it has been cultivated since 1768 in
botanic gardens ; the panicles of flowers are small compared with
naturally grown specimens.

Thwaites, Enum. PL Zeyl., p. 252 ; Meissner, in DC. Prod., xv,
sect. 1, p. 13; Miquel, Fl. Ind. Batav., i, p. 898; Lindl., Fl.
Med., p. 329.

Official Parts and Names. — CINNAMOMI CORTEX. The inner
bark of shoots from the truncated stocks ; OLEUM CINNAMOMI.
The oil distilled from Cinnamon Bark (B. P.). The inner bark
of shoots from the truncated stocks (Cinnamomi Cortex) (I. P.).

224 CINNAMOMUM ZETLANICUM

CINNAMOMUM. The prepared bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum,
Nees, and of Cinnamomum aromaticum, Nees; OLEUM CINNAMOMI.
The volatile oil obtained from the bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum,
Nees (U. S. P.).

Production, Varieties, and Commerce. — The best cinnamon bark
is imported from Ceylon, where it is obtained from the cultivated
plant; this is distinguished in commerce as Ceylon cinnamon.
Other well known varieties of cinnamon bark are the Malabar or
Tinnevellij, Tellicherry, and Java, all of which are inferior to
Ceylon cinnamon ; but the Tellicherry is next in value to it, and
sometimes but little inferior in quality. In Ceylon the culti-
vation of coffee is displacing that of cinnamon, and the exports are
declining. The importations of cinnamon into this country from
Ceylon are also much less than formerly, for while in 1869
2,611,473 Ibs. were imported, in 1872 the quantity was only
1,015,461 Ibs. In the latter year we imported 56,000 Ibs. of
cinnamon from other countries.

The principal cinnamon gardens or plantations of Ceylon are in
the vicinity of Columbo, and their management is nearly similar to
that of an oak- coppice in England. The plants are pruned so as
to prevent their forming trees, but to cause them to produce
stocks or stools, from which four or five shoots are allowed to
grow. These shoots usually come to perfection at the age of
from eighteen months to two years, when they are beginning to
turn brown on their surface from the greenish epidermis be-
coming replaced by the production of a corky layer of bark.
Such shoots, which are commonly from 6 to 10 feet high, and
from J to 2 inches thick, are then cut off by a long sickle-shaped
knife, called a catty, stripped of their leaves, and trimmed with a
knife, the little pieces which are removed being kept and sold as
cinnamon chips. The peeling is then effected by cutting through
the bark transversely at distances of about a foot, and by making
two opposite, or where the branch is thick, three or four longi-
tudinal incisions to connect the transverse ones, and the bark is
then readily removed by introducing the peeling knife termed a
mama beneath it. The pieces of bark are then placed one within

224 CINNAMOMUM ZEYLANICUM

the other, and the compound sticks thus produced are bound
together into bundles. These are usually left for about twenty-
four hours, when the two external layers of bark are carefully
removed by scraping; for which purpose each quill is placed on a
piece of wood of the required thickness. In a few hours the
smaller quills are introduced into the larger ones, and in this way
congeries of quills are formed, which generally measure about
40 inches in length. The bark is then kept one day in the
shade, after which it is placed on wicker trays and dried in the sun ;
and finally it is made up into bundles weighing on an average about
30 Ibs. each. Care is taken to fill up each pipe or congeries of
quills with the same kind of bark as that which is outside, and as
few joints are placed in each pipe as possible. The finest pipes
are usually well filled, as the preservation of the odour and
flavour is very much assisted by the exclusion of the air.

General Characters of Cinnamon Bark. — The bark of commerce,
— that which is alone official in the British and Indian Pharma-
copoeias, is Ceylon cinnamon. In the United States Pharma-
copoeia both true Cinnamon bark and Cassia bark there mentioned
as obtained from Cinnamomum aromaticum, Nees, (see Cassia
Bark,) are .J official under the common name of cinnamon bark.
The official! cinnamon bark of the British Pharmacopoeia consists
essentially of the inner bark or liber, and presents the following
characters :i — It is in closely rolled quills, each being about § of an
inch in thickness and containing several smaller quills. The bark
is thin, brittle, splintery, moderately pliable, of a dull, light
yellowish-brown colour externally, and of a darker brown on its
inner surface. The outer surface presents at varying distances
little scars or holes indicating the points where the leaves have
been removed, and is also marked with faint, shining, wavy lines.
The odour is fragrant, and the taste warm, sweet, and aromatic.
These are the characters of the best Ceylon cinnamon; inferior
kinds are thicker, darker-brown, and have a pungent succeeded by
a bitter taste. The means of distinguishing cinnamon from cassia
bark, which is frequently substituted for it, are described under
Cassia bark.

224 CINNAMOMUM ZEYLANICUM

The essential constituent of cinnamon bark is the volatile oil,
which is official in the British and Indian Pharmacopoeias. It is
also official in the United States Pharmacopoeia; and although, as
already noticed, no difference is there made between cinnamon and
cassia barks, the volatile oil is directed to be derived from the
bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum alone. Oil of cinnamon is
imported from Ceylon. When fresh it has a golden-yellow colour,
but by keeping, owing to oxidation, it becomes contaminated with
resin and cinnamic acid, and changes to cherry-red. Its sp. gr.
is 1'1035 ; it has a pleasant and purely cinnamomic odour, and a
sweetish cinnamomic and burning taste. Oil of cassia is some-
times substituted for or mixed with the finer and more costly oil
of cinnamon.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Cinnamon bark has generally
the properties of the spices, being aromatic, carminative, and
stimulant. It is also somewhat astringent. It is rarely pre-
scribed alone, but chiefly as an addition to other medicines, to
improve their flavour or to check their griping qualities. As a
cordial, stimulant, and tonic, it is indicated in all cases charac-
terised by feebleness and atony. As an astringent it is employed
in diarrhoea, usually in combination with chalk, the vegetable
infusions, or opium. As a cordial and stimulant it is exhibited in
the latter stages of low fever. In flatulent and spasmodic affec-
tions of the alimentary canal it often proves a very efficient
carminative and antispasmodic. It checks nausea and vomiting.
It has also been used in uterine haemorrhage.

The oil of cinnamon possesses the cordial and carminative pro-
perties of the bark without its astringency, and is a good deal
used as an adjunct to other medicines, and also as a powerful
local stimulant in paralysis of the tongue, cramp of the stomach,
and to relieve headache, &c.

The principal consumption of cinnamon is, however, as a
spice, and we have already alluded to it as the chief flavouring
agent for chocolate.

An oil of a clove-like odour and taste is also distilled from
the leaves of the cinnamon plant in Ceylon, and occasionally

224 CIKNAMOMUM ZETLANTCUM ^

imported; and the substance called Cinnamon suet is also expressed
in Ceylon from the ripe fruits.

Pharmacographia, p. 470; Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., p. 541;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., pp. 312 and 595 ; Per. Mat. Med.,
vol. ii, pt. 1, pp. 439—441 ; Bentl., Man. Bot., p. 611.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen cultivated in the Royal Gardens, Kew ; the fruit
added from a specimen collected by Thwaites in Ceylon (n. 2284).

1. Young branch with flowers.

2. Diagram of flower.

3. Vertical section of flower.

4. An outer stamen.

5. An inner stamen.

6. A staminode.

7. Fruit.

8. Section of fruit *
(3—6 enlarged; 8 copied from Wight, 1. c.)

D .Blair, ad nat. del. etlitL

PAPAVER RHCEAS

19

N. Ord. PAPAVERACEJI:.
Tribe Papavereee.

Genus Papaver, Linn.

19. Papaver Rhceas,* Linn., Sp. PL, ed. i, p. 507 (1753).

Red Poppy. Corn Poppy. Corn Rose.

Figures.— Woodville, 1. 139; Hayne, vi, t. 38 ; Steph. & Ch., t. 31 ; Nees,
t. 406; Berg & Scb., t. 15 f; Curt., Fl. Lond., fasc. 3; Sjme, E. B.,
i, t. 58.

Description. — An erect annual, 1 — 3 feet nigh, with a slender,
more or less branched, round, green, hispid or bristly stem,
the bristles stiff, spreading ; branches erect. Root vertical,
tapering, slightly branched. Root-leaves stalked, obovate-lanceo-
late in outline, deeply pinnatisect with lanceolate distant
segments irregularly cut into ascending lobes tipped with
bristles; stem-leaves sessile or amplexicaul, triangular in outline,
the segments narrower, bright green, hairy on both sides.
Flowers solitary, at the ends of the stem and branches, on long
stalks, hispid with stiff spreading hairs ; buds obovoid, drooping.
Sepals 2, articulating with the receptacle and pushed off the top
of the flower by the expanding petals and other organs, pale
green, set with spreading bristly hairs. Petals 4, large, thin,
satiny, brilliant red, with a dark purple spot at the base,
crumpled in the bud ; the two outer much wider than long,
falling over ; the two inner about as broad as long, concave,
erect ; all early caducous. Stamens numerous, hypogynous ; fila-
ments narrow, blackish purple ; anthers small, violet. Ovary
globular-topshaped, 1 -celled, with 10 or more placentae projecting
from the wall nearly to the centre ; stigmas about 10 — 14, sessile
on and radiating from the centre of the conical summit of the
ovary. Capsule shortly stalked, barely \ inch long and about I inch
wide, half-ovoid, truncate, perfectly smooth, faintly ribbed along

* Rliceas, in Greek poias, the classical name of the plant.

19 PAP AVER KECEAS

the lines of the dissepiments, pale brown, the flat top projecting
eave-like beyond the edge and crenate at the margin, dehiscing
by a separation of part of the wall from the top, which remains
supported by the dissepiments, between each two of which a
square orifice is left. Seeds very numerous, minute, lightly
attached all over the parietal placentas, reniform, coat marked
with elegant raised reticulations ; embryo at base of abundant
endosperm.

The form of the leaves is subject to great variation, and there
is a form with the hairs of the flower-stalks adpressed instead of
spreading. Five or six petals instead of four are not uncommon,
and the flower is sometimes white.

Habitat. — Few plants are more familiar than the poppy, which is
a common weed in all parts of England, especially in cornfields,
but also in waste places, railway banks and recently disturbed
ground, being at times exceedingly abundant on light soils. In
Scotland it does not reach farther north than Forfar. It is
common throughout Europe, except in Scandinavia and North
Eussia, and extends through Asia Minor to North-West India.
Its original home is considered by De Candolle to be Dalmatia,
Sicily, the Island of Zante, and the South- East Caucasus.

DC. Syst., ii, p. 76; Syme, E. B., i, p. 87; Hook, f., Stud. FL,
p. 15; Watson, Comp. Cyb. Brit., p. 89; Boiss., Fl. Or., i,
p. 113; Hook, f., Fl. Ind., i, p. 117; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 15.

Official Part and Name. — EHCEADOS PETALA. The fresh petals
(B. P.). The petals (Rhceados Petala) (I. P.). Not official in
the United States Pharmacopoeia.

General Characters and Composition. — When fresh, red poppy
petals are nearly flat, have a bright scarlet colour, a strong
narcotic odour, and a slightly bitter taste ; but when dried even
with the greatest care, they crumple np, lose their odour, and
assume a brownish violet-red colour. The fresh petals are to be
preferred for use, and are alone official. The principal constituent
of red poppy petals is the colouring matter, of which they contain

19 PAPAVEE EHCEAS

about 40 per cent. At present this colouring matter has been
but imperfectly examined. Acids diminish its intensity, while
alkalies render it nearly black. By this latter character the
colouring matter of red poppy petals may be distinguished from
that of red cabbage, &c., which becomes green under the same
circumstances. According to Leomeier the colouring principles
of the petals are two acids, which he has termed rhoeadic and
papaveric.

According to Chevalier, the petals contain a trace of morphia,
but no other chemist has succeeded in obtaining this substance
from them. Attfield especially, who examined them recently,
could not find the slightest indication of morphia. The milky
juice of the capsules and herb generally, however, yielded Hesse
a colourless cry st alii sable substance, with a weak alkaline reaction,
which he termed rhoeadine. The same substance may be found
in the ripe capsules of the opium poppy and even in opium itself.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Eed poppy petals have been
supposed to have, especially when fresh, very slight narcotic
properties, but they are now only employed for their beautiful
colour, which they readily communicate to water.

The milky juice of the capsules and herb has, however, a
manifestly sedative action, which is probably due to rhoeadine.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & E., p. 939 ; Pharmacographia, p. 37 ;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 739 ; Ph. JL, vol. iv, 3 ser., p. 290 ;
Journ. de Pharm., ii, 513.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen collected at Leatherhead, Surrey.

1. Transverse section of ovary.

2. Capsule (drawn somewhat too long).

3. Seed.

4. Section of the same.

(3 and 4 greatly magnified.)

20.

5 e

)3iairainaJbdelelhlh.

SANGU1NARIA CANADENSIS, L

20

N. Ord. PAPAVERACE.E.
Tribe Papaverece.

Genus Sanguinaria, Linn* B. & H. Gen., i, p. 53; Baill.,
Hist. PL, iii, p. 112. The only species.

20. Sanguinaria canadensis, Linn., Sp. Plant., ed. i, p. 505

(1753).

Blood-root. Red-root. Puccoon. Indian Paint.

'igures.— Barton, t. 2; Bigelow, t. 7; Nees, t. 407 ; Bot. Mag., t. 162;
A. Gray, 111. Gen., t. 49; Baill., 1. c., f. 128-9.

Description. — An herbaceous perennial with a horizontal sub-
terranean root-stock, giving off fibrous roots below, and termi-
nating in a bud, which expands into an erect scape surrounded by
one, or more rarely two, leaves, with several sheathing scales ex-
ternally. Rhizome about the size of a finger, cylindrical, fleshy,
coppery-red externally, brilliant red when cut, and filled with a
copious orange-red juice. Leaves on long, thick, orange-coloured
petioles, at first wrapped round the flower bud, and not growing
to their full size till after the flower has fallen ; then reniform,
5 inches wide, on petioles more than a foot long, palmately 5 — 9
veined, and deeply cut into 5 — 9 rounded, cut, and lobed seg-
ments, glabrous, pale green above, bluish-white beneath, veins
orange. Flower-stalk slender, upright, tapering, 4 — 6 inches
high, longer than the young leaf, cylindrical, terminated by
a single large erect flower. Sepals 2, ovate, very fugacious.
Petals varying in number from 7 — 14, usually 8, oval or oblong,
variable in width, blunt, about an inch long, spreading, quickly
falling, white or faintly tinged with rose, imbricate in two or
three rows. Stamens about 24, hypogynous, in several rows, much
shorter than the petals ; anthers narrow, dehiscing longitudinally.
Ovary linear-oblong, 1 -celled ; placentas 2, parietal ; ovules
numerous, anatropous, horizontal; style short; stigma 2-lobed.

* Named from the blood-red juice of the root.

20 SANGUINAEIA CANADENSIS

Capsule soft, oblong, pointed at both ends and tipped by the style,
1-celled, 2-valved. Seeds numerous, roundish, smooth, with a
prominent crest along the raphe ; embryo minute in the base of
the fleshy endosperm.

Habitat. — The plant is confined to North America, where it has
a wide distribution throughout Canada and the United States,
growing on hill- sides and at the borders of woods on a rich soil,
and flowering in the early spring before the leaves have expanded.
It does well in English gardens, and has been cultivated since
before 1680. Dillenius, in his ' Hortus Elthamensis' (t. 252), has
figured it with double flowers.

DC. Sjst., i, p. 89, and Prod., i, p. 121; Hook., Fl. Bor. Am., i,
p. 34; A. Gray, Man. Bot. U. S., p. 60; Chapman, Fl. South
States, p. 22; LindL, Fl. Med., p. 16.

Official Part and Name. — SANGUINAKIA. The rhizome (U. S. P.).
Not official in the British Pharmacopoeia, or the Pharmacopoeia of
India.

General Characters and Composition. — This substance is com-
monly called Blood-root from its red colour. As seen in commerce
in a dried state, sanguinaria is in pieces from one to two or
three inches in length, and from a quarter to half an inch or
more in thickness ; it is flattened, wrinkled, twisted, more or less
contracted, frequently presenting abrupt branches or offsets, and
sometimes with, and at 'other times without, slender red rootlets.
Its colour is dark reddish-brown externally, and it breaks with a
short somewhat uneven waxy fracture, the surface of which at
first presents a bright orange-red colour, but by exposure it
becomes ultimately dull brown. The colour of the powder is
greyish orange-red. Sanguinaria has a faint narcotic odour,
which is more perceptible when fresh, and a bitter, persistently
acrid taste.

Sanguinaria is supposed to owe its acrimony and medical
properties to a peculiar alkaloid termed sanguinarinaj which was
first isolated by Dr. Dana, of New York. This is said to be
identical with cheleryihrin, the alkaloid of Celandine (Chelidonium

20 SANGUINARIA CANADENSIS

majus). Its salts are all soluble in water and form beautiful
red solutions. Three other principles have been noticed as
constituents of Sanguinaria, one of which is regarded by Riegel,
its discoverer, as analogous to the porphyroxin of opium, but this
is denied by Gibb ; the second has been termed puccin ; and the
third sanguinarinic acid. Sanguinaria is said to deteriorate
rapidly by keeping.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Sanguinaria is emetic and
purgative in large doses ; and stimulant, diaphoretic, and expec-
torant in small doses. It is also said to act as an emmenagogue ;
and Eberle states that it exercises a sedative influence on the
heart as certain as that of digitalis. In excessive quantities it
acts as an aero-narcotic poison. When applied externally it is
reputed to have well-marked escharotic properties, and Dr. Fell,
of the United States, strongly recommends a mixture of it and
chloride of zinc made into a paste with flour and water, as an
external application for the destruction of cancerous growths;
but from trials made with it at the Middlesex Hospital and else-
where in this country it would appear that, if it produces any
effect in such cases it must be very small indeed, and that it
is, therefore, practically useless for such a purpose. Sanguinaria
might probably be useful as a dyeing agent.

U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 769; Ph. Jl., vol. xvii, p. 312, vol. i,
2nd ser., p. 454, and vol. iv, 2nd ser., p. 263; Per. Mat. Med.,
vol. ii, part 2, p. 660.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen grown in the Royal Gardens, Kew, flowering in
April ; the fruit and seed added from A. Gray.

1. A bud, showing the sepals.

2. Vertical section of ovary showing insertion of stamens.

3. Transverse section of ovary.

4. Fruit.

5. Seed.

6. Transverse section of the same,

(2, 3 enlarged ; 5, 6 much magnified.)

D. "Blair ad sioc del cb liLh

MA.NHaxiha.rt

BARO SMA GKE'NULATA , ffiok

46

N. Ord. RUTACEJE.
Tribe Diosmete.

Genus Barosma, Willd.

46. Barosma crenulata, Hook., Bot. Mag.,, 3413 (1835).*

Bucchu. Buchu. Bucco. BuJcu.

Syn. — Diosma crenulata, Linn., Amcen. Acad. T>. crenata, Linn., Sp.
Plant. D. odorata, DC. D. latifolia, Lodd. Barosma odoratum, Willd.
(name only). B. crenata, Kunze. B. Eckloniana, Berg. Baryosma
odorata & Bucco crenata, Roem. & Sch. Parapetalifera odorata,
Bartl. & Wendl.

Figures.— Nees, t. 377; Bot. Mag., t. 3413; Loddiges' Bot. Cabinet,
t. 290 ; Berg & Sch., t. 1 e ; Berg in Bot. Zeitung, 1853, t. xii, figs.
A-Q.

Description. — A small bush 3 or 4 feet high, with stiff, slender,
somewhat angular branches ; bark smooth, reddish-purple ;
young twigs covered with immersed oil-glands. Leaves opposite
or sub-alternate, shortly stalked or rarely sub-sessile, oval,
oblong, or rhomboidal-oval, rather thick, glabrous on both sides,
bluntish at the apex, narrowed at the base, f— — 1J inch (usually
about an inch) long, with a marked midrib and a few curved lateral
veins, finely serrate or crenate- serrate, under surface paler and
sprinkled with immersed oil-glands, one of which also stands in
each serrature. Flowers solitary, at the ends of short lateral
branches and in the axils of their small leaves, the terminal flowers
opening first, true pedicels thickened upwards, a little longer than
the calyx, with two or three ovate, ciliated, transparent bracts
below the flower. Calyx deeply cut into 5 lanceolate- triangular,
acute segments, each with a thick midrib and finely ciliated
margins. Petals 5, imbricated, two or three times as long as the
calyx, ovate, blunt, spreading, glandular-punctate on the back,

* From an error in the synonymy in the Bot. Mag., it is made to appear
that Willdenow is the authority for B. crenulata. He has no species with that
name.

46 BAROSMA CRENULATA

white, purplish in bud. Stamens 5, hypogynous, alternating
with the petals, and ultimately recurved between them over the
side of the flower ; filaments as long as or longer than the petals,
hairy for | of their length upwards ; anthers 2-celled, innate,
roundish ; between the stamens and opposite the petals are
5 erect, linear- oblong, blunt, gland-tipped staminodes not half
the length of the stamens, slightly hairy. Ovary large, of
5 rounded lobes, each crowned by a spreading, fleshy, pubescent
appendage, surrounded at the base by a narrow, prominent,
entire disk, 5-celled, with 2 — 4 ovules in each cell attached to the
upper end of the axis ; style simple, hairy below, about as long as
the stamens ; stigma simple, blunt. Fruit of 5 cocci, adherent by
their inner margins, about f inch long by \ inch wide, gland-
dotted, rugged and warty externally, each coccus terminating at
the outer angle above in a projecting ear, and containing a single
seed; dehiscence along the summit and ventral suture of each
carpel ; the inner wall of the pericarp also splitting away from the
rest and down its dorsal suture, and forming a hard, smooth,
shining, pale yellow, two-lobed envelope to the seed. Seed
oblong, rounded at each end, smooth, shining, black, with the
hilum white, embryo without endosperm, with large cotyledons
and a small superior radicle.

There is a considerable range in the form of the leaves of this
species, and, as shown by the synonymy, it has been divided into
several. Berg, who has very carefully studied the Buku plants,
considers J5. crenata, Kunze, as distinct, and figures a twig in
Berg and Sch., 1. c., fig. A 2, and the leaves in his elaborate
paper in the Bot. Zeit. quoted below, figs. J — N. He also makes
a new species, B. Eckloniana, Berg, characterised by the leaves
rounded below and the young twigs pubescent, of which a branch
and enlarged drawings of the leaves are given in the same paper,
figs. 0 — Q. The present species, B. crenulata, Hook., he divides
into three varieties, of which the plate in Berg and Sch. repre-
sents var. latifolia, and figs. A — H in the Bot. Zeitung, vars.
longifolia and angustifolia.

Habitat. — The true Buku bush grows abundantly ^in stony,

46 BAROSMA CRENULATA

hilly valleys in the western parts of Cape Colony, S. Africa,
including the neighbourhood of Cape Town itself and the moun-
tains of Stellenbosch and Worcester. It is a pretty plant, the
flowers appearing in spring and lasting a long while. Introduced
into England by Masson nearly a century ago, it was cultivated as
an ornamental plant for many years, but does not appear to have
perfected seed here. Being also difficult to propagate by cuttings,
it has now died out in most if not in all of our botanic gardens.

Harv. & Sender, Fl. Cap., i, p. 393; Berg in Bot. Zeit., 1853,
910; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 212; Pappe, Fl. Cap. Med. Prodi-.,

ed. 3, p. 7.

Official Part and Name. — BUCHU FOLIA. The dried leaves of
Barosma betulina, Bart. ; Barosma crenulata, Hook. ; and Barosma
serratifolia, Willd. (B. P.). The dried leaves (Barosma vel Buchu
Folia) of the above species of Barosma (I. P.). BUCHU. The
leaves of Barosma crenata, and of other species of Barosma
(U. S. P.).

General Characters and Composition. — Buchu leaves are im-
ported from the Cape of Good Hope. Commercial Buchu consists
of the leaves of one of the above-mentioned species of Barosma,
frequently more or less mixed with the flowers, fruits, and stalks
of the same plants. The leaves of all the species are smooth,
coriaceous, more or less serrate or crenate at their margins, and
marked on the edges, and especially on their under surface, with
glands filled with essential oil. They have a dull yellowish- green
colour, somewhat paler on their under surface ; their odour is
strong, penetrating, and peculiar, and their taste aromatic, some-
what bitterish, and mint-like.

The leaves of Barosma crenulata, the species now under
notice, vary in shape and size in different samples, and have been
already fully described ; from their shape this kind of Buchu is
sometimes distinguished as ovate-oblong Buchu.

Buchu leaves owe their properties, in a great degree at least, to
a powerfully scented volatile oil, which, on exposure to cold,

46 BAROSMA CRENULATA

furnishes a kind of camphor termed barosma camphor. They
also contain abundance of mucilage, which originates as in quince
seeds and linseed by solution of the cell-walls. A substance
called Diosmin or Barosmin has also been described by Landerer,
but it requires further investigation.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Buchu leaves act as a slight
tonic and aromatic stimulant, and are also regarded as diuretic
and diaphoretic. Buchu appears also to have a specific influence
on the genito-urinary organs. It is given principally in chronic
catarrh of the bladder, irritable conditions of the urethra, pro-
static affections, gravel, &c. It has also been recommended in
chronic rheumatism, dyspepsia, dropsy, and certain cutaneous
affections. It is commonly given in combination with alkalies,
as solution of potash. The Hottentots esteem buchu highly on
account of its odour, rubbing the powdered leaves upon their
greasy bodies.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, part ii, p. 400; U. S. Disp., by W. & B.,
p. 182; Pharmacographia, p. 99; Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R.,
p. 888; Fliickiger, in Schweiz. Wochenschrift fiir Pharm.,
Dec., 1873.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from Cape specimens collected by Niven, in the British Museum.
The seed added from Berg and Schmidt,

L A flowering branch.

2. Vertical section of a flower.

3. Ripe fruit.

4. Seed.

5. Section of the same,

6. Leaves.

(2—6 enlarged.)

*

D .Blair . ad nat dd eblith .

M&N.Hanhart imp.

CITRUS AURANTIUM,^'5-5o.

51

N. Ord. RUTACEJE.
Tribe Aurantiece.
Genus Citrus, Linn.

51. Citrus Aurantium,* jRisso, in Ann. du Museum, xx, p. 181,

(1813).

Orange. Siveet Orange. China Orange. Portugal Orange.

Syn. — C. Aurantium, Linn, (in part).

Figures.— Woodville, 1. 188 ; Hayne, xi, t. 28 ; Nees, t. 425 ; Eisso, Hist.
Orang., tt. 3—39.

Description. — A small tree, rarely reaching 20 feet in height,
with an upright trunk much branched above, the branches
spreading into a regularly shaped, more or less spherical head;
bark smooth, greyish-brown on the older branches, dull whitish-
green on the younger ones. Leaves evergreen, alternate, often
with short, solitary, sharp spines In the axils ; blade oval or ovate-
oblong, acute, 3 or 4 inches long, smooth, shining, dark green,
paler below, entire or faintly serrate, articulated on the petiole,
which is ^ — 1 inch long and more or less broadly winged.
Peduncles solitary, axillary, usually 1 -flowered, sometimes 2- to
6-flowered, smooth, generally shorter than the petiole. Calyx
cup- shaped, with 5 short, broad, acute teeth, thick, pale green,
persistent. Petals 5, oblong, 1 — 1, inch long, thick and fleshy,
blunt, brilliant white, with yellowish sunken glands on the back,
strongly recurved. Stamens 20 — 25, hypogynous, filaments
unequal, flattened, often united at the base in threes or fours,
shorter than the petals ; anthers oblong-linear, versatile, bright
yellow. Ovary cylindrical, striated longitudinally, with numerous
oil-glands below the epidermis, surrounded at the base by a
swollen, prominent, rounded disk, 8- or more celled, with several
anatropous ovules in each cell attached in two rows to the axile

* The mediaeval name for the fruit ; also written arantium, and, like the
English word Orange, from the Sanskrit Nagaranga, through the Arab Naranj.

51 CITRUS AURANTIUM

placentae ; style thick, nearly as long as the stamens ; stigma
rounded, channeled. Eipe fruit, a large round berry somewhat
compressed at its two ends, usually 9 — 11 -celled, the loculi packed
with a soft tissue of large irregular, fusiform, horizontal, loosely
connected cells or vesicles, filled with a sweet juice, the disse-
piments very thin, membranous, the axis spongy; pericarp thin,
spongy, externally smooth, slightly irregular from the pro-
jection of the numerous crowded oil-cysts below the epidermis,
rich orange yellow. Seeds several in each cell, horizontal, loose
in the pulp, about f inch long, oblong-ovoid, somewhat compressed,
usually with a blunt point at the apex above the chalaza, and
somewhat truncate at the hilum; testa soft, pale yellow, veiny;
embryo of two large, unequal, irregular, thick, plano-convex
cotyledons and a small, superior radicle; endosperm none; not
very unfrequently two embryos are produced in a single seed.

Habitat. — The sweet orange can scarcely be said to be known
in a wild state, but all circumstances appear to concur in pointing
to Northern India, or possibly to Southern China as its original
home. It was unknown to the Greek and Eoman writers, and,
indeed, was not introduced into Europe till about the middle of
the 15th century by the Portuguese. It is now sparingly culti-
vated in India, but very abundantly in many parts of the
Mediterranean district, and in Spain, Portugal, Madeira, the
Azores, and China. Numerous varieties are distinguished by
cultivators, no less than 44 being described, and most of them
beautifully figured in Eisso's sumptuous ' Histoire des Grangers/
the differences residing almost entirely in the form, colour, &c.,
of the fruit. In the South of Europe the trees are in full flower
in April and May, and the fruit, which takes a year or more to
ripen, is in perfection at much the same time. The tree is
familiar enough in our greenhouses, where it fruits pretty freely,
but English-grown oranges want the sweetness of those of southern
climes.

Hook, f., Fl. India, i, p. 515 ; Brandis, Forest FL, p. 53 ; Lowe, Fl.
Madeira, i, p. 73; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 163.

51 CITRUS AURANTIUM

Official Parts and Names. — The FLOWERS only are official in
the British Pharmacopoeia as follows : — AQUA AURANTII FLORIS.
The distilled water of the flowers of the Bitter Orange tree, Citrus
Bigaradia, Risso ; and of the Sweet Orange tree, Citrus Auran-
tium, Risso. In the Pharmacopoeia of India, under the head of
CITRUS AURANTIUM, Linn., which is called the Sweet and Bitter
Orange tree, both the dried outer portion of the rind of the fruit
(Aurantii Cortex) and Flowers are mentioned, but the flowers of
the Sweet Orange are alone directed to be used in the prepara-
tions of that volume. 1. AURANTII FLORES. The flowers of Citrus
Aurantium and of Citrus vulgaris j 2. AURANTII DULCIS CORTEX.
The rind of the fruit of Citrus Aurantium (U. S. P.).

1. AURANTII FLORES. Orange Flowers. — Orange flowers are
white when fresh, but become yellowish on being dried. They
have a fragrant odour which is most powerful in the fresh v
flowers.

Production of Orange Flower Water. — By distilling the fresh
flowers with water in ' the ordinary way, Orange Flower Water
passes over, together with a volatile oil called Oil of Neroli, which
floats on the surface. When the oil is removed we have the
Aqua Naphfs or Orange Flower Water of commerce. This is
commonly prepared in the South of France at Grasse, Cannes,
and Nice ; it is, however, generally distilled from the flowers of
the bitter orange, which are regarded as yielding the most
fragrant product.

General Characters and Composition of Orange Flower Water. —
Orange flower water is nearly colourless, or with a slight greenish-
yellow tint. It has a very fragrant odour and a bitter taste.
From being distilled or kept in copper or lead vessels it some-
times contains metallic impurity; hence the test of the British
Pharmacopoeia : — " Not coloured by sulphuretted hydrogen."
Orange flower water also frequently contains some of the distilled
water of orange leaves, for these, like orange flowers, yield by
distillation a water and a volatile oil called Essence de Petit Grain.
The perfume of these are, however, far less sweet than the similar
products of the flowers.

51 CITRUS AURANTIUM

as the Noble or Mandarin Orange, and the Tangerine Orange.
So prolific is the orange tree that one plant will sometimes produce
as many as 20,000 oranges.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, p. 544 ; Pharmacographia, pp. 113 and
115; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., pp. 157 and 1039; Per. Mat.
Med., by B. & R., p. 913.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen grown at Kew.

1. A branch with flowers and fruit.

2. Pistil with the petals and half the stamens removed.

3. Vertical section of ovary.

4. A petal.

5. Transverse section of fruit.

6. A seed.

7. Section of same showing the raphe.

(2 and 3 enlarged.)

OLEA EURO BE A. L

172

N. Ord. OLEACE^J.

Genus Olea/iwm.* DC. Prod., viii, pp. 283—288. About 35
species are known, found in the warmer parts of both
hemispheres, but chiefly in the old world.

172. Olea europsea, Linn., Sp. Plant., ed. I, p. 8 (1753).

Olive.

Syn.—O. Oleaster, Ho/m. & Link. O. lancifolia, Moench. O. gallica,
Mill,

Figures.— Woodville, t. 98; Steph. & Ch., i, t. 15; Nees, t. 212; Hayne,
x, t. 10; Berg & Sch., t. 33 b; Fl. Grseca, t. 3; Nees, Gen. El.
Germ., Gamop.

Description. — Usually a small, much-branched, evergreen tree,
from 10 — 30 feet high, having somewhat the appearance of a
white willow, but under favorable circumstances becoming much
larger ; branches numerous, slender, with opposite branchlets ;
bark greyish-white, nearly smooth. Leaves opposite, very shortly
stalked, lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate, about 2 — 2J inches long,
rather variable in width, acute, tapering to the base, quite entire,
the margin slightly recurved, texture coriaceous, smooth on both
surfaces, the upper pale glaucous green, the lower silvery white,
completely covered with a dense layer of minute, flat, stellate
scales, which conceal the lateral veins. Flowers numerous, small,
in simple or branched racemes in the axils of the older leaves,
and shorter than them; inflorescence beset with stellate scales.
Calyx deeply cup-shaped, small, pale green, smooth, with 4
shallow teeth. Corolla deeply cut into 4 (very rarely 5) oval,
acute segments, much larger than the calyx, creamy white.
Stamens 2, inserted on the tube of the corolla, and alternating
with the segments; anthers very large, much longer than the
short thick filament, anther-cells innate, curved, bursting out-
wards. Ovary superior, small, fleshy, 2-celled, about the length

* The classical name; in Greek iXaia.

172 OLEA EUROPJ3A

of the calyx, with 2 pendulous ovules in each cell ; style short,
stigma bifid. Fruit a drupe, from \ — 1 inch in length, ovoid,
usually pointed at apex, deep purple or nearly black ; sarcocarp
firm, fleshy, filled with oil ; stone (putamen) thick, bony, narrowly
ovoid, with a blunt keel down one side, acuminate, containing a
single seed. Testa thin, membranous, veiny ; raphe very dis-
tinct, running up one side within the putamen, and perforating its
base ; embryo straight, in axis of endosperm, cotyledons foliaceous,
radicle superior.

Habitat. — The native country of the olive has been pretty
certainly determined to be Asia Minor and Syria, but it has been
a cultivated plant in parts of the Mediterranean region from very
early times. At the present day very extensive districts are
devoted to olive culture in Portugal, Spain, Italy, the South of
France, and Algeria, and the tree is frequently found apparently
wild in these and other countries. The olive orchards, covering
many square miles of country, give a distinct character to large
tracts of Spain and Italy. The trees are usually pollarded, and
have none of the beauty of those left to grow naturally. The
olive was long ago introduced into Peru and Chili. In England
it flowers freely enough, and under favorable circumstances will
even produce fruit, as in the late D. Hanbury's garden at Clapham
Common, near London. It is hardier than the lemon.

As with other cultivated fruits there are several varieties of the
olive; the largest are produced in Spain; in the wild state the
fruit is very bitter. The tree flowers in spring and early summer,
and the fruit is fully ripe in November.

DC.Prod.,viii,p.284; Bertoloni, Fl. ItaL, i, p. 45 ; Gren.&Godr.,
PI. France, ii, p. 474; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 547.

Official Part and Name. — OLEUM OLIV^;. The oil expressed in
the south of Europe from the ripe fruit (B. P.). The oil expressed
from the fruit (Oliva Oleum, Olive Oil) (I. P.). OLEUM OLIVJE.
The fixed oil obtained from the fruit (U. S. P.).

Production, Commerce, and Varieties. — The ripe fruits which are

172 OLEA EUEOP^EA

commonly known as Olives, are remarkable for the large quantity
of fixed oil contained in their pulpy portion or sarcocarp. Thus,
this portion when the olives are quite ripe yields about 70 per cent,
of oil, and 25 per cent, of water.

The mode of extracting olive oil is somewhat modified in
different countries, but consists essentially in submitting the
crushed ripe fruit to moderate pressure. In France the finest
oil is procured by crushing the fruit in the mill immediately after
it is gathered, and then submitting the paste thus obtained, which
is placed in coarse bags, to moderate pressure in a screw-press.
The oil thus expressed is conveyed through tubs or other
receptacles containing water, from the surface of which it is
subsequently skimmed. This first product has a greenish tint,
and is called Virgin Oil. After the oil has ceased to flow, the cake
or marc is removed from the bags, broken up with the hand,
moistened with boiling water, and submitted to increased pres-
sure. The products are water, and oil of a second quality, which
separates by standing. With the view of increasing the yield of
oil, the olives are sometimes allowed to undergo incipient fermenta-
tion by being placed in heaps for a long time before they are
pressed. The quality of the oil is, however, by this mode of pro-
cedure, much deteriorated; it is termed by the French Huile
fermentee. A still inferior quality of oil is obtained by submitting
the residues to pressure.

Various kinds of olive oil are known in commerce, as Provence oil,
Florence, Gallipoli, Spanish, Sicily, &c. The Provence oil is the
most esteemed. Italy produces annually about thirty-three million
gallons of olive oil, representing a value of £8,000,000 sterling.
The annual production of France has been estimated at about
five and a half million gallons. The value of the oil imported into
this country in 1872 was about £1,200,000. From Italy we received
about one half of the whole quantity, from Spain about one fifth,
and the remainder from other countries bordering on the
Mediterranean.

General Characters and Composition. — Olive oil, which is also
called salad oil and sweet oil, is an unctuous liquid of a pale

172 OLEA EUROP^EA

yellow or greenish-yellow colour, with a very faint agreeable
odour, and when fresh having a bland oleaginous taste, but by
long keeping it becomes slightly acrid. Its specific gravity varies
somewhat, averaging at 63° Fahr. O916°. Olive oil is but very
slightly soluble in alcohol, but it is soluble in about twice its
volume of ether. The finer kinds of oil do not readily become
rancid by exposure to the air, but the second qualities soon
become so. At about 36° Fahr. olive oil begins to congeal, and
at about 21° it separates into two portions, one solid, consisting of
about 28 per cent, of the whole, which is commonly termed marga-
rine ; and the other fluid, forming about 72 per cent., and called
oleine. The finer qualities of oil contain most oleine. Oleine by
saponification yields oleic acid and a sweet principle termed gly-
cerine ; margarine also yields by saponification glycerine and mar-
garic acid, which latter is sometimes regarded as a mixture of stearic
and palmitic acids. Olive oil is not a drying oil, and therefore
does not readily increase in consistence by exposure to the air.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Olive oil is demulcent, and in
large doses mildly laxative. It is a frequent constituent of laxative
enemas, especially when they are used in affections of the bowels.
It is also employed as an antidote in cases of poisoning ; it acts
by enveloping the poison, sheathing the living surface, and thus
mechanically obstructing absorption. Externally applied it is
sometimes useful in preventing, or at least relieving, the ill effects
produced by the sting of a wasp or bee. Thus, Dr. F. J. Farre
says that " the obstruction which it causes to the absorption of
poison is often very serviceable, and is sometimes sufficient to
prevent any bad effects from following. I have often applied oil
to the recent sting of a wasp or bee even after the pain had
extended from the wounded finger to the entire arm, and have
always found the pain cease after a few minutes. It has some-
times returned for a day or two immediately after washing the
hands until oil was again applied to the wound." Olive oil is chiefly
used externally, however, as an emollient vehicle for liniments and
other external applications. It has also been applied externally
in skin diseases to relieve pruritus ; and in burns and scalds to

172 OLEA ETHIOPIA

protect the surface from the action of the air. Smeared over the
skin it has been sometimes thought to be a preventive of the plague.

Olive oil is also largely used in pharmacy in the preparation of
the omcial Hard and Soft Soaps, and as one source of Glycerine.

As olive oil is not a drying oil, and not readily becoming
rancid, it is very useful for greasing delicate machinery, more
especially watches and clocks. For this purpose, however, the
fluid portion or oleine is alone used. " To prepare it for the latter
purpose the oil is cooled and the more liquid portion poured off,
a piece of sheetlead is then immersed in this, and it is exposed in
a corked bottle to the action of sunshine. A white matter
gradually separates, after which the oil becomes clear and colour-
less, and is fit for use." (Brande.) Or, it may be obtained by
pressing the solid portion of frozen oil between layers of bibulous
paper, and then squeezing the paper under water, when the oleine
collects upon the surface.

In the olive countries of Europe the oil is consumed to an
enormous extent as a food substance, but in this country and in
the United States its dietetical uses are very limited.

OTHER PRODUCTS OF THE OLIVE TREE. — In warm countries a
resin-like substance exudes spontaneously from olive trees. This
was formerly described by Dioscorides as the tears of the ^Ethiopic
olive ; and in modern times it has been called olive gum or Lecca
gum. Formerly it was thought to possess useful medicinal
properties, but it is not now employed.

The leaves and the young bark have been employed externally
as astringents and antiseptics, and internally as tonics in inter-
mittents. According to Mr. Maltass, of Smyrna, a decoction of
olive leaves made by boiling two handfuls in a quart of water
until reduced to half a pint, has been very successfully used in the
Levant in the treatment of obstinate cases of fevers. Others have
also testified to the febrifuge properties of the leaves as well as to
that of the bark.

Olive wood is beautifully veined, and has an agreeable odour ; it
is much esteemed by cabinet makers for these reasons, and on
account of the fine polish of which it is susceptible.

172 OLEA EUROPuEA

The fruit of the olive is, however, by far the most useful
product of the plant, for independently of its great value when ripe
as the source of olive oil already fully described, it is much
esteemed in its unripe condition as a dessert. For this purpose
the green unripe fruits are first deprived of some of their bitter-
ness by repeatedly steeping them in water, to which lime and
wood ashes are sometimes added to shorten the process, and then
preserved by bottling them in a slightly aromatised solution of
salt. Several varieties of preserved olives are met with, but
the most common are the small French or Provence olives, and
the large Spanish olives. The kind called Olives a la Picholine
are prepared by steeping olives in a solution of lime and wood
ashes.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. i, p. 665 ; Pharmacographia, p. 375 ;
Per. Mat. Med., by B. & E., p. 661 ; U. S. Disp., by W. & B.,
p. 606; Steph. & Church., Med. Bot., by Burnett, pi. 15,
vol. i; Jl. Soc. Arts, May 22, 1868; Ph. JL, Feb., 1854, p. 353.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the British Museum collected at Montpellier.

1. Branch in flower.

2. Section of flower.

3. Corolla laid open, with stamens.

4. Transverse section of ovary.

5. Ripe fruit.

6. Same with half the sarcocarp removed to show the stone.

7. Stone half cut away, showing the seed.

8. Section of seed.

9. Embryo.

(2, 3, 4 enlarged.)

D .Blear za. na.t. del .et Jith

JUNIPERUS

255

N. Ord. CONIFERS.
Tribe Cupressea.

Genus Juniperus, Linn.

255. Juniperus communis, Linn., Sp. PL, ed. I, p. 1(MO

(1753).

Juniper.

Figures. — Woodville, t. 6; Bigelow, t. 44; Nees, t. 86; Steph. & Ch.,
t. 141; Berg & Sch., t. 8 e; Syme, E. B., viii, t. 1382 (bad); Nees,
Gen. Fl. Germ., Apet. ; Reich, Ic. Fl. Germ., xi, t. 535; Schnitzlein,
Iconogr., t. 76.

Description. — A dwarf, procumbent, bushy evergreen shrub, or a
neat bush 2 — 5 feet high with upright branches, or a small tree
reaching 30 feet high ; bark chocolate-brown, coming away in flakes
on the old branches, young twigs divaricate. Leaves very nu-
merous, persistent, arranged mostly in threes, spreading at right
angles and rigid ; when full-grown, about ^ inch long, linear, taper-
ing to a sharp prickly point, articulated on stem, with a prominent
knob at the base above, channeled, glaucous or pinkish, with green
margins, above, bluntly keeled and bright green beneath ; shorter
and more concave at the base of the branches. Flowers dioecious,
the male in small catkins, the female in little cones ; all
axillary. Male catkins with a few small scales at base, ovoid or
globose, about i inch long, consisting of several whorls of decus-
sate horizontal stamens, each with three or four anther- cells
attached to the base of the lower surface of the connective,
dehiscing vertically. Female cones about i inch long, consisting
of about 12 — 16 green, ovate, acute, fleshy scales, closely placed
in 3 to 5 rows on a short axis and overlapping, the lower empty ;
the uppermost 3 surrounding the naked ovules, thinner, pinkish.
Ovules erect, 3, alternating with the scales, in close contact and
terminating the axis of the cone, flask-shaped, micropyles prolonged
and projecting slightly beyond the uppermost scales. Fruit berry-

255 JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS

like (a galbulus) from the growth of the three uppermost bracts of
the cone, which become greatly enlarged, fleshy, and completely
coalescent except at their tips, and arching over the top enclose
the seeds, at first green, and not ripening till the second year,
when ripe purplish-black, soft, and covered with a whitish-
blue "bloom," about the size of a pea, surrounded at the base
with the empty scales of the cone. Seeds small, 3 in each fruit,
close together, their upper half conical and triangular, the lower
rounded; testa very hard, with several large glands or sacs on its
lower part ; embryo straight, in scanty endosperm, cotyledons
2, small ; radicle superior.

Habitat. — The juniper, under one or other of its varieties
(5 are described by Parlatore), has a very extensive distribution,
extending throughout Europe and North Africa, Asia north-
wards from the Himalayas, Japan, and North America ; the dwarf
form reaches far into the arctic regions, occurring in Greenland
and Kamtschatka. In England it grows in hilly places, and is
a widely diffused though not very common species ; in the south
it especially prefers chalk downs, but also occurs on dry sandy
heaths.

Some botanists consider the three uppermost scales of the cone
as open carpels ; it is worthy of remark that the ovules alternate
with these and do not stand in their axils.

Parlatore, in DC. Prod., p. 479; Syme, E. B., viii, p. 273; Hook,
f., Stud. PI., p. 348; Wats., Comp. Cyb. Brit., p. 319; A. Gray,
Man. Bot. U. S., p. 473 ; Hook., PI. Bor. Am., ii, p. 165 ; Eoxb.,
PI. Ind., iii, p. 839 ; Brandis, Por. PL, p. 535 ; Lindl., PI. Med.,
p. 556.

Official Part and Name. — OLEUM JUNIPEKI. The oil distilled
in Britain from the unripe fruit (B. P.). The fruit (Juniperi
Fructus) (I. P.). JUNIPERUS. The fruit (U. S. P.).

1. THE FEUIT. — The fruit is commonly called a berry, although
properly a galbulus. Juniper fruits are largely collected in
Savoy, and also in the South of France, in Austria, and Italy.
They are principally exported from Trieste and some Italian

255 JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS

ports. In this country, however, the oil, which is alone official, is
directed to be distilled from the unripe fruit in Britain.

The juniper fruits of commerce are round, about the size of a
pea or a black currant, of a deep purplish-black colour, and
covered by a glaucous bloom. They are marked at the summit
with three radiate furrows, and below with stellt ely arranged
minute scales. Each fruit contains three bony seeds enveloped
in a brownish-yellow pulp. The fruits have an agreeable
aromatic odour when bruised ; and a warm, somewhat spicy,
sweetish, slightly terebinthinate taste.

Their properties are essentially due to a volatile oil (see
Oleum Juniperi). They also contain a large quantity of sugar,
some resin, and a very small proportion of an uncrystallisable
substance named juniperin.

2. OIL OF JUNIPEE. — This is readily obtained by submitting the
fruit to distillation with water. The volatile oil is most abundant
in the full-grown green fruit, as in the course of ripening some of
the oil becomes converted into resin. The amount of oil obtain-
able varies from 1 to 2 per cent. The oil is a colourless or pale
greenish-yellow liquid, of a sweetish odour, and warm aromatic
taste. It is limpid, transparent, levogyrate, and has a specific
gravity varying from 0*839 to about 0'900. It is a mixture of
two oils.

Juniper tops were formerly official, and possess similar properties
to the fruit. Both the tops and juniper wood yield a volatile
oil, which is frequently distilled abroad. It is sometimes substi-
tuted in this country and the United States of America for the
official oil of juniper. It is sold at a much lower price than the
true oil of juniper ; and in its characters closely resembles oil of
turpentine.

Medical Properties and Uses of Juniper Fruit and Oil. — Juniper
fruit and oil possess carminative, stimulant, and diuretic pro-
perties ; their action closely resembling terebinthinate substances.
They communicate a violet odour to the urine of those taking
them ; and in large doses sometimes occasion irritation of
the bladder and urinary passages. They have been found espe-

255 JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS

cially useful in different forms of dropsies, either administered
alone, or in combination with other diuretics, more especially
digitalis. They have been also employed in mucous discharges,
as gonorrhoea, gleet, and leucorrhoea ; and in some cutaneous
diseases. Sir James Simpson considers oil of juniper an efficient
diuretic when administered through the lungs, and he recommends
for this purpose a teaspoonful of the oil to be put into a vessel of
hot water, and the patient directed to inhale the vapours.

Formerly juniper fruits were ' ' employed as a spice to food ; and
a spirit, of which wormwood was an ingredient, was obtained
from them by fermentation and distillation. This spirit, called
in French Genievre, became known in English as Geneva, a name
subsequently contracted into Gin." At the present time the gin
distilled in Scotland is slightly flavoured with juniper berries, two
pounds of berries being used to 100 gallons of gin; but the gin
ordinarily distilled in England is flavoured with oil of turpentine.

The wood has been regarded as sudorific in its action, and
according to Burnett, has been substituted for guaiacum and
sassafras. We have never met with such a substitution, and
except by accident, it is scarcely likely to occur.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 1, p. 327 ; Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R.,
p. 483; Pharmacographia, p. 565; U. S. Disp., by W. & B.,
pp. 507 and 1308 ; Garr., Mat. Med., p. 368 ; Steph. & Church.,
Med. Bot., by Burnett, pi. 141, vol/iii.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Brawn from a plant collected at Mickleham, Surrey, in June, with tlie
male flowers added from Berg and Schmidt. 1. A branch of a female bush,
with flowers and fruit in various stages. 2. A female cone. 3. Vertical
section of the same. 4, 5. Ripe fruit. 6. Vertical, and 7, Transverse section
of same. 8. A seed. 9. Vertical section of same. 10. Male catkin.
11. Section of same. 12. A single stamen. (2, 3, 5—12 all enlarged.)

CO

273

N. Ord. IRIDACE^:. Lindl.,Yeg. K., p. 159 ; Le Maout &] Dec.,p. 782.
Tribe Iridece.

Genus Iris,* Linn. Klatt, in Linnsea, xxxiv (1865), p. 603.
Species about 70, natives of temperate and subtropical
regions in both hemispheres.

273. Iris florentina, Linn., 8p. PL, ed. 2, p. 55 (1762).

White Flag.

Figures.— Steph. & Oh., i, t. 27 ; Nees, t. 56 ; Hayne, xii, t. 1 ; Berg &
Sch., t, 10 f; Bot. Mag., t. 671; PI. Grseca, t. 39; Redoute, Liliac.,
t. 23; Reich., Ic. PL Germ., ix, t. 339.

Description. — A perennial, with a thick, fleshy, nearly cylindrical,
pale yellowish-brown rhizome, creeping at or just below the surface
of the soil, and reaching a foot or more in length, sometimes
branching ; each year's growth marked by a contraction so that
the rhizome has a jointed appearance, giving off thick fibrous
roots below and marked by the scars of the leaf -attachments.
Leaves several in each bud on the last year's growth of the
rhizome, a foot or more long, an inch or more wide, clear, pale
rather glaucous green, parallel- veined, sword- shaped, acute, equi-
tantly sheathing below. Flowering- stem (scape) much exceeding
the leaves, cylindrical, solid, faintly striate, stiff, with 2 or 3
branches, each from the axil of a sheathing semi-leafy bract.
Flowers large, solitary, at the end of the stem and branches, each
surrounded by two bracts (spathe), one longer than the other,
green at their lower part, pale brown and scarious above. Perianth
epigynous, tubular below, tube about an inch long, thick, pale
green, divided above into 6 large white, obovate-spathulate,
waved, and crumpled segments, the 3 outer somewhat narrower,
elegantly recurved, bearing on the middle line of the upper
surface at the base a band of densely set filaments, white
with bright yellow tips, on either side of which are branched,

* Iris, the rainbow Goddess, from the beauty and variety of colour in the
flowers of the genus.

273 IRIS FLORENTINA

curved, brownish veins ; the 3 inner curved outwards and then
upwards and inwards, meeting to form a dome in the centre.
Stamens 3, inserted on the tube of the perianth at the base of the
outer segments, curved outwards ; filaments tapering, somewhat
longer than the extrorse anthers. Ovary inferior, nearly sessile,
oblong, cylindrical, with 6 furrows, fleshy, 3-celled; style 3-fid;
stigmas 3, large, obovate, similar in texture and colour to the petals,
spreading outwards and curving closely over the stamens, trans-
versely cleft at the extremity so as to form a chink between two lips,
the lower (outer) of which is short and narrow, the upper (inner)
divided into two erect triangular segments, slightly laciniate on
their outer margins ; placentation axile ; ovules numerous. Fruit
(not seen) capsular, 3-celled, loculicidally dehiscing, stated to be
about an inch long, longly acuminate, faintly triangular. Seeds
(not seen; of the genus, horizontal, compressed, smooth, with a
lax testa and a small embryo with inferior radicle in the axis of
fleshy albumen).

Habitat. — Though named florentina, it is the opinion of D.
Hanbury, who had studied it and its allies in the neighbourhood of
Florence, that it is only a naturalised plant in that district, being
truly indigenous to the coast region of Macedonia and the south-
west shore of the Black Sea; it is also found in several other
parts of southern and eastern Europe, growing in dry, stony
places, but it is doubtful if it occurs in the Iberian Peninsula,
though it grows in the Eiviera. As a cultivated plant it is a
very old inhabitant of our gardens, but is less common and more
tender than I. germanica, L. Along with that species and with
I. pallida, Lam., it is grown in large quantity near Florence for its
rhizomes. Most botanists maintain these as separate species, but
the distinctions are very slight. The colour of the flower of
I. florentina is usually somewhat slaty, or even faintly bluish, but
often pure white ; it flowers in May, a little after the common
garden flag.

Bertoloni, PI. Ital., i, p. 231 ; Grenier & Godr., PI. France, iii,
p. 241 ; Roem. & Sch., Syst. Yeg., i, p. 457 ; Klatt, 1. c., p. 603 ;
Lindl., PL Med., p. 575.

273 IRIS FLORENTINA

Official Part and Name. — IEIS FLORENTINA. The rhizome
(U. S. P. Secondary). Not official in the British Pharmacopoeia,
or the Pharmacopoeia of India.

Production and Commerce. — Orris rhizome, or orris root as it is
commonly called, is derived indiscriminately in Tuscany, from
three species of iris, namely, I. florentina, I. germanica, and /.
pallida, the two latter species from being most abundant, probably
furnishing the largest quantity. These species are known to the
peasantry under the common name of Giaggiolo. The rhizomes
are dug up in August, and are then trimmed, peeled, and dried in
the sun, and are ultimately separated by the dealers who purchase
them of the peasants into different qualities, selected and sorts.
Orris rhizome is exported from Leghorn, Trieste, and Mogador.

General Characters and Composition. — Orris rhizome of commerce
occurs in pieces of from 2 to 4 inches in length, and from about
i to 1J inch in width. These pieces present an irregular, some-
what conical form, with usually two or three short branches at their
broader end. They have a flattened appearance, and are more or less
arched, and frequently twisted, somewhat shrivelled, and furrowed.
On the lower surface they are marked with small roundish scars,
which are left by the cutting off of the rootlets. They are firm
and compact in texture, and of a dull whitish colour. Their taste
is bitterish, faintly aromatic, and subsequently acrid ; and they
have an agreeable violet odour. This odour is not present in the
fresh rhizomes, which have simply an earthy smell, but is gradually
produced by drying and keeping, not being fully developed
until the rhizomes are two years old.

The principal constituent of orris rhizome would appear to be
a solid crystalline substance, called orris camphor, which is always
found on the surface of the distillate when orris rhizome is dis-
tilled with water. According to Umney, the yield of this substance
is about 0*12 per cent. The authors of Pharmacographia believe
the crystals which may be obtained from it, by purification, " to be
simply myristic acid, impregnated with a little essential oil, which
they obstinately retain." Orris rhizome also contains resin and
some tannic acid.

273 IRIS VERSICOLOR

Medical Properties and Uses. — Orris rhizome possesses cathartic
and emetic properties, and was formerly much used on the Continent,
&c., in dropsies, &c., and also, when powdered, as an errhine. It
has been recently recommended by M. Allisiardi, of Saluzzo,
in Italy, as a febrifuge. In France it is a good deal used for
making issue-peas, for which purpose its agreeable odour, acridity,
and power of absorbing moisture render it well adapted. It is
sometimes given to infants during teething, to rub their gums
with • but this practice is objectionable, since it is not unfrequently
attended with irritation of the mouth and disorder of the stomach
and bowels.

Its chief application is at the present day to cover unpleasant
odours in the breath, as an ingredient in tooth powders, and
as a perfume ; for the latter purpose it is largely employed. An
agreeable perfume, known as essence of violets, may be prepared
by digesting one part of powdered orris rhizome in eight parts of
rectified spirit.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, part 1, p. 220; Steph. & Church., by
Burnett, vol. i, pi. 27 ; Pharmacographia, pp. 599 & 601 ; U. S.
Disp., by W. and B., p. 498 ; Per. Mat. Med., by B. and R.,
p. 446 ; Groves, in Ph. Jl., vol. iii, ser. 3, p. 229.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from specimens grown in Kew and Chelsea Gardens.

1. Flower with the perianth-segments removed.

2. Transverse section of ovary.

Iris versicolor, Linn*

Blue Flag (of America).
Official Part and Name*— The rhizome of this plant, which is

273 IRIS VERSICOLOR

found in Canada and all parts of the United States of America,
is also official, as follows : — IKIS VERSICOLOR. The rhizome (U. S. P.
Secondary) .

General Characters and Composition. — The fresh rhizomes
resemble in appearance those of Iris florentina and the other
species of Iris which form the orris just described, and like them
they have an acrid taste, and no marked odour. Their properties
are imparted to some extent to water by boiling, but more perfectly
to alcohol ; but we have no reliable evidence of their composition.
By keeping, their acrimony and medical virtues are said to be
impaired.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Blue flag rhizome possesses
similiar medical properties to the orris rhizome already described,
being purgative and emetic. But although official in the United
States Pharmacopoeia, it is but little employed in regular practice.
Its chief use is by the class of irregular practitioners known in
the United States as " Eclectics," who prepare from it an oleo-
resin called iridin or irisin, which is believed to unite cholagogue
and diuretic with aperient properties, and which a correspondent
of the Lancet states to. cause effects similar to those of a mixture
of blue pill, aloes, and rhubarb.

U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 499; Lancet, Aug. 30, 1862, p. 239.

'.Blair ad nai.del. et litL

BRASSICA

M&N.Ha.nhari imp.

22

N. Ord. CRUCIFER^.
Tribe Brassicete.

Genus Brassica, Linn* B. & H., Gen. i, p. 84 ; Baillon, Hist.,
iii, p. 185. Species variously estimated, 80 to 150, natives
of the temperate regions of the Old World. Includes
Sinapis, Erucastrum, &c.

22. Brassica (Sinapis-\) nigra, Koch, in Rohling, Deutschl.
Flora, iv,p. 713 (1833).

Black, Brown, or Red Mustard.

Syn. — Sinapis nigra, Linn,, and many authors. Brassica sinapioides,
Both. Melanosinapis communis, Spenn.

Figures.— WoodviUe, t. 146; Steph. & Ch., t. 42; Hayne, viii, t. 40;
Nees, t. 403; Berg, Charact., t. 84, f. 605; Berg and Sch., t. 30 e;
Syme, E. B., i, t, 85.

Description. — A large branching annual, often four feet high,
stem and spreading branches stiff, dark green, more or less
hispid below, usually glabrous above. Lowest leaves lyrate,
slightly hispid, with a large terminal segment, intermediate ones
irregularly pinnatifid, upper ones lanceolate, all stalked, dark
green, margin (except of the uppermost ones) faintly serrate.
Flowers in corymbose racemes, stalked, small (not J inch in
diameter), ebracteate, pedicels shorter than calyx. Sepals 4,
narrowly oblong, pale green, spreading almost horizontally.
Petals 4, alternating with sepals, with a narrow claw and
roundish blade, bright yellow, spreading. Stamens 6, hypo-
gynous, tetradynamous, the two with short filaments lateral,
inserted lower than the others, with a small gland placed ahove
the base of each, the four with longer filaments placed in pairs
antero-posteriorly, with a large gland at the base of each pair ;
anthers versatile. Pistil oblong-ovoid, tapering into a short style ;
stigma capitate, bilobed ; ovary 1 -celled, with two parietal
placentae; ovules several. Fruit a siliqua, about f inch long,

* Brassica, the Latin name for a cabbage,
f Sinapis, Greek aivairi or vdirv, mustard.

22 BRASSICA (SINAPIS) NIGRA

oblong-linear, erect or adpressed to the axis of the raceme,
somewhat quadrangular, glabrous, tipped with a short tapering
beak, dehiscent by two valves, each of which is keeled by a
single dorsal vein, 2 -celled, with 3 — 7 seeds in a single row in
each cell, and none in the beak. Seeds roundish-oval, about 33
inch in diameter; testa dark, brownish-red, minutely pitted to
the naked eye ; embryo large, the cotyledons conduplicate, the
outer one larger and enclosing the inner, which is folded round
the bent-up radicle ; endosperm none.

Habitat. — Black mustard is a weed in waste and cultivated
ground throughout England and the South of Scotland,
but is perhaps doubtfully native here. It grows throughout
Europe, except the extreme north-east parts, Asia Minor, North-
West India, South Siberia, and North Africa, and has become
naturalised in North and South America. It is cultivated in
England in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, and in parts of Germany
Holland, and Italy.

The genus Sinapis cannot be kept separate from Brassica by
any satisfactory characters.

DC. Syst., ii, p. 608; Syme, E. B., i, p. 126; Hook, f., Stud. Fl.,
p. 30 ; Watson, Comp. Cyb. Br., p. 104 ; Gr. & Godr., Fl. France,
i, p. 77; Hook, f., Fl. Ind., i, p. 156; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 92.

Official Parts and Names. — 1 . SINAPIS ; the seeds of Sinapis
nigra, Linn., and Sinapis alba, Linn., reduced to powder, mixed :
2. OLEUM SINAPIS ; the oil distilled with water from the seeds
of Black Mustard, Sinapis nigra, Linn., after the expression of
the fixed oil (B. P.). A mixture of the seeds of both the above
species reduced to powder (Sinapis, Mustard) (I. P.). SINAPIS
NIGKA; the seeds of Sinapis nigra (U. S. P.).

1. SINAPIS. — Mustard being a mixture of the powdered seeds of
both Sinapis nigra, Slack Mustard, and Sinapis alba, White
Mustard, we shall reserve our notice of this substance until we have
described separately the characters of the two kinds of seeds of
which it is composed. (See Sinapis, under Sinapis alba.)

General Characters and Composition of Black Mustard Seeds. —
Black mustard seeds, or as they are also sometimes termed Brown

22 BRASSICA SIXAPIS XIGRA

and R+J. mustard seeds, are very small, and roundish in form.
rnally they have a deep reddish-brown colour, or sometimes
greyish, the surface being reticulated with minute pits ; internally
they are yellow. Their powder has a greenish-yellow colour. In
the entire state they are inodorous, and even when powdered dry ;
but when the seeds are triturated with water they exhale a
strong pungent odour so as to affect the eyes, and in some cases
even to cause a flow of tears. When masticated their taste is
at first bitterish, which is immediately followed by pungency.

Black mustard seeds yield by expression an inodorous, non-
drying fixed oil, with a mild oily taste. The amount of oil thus
obtainable by pressure averages 25 per cent. The seeds also con-
tain a crystalline substance, commonly known under the name of
myronate of potash, but better characterised as sinigrin ; and an
albuminous body closely resembling the emulsin of almonds, and
termed myrosin. Siuigrin, as shown by Will and Korner, is a
compound of SulpHocyanide of Allyl, Bisulphate of Potassium, and
Sugar. There is no starch in the ripe seeds. The pungent principle
upon which the properties of black mustard seeds essentially depend
does not pre-exist in the seeds, but is obtained in the form of a
volatile oil when the macerated seeds are distilled with water (see
Oleum Sinapis). The fact that the pungent volatile oil does not
pre-exist in the seeds explains their want of odour in a dried
state.

2 . OLEUM SIKAPIS. — The volatile or essential oil of mustard, which
^icial under the name of oil of mustard, does not pre-exist in
black mustard seeds, as just stated, but is produced whenever water
is added to the powdered seeds by the action of myrosin on the sini-
grin, just as the volatile oil of almonds (see Oleum Amygdala Amara)
is formed under the same circumstances by the action of emulsin on
amygdalin. The temperature of the water used should not exceed
122" Fahr., as a much higher degree of heat prevents altogether the
formation of the oil. It is to this oil that the pungent smell and
taste of black mustard, as well as its inflammatory action on the
skin, is due. Oil of mustard is colourless or pale yellow, of an
exceedingly pungent odour, and a most acrid and pungent taste.

22 BRASSICA (SINAPIS) NIGEA

It boils at about 298° Fahr., and has a specific gravity of 1'015 at
68° Fahr. It is readily soluble in alcohol and ether, but only
very slightly so in water. It contains sulphur as one of its
constituents, and is regarded by chemists as a sulphocyanide of
allyl.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Black mustard seed is a powerful
stimulant. It is rarely employed in a pure state, but usually in
the form of Flour of Mustard, which, as commonly prepared for
the table, is a mixture of both black and white mustard seeds.
This is also the composition of the official mustard of the British
Pharmacopoeia. Pure flour of black mustard may, however,
be obtained from the manufacturers. The properties and
uses of mustard are more fully described under the head of
Sinapis in Sinapis alba. Mustard paper (Charta Sinapis), has
been recently introduced into the appendix of the British
Pharmacopoeia and into the United States Pharmacopoeia. It is
prepared by coating the surface of cartridge-paper with a
mixture formed by adding Black Mustard seeds in powder to a
solution of gutta percha. It is an imitation of Kigollot's mustard
leaves which have been extensively used for some years as a
ready, simple, cleanly, and safe rubefacient.

The oil of mustard when applied to the skin in its pure state
produces almost instant vesication ; but when dissolved in rectified
spirit, or spirit of camphor, or employed in the form of the Com-
pound Liniment of Mustard of the British Pharmacopoeia, it is a very
useful application for chilblains, chronic rheumatism, &c. When
this liniment is slightly sprinkled on impermeable piline, and
applied to the skin, it also forms an elegant substitute for a mustard
poultice.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., p. 935 and 1076; Pharmacographia,
p. 62 ; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 809 ; Garr., Mat. Med., p. 208.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Chiefly drawn from a specimen collected at Warnham, Sussex. 1. Portion
of the flowering plant. 2. A diagram of the flower. 3. The androacium and
pistil. 4 and 5. Ripe fruit. 6. The same, with one valve removed. 7. A seed.
8. Section of the same. 9. The embryo. (5— 9 enlarged.)

23

3 ! 6

23

N. Ord. CRUCIFER^E.
Tribe Brassicea.

Genus Brassica, Linn.

23. Brassica (Sinapis) alba, HooLf. $T.,in Hook.f.,Fl. Brit.
Ind., i, p. 157 (1872).

White Mustard.

Syn. — Sinapis alba, Linn., and most authors. Leucosinapis alba, Spach.

Figures.— Steph. & Ch., t. 42; Nees, t. 402; Hayne, viii, t. 39; Berg,
Gharact., t. 85, f. 606 ; Curt., Fl. Lend., fasc. 5 ; Syme, E. B., i, t. 84.

Description. — An erect annual, usually about 2 feet high, with
a few ascending branches, stiff, bright green, bristly, with reflexed
hairs throughout. Leaves all stalked, pinnatifid, the lowest ones
with the terminal lobe large, and the divisions reaching to the
midrib, uppermost ones less deeply cut, rough with hairs.
Flowers as in B. nigra, but twice as large, and pedicels consider-
ably longer ; petals much paler yellow ; pistil hairy below, a little
longer than the stamens. Siliquas 1 — 1 J inches long, on divaricate
stalks, spreading, the lower half beaded with the 4 — 6 contained
seeds, the upper half occupied by a flat, vertical, nearly smooth
beak, curved upwards, which often has a seed contained in its
base, valves short, with 3 prominent veins, strongly bristly.
Seeds sub globular, about ^ inch in diameter, pale yellow ; testa
smooth to the naked eye ; embryo as in B. nigra, green.

Habitat. — White mustard is readily distinguished from black by
its smaller size, much larger flowers and seeds, and spreading
hispid pods with a long falcate beak. Like the latter plant it is
a frequent weed in England, but is more restricted to cultivated
ground, being especially a cornfield plant in calcareous districts ;
and has perhaps still less claim to be considered a British plant.
It occurs throughout Europe, especially in the south, where it is
probably native, and in Asia Minor, Algeria, aud China, and is
cultivated in England (Essex and Cambridgeshire) and in the

23 BRASSICA (SINAPIS) ALBA

United States, where it has escaped and occurs as an occasional

weed.

DC. Syst., ii, p. 620; Syine, E. B., i, p. 125; Hook. £., Stud. FL,
p. 30 ; Watson, Comp. Cyb. Br., p. 104 ; Hook, f., Fl. India, i, p.
157 ; Gren. & Godr., Fl. France, i, p. 74; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 92.

Official Parts and Names. — SINAPIS ; the seeds of Sinapis
nigra, Linn., and Sinapis alba, Linn., reduced to powder, mixed
(B. P.). A mixture of the seeds of both the above species
reduced to powder (Sinapis, Mustard) (I. P.). SINAPIS ALBA;
the seed of Sinapis alba (U. S. P.).

SINAPIS ALBA. — White mustard seeds are much larger than those
of black mustard seeds. They are roundish in form, of a yellow
colour, and very finely pitted in a reticulate manner on their
surface ; internally they are bright yellow. They are inodorous
when entire, and almost entirely so even when triturated with
water, as no volatile principle is then formed as with black mustard
seeds under the same circumstances. Their taste is similar to,
but less pungent than, black mustard seeds.

White mustard seeds yield by expression a similar fixed oil to
that obtained from black mustard seeds. They also contain my rosin,
but no myronate of potash or sinigrin, and hence no volatile oilcan
be obtained from them by distillation. From the investigations
of Will it would appear that white mustard seeds owe their pecu-
liarity to the presence of a crystalline principle, called Sinalbin or
sulpho-sinapisin, which is a compound of three bodies, namely,
Sulphocyanate of Acrinyl, Sulphate of Sinapin, and Sugar. When
sinalbin is placed in contact with water and myrosin at ordinary
temperatures it is resolved into its three constituent substances ;
but the sulphocyanate of acrinyl, which is the active principle of
white mustard seeds, does not pre-exist in the seeds, and cannot
be obtained from them by distillation. It is owing to the presence
of sulphocyanic acid that the infusion of white mustard seeds
becomes of a bright red colour when a persalt of iron is added to it.
An infusion of black mustard seeds under the same circumstances
only assumes an orange tint.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Similar to, but milder than,
those of black mustard seeds. When swallowed whole they

23 BRASSICA (SINAPIS) ALBA

operate as a laxative, and have been used as a remedy in dyspepsia,
and in other complaints attended with torpidity of the bowels.
But their use in this state is by no means free from danger, as
they sometimes accumulate in the intestines, and have produced
fatal effects. They are chiefly used when mixed with black mustard
seeds in the form of the official mustard (Sinapis), which see.

The seed-leaves of Sinapis alba and of Lepidium sativum are
used as a salad under the name of mustard and cress.

SINAPIS. — Flour of mustard, or as it is commonly termed mustard,
was formerly supposed to be prepared solely from black mustard
seeds, but whatever may have been the case, the ordinary commer-
cial mustard is now always manufactured from a mixture in
varying proportions of both black and white mustard seeds. This
mixture, as we have seen, also constitutes the official mustard of
the British Pharmacopoeia.

Manufacture. — The following method of preparing mustard was
furnished to Dr. Pereira by a manufacturer : — The seeds of black
and white mustard are first crushed between rollers, and after-
wards pounded in mortars. The pounded seeds are then sifted.
The residue in the sieve is called dressings or si/tings ; what
passes through is impure flour of mustard. The latter by a
second sifting yields pure flour of mustard, and a second quantity
of dressings.

General Characters. — The characters of mustard as given in
the British Pharmacopoeia are as follows : — " Greenish-yellow, of
an acrid bitterish oily pungent taste, scentless when dry, but
exhaling when moist a pungent penetrating peculiar odour, very
irritating to the nostrils and eyes. A decoction cooled is not
made blue by tincture of iodine." The latter test is added
for the purpose of detecting flour or starch, as the mustard of
commerce is frequently adulterated with these substances, which
are coloured by turmeric, and rendered hot by capsicum. The
chemical characters of mustard and the sources of its active pro-
perties have been already referred to when treating separately of
the chemical composition of black and white mustard seeds.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The properties and uses of both
black and white mustard seeds have been already treated of

23 BRASSICA (SINAPIS) ALBA

separately, but we have now to describe those of mustard gene-
rally. Mustard acts as a powerful stimulant, holding, according
to Pereira, an intermediate rank between horseradish and pepper.
Externally applied it is a most valuable rubefacient, and if
kept long in contact with the skin it causes vesication ; but its
use requires caution, as its too lengthened application may occasion
ulceration and even gangrene.

Mustard is used in medicine for several purposes. As an
emetic mustard is especially valuable when there is great torpor of
the stomach, and in other cases where it is desirable to empty
that organ without producing a depressing influence in the system,
as in narcotic poisoning, and some forms of paralysis, &c. It has
also been employed as a diuretic in dropsies, and in other ways ;
but the principal use of mustard is as a rubefacient, and in the
form of a mustard poultice its application is useful to relieve
slight inflammation of serous and mucous surfaces when applied to
a neighbouring part ; as for example, upon the chest in bronchitis
and pleurisy ; also to relieve congestion of various organs by
drawing blood to the surface, as in head affections ; and likewise
for the alleviation of neuralgic and other pains and spasms.
Mustard is also frequently added to local baths, as for the feet.
(See also Oleum Sinapis.)

Besides its use in medicine mustard is very largely employed as
a condiment, and when taken in moderate quantities with the
food, it promotes the appetite, and assists the assimilation of
substances which are difficult of digestion.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, part ii, p. 582 ; U. S. Disp., by W. & B.,
p. 810 ; Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R, p. 937 ; Pharmacographia,
p. 65 ; Garr., Mat. Med., p. 209 ; Greenish, in Pharrn. Journ.,
vol. 3, ser. 3, p. 782, and vol. 4, p. 381.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Made from a specimen collected at Box Hill, Surrey. 1. The andrcecium
and pistil. 2. A ripe fruit. 3. Horizontal section of the same. 4. A seed.
5 Section of the same. 6. The embryo. (1, 4, 5, 6 enlarged.)

39

N. Ord. LINAGES. Lindl., Veg. K., p. 485 ; Le Maout & Dec.,

p. 293; Baill., Hist., pi. v.
Tribe LinecB.

Genus Linum, Linn* B. & H., Gen., i, p. 242; Baill., 1. c.,
p. 42. Species 80 or more, natives of either hemisphere,
and chiefly extra- tropical.

39. Linum usitatissimum, Linn., Sp. PL, ed. I, p. 277 (1753).
Flax. Cultivated Flax.

Figures.— Woodville, t. 202; Steph. & Ch., t. 61; Nees, t. 389; Hayne,
viii, 1. 17 ; Berg & Sch., 1. 18 e ; Curt., PI. Lond., fasc. 5 ; Syme, E. B.,
ii, t, 292 ; Baillon, 1. c., figs. 69—75.

Description. — A stiff, upright annual, about 1 — 2 feet high;
stem usually solitary, cylindrical, quite smooth, green, corym-
bosely branched in the upper part. Leaves alternate, sessile,
linear-lanceolate, attenuate at each end, f — li inch long, entire,
smooth, faintly ribbed. Flowers solitary at the ends of the
branches. Sepals 5, imbricate, ovate, with attenuated points ;
outer ones narrower, strongly 3-nerved, margins broadly mem-
branous. Petals 5, twisted, large, fugaceous, shortly clawed,
veined, deep violet-blue, slightly crenate at the margin. Stamens
5, alternate with the petals, the filaments more or less connected
into a short tube at the base, with 5 abortive or rudimentary
stamens (staminodes) alternating with them ; anthers small,
versatile, dark blue. Ovary flask-shaped, 5-celled at the base,
w ith a thick axis ; ovules 2 in each cell, collateral, attached to the
upper part of the axis; styles 5, distinct. Fruit capsular, surrounded
at the base by the persistent sepals, globose, with a sharp-pointed
apex, smooth, imperfectly 10-celled ; pericarp thin, tough, papery,
splitting septicidally into its component carpels and partially down
the back of each carpel through the spurious partitions formed
between the pairs of seeds. Seeds | — 5 of an inch long, flat-
tened-ovoid, with rounded edges and an oblique blunt beak at the

* Linum, the classical name.

39 LINUM USITATISSIMUM

upper end ; testa bright brown, smooth, shining ; embryo green,
occupying almost the whole seed, surrounded with a very thin
layer of endosperm ; cotyledons large, flat ; radicle straight,
superior.

Habitat. — The native country of the cultivated Flax is impos-
sible to determine, and its cultivation reaches back to the
remotest periods of history. It readily escapes, and is found in
a quasi- wild condition in all the countries where it is grown, but
is nowhere known as truly spontaneous. It is possible, as
supposed by Prof. Heer, that it is a cultivated race developed
from L. angustifolium, Huds., a frequent wild plant in southern
and western Europe (including England), the plants known as
L. ambiguum, Jord., 'L. hyemale romanum and L. humile, Mill.,
being the successive connecting links. De Candolle suggests
that more than one species have been in cultivation. The plant
cultivated in India is stated to have some characters of L. Jiumile,
Mill. Flax is now extensively cultivated in both temperate and
tropical climates, e. g. in Russia, Egypt, throughout India, the
United States, the south of Europe, Holland, and England. In
this country it frequently occurs by roadsides and in waste
ground, but is nowhere permanent.

Syme, E. B., ii, p. 184; Hook, f., Stud. Fl., p. 74; Watson, Comp.
Cyb. Br., p. 493; Lowe, Fl. Mad., i, p. 98 ; Oliv., Fl. Trop. Afr.,
i, p. 268 ; Hook, f., Fl. Brit. Ind., i, p. 411 ; Journal of Botany,
1874, p. 87 ; Lindley, Fl. Med., p. 129.

Official Parts and Names. — 1. LINI SEMINA; the seeds: 2.
LINI FARINA ; the cake of linseed from which the oil has been
pressed, reduced to powder : 3. OLEUM LINI ; the oil expressed
without heat from Linseed (B. P.). The seeds (Lini Semina]
(I. P.). 1. LINUM, Flaxseed ; the seed: 2. LINI FAKINA ; the
meal prepared from the seed : 3. OLEUM LINI ; the fixed oil
obtained from the seed (U. S. P.).

1. LINI SEMINA. — Linseed is imported into this country in
enormous quantities, chiefly from Russia and India, but to
some extent also from Germany, Holland, and other countries.
Thus, the total value of imports from Russia in 1872 was about

39 LINUM USTTATISSIMUM

£3,000,000 ; from India during tne same year £1,144,942 ; and
from Germany and Holland £144,108 ; the total quantity imported
being 1,514,947 quarters, representing a money value of
£4,513,842. Some seed is also produced in Great Britain, but
the cultivation of the flax plant is declining in this country.
Several varieties of linseed are known in the markets, and of these
English, Calcutta, and Bombay, fetch the highest prices.

General Characters and Composition of Linseed. — Linseed,
Lintseed, or Flaxseed, is small, although varying in length from
5 — g of an inch, the seed from warm countries being the largest.
The seeds are more or less flattened, and have a smooth shining
surface of a brown colour ; internally they are yellowish-white ; they
have a mucilaginous oily taste, but no odour. The characters of
the seed should be carefully noted, as linseed is very much
adulterated with rape, mustard, and other seeds, from which it
should be carefully separated. In America a variety of flaxseed
is met with which has a greenish-yellow instead of the ordinary
brown colour. In other respects it does not appear to differ
essentially from the common seed.

The principal constituent of linseed is the fixed oil (see Oleum
Lini), which forms about one third of its weight. The other
important constituent is a peculiar mucilage, which appears to be
a product of the transformation of starch, for while starch is
found in unripe linseed it is altogether absent from the ripe
seed ; hence a decoction of linseed does not become blue by the
action of iodine, and hence also a means of detecting mealy seeds
and cereal grains when mixed with linseed.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Linseed possesses emollient and
demulcent properties, and is largely employed in the form of an
infusion which is commonly known as linseed-tea, in irritation
and inflammatory conditions of the mucous membranes generally,
as in catarrhs and urinary affections, and in diarrhoea and dysen-
tery. Linseed tea may be made more palatable by the addition
of sliced lemon and sugar-candy.

2. LINI FAEINA. — The cake left after the oil has been expressed
from linseed is usually called oil-cake ; this when ground to powder

39 LINUM USITATISSIMUM

forms the linseed meal of the British Pharmacopoeia. In the United
States Pharmacopoeia the seeds are simply directed to be ground,
and the meal, which is there called flaxseed meal, consequently
differs from that of the British Pharmacopoeia in containing the
oil. The meal containing the oil is to be preferred when used fresh,
but it soon becomes rancid by the formation of fatty acids from
the oxidation of the contained oil. Linseed meal is greyish-
brown in colour.

Linseed meal is a valuable emollient application. It is very
largely used in the form of a poultice to inflamed and suppurating
surfaces. It is also employed when mixed with water for luting by
chemists. Oil-cake, from containing about 30 per cent, of protein
substances, equivalent to 5 per cent, of nitrogen, forms a very
valuable food for cattle, for which purpose it is largely
employed.

3. OLEUM LINI. — Linseed or flaxseed oil is usually obtained on a
large scale by first roasting the seeds to destroy the mucilaginous
matter contained in their coats, and then submitting them to
pressure, when they yield from 20 to 30 per cent, of oil
according to the quality of the seed. The best oil is, however,
obtained by pressing the seeds without previous heating, but the
yield is not so great, averaging less than 20 per cent, under such
circumstances. The oil when obtained without heat is of a very
pale amber colour, and when fresh has but little taste or odour ;
but commercial oil is usually of a dark yellowish-brown colour, and
has a disagreeable odour and a nauseous acrid taste. Its specific
gravity is about 0'932. It is soluble in alcohol, but more readily
so in ether, and has the property when exposed to the air of
drying into a hard transparent varnish, more especially after
having been boiled, and still more after having been heated with
oxide of lead. Its essential constituents are glycerin and fatty
acids, more especially linoleic acid, to which it owes its drying
property.

Linseed oil is emollient in its action, and is a valuable applica-
tion to burns or scalds, either alone or mixed with an equal volume
of solution of lime (lime-water) . This mixture is commonly known

39 LINUM USITATISSIMUM

under the name of Garron Oil. Linseed oil, however, is princi-
pally used in painting, on account of its drying property, and in
the manufacture of printers' ink.

4. OTHEK PRODUCTS OP THE FLAX PLANT. — The value of the flax
plant is not confined to its seeds, but its liber-fibres when properly
prepared constitute flax of which linen fabrics are made. The con-
sumption of flax for this purpose is enormous ; even in this country
alone in 1873, besides the flax obtained from home cultivation, we
imported 2,194,000 cwt. Linen when scraped forms lint, which
is so valuable for surgical dressings, and the short fibres which are
separated in the course of its preparation constitute tow, which is
much employed in pharmacy, surgery, and for other purposes.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., p. 924; Pharmacographia, p. 90;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., pp. 528 and 598 ; Greenish, in Year
Book of Pharmacy, 1871, p. 590.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen grown in the Garden of the Royal Botanic
Society, London.

1. Diagram of flower (the sepals should have been shown imbricate and the

petals convolute in this figure).

2. Andrcecium and pistil.

3. Vertical, and — 4. Transverse section of ovary.
5 and 6. Ripe fruit.

7. Section across the same.

8. Seed.

9. 10, and 11. Sections of the same.

(2—4 and 6—11 enlarged.)

44

N. Ord. RUTACE.E.
Tribe Ruteas.

Genus Ruta, Linn* B. & H. Gen., i, p. 286 ; Baill., Hist.,
pi. iv, p. 373. Species 40 or more, natives of Western
Asia and the Mediterranean region.

44. Ruta graveolens,t Linn., $p. PL, ed. 2, p. 383 (in part)

(1753).

Rue.

Figures.— Woodville, t. 174; Steph. & Ch., t. 71; Hayne, vi, t. 8;
Nees, t. 376; Berg & Sch., t. 24 f. ; Baill., 1. c., figs. 391—397.

Description. — A perennial herbaceous or half -shrubby plant,
reaching 2 or 2^ feet in height. Stems cylindrical, slender,
branched in the upper part, quite smooth, pale glaucous green,
somewhat shrubby at the base, and there covered with a grey
bark. Leaves alternate, without stipules, compound, the lower
ones tripinnate, the upper ones sub-bipinnate or pinnate, the
highest simple, leaflets linear-oval or oblong, the terminal ones
obovate, all dotted with small pellucid glands, rather thick, bluish-
green. Inflorescence a terminal corymbose irregularly tricho-
tomous cyme. Flowers on long stalks, erect, nearly an inch across.
Calyx of 4 (or 5) sepals, slightly connected, narrow, acute, semi-
persistent. Petals alternating with the sepals which they greatly
exceed, distant, widely spreading, greenish-yellow, wide and
hooded at the top, suddenly contracted into a narrow claw below,
the margin more or less wavy and sometimes toothed. Stamens
twice as many as the petals, 8 (or 10), inserted below the hypo-
gynous disk, half opposite the sepals, half opposite the petals, in
the concave limbs of which they are at first contained ; filaments
slender, glabrous, at length straight and exceeding the petals.
Pistil surrounded at the base and supported by a thick fleshy
green sticky disk, marked opposite each stamen with a deep

* Ruta, the classical name,
f graveolene, strong- smelling.

44 RUTA GRAYEOLENS

nectariferous pore ; ovary large, 4- (or 5-) lobed, the lobes (carpels)
separate above, strongly dotted with sunk glands, 4-celled, ovules
numerous on axile placentas ; styles coming off from the inner
side of the carpels, combined into a single body tapering to the
apical stigma. Fruit dry, hard, roundish, 4- or 5-lobed at top,
greyish-brown, rough, each carpel dehiscing from above ventrally
and also for some way down the dorsal suture. Seeds ovoid,
rounded on the back, flattish in front, angular, testa blackish,
rough ; embryo slightly curved from base to apex, surrounded by
scanty fleshy endosperm.

The central terminal flowers of the corymbs are usually
5-merous, the others generally 4-merous.

Habitat. — The common Rue grows in waste stony ground
throughout the south of Europe, extending from Spain and
Portugal to Greece and the Crimea. It also occurs in the
Canaries, and is cultivated in gardens in India and other
countries. In this country it is very hardy and one of our oldest
garden plants, usually continuing green through the winter, and
the empty dry capsules remaining on the withered flower- stalks
through the next flowering season.

Boiss., Fl. Orient., i, p. 921 ; Hook, f ., PI. India, i, p. 485 ; Lindl.,
PI. Med., p. 210.

Official Parts and Names. — OLEUM RUT^E ; the oil distilled from
the fresh herb (B. P.). The herb (Buta) (I. P.). RUTA; the
leaves (U. S. P.).

1. RUTA. — The fresh herb has a very strong disagreeable odour,
especially when rubbed ; and a bitter, acrid, nauseous taste.
When dried its odour is similar, but less powerful, and it has a
greyish-green colour.

The principal constituents of Rue are the volatile oil (see
Oleum Ruta], on which its properties essentially depend, and a
bitter extractive matter which is soluble in water, but insoluble in
alcohol and ether.

2. OLEUM RUT^:. — By distillation with water the fresh herb
yields a small quantity of volatile oil, the produce being largest

44 RUTA GRAVEOLENS

when the fruits are fully formed, but only about 0'50 per cent,
can even then be obtained. Oil of Rue has a pale yellow colour
when fresh, but it becomes brown by keeping. Its odour is
strong and disagreeable, like that of the herb ; and it has an
acrid and nauseous taste. Its specific gravity is stated by Kane
to be 0-837 at 18°, but Pereira gives it as 0'9]1.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The herb and the oil act as
stimulants, their influence being chiefly directed to the uterine
and nervous systems. Rue has also been regarded as anthel-
mintic ; and in excessive doses it is an aero-narcotic poison.
When fresh its topical action is that of an acrid ; so greatly so,
indeed, that if much handled it causes redness, swelling, and even
vesication. Rue was formerly much employed, but it is rarely
prescribed at the present day, although rue tea is still a popular
remedy. It may be given in hysteria, amenorrhoea, epilepsy,
flatulent colic, infantile convulsions, &c., and appears to have
fallen too much into disuse. The oil is the best form of adminis-
tration • it may also be used externally as a rubefacient.

The ancients employed rue as a condiment, and for ages it was
regarded as most beneficial in warding off contagion, and even
now is sometimes used to keep off noxious insects.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, part ii, p. 396; U. S. Disp., by W. & B.,
pp. 748 and 1312; Garr. Mat. Med., p. 225.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen grown in the Royal Botanic Society's Garden.

1. A flowering stem.

2. A flower.

3. Vertical section of the pistil.

4. Transverse section of the ovary.
5 and 6. Ripe capsule.

7 and 8. A seed.

9. Vertical section of the same.

(2—4, and 6—9 enlarged.)

M .<3t N.Tianliaz i imp.

54

. Ord. RUTACE^J.
Tribe Aurantieae.

Genus Citrus, Linn.

54. Citrus Limonum,* Risso, 1. c., p. 201 (1813).

Lemon.

8yn.—G. medica, var. (3, Linn. C. acida, Roxb.

Figures.— WoodviUe, t. 89; Steph. & Ch., t. 92 ; Nees, t. 424; Hayne, xi,
t. 27 ; Berg & Sch., t. 31 f ; Risso, Oranges, tt. 70—95.

Description. — A straggling bush or small tree, 10 — 12 feet
high, with numerous, irregular, short, angular branches, and
sharp spines in the leaf -axils ; bark clear grey, the younger
branches green, the twigs reddish or purplish, glabrous. Leaves
somewhat scantily produced, evergreen, alternate, blade 2 — 2J
inches long, ovate-oval, acute, rather yellow green, margin dis-
tinctly but distantly serrate, articulated with the petiole, which is
about \ an inch long and not, or very slightly, winged. Flowers
solitary, rarely 2 or 3 together, in the axils, on longish peduncles,
frequently unisexual. Calyx shallow, with 5 spreading teeth,
persistent. Petals 5, less than | of an inch long, oblong,
spreading, white above, strongly tinged with purplish-pink exter-
nally. Stamens 20 — 40 ; filaments nearly as long as petals,
separate, or more or less united into fours, hypogynous. Ovary
supported on and surrounded at the base by a large, firm, rounded
disk, about 10-celled, with several descending ovules in each as
in the orange ; style short, thick. Fruit, a rounded, ovoid, or
obovoid berry, about 3 inches long, usually with a nipple-shaped
extremity, bright yellow, smooth, with depressed punctations over
the oil-glands; structure as in the orange; pulp acid, pale
yellow. Seeds as in the orange, but smaller.

Habitat. — As a cultivated plant the lemon is now met with
throughout the Mediterranean region, and in Spain, Portugal, the

* From the Arab Limun or Limu, which is said to have its origin in the
Sanskrit Nwibuka.

54 CITRUS LIMONUM

Canaries, the Azores, and in all tropical and subtropical countries,
but it appears that there is no certain notice of it in Europe
before the latter part of the 15th century. The wild stock is
native in the north-west provinces of India, ascending to 4000
feet in the mountains, where several forms are met with in a
natural state. Under cultivation numerous races have been pro-
duced, of which Kisso and Poiteau enumerate no less than 47,
though they maintain as distinct the Sweet Limes (C. Limetta,
Bisso, with 8 varieties, and G. Lumia, Kisso and Poit., with
12 varieties). These "sweet" Lemons differ, however, only in
their fruit possessing an insipid instead of an acid juice. The
Lemon is a more tender plant than the orange, but is frequently
grown in our conservatories ; it flowers and fruits nearly all the
year round, and the scent of the flowers is very sweet, but quite
distinct from that of orange blossoms.

Hook, f., Fl. India, i, p. 515 ; Brandis, Forest Fl., p. 51 ; Lowe,
Fl. Madeira, i, p. 72; Lindl. Fl. Med., p. 164.

Official Parts and Names. — 1 . LIMONIS CORTEX ; the outer part
of the rind of the fresh fruit: 2. OLEUM LIMONIS; the oil
expressed or distilled from fresh lemon peel : 3. LIMONIS
Succus; the freshly expressed juice of the ripe fruit (B. P.).

1. The outer part of the rind of the ripe fruit (Limonis Cortex) :

2. The essential oil of the rind (Limonis Oleum) : and, 3. The
expressed juice of the ripe fruit (Limonis Succus) (I. P.).
1. LIMONIS CORTEX; the rind of the fruit: 2. OLEUM LIMONIS;
the volatile oil obtained from the rind of the fruit : 3. LIMONIS
Succus ; the juice of the fruit (U. S. P.).

Commerce and Varieties of the Lemon. — Lemons are imported
into this country from southern Europe, principally from Sicily,
but to some extent from Spain and other parts. The lemons are
packed in chests, each lemon being rolled separately in paper.
There are numerous varieties, the more important of which are
the Wax Lemon, the Imperial Lemon, and the Gaeta Lemon.

1. LIMONIS CORTEX. Lemon Peel. — Lemon peel varies much in
thickness, its inner portion is white, spongy, and without any

54 CITRUS LIMONUM

marked odour or taste ; but its outer portion is pale yellow when
fresh, (although deeper yellow when dried), and more or less
rough on the surface in consequence of the abundance of recep-
tacles of volatile oil which are imbedded in the tissue beneath.
This outer portion, which was formerly called the flavedo, ha.s a
strong, peculiar, and fragrant odour ; and a warm, aromatic, bitter
taste. The fresh outer part of the rind is alone official in the
British Pharmacopoeia, and is very much to be preferred to dried
lemon peel.

Lemon peel contains an abundance of essential oil, which will
be presently described (see Oleum Limonis)j and a bitter principle,
of which but little is known, termed hesperidin. Some chemists
have indicated the presence of a bitter principle and hesperidin,
which they have regarded as a neutral crystalline tasteless sub-
stance.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Lemon peel is an aromatic
stomachic, and is employed as an adjunct to stomachic infusions
and tinctures, partly to increase their efficiency, but more especially
as a flavouring agent.

The substance known as candied lemon peel, which is employed
as a dessert and in confectionery, is also an agreeable stomachic.
It is prepared by boiling lemon peel in syrup, and then exposing
it to the air till the sugar crystallizes.

2. OLEUM LIMONIS. Oil of Lemon. — Production. Oil or essence
of lemon may be procured either by expression or distillation, that
obtained by the first process being by far the more fragrant and
valuable. Nearly all the oil of lemon which reaches this country
is imported from Palermo and Messina, and is prepared in Sicily
and Calabria. Some oil of lemon is also manufactured at Mentone
and Nice in France. As obtained by distillation at Mentone and
Nice the surface of fresh lemons is removed by rubbing on a
coarse grater of tinned iron, and the grated peel then subjected
to distillation with water ; it is known as Essence de Citron distitlee.
The best essence of lemon is, however, known as Essence de
Citron an zeste, and is prepared by scarifying the surface of
the peel by rubbing the lemons over a number of sharp pins

54 CITRUS LIMONUM

placed upright upon a shallow basin of pewter, with the central
portion prolonged downwards into a tube closed at its lower
end. This vessel is called an ecuelle a piquer.

The process by expression as now followed in Sicily and
Calabria has been thus described by the authors of Pharmaco-
graphia : " The lemons are used while still rather green and unripe,
as being richer in oil than when quite mature. Only the small
and irregular fruit, such as is not worth exporting, is employed
for affording the essence. The workman first cuts off the peel in
three thick longitudinal slices, leaving the central pulp of a three-
cornered shape with a little peel at either end. This central
pulp he cuts transversely in the middle, throwing it on one side
and the pieces of peel on the other. The latter are allowed to
remain till the next day and are then treated thus : — the workman
seated holds in the palm of his left hand a flattish piece of
sponge, wrapping it round his forefinger. With the other he places
on the sponge one of the slices of peel, the outer surface down-
wards, and then presses the zest-side (which is uppermost) so as
to give it for the moment a convex instead of a concave form.
The vesicles are thus ruptured, and the oil which issues from them
is received in the sponge with which they are in contact. Four or
five squeezes are all the workman gives to each slice of peel, which
done he throws it aside. Though each bit of peel has attached
to it a small portion of pulp, the workman continues to avoid
pressing the latter. As the sponge gets saturated the workman
wrings it forcibly, receiving its contents in a coarse earthen bowl
provided with a spout ; in this rude vessel, which is capable of
holding at least three pints, the oil separates from the watery
liquid which accompanies it, and is then decanted. The yield is
stated to be vary variable, 400 pints affording 9 to 14 ounces of
essence. The prisms of pulp and the exhausted pieces of peel
are submitted to pressure in order to extract from them lemon
juice, and are said to be also subjected to distillation. The fore-
going is termed the sponge process; it is also applied to the
orange. It appears rude and wasteful, but when honestly per-
formed it yields an excellent product."

54 CITRUS LIMONUM

General Characters and Composition. — Oil of lemon as prepared,
either by the sponge or ecuelle process, is a limpid liquor, having
a slight yellow colour, a very fragrant odour like that of the fruit,
and a warm, bitterish, aromatic taste. Like the other oils
obtained from the genus Citrus, it is dextrogyre. It dissolves
but sparingly in rectified spirit, but readily in anhydrous alcohol.
It mixes freely with bisulphide of carbon. The distilled oil is
colourless, far less fragrant, and therefore less valuable as a per-
fume than the oil prepared as above, and is of less specific gravity.
The purified oil of lemon resembles oil of turpentine in composi-
tion and general chemical characters. Oil of lemon, as found in
commerce, is almost universally mixed with oil of turpentine, or
with the cheaper distilled oil.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Oil of lemon is a stimulant and
carminative when given internally, and stimulant and rubefacient
when applied externally. It has been used as a local application
in certain forms of ophthalmia, but with doubtful efficacy. It is
chiefly employed in medicine to communicate an agreeable odour
and flavour to other medicines. The chief use of oil of lemon is,
however, in perfumery, and as a flavouring agent in confectionery.

3. LIMONIS Succus. Lemon Juice. — Concentrated lemon juice
is imported in enormous quantities for citric acid manufacturers.
As thus imported it is not derived from the lemon only, but also
from the lime and bergamot.

General Characters and Composition. — The characters as given
in the British Pharmacopoeia are as follows : — " A slightly turbid
yellowish liquor, possessing a sharp acid taste, and grateful odour.
Average specific gravity 1*039. Average quantity of citric acid in
one fluid ounce, 32*5 grains." According to Stoddart, however,
the specific gravity averages 1*044, and an average of 42*53
grains of citric acid in an ounce of juice. The amount of acid,
however, varies in different seasons, diminishing rapidly, as
proved by Stoddart, with the advance of summer. Its principal
constituents besides citric acid are gum, sugar, and, according to
Cossa, potash, although Stoddart found only a minute proportion
of this substance. Lemon juice readily undergoes decomposition,

54 CITRUS LIMONUM

and should not, therefore, be long kept for use, unless some pre-
cautions have been taken for preserving it.

A so-called lemon juice has been manufactured in this country
by dissolving tartaric acid in water., then adding a little sul-
phuric acid, and flavouring with oil of lemon. Such a solution
when used as an antiscorbutic, for which purpose it has been
supplied, is valueless.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Lemon juice is refrigerant and
antiscorbutic, and is exceedingly useful in forming agreeable and
refreshing beverages, for allaying thirst, and in febrile and
inflammatory complaints. These drinks may be given in the
ferm of lemonade, or lemon juice may be added to barley-water.
When lemon juice cannot be readily obtained, the best substitute
for it is a solution made by dissolving about eight drachms of
crystallised citric acid in sixteen ounces of water, and flavouring
with a few drops of oil of lemon. Lemon juice may also be used
in preparing effervescing diaphoretic and diuretic draughts,
which are very valuable vehicles for the exhibition of other
remedies and in other ways. The relative proportions required of
lemon juice and citric acid, with the alkaline carbonates, for the
formation of effervescing draughts, are as follows :

Lemon Juice or Citric Acid to 20 grains of

Fl. drs. iijss . . grs. xiv . Bicarbonate of Potash.

Fl. drs. vi . . . grs. xxiv . Carbonate of Ammonia.

Fl. drs. iv . . . grs. xvii . Bicarbonate of Soda.

Lemon juice is one of the best remedies we possess in scurvy,
acting both as a prophylactic and curative agent. On this
account, therefore, all ships destined for long voyages should be
provided with concentrated lemon juice. But from the difficulty
of preserving lemon juice, citric acid is usually substituted for
it, although in Dr. Garrod's opinion it is useless, as, according
to this author, the antiscorbutic power of lemon juice is due to
the potash salts contained in it. Lemon juice is also given as a
means of counteracting the effects of narcotic poisons, especially
opium. Lemon juice has likewise been strongly recommended

54 CITRUS LIMONUM

by Dr. Owen Rees as a remedy in acute rheumatism, and has
been highly spoken of by many practitioners in this disease, but,
according to Garrod, there is " as yet no good clinical evidence
proving its value in this disease. Many patients with acute
rheumatism recover pretty rapidly when taking lemon juice, but
many get well equally soon when taking coloured water/'

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., pp. 908 and 909 ; Pharmacographia,
pp. 103, 105, and 106; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., pp. 526 and
597 ; Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. ii, pp. 536 and 538 ; Stoddart,
Ph. JL, Oct., 1868, p. 203; Garr., Mat. Med., p. 218.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the Royal Botanic Sopiety's Gardens, Regent's
Park, with the fruit added.

1. Pistil with the petals and most of the stamens removed.

2. Vertical section of ovary.

3. Transverse section of fruit.

4. Seed.

5. Section of same.

D. Blair, ad sice (iel

PAULLIiriA SORBILTS,

67

N. Ord. SAPINDACE^E. Lindl., Yeg. K., p. 382; Le Maout & Dec.,

p. 351; Baill., Hist., pi. v.
Tribe Sapindta.

Genus Paullinia, Linn.* B. & H., Gen. i, p. 394 ; Baill., 1. c.,
p. 516. Species over 80, natives of tropical America.

67. Paullinia S0rbilis,t Martins in Spix fy Mart. Reise in
BrasiL, iii, p. 1098 (1831).

Guarana-uva. Guarana.

Figures.— Schnitzlein, Iconographia, iv, t. 230, fig. 1 (from an unpub-
lished figure of Martius); Baill., Hist. PL, v, fig. 382, 3 (seed).

Description. — A woody climber (?), with an erect angular
smooth stem. Leaves alternate, on long stalks, pinnate, with two
pairs of leaflets and a terminal one, stipulate, petioles angular,
glabrous, leaflets oblong-oval, 5 or 6 inches long by 2^—3 inches
broad, rather coriaceous, shortly stalked, the lateral ones rounded
at the base, the terminal one tapering, all suddenly contracted
into a shortly attenuated blunt point, the margin distantly,
coarsely, and irregularly sinuate-dentate, smooth on both surfaces,
rather strongly veined beneath. Inflorescence in erect, spicate,
narrow panicles, 4 inches or more in length, from the axils of the
leaves, pubescent, the flowers shortly stalked in small clusters,
laxly arranged on the thick rachis, small. Sepals 5 (or 4)
rounded, concave, imbricate. Petals 4, alternate with the sepals,
ovate- spathulate, each with a large appendage attached to the
upper surface near the base, pubescent on the front, and doubled
over in the form of a claw at the apex. Stamens and pistil
elevated on the summit of a wide column (gynophore), which
projects into the upper part of the flower ; in front of this, in the
lower part of the flower, are two large, oval, compressed glands,
and behind it two much smaller ones. Stamens 8, inserted on

* Named in commemoration of Christ. Fred. Paullini, a German medico-
botanical writer, who died in 1712.

f sorbilis, potable, from its use as a drink.

67 PAULLINIA SORBILIS

botli as a remedial agent and for the preparation of a most
refreshing as well as nutritive beverage. It is also frequently
mixed with, articles of diet, as cassava. The beverage is com-
monly prepared by adding about a teaspoonful of guarana to a glass
or cupful of sweetened water ; it is said that travellers in Brazil
commonly carry it with them, and use it as a substitute for tea.

As a medicine it has been highly recommended in diar-
rhoea, nervous headache, neuralgia, paralysis, irritation of the
urinary passages, and various other affections. But the results
obtained by its use in this country are at present very conflicting.
It may be administered in substance, or in the form of a beverage
as above, or mixed with chocolate, or probably, as alcohol is said
to extract all its virtues, the best form of administration would
be as an alcoholic extract. It should not be employed in cases
where there is a determination of blood to the head, or in
plethoric conditions of the bowels.

Martius, in Buchner's Report d. Pharm., xxxi (1829), p. 370;
Gavrelle sur une nouvelle Substance Medicinale, Paris, 1829 ;
Mart., Mat. Med. Brazil, p. 59, 1843; Fournier, in Journ. de
Pharrn., ser. 2, xxxix, p. 291 ; Hooker's Lond. Jl. Bot. (1851),
p. 194; Ritchie, in Monthly Journ. Med. Science, 1852, p. 465;
Ph. Jl., vol. xvi, ser. 1, p. 213 ; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 1670.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the British Museum collected by Spruce near the
Rio Uaupes, Brazil, in 1852-3 (no. 2055). A leaf and flower-panicle. 1.
Vertical section of flower. 2. A petal. 3. Vertical section of the same to
show the appendage. 4. Fruit. 5. A fruit with one valve removed to show
the seed. This specimen was of somewhat unusual form ; the usual shape of
the seed is shown in the woodcuts below. (1—3 enlarged.)

C)
(XI

129

. Ord. UMBELLIFER^:.
Tribe Peucedanete.

Genus Dorema, D. Don* B. & H., Gen. i, p. 918 ; Boissier, Fl.
Orient., ii, pp. 1008—1010. Species 4, natives of the East.

129. Dorema Aucheri,f Boissier in Ann. des Sc. Nat., ser. iii,

p. 329 (1844).

Zuh (Kurdish). Weshek (Persian).

Syn. — D. Ammoniacum, Loftus, MS., non D. Don.
Not previously figured.

Description. — A tall, upright plant, 6 — 8 feet high. Stem
cylindrical, stout, glabrous, solid, faintly striate. Leaves (all
radical ?) very large, over 2 feet long, bi- or tripinnate, long-
stalked, the petioles and branches nearly cylindrical or sub-
triangular, solid, striate, the pinnae given off in pairs from the
upper surface, and projecting upwards and outwards, general out-
line of leaf when flattened out broadly triangular, the lower pinnas
much the largest, and each pair gradually diminishing in size,
leaflets oblong-oval, bluntish or sub-acute at the apex, attenuated
and frequently more or less decurrent at the base, rather thin,
glabrous or very minutely pilose at the base, entire. Flowers
hermaphrodite or male, the two kinds separately arranged in small,
simple, globose, stalked umbels ; umbels of hermaphrodite flowers
very laxly arranged in imperfect whorls or clusters upon long,
usually simple, cylindrical, smooth, tapering, spreading branches,
12 — 18 inches long; umbels of male (barren) flowers more nume-
rously crowded on slender divaricate branchlets, which are arranged
in whorls on the thick primary branches. Hermaphrodite flowers ;
limb of the calyx quite absent, no sign of the teeth being present,
petals ovate, thin, with a strongly marked mid-rib, yellow, the

* Dorema, £a>ptj/iu, a gift, from the value of its product.

f Aucher-Eloy, the celebrated oriental traveller, died at Ispahan in 1838.

129 DOREMA AUCHERI

apex elongated, acute, doubled over on the petal ; stamens spread-
ing, filaments more than twice as long as the globose anthers,
epigynous ; ovary inferior, quite smooth, nearly circular on section,
the edges of the component carpels somewhat prominent, epigynous
disc large, projecting considerably beyond the top of the ovary,
conical, lobect at the margin, styles tapering, slightly spreading.
Barren flowers : petals considerably smaller, ovary and styles
entirely absent, disc smaller, flat, lobed, filaments shorter, anthers
as in the hermaphrodite flowers. Fruit § — | inch long, by about
~ wide, on longish divaricate stalks, oblong-oval in outline,
brownish or greyish-yellow with pale ribs, styles persistent, reflexed,
mericarps much dor sally compressed, pericarp very thin and
papery, readily separating from the seed, commissure very nearly
flat, dorsal and intermediate primary ribs filiform, faintly marked,
lateral ones thickened, forming a narrow sharp border to the
mericarp, vittse quite absent.

D. robustum, Loftus, is referred by Boissier to this species.
The fruit (which is all the material in the British Museum) is
considerably larger than that of D. Aucheri, pale orange-coloured,
with more prominent ribs, and without the reflexed style, but is
otherwise similar. The gum bears no similarity to Ammo-
niacum.

Habitat. — This species of Dorema appears to have a wide range
in the western provinces of Persia and the neighbourhood of
Ispahan. Our knowledge of it is mainly, from the description of
Boissier, but the large series of excellent specimens brought home
by Mr. W. K. Loftus, who collected them in 1851-52, has
enabled us to considerably supplement Boissier' s account. Were
it not for the complete absence of vittae in the commissure the
plant of Loftus would fall under D. glabrum, F. & M., as the
leaves are almost always glabrous, but the character is one of but
slight importance, and the species might be, perhaps-, combined.
The peculiar polygamy of the flowers has been not previously
observed in the genus ; the great masses of many hundred
umbels in the barren inflorescence must give the plant a
very characteristic appearance. Loftus gives no information in

129 DOREMA AUCHERI

his published f Travels ' about this, or indeed about any of the
plants he brought back. The plant flowers in June.

Boissier, Fl. Orientalis, ii, p. 1009 ; Fliik. & Hanbury, Pharmaco-
graphia, p. 289.

Official Part and Name. — AMMONIACUM ; a gum-resinous exuda-
tion from Dorema Ammoniacum, Don. (B. P.). The gum-resinous
exudation from the .stem (Ammoniacum) (I. P.). AMMONIACUM ;
a gum-resinous exudation from Dorema Ammoniacum, Don.
(U.S. P.).

It should be noticed here that the ammoniacum now used in
medicine, or Persian Ammoniacum, is not the ammoniacum of
Hippocrates, Dioscorides, and Pliny, which was employed for fumi-
gation. The latter, which was derived from Africa, and may
be distinguished therefore as African Ammoniacum, was, according
to Lindley, " certainly the produce of Ferula tingitana." This
kind of ammoniacum is still collected in Morocco, and forms an
object of traffic with Egypt and Arabia, and Dr. Leared has lately
obtained some roots of the plant from Morocco, which have been
planted in the Botanic Gardens at Kew and Regent's Park,
so that it is hoped that its botanical origin, which has been
questioned, may be soon conclusively ascertained.

It should be also noticed that the plant now under descrip-
tion is not the recognised botanical source of ammoniacum
of either the British, Indian, or United States Pharmacopoeia.
But that Dorema Aucheri does afford very good ammoniacum may
be seen by examining the gum-resin yielded by it which is
preserved in the British Museum. The tears are in this somewhat
smaller, and the surface of the resin darker in colour than in the
ordinary lung. As it is not, however, the official plant, our notice
of the Collection, Commerce, Composition, General Characters,
Medical Properties, and Uses of Ammoniacum, is given under
Dorema Ammonia.cum.

, Pharm acographia, p. 289; Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. ii, p. 184;

Hanbury, in Pharm. Journ., March 22, 1873, p. 741 ; Moss, in
Pharm. Journ., March, 1873, pp. 742 and 761.

129 DOREMA AUCHERI

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from specimens in the British Museum, collected by Lofbus in
Lauristan, Persia.

1. Upper part of a lower (radical?) leaf.

2. Branch of the fertile inflorescence.

3. Hermaphrodite flower.

4. Small portion of the male inflorescence.

5. Male flower.

6. Ripe fruit.

7. A mericarp, dorsal view.

8. The same, cornmissural surface. t

9. Transverse section of fruit.

10. Vertical section of a mericarp.

11. Embryo.

12. Dorema Ammoniacum, Don. Whole plant about y1^ natural
size, reduced from Borczcow's plate (Mem. Acad. Petersb., 1861, t. 3).

(3, 5, 7—10 enlarged ; 11 greatly magnified.)

ERRATUM.
129, p. 3, line 7 from bottom, for lung read drug.

D .Blair, ai ,vrr dctfc . • et KLh .

HELLEBORUS NIGER, L.

2

N. Ord. RANTJNCULACEJE.
Tribe Hellebores.

Genus Helleborus, Linn* B. & H., Gen. i, p. 7 ; Baill., Hist.
PL, i, p. 79. There are about 12 or 14 species, natives of
Europe and Western Asia.

2. Helleborus niger, Linn., Sp. Plant., ed. i, p. 558 (1753).
Black Hellebore. Christmas Rose.

Figures.— Woodville, 1. 169 ; Hayne, i, tt. 7, 8 ; Stephenson & Churchill,
t. 11; Nees, t. 393, and Suppl., t. 48; Berg & Schmidt, t. 2 e and f ;
Bot. Mag., t. 8 ; Jacq., Fl. Austr., iii, t. 301 ; Reichenbach, Ic. Fl.
Germ., iv, tt. Ill, 112.

Description. — A perennial herb with a cylindrical, brownish-
black, knotted, brittle, fleshy, subterranean, bracteated, definite
rhizome, with its numerous branches much interlaced, and giving
off many stout, fibrous, straight, brown roots. Leaves from the
extremities of the rhizome-branches on long, cylindrical, tapering,
pale green, mottled with red petioles, pedate, the lateral divisions
deeply divided into 2 — 4 nearly separate lobes successively
smaller towards the petiole, coriaceous, nearly evergreen, smooth,
shining, dark-green above, paler and reticulated beneath, lobes
obovate-cuneate, acute or blunt, margin entire below, coarsely
serrate above. Flower- stalks terminating the rhizome, surrounded
at the base with a loose entire bract, shorter than the leaves,
cylindrical, smooth, tapering, mottled with pink below, 1- (rarely
2-) flowered, with 2 or 3 large, ovate, acute, concave bracts a little
below the flower. Sepals 5, equal, large, fleshy, roundish-oval,
persistent, white with a pink tinge, afterwards becoming greenish,
spreading horizontally. Petals 8 — 13 or more, small, shorter
than the stamens, green, tubular, with an oblique bilabiate orifice,
the claw filiform. Stamens numerous, hypogynous, inserted on

* Helleborus, e XXe/Sopoe, the classical name. The celebrated plant of antiquity
is supposed to have been H. orientilis, Lain.

2 HELLEBORUS NIGER

the hollow receptacle in many rows ; filaments slender, white.
Carpels 5 — 8, free, elevated on the centre of the receptacle ;
ovaries ovoid- oblong, smooth ; styles long, projecting beyond the
stamens ; stigmas terminal. Fruit follicular, sessile ; pericarp
leathery, dehiscing along the ventral suture. Seeds several, in two
rows, oval, black, shining ; embryo small, at the base of plentiful
horny endosperm.

Habitat. — A native of Central and Southern Europe, not reach-
ing Britain or North Germany, but extending eastward to South
Poland, and westward to Dauphiny and Provence. From its
flowering in midwinter — December to March — it is a favourite in
our gardens, where it has been cultivated for centuries, and is
found under several varieties, and where its large and handsome
flowers are very welcome at a time when there is scarcely any-
thing else in bloom in the open air. The fruit ripens in April
and May, and the leaves remain for some months afterwards.

DC. Syst. Veg., i, p. 316; Gren. & Godr., Flore de France;
Koch, Synopsis Fl. Germ., ed. 2, p. 21 ; Lindley, Fl. Medica,
p. 6.

Official Part and Name. — HELLEBORUS; the root (U. S. P.).
Not official in the British Pharmacopoeia, or the Pharmacopoeia of
India.

General Characters and Composition. — Black Hellebore is
usually imported from Germany. As met with in commerce, it is
commonly known as black hellebore root ; but in reality it consists
of two parts, — the rhizome, and the rootlets or roots which spring
from it. In commercial black hellebore, the roots are more or less
detached from the rhizome, and mixed with it. The rhizome
presents a very irregular, knotted, twisted appearance, and occurs
in pieces which vary in length from 1 to 2 or 3 inches, and in
thickness from about J to \ an inch ; it is marked externally with
transverse ridges and slight longitudinal furrows. A transverse
section exhibits a thick bark, surrounding an internal woody
portion (meditullium] of a whitish colour, and divided to some

2 HELLEBOEUS NIGER

extent into wedge-shaped portions. The roots are numerous,
unbranched, cylindrical, about the thickness of a common knit-
ting needle, and usually several inches in length, and when
broken across they present a central undivided, or but very
slightly stellate, woody axis or meditullium, of a whitish or
yellowish-white colour. Both the rhizome and roots have a
brownish-black colour; a feeble odour, which has been compared
to that of senega root ; and a bitterish, slightly acrid taste.

The rhizome and roots of Baneberry (Actcea spicata) are fre-
quently substituted for, or mixed with, black hellebore, but the
former may be readily distinguished by making a transverse
section, or breaking across one of its roots, which will be found
to exhibit a meditullium with the woody bundles distinctly
arranged in a cruciate, triangular, or more or less radiate manner,
according to its thickness, whereas in black hellebore the roots
have an entire or but very slightly divided meditullium. Another
ready means of distinguishing the spurious drug is by adding to
its infusion a solution of a persalt of iron, when it is immediately
blackened, owing to the presence of tannic acid. No change is
produced in an infusion of black hellebore under the same circum-
stances, as it contains no tannic acid.

Bastick first discovered a crystalline, non- volatile, neutral prin-
ciple in black hellebore, having a bitter taste, and also producing
a tingling sensation on the tongue. Subsequently, Marme and
Husemann obtained from the leaves and roots of black hellebore,
and from similar parts of Helleborus viridis, two glucosides, which
they called helleborin and Tielleborein. Both were obtained in
crystals ; the former being resolvable into sugar, and a peculiar
principle which they termed helleboresin ; and the latter into
sugar, and a principle with a fine violet colour called helleboretin.
Both helleborin and helleborein are stated to be poisonous, and
the former highly narcotic.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Black hellebore is a drastic
hydragogue cathartic, and is also regarded as an emmenagogue
and anthelmintic. It was greatly esteemed by the ancients, but
at present is but little employed in this country. In the United

2 HELLEBOEUS NIGER

States it is chiefly valued as an emmenagogue. It has been
employed in mania, melancholia, epilepsy, dropsy, amenorrhcea,
dysmenorrhoea, chronic skin affections, worms, and other diseases.
In large doses it is a powerful aero-narcotic poison.

Black hellebore is sometimes used, both internally and exter-
nally, as a medicine for domestic animals.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. ii, p. 681 ; Pharmacographia, p. 2 ;
Per. Mat. Med., by B. & B,., p. 994; U. S. Disp., by W. & B.,
p. 449; Bastick, in Pharm. Journ., vol. xii, 1 ser., p. 274;
Bentley, in Pharm. Journ., vol. ii, ser. 2, p. 464, and vol. iii,
p. 112 ; Carson, in Amer. Journ. Pharm., vol. xx, p. 163.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen grown in Messrs. Yeitch's Nursery, Chelsea;
flowering in January.

1. Vertical section of flower.

2. A petal.

9. Yertical section of the same.

(3 and 4 enlarged.)

u

•••-X

<

D.BJaJT ad gico dalV e.blat

CHONDRODENDRON TOMENTOSUM.

M&NHanliart

11

N. Ord. MENISPEEMACE^J. Lindl., Veg. K., p. 307 ; Baill., Hist.

PI., iii; Le Maout & Dec., p. 199.
Tribe Pachygonece.

Genus Chondrodendron, Ruiz & Pavon.* Miers, Contrib. to
Bot., iii, p. 307 ; B. & H., Gen. i, pp. 38 (Botryopsis) & 963 ;
Baill., 1. c., p. 35. Miers describes eight species, all from
tropical America, and some probably varieties of that
described below.

11. Chondrodendron tomentosum, Ruiz fy Pavon, Prod. Fl.
Peruv.,p. 132 (1794).

Parreira brava (Old Portuguese). Butua or Abutua (Brazilian).

Syn. — Cissampelos Abutua, Vellozo. Cocculus ? platyphyllus, A. de St.
Hil. Cocculus Chondodendron, DC. Botryopsis platyphylla, Miers
and others.

Figures.— Yellozo, Fl. Fluminensis, x, t. 140 ? ; St. Hilaire, PI. Usuelles
des Bresil., t. 42 (leaves only) ; Eichler, in Fl. Brasil., fasc. 38, t. 48 ;
D. Hanbury, in Pharm. Journ., 1873, pp. 83, 102 (root and fruit).

Description. — A woody climber of considerable size, the stem
reaching over 4 inches in diameter ; bark rough, on the smaller
branches closely covered with slightly elevated, elongated promi-
nences. Leaves alternate, on very long petioles which are swollen
at the ends, and inserted just within the margin of the blade ;
broadly ovate, with a more or less cordate base, and a blunt or
pointed apex, entire, about 5 inches long (in our specimens — said to
reach 12 inches), rather thick and coriaceous, smooth and green
above, densely covered beneath with a fine, short, greyish tomen-
tum, 5-nerved at the base, but the midrib much the most deve-
loped ; veins prominent beneath. Flowers unisexual (dioecious ?),
very small, laxly arranged in elongated panicles springing from

* Name from xovdpof, a granule, and fevtipov, a tree, from the warty protu-
berances on the bark. Ruiz and Pavon (accidentally ?) spell the name Chon-
dodendron, though giving this derivation. We have followed Miers in restoring
what appears to be the correct spelling. The late D. Hanbury preferred to
keep to that generally given (see Pharm. Journ., 1874, p. 421).

11 CHONDRODENDRON TOMENTOSUM

thick, axillary, leafless branchlets; pedicels shorter than the flowers;
bracts minute. Male flowers : — Sepals 6, in two rows, obovate-
spathulate, erect, smooth, fleshy, surrounded externally by three
whorls of imbricating, ovate, ciliate, externally hairy bracts (also
sepals ?), 3 in each whorl, the outer ones the smallest ; petals 6,
small, scale-like, ovate ; stamens 6, opposite to and connected at the
base with the petals, and about four times their length and two
thirds the length of the sepals ; filaments broad, connective wide,
and prolonged beyond the anther-cells into an obtuse process turned
towards the centre of the flower; no trace of pistil. Female
flowers (not seen) : — Floral envelopes as in the male ; stamens either
wanting or very small and rudimentary ; carpels normally 6,
erect, inserted on a short gynophore, smooth, 1 -celled, with a
single ovule laterally attached; style nearly absent. Fruit com-
posed of 6 (or any less number by abortion), quite distinct, oblong-
ovoid, smooth, purplish black drupes, nearly 1 inch long, attached
by short stalks to the thickened woody gynophore, from which
they spread in a radiating manner; pulp of the drupe scanty,
putamen thin, coriaceous, ovoid, with a partition running upwards
from the base half way to the top of the cavity. Seed strongly
curved, and doubled over the partition, to which it is attached ;
testa thin, membranous ; embryo consisting of two very large
cotyledons and a minute radicle ; no endosperm.

Habitat. — This plant grows in the neighbourhood of Eio de
Janeiro, and in other parts of Brazil, also in Peru, climbing to the
summit of high trees in the forests. The Portuguese name,
"Parreira brava," signifies "wild vine," and was doubtless
bestowed upon the plant from its habit, and the appearance of its
bunches of fruit. When the large drupes become fully ripe, and
those of different flowers are crowded together, the whole presents
much the appearance of a bunch of grapes. Specimens are in
cultivation at Kew, but have not yet flowered.

Miers, Contrib. to Bot., iii, p. 311 ; Eichler, in Mart. Fl. Bras., fasc.
38, p. 199; D. Hanbury, in Pharm. Journ., 1. c., pp. 81 & 102.

11 CHONDRODENDRON TOMENTOSUM

Official Part and Name. — PAREIR^E RADIX ; tlie dried root of Cis-
sampelos Pareira, Linn. (B. P.). The dried root (Pareira Radix)
(I. P.). PAEEIRA. Pareira Brava ; tlie root of Cissampelos
Pareira (U. S. P.).

General Characters. — True Pareira Brava — that is, the one
derived from Chondrodendron tomentosum (the official plant having
been proved, by Hanbury, to produce a very different root) — is in
long, branched or unbranched, more or less twisted or serpen-
tine pieces, varying in thickness from \ inch to 2 or more
inches ; and marked externally with deep, irregular, longitudinal
furrows, and numerous transverse elevations and cracks. It is
covered by a dark blackish-brown bark, within which the wood,
which is of a light yellowish or dull greenish-brown colour, and
loose fibrous texture, is arranged in evident concentric, or some-
times eccentric circles, divided into wedge-shaped portions by
large medullary rays, and the zones of wood are also separated
from one another by a crenated or wavy ring of waxy substance,
which is of a pale colour at first, but becomes darker by keeping
and exposure to the air. The root presents a coarse fibrous
fracture, although when cut it appears of a waxy nature. It has
no evident odour, but a well-marked bitter taste.

The stems are sometimes imported and sold as Pareira Brava.
They may be distinguished by presenting a small, although
evident pith, and by their lighter colour externally. In taste they
resemble the root, and are probably but little inferior to it.

Substitutes. — The original Pareira Brava had almost disappeared
from commerce, until Hanbury called particular attention to this
drug in 1873; its place being supplied by spurious roots and
stems, and commonly very inferior in medicinal properties to the
true root. The principal of these have been described by Han-
bury, under the names of White Pareira Brava, from Abutarufescens,
Aublet ; Yellow Pareira Brava, from, it is presumed, Abuta amara
of Aublet ; and the Common False Pareira Brava, the botanical
source of which is unknown, although evidently from a plant of
the order Menispermaceae. It is this spurious drug which has
been the ordinary Pareira Brava of commerce for many years

11 CHONDRODENDRON TOMENTOSUM

past, and which was supposed to be derived from Cissampelos
Pareira, L. It may be readily distinguished from the true drug
by its lighter brown colour externally, and by cutting tough
and fibrous like wood, and not with the close waxy character
of the true root. The two drugs may be also readily distin-
guished by the action of iodine, for whereas a decoction of the
spurious Pareira Brava is not coloured blue by iodine, that of the
true drug is turned inky-bluish black by tincture of iodine.

Chemical Composition. — In the year 1838, Wiggers discovered
in the Common False Pareira Brava, just described, a bitter
principle, which he termed Pelosine. It is also known as Cis-
sampeline. It was afterwards examined by Bodeker, and described
as an uncrystallisable alkaloid, insoluble in hot or cold water,
but soluble in alcohol and ether, and having a sweetish bitter
taste. Subsequently, in 1869, Fliickiger, in examining the stem
and roots of the Cissampelos Pareira, L._, obtained from Jamaica,
as also the true Pareira Brava from Chondrodendron tomentosum,
found the same bitter principle, and he pointed out that this
body possessed the same chemical properties as the alkaloid
beberia or bebeerine obtained from the bark of Nectandra Roditei
of Schomburgh, and called Bebeeru or Greenheart bark ; and also of
Buxine, obtained by Walz from the bark of Buxus sempervirens, L.
Fliickiger found this bitter principle only in the very small
proportion of \ per cent. The properties of Pareira Brava are
commonly said to depend on this alkaloid, but on this point we
have no direct evidence. True Pareira Brava also contains
starch, and hence its decoction is readily distinguished from
that of the Common False Pareira Brava, by tincture of iodine,
as already noticed, under the head of Substitutes for Pareira
Brava.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Pareira Brava is commonly
regarded as a mild tonic and diuretic, exercising apparently an
almost specific influence over the mucous membrane of the genito-
urinary organs. Sir B. Brodie states that in chronic inflammation of
the bladder it is a most valuable medicine, very materially lessening
the secretion of the ropy mucus of this disease, and diminishing

11 CHONDRODENDRON TOMENTOSUM

also the inflammation and irritability of the bladder. It may be
combined with nitric acid or an alkali, according to the state of
the urine, and some tincture of henbane may be also added. It
has likewise been regarded as a very useful remedy in cystirrhcea,
catarrhal affections of the bladder, and chronic pyelitis. Great
difference of opinion, however, exists among practitioners as to the
value of Pareira Brava, much of which is probably due to the
varying character of the drug, but now that the genuine root may
be obtained, it is hoped that its merits will be properly tested.
It was at one time regarded as a valuable lithontriptic. In Brazil
it is employed in the cure of the bites of venomous serpents.

Pharmacographia, p. 25 ; Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 672 ;
TL S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 660; Prout, On Stomach and Renal
Diseases, p. 392 ; Fliickiger, in Pharm. Journ., vol. xi, 2 ser.,
p. 192 ; Brodie, Diseases of the Urinary Organs, 3rd ed., p. 109 ;
Wiggers, Ann. Ch. Pharm., xxviii, p. 29 ; Hanbury, in Pharm.
Journ., vol. iv, 3rd ser., pp. 81 and 102.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

The flowering branch from a specimen in the British Museum, collected
in Peru by Pavon ; the fruit from a specimen in the Museum of the Pharma-
ceutical Society, collected near Rio by Mr. Peckolt ; the root from a specimen
in the Sloane Collection in the British Museum.

1. A flowering male branch.

2. Section of male flower.

3. Portion of a bunch of fruit.

4. Diagram of a fruit with its six drupes developed.

5. A single drupe.

6. Vertical section of the same.

7. Under surface of a leaf.

8. Section of root.

(2 magnified.)

86*

D.Blur ai.sicc.dplb.

2 / i

ILEMATOXYLON CAMPECHiANUM./,

86

Iff. Ord. LEQUMINOS^:.
Tribe Eu-casalpinece.

Genus Haematoxylon, Linn* B. & H., Gen., i, p. 567 ; Baill.,
Hist. PL, ii, p. 164'. A genus consisting of but a single
species.

86. HaBmatoxylon campechianum, Linn., Sp. PI, ed. I,

p. 384 (1753).

Logwood. Peachwood.

Figures.— WoodviUe, t. 163; Hayne, x, t. 44; Nees, t. 342; Sloane,
Hist. Jamaica, t. x, figs. 1-4 ; Karsten, Fl. Columbiana, t. 114 ;
Tussac, Fl. Antilles, iv, t. 36; Baill., 1. c., figs. 49-51.

Description. — A small spreading tree, with, very crooked
branches covered with a dark rough bark, in the smaller smooth
twigs beset with small white dots. Leaves alternate, or appa-
rently fasciculate on stunted branches, pinnate, with 4 (rarely 5)
pairs of opposite, shortly stalked, obcordate, smooth, uniform leaf-
lets (rarely bipinnate) ; stipules small, membranous, usually cadu-
cous, but in wild and stunted trees persistent, and forming strong
sharp spines. Flowers small, in lax axillary racemes exceeding
the leaves, on longish pedicels, which are articulated with the axis ;
bracts minute. Calyx very deeply divided into 5 broad rounded
segments, the anterior one longer than the others, glabrous, pur-
ple. Petals 5, forming a nearly regular corolla, spreading, slightly
exceeding the calyx-segments, obovate-lanceolate, smooth, yellow,
inserted in the mouth of the short cup-shaped tube of the calyx.
Stamens 10, inserted with, the petals, free, nearly equal, a little
longer than the petals, filaments hairy below ; anthers small, simi-
lar, dehiscing longitudinally. Pistil shortly stalked from the base
of the calyx-tube ; ovary narrow, compressed, with 2 or 3 ovules ;
style elongated, filiform, terminated by the small ' capitate stigma,

* Name from alpa, blood, and %v\ov, wood, in allusion to the colour of the
duramen.

86 ILEMA.TOXYLON CAMPECHIANUM

projecting beyond the stamens. Pod membranous, lanceolate,
compressed, pointed at both ends, 1- or 2 -seeded, dehiscent not
along the sutures but down the centre of each valve, so as to
form two boat-shaped pseudo-valves. Seed transversely oblong,
flattened, attached by the centre of its inner border ; embryo with
two very large cotyledons, each divided into two lobes which are
reflected over the sides of the cylindrical radicle ; no endosperm.
Habitat. — The Logwood inhabits tropical America, especially
the shores of the Gulf of Campeachy (whence it gets its
specific name), Honduras, and Columbia. It has become perfectly
naturalized in the West Indian islands, having been introduced
into Jamaica in 1715, as well as in other tropical countries.
Miller successfully cultivated it in England in 1739, and it has
since been frequently grown here, and may be seen in most botani-
cal gardens, though it very rarely flowers.

DC., Prod., ii, p. 485; Grisebacb, Fl. Br. W. Indies, p. 204;
Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 264.

Official Part and Name. — H^IMATOXYLI LIGNUM ; the sliced
heart- wood (B. P.). The heart-wood (Hamatoxyli Lignum, Log-
wood) (I. P.). HJIMATOXYLON j the heart-wood (U. S. P.).

Production and Commerce. — The logwood tree is usually felled
when about ten years old; the bark and sap-wood (alburnum) are
then chipped off, after which the red heart-wood (duramen) which
remains is cut into logs about three feet long, which are alone
exported, and constitute the logwood of commerce. Four kinds
of logwood are distinguished in the London market, under the
names of Campeachy, Honduras, St. Domingo, and Jamaica, which
are arranged in the order of their value. The average imports
into the United Kingdom in the years 1870, 1871, 1872, and
1873, were about 50,000 tons, representing a money value of
above £250,000.

General Characters and Composition. — The logs are dense,
tough, and about the specific gravity of 1'057. Externally, by
exposure to the air, they acquire a blackish-red colour ; internally

86 HJEMATOXYLON CAMPECHIANUM

they are reddish-brown. For use in pharmacy and in other ways,
logwood is found in chips ; these have a reddish-brown colour, and
a slight peculiar agreeable odour, which has been compared to
sea- weed, and a sweetish astringent taste. When chewed logwood
imparts to the saliva a brilliant dark reddish-pink colour.

Logwood was analysed as far back as 1810 by Chevreul, who
found among other substances a volatile oil, tannic acid, and a pecu-
liar principle on which the colouring properties of the wood
depend, called htematoxylin or hematin. This principle has been
since examined by Erdmann and 0. Hesse. Haematoxylin when
quite pure, is colourless or nearly so, and forms white crystals
either with one or three equivalents of water; it is very solu-
ble in hot water and alcohol, but only sparingly so in cold water
and ether. It has a sweet taste, resembling liquorice. When
exposed to the air under the influence of alkalies, haematoxylin
becomes red. It is sometimes found crystallised in clefts of the
wood. The substance known as htzmatein is produced from
hfematoxylin by extraction of 2 equivalents of hydrogen, a change
which takes place by the action of oxygen under the influence of
alkalies. Hsematein occurs in the form of dark violet crystalline
scales, which exhibit a fine green hue, an appearance frequently to
be noticed on the surface of logwood chips. The decoction of log-
wood is deep red ; acids render it paler and brighter coloured ;
and the alkalies give it a purplish or violet-blue colour.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Logwood is a mild astringent.
When given internally it speedily becomes absorbed, and may be
detected in the urine and stools. Its long-continued use has some-
times been followed by phlebitis, hence some caution is necessary in
its employment. It has been found useful in chronic diarrhoea and
dysentery, in some forms of atonic dyspepsia, and especially in the
diarrhoea of infants. As an injection the decoction of logwood
has been found of service in leucorrhcea ; and in the form of an
ointment prepared from the extract of logwood, it is said to be
useful in cancer and hospital gangrene.

The principal use of logwood is, however, in dyeing, where it is
employed in the production of violet and blue colours, certain

86 H^EMATOXYLON CAMPECHIANUM

shades of grey, and more especially blacks, to which latter it
gives a lustre and velvety cast.

Pharmacographia, p. 187 ; Garr., Mat. Med., p. 241 ; Per., Mat.
Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 346; Annal. de Chimie, 80 (1812), p. 128;
Watts, Die. Chemistry, vol. iii, pp. 1, 4, and 732 ; U. S. D., by
W. & B., p. 446.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the British Museum, collected in Jamaica by
Dr. Wright ; the fruit added from Hayne.

1. Calyx and pistil.

2. Vertical section of flower.

3. Fruit.

4. The same, showing dehiscence.

5. A leaflet.

BRAYEKA ANTHELMINTICA

102

N. Ord. ROSACES.
Tribe Poteriece.

Genus Hagenia,* Gmelin (1791). B. & H., Gen. i, p. 622
(Brayera) ; Baill., Hist. PI., i, p. 450 (Brayera). A. single
species only known.

102. Hagenia abyssinica, Willd., Sp. PL ii,p. 331 (1799).
Kousso, Kusso, Gossoy Koso (Amhara). Halbe (Tigre).

i. — Banksia abyssinica, Bruce (1790). Brayera f anthelmintica,
Kunth(lS23).

Figures.— Berg & Sch., t. 25 f ; Bruce, Travels in Nubia and Abyss.,
tt. 22, 23, cop, in Lam. Encyclop., t. 311 ; Hook., Kew Journ. Bot.,
1850, t. 10; Baill., 1. c., figs. 388-392.

Description. — A handsome tree of about 20 feet high or more ;
branches cylindrical, the younger ones marked with the ring-like
scars of the leaf -sheaths, and silky with long upward-pointing
yellowish hairs ; the growing extremities and young leaves densely
golden-silky. Leaves abundant, closely placed, alternate, 10 or 12
inches long when full grown, pinnate with 3 to 6 pairs of opposite
leaflets and an odd one, and, usually alternating with these, pairs
of very small leaflets ; petiole very broadly winged by the adnate
stipules, which are dilated at the base to form a broad sheath
embracing the stem, and terminate in short blunt ears ; larger leaf-
lets ovate- or lanceolate-oblong, 3 or 4 inches long, sessile and
unequally rounded at the base, acuminate at the apex, usually
overlapping, strongly and rather bluntly serrate, densely silky on
both surfaces when young, but becoming glabrous, except on the
veins below, and along the margin which remains strongly fringed.
Panicles abundant, erect or spreading, from the axils of the leaves,
a foot or more long, unisexual, much branched ; rachis and branches

* Named to commemorate Dr. K. G. Hagen, of Konigsberg, a German
botanist, who died in 1829.

f Named after A. Brayer, a French physician in Constantinople, who
wrote a pamphlet upon the plant, published in 1823.

102 HAGENIA ABYSSINICA

zigzag, more or less densely hairy or pilose and glandular, with a
membranous, ovate, veiny, ciliated, often reflexed bract at the base
of every branch, the lower ones sometimes leafy. Flowers very
numerous, small, shortly stalked, unisexual, each with two rounded
membranous veined bracts at its base, greenish-yellow in the male,
tinged with red in the female, inflorescence. Male flowers : calyx
with a short tube and 10 segments in two whorls ; outer whorl of 5
small, linear-oblong, hairy segments, inner of 5 broadly oval, veiny,
ciliate, membranous segments twice as long as the outer, usually
reflexed, greenish-yellow ; petals 5 inconspicuous, alternating with
the inner calyx- segments and much shorter than them, linear-
lanceolate, acute ; stamens about 15 — 30, inserted with the petals,
which they equal in length, in the contracted throat of the calyx,
anthers short ; carpels 2 undeveloped or abortive. Female flowers :
calyx-tube top-shaped, strongly hairy externally, prolonged above
into a constricted neck (disk) closely surrounding the styles, seg-
ments 10, in two alternating whorls, the outer 5 (epicalyx) broader
and longer than the inner even when in flower, persistent and becom-
ing much elongated in fruit, the inner 5 and the petals as in the
male flower ; stamens very small, shrivelled and sterile, inserted on
the exterior of the disk ; carpels 2, distinct, arising from the base
of the deep calyx-tube which completely encloses the oblong ovaries
though free from them ; styles about as long as the ovaries,
terminal, projecting out of the constricted neck of the calyx- tube ;
stigma large, flat, horizontal*, with prominent papillae ; ovule
solitary, suspended from the inner angle of the 1 -celled ovary.
Fruit a small, indehiscent, ovoid, acute, membranous achene,
enclosed in the desiccated calyx-tube, which is crowned, shuttlecock
fashion, with the enlarged dry membranous epicalyx, the segments
of which are then | inch long and oblong in form, and the shrivelled
remains of the inner calyx- segments, petals and stamens. Seed
solitary, embryo without endosperm, cotyledons plane-convex,
radicle small, superior.

The flowers are said to be sometimes 4-merous, the petals to be
occasionally wanting, and a third carpel has been observed in a
few flowers. The fruit has been rarely collected, and the specimens

102 HAGENIA ABYSSINICA

we have examined (collected by Euppell) appear to be not fully
matured.

Habitat. — This remarkable tree is confined to Abyssinia, where
it appears to be not uncommon in the higher mountainous districts,
flowering in October— December ; it is also commonly planted
near towns and villages throughout the country, and is said to be
very ornamental. We are not aware that any attempt has been
made to cultivate the Kousso in this country.

In accordance with the universally recognised rules of botanical
nomenclature, we have adopted in the text the oldest available
published name ; Banksia had been already given by the younger
Linnseus, in 1781, to a New Holland genus of Proteacets.

DC. Prod., ii, p. 588; A. Richard, Tent. Fl. Abyss., i, p. 258;
Hook., Kew Journ. Bot., 1850, p. 349; Oliver, M. Trop. Africa,
ii, p. 380; Lindl., FL Med., p. 230.

Official Parts and Names. — Cusso ; the flowers and tops of
Brayera anthelmintica, D. C. (B. P.). The dried flowers and tops
(Cusso j Kousso) (I. P.). BEAYEEA; the flowers and unripe fruit
of Brayera anthelmintica (U. S. P. Secondary.)

Collection and Commerce. — Kousso is gathered for use in medi-
cine before the seeds are quite ripe. The female flowers are
chiefly collected, although not exclusively so; and then sus-
pended in the sun to dry. Kousso is brought from Abyssinia,
packed in boxes, and reaches England by way of Aden or
Bombay.

General Characters and Composition. — Kousso, Koosso, Kosso,
or Koso, by which names as well as some others this substance
is known in commerce, occurs in compressed, unbroken or more or
less broken, panicles of flowers ; or in somewhat cylindrical rolls,
with the parts kept together by transverse bands; or sometimes
the flowers are found in a separated state. The bunches and rolls
vary in length from 10 inches to a foot, or are sometimes
even a foot and a half or more. Commercial kousso has
a brownish or greenish-brown colour, with a reddish tinge

102 HAGENIA \BYSSINICA

in tlie case of tlie panicles of female flowers. Both kinds of
flowers may be distinguishad in commercial kousso, although, as
already noticed, the female flowers are more frequently collected.
Panicles of the latter, from their red colour, are known as Red
Kousso ; while the male flowers are termed Kosso-esels. Kousso
has a pleasant herby odour, especially when freshly imported,
which has been compared by Pereira to the combined odours of
tea, hops, and senna leaves. The taste is not very evident at first,
but subsequently bitterish, acrid, and disagreeable. *

Kousso has been repeatedly examined by chemists, and among
its constituents a volatile oil, bitter acrid resin, tannic acid, and a
bitter principle called kwoseine, koussin, or Jcosin, have been
found. The nature and characters of koussin have been variously
given by chemists. As obtained by Dr. Bedall, of Munich, in
1862, it occurred in a more or less crystalline whitish powder,
which was subsequently found to possess the anthelmintic pro-
perties of the drug. As afterwards prepared by Dr. E. Merck, of
Darmstadt, and described by Fliickiger and E. Buri, koussin
or Jcosin as termed by these chemists, was either in the form of
needles, or of short thick prismatic crystals. These crystals were
found to vary somewhat in colour, that of the needles being similar
to sulphur, of the larger prisms darker yellow, while some fine por-
tions appeared to be white. The specific gravity of kosin was so
considerable that it sank in sulphuric acid; it possessed neither
smell nor taste ; it was almost insoluble in water, and but very
slightly so in alcohol, but readily soluble in benzol, bisulphide of
carbon, chloroform, and ether. The investigation of Fliickiger
and Buri lead to the conclusion, at present, that kosin is an ether
of isobutyric acid. This kosin, when chemically pure, which is
not the case with Bedall's koussin, has been proved by Professor
Buchheim, of Griessen, to be very inferior in its anthelmintic
action to it; hence it would appear that pure kosin is in itself
almost, if not entirely, devoid of action on the animal economy,
but becoming medicinally active when combined with some other
constituent of the drug.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Kousso is anthelmintic in its

102 HAGENIA ABYSSINICA

action. It is said to be effectual in destroying both kinds of tape-
worm, namely, the Ttenia solium and Bothriocephalus latus ; but
as it possesses little or no cathartic power, the subsequent
administration of a purgative is generally necessary to bring away
the destroyed entozoon. In Abyssinia, the drug, which is usually
administered in substance in large doses, has sometimes produced
alarming and even fatal results; and in this country its use
frequently causes nausea, and sometimes vomiting. It should be
taken early in the morning fasting ; and the last meal of the
previous evening should be slight. It is commonly given in
this country in the form of the unstrained infusion of the British
Pharmacopoeia.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 296 ; Pharmacographia, p. 228 ;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 178 ; PL arm. JL, vol. x, 1st ser.,
p. 15; Tear Book of Pharmacy for 1875, p. 19; Garr., Mat.
Med., p. 254 ; Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R, p. 823; Ph. JL,
vol. v, 3rd ser., p. 562.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from specimens in the British Museum, collected at Dendera, Abys-
sinia, by Schimper; the fruit added from Berg and Schmidt.
A panicle of male flowers with its subtending leaf.

1. A male flower seen from above.

2. A female flower, vertical section.

3. Vertical section of fruit.

4. Achene.

5. Section of the same.

(1, 2, 5 enlarged.)

•••Cl

r

D .Blair, aul.nat.del1'

DATURA Si-;

imp

192

N. Ord. SOLANACE.E.
Tribe Datureee.

Genus Datura,* Linn. Dunal in DO. Prod., xiii, sect. 1, pp.
538-546. Species 22, natives chiefly of the tropics in either
hemisphere.

192. Datura Stramonium, f Linn.,Sp. PL, ed. I, p. 179 (1753).
Thorn-apple. Stramonium.

Figures.— Woodville, t. 74; Hayne, iv, t. 7; Steph. & Ch., t. 6; Nees,
t. 193 ; Bigelow, t. 1 (D. Tatula) ; Berg & Sch., t. 20 d ; Curt., Fl.
Lond., fasc. 6; Syme, E. B., vi, t. 935.

Description. — A coarse weedy annual, reaching over 3 feet in
height. Root tapering, white. Stem erect, green, thick, suc-
culent, nearly solid, cylindrical, dividing at a short distance
from the ground into 2 or 3 very spreading branches, which each
again dichotomise more than once, the whole forming a large
bushy herb. Leaves placed singly on one side of each bifurcation
of the stem, the stout, cylindrical, pale green, tapering petiole
appearing to continue the branch and the truly axillary buds remain-
ing but little developed, very unequal in size, the lowest and largest
often 8 or 9 inches long, ovate, rather flaccid, the margin undulated
and deeply indented with large irregular incisions forming unequal
spreading teeth, the base unequal, with one side decurrent along
the top of the petiole for a short distance, the apex acuminate, nearly
or quite smooth, dull green, paler beneath, the young ones slightly

* Datura, a 16th century name, Latinised from the Persian and Arabic
names for D. fastuosa.

•f" Stramonia, or Sir ammonium, was the name of Datura Metel, L., at Venice in
the middle of the 16th century, where it was cultivated; and the plant is figured
under that title by Tragus and Fuchsius. The origin of the name is not
evident, but may perhaps be an Italianised contraction of the Greek vrpvicvov
paviicbv used by Dioscorides for Atropa Belladonna, and, according to Columna
(Pbytobasanos, 1592, pp. 46-52), for D. Stramonium also, which is beautifully
figured (p. 47) by him. D. Stramonium seems to have been a later introduc-
tion into Europe than D. Metel ; but as it rapidly spread and became a common
plant the name of the latter was transferred to it.

192 DATURA STRAMONIUM

downy. Flowers solitary in the forks (terminal ?), shortly stalked.
Calyx IJi nches long or more, pale green, thin, tubular, with 5
short triangular teeth, from each of which a sharp fold or ridge runs
down to the base, deciduous, except a small persistent part at the
base from which the remainder comes away by a circular fission.
Corolla plicate in the bud, tubular-funnel-shaped, 3 — 4 inches
long, and 2 inches wide at the mouth, with 5 plaits and
5 spreading or recurved lobes, with acuminated almost filiform
points, white, delicate. Stamens 5, inserted in the corolla-tube
and included in it, equal ; anthers small, dehiscing longitudinally.
Ovary of 2 carpels, pyramidal, 4-lobed, covered with close erect
processes, imperfectly 4-celled in the lower part by the outgrowth
of a false dissepiment from the dorsal sutures of the carpels to the
axile placentas ; style about as- long as stamens ; stigma bilateral,
blunt. Fruit about 2 inches long, erect, ovoid, rounded-
quadrangular in section, surrounded at the base by the enlarged
and reflexed persistent base of the calyx, thickly set with unequal
sharp rigid spines, nearly completely 4-celled ; pericarp leathery,
dehiscing by 4 valves about half way down. Seeds very
numerous, closely packed, and flattened horizontally, somewhat
kidney- shaped, about 5 inch long; testa very dark brown, with
large shallow pits, and also a minute reticulation ; embryo much
curved and surrounded by endosperm.

Habitat. — The Thorn-apple is considered by De Candolle to be
originally from the countries bordering the Caspian. It is now
spread throughout the world except in the colder temperate and
arctic regions, and is especially abundant in Southern Europe.
Its introduction into Central Europe does not appear to have
taken place before the middle of the 16th century. It is usually
found in rich waste ground, or as a garden weed, and is not
unfrequent in the south of England under such conditions, but
can scarcely be considered naturalised here. In the United
States of America it is a familiar weed.

Whether D. Tatula, Linn., is to be considered distinct from
the present species is undecided, but the differences are very
slight, merely consisting of the purple colour of the stems and

192 DATURA STRAMONIUM

outside of the corolla in D. Tatula. Other reasons have led
some of the best authorities to keep the species distinct, and
De Candolle believes D. Tatula to be a native of Central America.
It occurs more rarely in England than D. Stramonium under
similar conditions, and seems a more tender plant ; it is very
common in the south-west of Europe.

Dunal, 1. c., p. 540; Syme, E. B., vi, p. 103; Watson, Comp. Cyb.
Br., p. 538; Benth, Handb. Br. Fl., p. 330; Bertoloni, Fl. Ital.r
vi, p. 606 ; DC., Geogr. Bot., ii, p. 733 ; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 510 ;
Pappe, Fl. Med. Capensis Prodr., p. 30.

Official Parts and Names. — 1. STEAMONII FOLIA; the dried
leaves: 2. STEAMONII SEMINA; the ripe seeds: (B. P.). 1. The
leaves : 2. The seeds : (I. P.). 1. STEAMONII FOLIA; the leaves :
2. STEAMONII SEMEN; the seed: (U. S. P.).

1. STEAMONII FOLIA. Stramonium Leaves. — Collection and General
Characters. The leaves are directed in the British Pharmacopoeia
to be collected from plants in flower, cultivated in Britain. In the
Pharmacopoeia of India they are also directed to be collected when
the plant is in flower. In the United States the leaves are generally
gathered at any time from the appearance of the flowers till the
autumnal frost. When collected the entire plants are usually pulled
up, the leaves and young shoots are then separated and quickly
dried, and finally these are broken up and cut into short pieces,
in which condition they are commonly met with.

The fresh leaves have a foetid, somewhat narcotic odour, which
they lose when dried, and then acquire a faint tea-like smell. The
taste of both the fresh and dried leaves is bitterish- saline, and
disagreeable.

2. STEAMONII SEMINA. Stramonium Seeds. — The characters of
these seeds are thus given in the British Pharmacopoeia : —
" Brownish-black, reniform, flat, rough, in taste feebly bitter and
mawkish ; inodorous unless bruised, when they emit a peculiar
heavy smell." A tincture prepared by digesting the entire seeds
in spirit of wine presents a greenish fluorescent appearance. The
seeds are much more active than the leaves.

3. SUBSTITUTES. — Of late years the leaves of Datura Tatula^

192 DATURA STRAMONIUM

L. a closely allied species, have been used in this country and
elsewhere as a substitute for those of D. Stramonium, which they
closely resemble in properties ; but there is no reliable evidence of
their being of greater strength, as has been stated.
- In the Pharmacopoeia of India the leaves and seeds (Datura
Folia et Semina) of Datura alba, L., under -the name of Dhatura,
are also official, like the corresponding parts of D. Stramonium.
They possess similar properties, and are regarded as of about equal
strength.

Datura fastuosa, L. another species, or a variety of D. alba,
and also common in India, h$js similar properties to it.

Composition. — The activity of both the leaves and seeds of
D. Stramonium are due to the highly poisonous alkaloid daturia
or daturine ; and although we have no chemical proof of the
existence of this alkaloid in the other species of Datura alluded to
under the head of Substitutes, its presence in them can scarcely be
doubted. , The leaves however, contain the alkaloid in much smaller
proportion than the seeds, and the latter even only yield about
~ per cent, The alkaloid is said to be combined with malic acid.
This alkaloid was first described by Geiger and Hesse in 1833,
but according to A. von Planta, daturia is identical in composition,
and possesses the same chemical characteristics as atropia, which
see under Atropa Belladonna. The action of the two alkaloids
also resemble each other in their power of dilating the pupil of
the eye; but, according to Schroff, atropia has twice the
poisonous energy of daturia ; while Jobert, again, regards daturia,
when applied to the eye, as about three times as powerful as
atropia, and more constant and lasting in its operation.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The action of stramonium on
the system appears to be the same as that of belladonna, and
Garrod says, that he made " many comparative clinical observa-
tions on stramonium and belladonna and on stramonium and
henbane ; he could not, however, distinguish between the action
of the three plants when they were administered in corresponding
doses." Further observations on the action and uses of stra-
monium are, however, a desideratum. The properties of stramo-

192 DATURA STRAMONIUM

niiim are regarded as anodyne and antispasmodic, and in over-
doses it is a powerful poison. It has been found useful in neuralgic
and rheumatic affections, in gastrodynia and other painful dis-
eases ; and some have regarded it as a very valuable remedy in
mania and epilepsy; but in these diseases it not unfrequently
produces injurious effects. When used during the paroxysms of
spasmodic asthma it commonly gives great temporary relief and
facilitates expectoration. In the latter disease, and also in
dyspnoea, catarrhs, and in other cases, the leaves are generally
smoked like tobacco ; or inhalation from their infusion in warm
water is resorted to. But its use in these ways requires caution,
as it has proved highly injurious and in some instances fatal. In
Cochin China a strong decoction of the leaves is regarded as a
very efficacious remedy in hydrophobia. In India Datura alba is
frequently used by the natives for criminal purposes, — the profes-
sional poisoners from this drug being called Dhatureeas.

In the forms of ointment, extract, plaster, fomentation, &c.,
the leaves and seeds of the different species of Datura have been
found useful in allaying pain, &c., when applied to painful
tumours, rheumatic enlargements of the joints, nodes, external
piles, &c. Locally applied to the eye, stramonium produces
dilatation of the pupil, and is therefore applicable in similar cases
to belladonna, although, in this country at least, it is generally
regarded as inferior.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 1, p. 562 ; Pharmacographia, pp. 412-
416; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 839; Pharm. of India, p. 174;
Garr., Mat. Med., p. 328; Amer. Journ. of Pharm., Sept., 1865,
p. 341, and vol. xxviii, p. 38 ; Jobert, Ann. de Therap., 1863,
p. 28.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the Royal Botanic Society's Garden, Regent's
Park. 1. Portion of plant in flower. 2. The corolla laid open. 3. The ovary
and stigma. 4, 5. Transverse sections of very young fruit in the upper and
lower portions. 6. Ripe fruit. 7. Transverse section of the same. 8. Seed.
9. Section of the same. (3 enlarged ; 8 and 9 much magnified.)

v^

ts

193

N. Ord. SOLANACE^J.

Tribe Atropea. Miers, 111. S. Am. PI., i, App., p. 163, &c. (N. Ord.).
Genus Atropa, Linn* Miers, 111. S. Am. PL, ii, App., p. 4.
Species 2 or more ? natives of South Europe and Asia.

193. Atropa Belladonna, t Linn., Sp. PL, ed. I, p. 181 (1753).
Dwale. Deadly Nightshade. Belladonna.

Figures.— Woodville, t. 82 ; Hayne, i, t. 43 ; Steph. & Ch., t. 1 ; Nees,
t. 191 ; Berg & Sch., t. 20 c ; Curt., Fl. Lond., fasc. 5 ; Syme, E. B.,
vi, t. 934 ; Nees, Gen. Fl. Germ , Gamopet.

Description. — A large, bushy, perennial herb, 3 — 5 feet high.
Root large, fleshy, branched, pale brown. Stems thick, cylin-
drical, smooth, purplish, at first dividing into three, the branches
dichotomous, and frequently branching, the youngest shoots
pubescent. Leaves numerous, alternate below, in pairs above,
one leaf of the pair much larger than the other, all shortly
stalked, 3 — 9 inches long, broadly ovate or oval, tapering into
the petiole, acute, perfectly entire, dark green, veiny. Flowers
solitary (rarely 2 or 3 together), coming off from between the pairs
of leaves, stalked, drooping ; peduncle as long or longer than
calyx, with short glandular hairs. Calyx deeply 5-cleft, the
segments triangular- acuminate, persistent. Corolla bell-shaped,
about an inch long, finely downy outside, cut into 5 broad,
shallow, blunt, nearly equal, spreading or slightly recurved lobes,
dull reddish-purple, tinged with pale green below. Stamens 5,
inserted on the base of the corolla and shorter than it, nearly
equal; filaments curved upwards at the end; anthers small,
roundish, yellowish- white. Style slightly exserted ; stigma
capitate, green. Fruit a fleshy berry, sub-globular, depressed,
umbilicate at the summit, very obscurely 2-lobed, about f of an

* Named from Atropos, one of the three Fates, who was fabled to cut the
thread of life. (See Linnaeus, Hortus Cliffortianus, p. 57.)

f Belladonna is stated by Matthiolus and other mediaeval botanists to have
been the name of this plant in Venice, where it was employed as a cosmetic.

193 ATROPA BELLADONNA

inch in diameter, deep purple-black, smooth, sliming, surrounded
at base by the enlarged persistent calyx, 2 -celled, fruit- stalk
erect. Seeds numerous, crowded, lightly attached to the axile
placentas, rounded or oval or faintly kidney-shaped, about Tg of
an inch in diameter, minutely pitted and reticulated ; embryo
curved on itself in the endosperm.

Habitat. — This plant grows in waste ground and stony bushy
places throughout Central and Southern Europe (not reaching
farther north than Denmark), South- West Asia, and Algeria.
In England it is found chiefly on chalk and limestone, from West-
moreland southwards, and though abundant in places, it is a local
species and perhaps less common now than formerly ; from being
frequently found near ruins it has been by some writers con-
sidered to be introduced to this country. It is cultivated for
medicinal use in a few places in France, England, and North
America, and has become semi-wild in the latter country. Bella-
donna is quite unlike any other plant, and the confusion so often
made between it and Solanum Dulcamara can only be due to
both having been called Nightshade. The fruit of Belladonna is
about the size, and has somewhat the appearance, of a black
cherry, with a slightly sweet taste. The seeds are readily
recognisable under a lens from those of other solanaceous plants,
and have been not inaptly compared to miniature Sultana
raisins.

Dunal, 1. c., p. 464; Syme, E. B., vi, p. 100; Hook. £., Stud. FI.,
p. 257; Wats, Comp. Cyb. Br., p. 252; Grenier & God., FL
France, ii, p. 545 ; Lindley, Fl. Med., p. 509.

Official Parts and Names. — 1. BELLADONNA FOLIA; the fresh
leaves, with the branches to which they are attached ; also the
leaves separated from the branches and carefully dried ; gathered
from wild or cultivated British plants when the fruit has begun
to form: 2. BELLADONNA EADIX; the dried root, cultivated in
Britain or imported from Germany : 3. ATEOPIA ; an alkaloid
obtained from Belladonna: (B. P.). 1. The leaves (Belladonna
Folia), gathered when the fruit has begun to form : 2. The dried

193 ATROPA BELLADONNA

root (Belladonna Radix) : (I. P.). 1. BELLADONNA FOLIA; the
leaves: 2. BELLADONNA RADIX; the root from plants more than
two years old : (U. S. P.).

1. BELLADONNA FOLIA. Belladonna Leaves. — Collection and
General Characters. The leaves should be collected, as men-
tioned in the British Pharmacopoeia, when the fruit has begun to
form, as they are then in the greatest perfection, for the reasons
stated under the head of Collection in Digitalis purpurea. The
leaves of the wild plant are commonly preferred ; but there does
not appear to be sufficient reason for this opinion, and Lefort
found from the examination of leaves from both wild and culti-
vated plants, obtained in the neighbourhood of Paris, that they
yielded about the same percentage of their active alkaloid.

The fresh leaves and young shoots when bruised, exhale a some-
what foetid odour, and the expressed juice dropped into the eye
dilates the pupil. They have a feeble, bitterish, somewhat acrid
taste. According to Squire, 100 lbs» of fresh leaves yield 16 Ibs. of
dried. The dried leaves have a brownish- green colour above,
and are greyish beneath. An infusion dropped into the eye
dilates the pupil. They are thin and friable, without any marked
odour, but with a disagreeable, faintly bitter, and slightly acrid
taste. Belladonna leaves owe their activity entirely to atropia (see
Atropia). In the British and Indian pharmacopoeias the fresh
leaves with the branches to which they are attached, are directed
to be used in the preparation of the extract of Belladonna. The
reasons for thus using the branches with the leaves, will be
described under Hyoscyamus niger.

2. BELLADONNA RADIX. Belladonna Root. — Collection and
General Characters. The root should be collected for drying in
the autumn or early spring, and from plants from about two to
four years old. It is usually imported from Germany ; but if
obtained in a fresh state from cultivated plants, and carefully
dried, it is more to be depended upon; and roots about the
thickness of the middle finger are to be preferred to those of
larger size.

The dried root occurs in commerce in rough, irregular, branched

193 ATROPA BELLADONNA

pieces, of from one to two feet long, and from half an inch to
two or more inches thick. It has a dirty greyish or brownish-
white colour externally, and is whitish internally ; it breaks with
a short fracture. It has a very faint, earthy, somewhat sickly
odour, and a feeble sweetish taste. An infusion dropped into the
eye dilates the pupil. Belladonna root owes its activity, like the
leaves, entirely to the alkaloid atropia, but this is present in the
root in much larger proportion (see Atropia).

An uncrystallizable alkaloid, called belladonnine, has also been
indicated by Hiibschmann as a constituent of belladonna root, but
of this little is known. The herb also contains asparagine, and
Attfield obtained from the extract of the leaves both nitrate and
chloride of potassium, and some other substances.

3. ATROPIA or ATEOPINE. — As already stated, it is to the
presence of this alkaloid that the leaves, root, and herb generally,
of belladonna, owe their active properties. We have also noticed
when treating of Datura Stramonium, that the alkaloid daturia is
said to be identical in composition, and to possess the same
characters and properties, as atropia. Atropia is however,
contained in by far the larger proportion in the root, which is exclu-
sively used in order to obtain it, and as the alkaloid is principally
contained in the bark, the moderately young and small roots yield
more atropia than the old and thick roots. According to Brandes,
two pounds of the root should yield about forty grains of atropia.
It is found in combination with malic acid. Atropia occurs in
colourless acicular prisms, sparingly soluble in water, and freely
soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloroform ; its solution in water
has an alkaline reaction, gives a citron-yellow precipitate with
terchloride of gold, and has a bitter taste. Atropia leaves no ash
when burned with free access of air ; powerfully dilates the pupil
of the eye ; and is a very active poison.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The action of belladonna leaves
and root, as already stated under the head of Datura Stramonium,
appears to be exactly the same as stramonium. Belladonna is
regarded as anodyne, sedative, antispasmodic, diuretic, and lacti-
fuge ; and like stramonium and some other plants of the natural

193 ATROPA BELLADONNA

order to which it belongs, it dilates the pupil of the eye,
whether taken internally, or applied locally. In large doses, bella-
donna is a powerful poison. It has been used internally in a
great variety of diseases, as chorea, epilepsy, hooping-cough,
asthma, &c. ; also to allay pain and spasm in various forms
of neuralgia, rheumatism, gastrodynia, spasmodic stricture of the
urethra, colic, tetanus, delirium tremens, dysmenorrhcea and other
painful uterine affections ; also to check incontinence of urine in
children, &c. ; as an antidote in poisoning by opium, hydrocyanic
acid, or the calabar bean ; and in diabetes, pneumonia, acute
nephritis, chronic albuminuria, exophthalmic goitre, and numerous
other affections. Dr. John Harley also regards it as a most
valuable remedy in scarlatina. It has also been considered as a
prophylactic against scarlatina, more especially by homoeopathic
practitioners, but the more general experience of physicians is
entirely opposed to this idea.

Atropia is but little used for internal administration on account
of its very powerful action. Both it and the sulphate of atropia
in solution may be, however, employed for subcutaneous injection.
The solution of sulphate of atropia is frequently used in this way,
in the collapse of cholera, and in that of digitalis, colchicum,
and aconite poisoning, &c. ; and also by ophthalmic surgeons for
dilating the pupil of the eye.

Both belladonna and atropia are likewise valuable applications to
give relief in various neuralgic, rheumatic, and other painful affec-
tions, as angina pectoris and palpitation of the heart. Belladonna
when applied to the female breast checks the secretion of milk ; and
Dr. Einger has found it very useful in checking sweating, as that of
the head in rickets ; and he also found that the hypodermic injec-
tion of ~5 gr- °^ atropia arrested sweating for a whole night in a
case of phthisis. The local application of belladonna also moderates
inflammatory action, and has thus been found to check suppura-
tion in carbuncles, &c. Belladonna and atropia are also of great
value to the ophthalmic surgeon to produce dilatation of the
pupil of the eye for ophthalmoscopic examination ; and in cataract
and other eye affections where it is desirable to dilate the pupil, or

193 ATROPA BELLADONNA

to keep the edge of the iris free, and also to diminish the morbid
sensibility of this organ to the influence of light.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., p. 602 ; Pharmacograpbia, pp. 409
and 411; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 169; Garr. Mat. Med.,
p. 324; Royle's Mat. Med., by J. Harley, p. 493. Amer.
Journ. of Pharm., vol. xiii, p. 127, and vol. xxxiv, p. 126;
Attfield, in Pharm. Journ., vol. iii, 2 ser., p. 448 ; Squire,
in Pharm. Journ., vol. iii, 2 ser., pp. 300 and 368 ; Bentley,
in Pharm. Journ., vol. i, 2 ser., p. 515, and vol. iii, p. 475 5
Lefort, in Journ. de Pharm., vol. xv (1872), pp. 269 and 341 ;
Dr. T. T. Smith, in Lancet (1874).

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a plant in the Royal Botanic Society's Garden, Regent's Park.

1. Reduced sketch of the rootstock and a flowering stem.

2. A branch with flowers.

3. Corolla laid open, and pistil.

4. Vertical, and — 5. Transverse section of ovary.

6. Fruit.

7. Transverse section of the same.

8. Seed.

9. Section of the same.

(3-5 enlarged ; 8, 9 greatly magnified.)

22Q.

FICUS GARICA;

228

N. Ord. ARTOCARPACE J5. Le Maout & Dec., p. 669 ; Bureau in

DC. Prod., xvi, p. 280.
Tribe Fleece. Lindl., Veg. K., p. 266.

Genus Ficus, Linn* A vast genus not as yet fully mono-
graphed. Estimated to contain over 600 species (including
Urostigma, &c.), found in the warmer and tropical parts
of both hemispheres.

228. Ficus Carica,f Linn., Sp. Plant, ed. I, p. 1059 (1753).

Fig.

Syn. — Ficus ssp. and Caprificus, Gasparrini.

Figures.— Woodv., t. 244; Hayne, ix, 1. 13; Steph. & Ch., t. 154; Nees,
t. 97 ; Berg & Sch., 1. 19 a ; Reichenb., Ic. Fl. Germ., xii, t. 659 ; Nees,
Gen. Fl. Germ., Apet.

Description. — A small, irregularly-branched tree, or large strag-
gling bush. ; branches numerous, cylindrical, with a smooth red-
dish or pale grey bark, marked, whilst young, with the scars of
the petioles and fallen stipules ; the youngest twigs downy. Leaves-
alternate, deciduous, spreading, on longish, thick, often curved,
cylindrical, downy petioles ; blade 4 or more inches long, rather
rigid, dark green, rough on the upper surface, finely woolly
beneath, sub-cordate at the base, usually more or less deeply cut
into 3 or 5 palmate, broad, rather blunt lobes, margin more or less
irregularly and coarsely dentat e- serrate ; stipules large, smooth,
early deciduous, embracing the whole circumference of the stem
and enveloping the young bud like an extinguisher. Flowers
unisexual, minute, closely crowded on the inner surface of a large,
hollow, externally pear-shaped receptacle, supported at the base by
several broad, smooth, scaly bracts, and perforated at the apex by
an orifice closed by numerous small scales ; these receptacles are
axillary and supported on short stalks. Male flowers (not seen)
few, found near the mouth of the receptacle, " perianth-segments
3 — 5, stamens 1 — 5, generally 3, filaments longer than perianth "

* Ficus, the Latin classical name; in Greek, O-VKT) or
f Carica, used by the Latin authors for a dried fig ; from Caria in Asia
Minor, where they were produced.

228 FICUS CARICA

and inserted at its base. Female flowers occupying the whole,
or all but the uppermost part of the receptacle, shortly stalked,
perianth very delicate and transparent, deeply cut into 3 — 5 acute
segments; ovary superior, hyaline, 1-celled (rarely 2 -celled ?), with
a single ovule, style lateral, tapering, much exceeding the peri-
anth and cut into two tapering, usually unequal, stigmas. "Fruit"
varying in size to nearly 3 inches long, smooth, yellowish stained
with purple, shining, consisting of the pear-shaped receptacle,
which has become enlarged, soft, and fleshy, with very numerous
minute seed-like nuts (true fruit) crowded over its inner surface,
•surrounded by the remains of the perianths. Nut 1-celled, pericarp
yellow, brittle ; seed solitary, suspended, embryo strongly curved
lying in a fleshy endosperm.

Habitat. — The Fig tree is native in Syria and some adjacent
parts of Asia Minor, extending, in a wild state, perhaps to the north-
west confines of India, but, as in the case of universally cultivated
plants generally, it is not easy to distinguish the truly wild area.
It was very early introduced into the Mediterranean countries of
Europe and spread with civilisation over the whole of that conti-
nent ; it is now found in cultivation in all the temperate and warmer
countries of both hemispheres. It ripens its fruit well in England
in warm seasons. The form of the leaves is very variable, some
trees having them cordate-ovate, or faintly three-lobed ; whilst, on
the other hand, there are forms with small, deeply-cut, sub-pin-
natifid leaves ; the size and amount of hairiness also varies consider-
ably. The fruit is sometimes green or white, even when fully ripe.
On the varieties of the wild and cultivated fig, reference mustbe made
to Gasparrini's papers quoted below, where they are considered
as several species under two genera (Ficus and Caprificus). It is
remarkable that the nuts in many kinds of fig are found to be empty
(no embryo being developed), although the "fruit" has thoroughly
ripened. The male flowers are rarely found, and, it is said, only
in those receptacles which are produced early in the lowest axils.

Gasparrini, Nova Genera (1844), and Ricerche sulla natura del
Caprifico (1845) ; Parlatore, Fl. Ital. ; Brandis, Forest Fl. Ind.,
p. 418; Lindl., PL Med., p. 487.

228 FICUS CARICA

Official Part and Name.— FICUS ; the dried fruit (B. P.). The
dried fruit (Ficus) (I. P.). The dried fruit (U. S. P.).

General Characters and Commerce. — The fruit of the fig is
called a syconus. A fig consists of a fleshy, hollow, pear-shaped
receptacle, provided with a small orifice at its apex, and bearing
upon its inner surface numerous small seed-like fruits, termed
achenia. In the unripe state the receptacle is green and tough,
and contains an acrid, somewhat bitter, milky juice ; but as it
ripens, the receptacle enlarges, becomes softer and more juicy, the
acrid milky sap is replaced by a saccharine fluid, and it assumes
commonly a purple hue externally, although sometimes a brown
or yellow colour, or even remains green.

On a small scale and in favorable climates figs may be dried
on the tree, but for commercial purposes they are always gathered
and dried either in ovens, or more commonly by exposure to the
sun. When dried, they are either rendered pliant by squeezing and
kneading, and are then packed by pressing into drums and boxes,
in which state they are called pulled figs ; or they are packed in
the state in which they are left after having been dried, when
they are termed natural.

The largest and best figs come from Smyrna, and are known as
Smyrna or Turkey Figs ; smaller and less pulpy figs are likewise
imported under the name of Greek Figs. The best Smyrna figs
are also termed " Eleme Figs." The total imports of figs of all
kinds into this country average about 150,000 cwt. annually,
representing a money value of about £240,000. Of these about
100,000 cwt. come from Asiatic Turkey, and the remainder from
Spain, Portugal, and other countries.

The official Smyrna figs are of an irregular compressed form ;
soft, tough, more or less translucent, of a brownish or yellowish
colour externally, and covered, in cool weather, with a saccharine
efflorescence. They have an agreeable, peculiar, fruity smell ; and
a very pleasant sweet taste.

Composition. — The principal constituent of figs is grape sugar,
which forms from 60 to 70 per cent, of the dried fruit. It is this
sugar which constitutes the efflorescence seen on figs in cool

228 FICUS CARICA

weather. Figs also contain a small quantity of gum, fatty matter,
and some other unimportant substances.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Figs are regarded as nutritive,,
emollient, demulcent, and laxative. They are, however, rarely
employed medicinally ; but persons subject to habitual constipa-
tion sometimes find them useful as an article of diet. Roasted or
boiled, and split open, they are occasionally used as a suppurative
poultice in gum-boils.

In countries where they are plentiful figs are taken as food,
and are regarded as agreeable and wholesome ; but in this country
they are chiefly employed as a dessert.

Isaiah xxxviii, 21 ; 1 Sam. xxv, 18 ; 1 Chron. xii, 40.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 1, p. 379; Pharmacographia, p. 488;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 407.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a tree in the Royal Botanic Society's Garden, Regent's Park
the male flowers added from Nees, the embryo from Berg and Schmidt.

1. A flowering branch.

2. Section of the inflorescence.

3. A female flower.

4. Section of the same.

5. Ripe " fruit."

6. A nut.

7. Section of the same.

8. 9. Male flowers.

(2-4, 8, 9 enlarged ; 6, 7 greatly magnified.

BBleu'r ad sicc.del.etiitii

ANAMIRTA PANICULATA, Cole&r.

14

N. Ord. MENISPERMACE^.
Tribe Heterocliniece.

Genus Anamirta,* Colebrooke. B. & H. Gen., i, p. 35 ; BailL,
Hist. PL, iii, p. 40; Miers, Contrib., iii, p. 49. Species 7
(Miers), natives of India and the Malayan Islands.

14. Anamirta paniculata, Colebrooke, in Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond.,

xiii, p. 66 (1822).

" Cocculus^ indicus."

Syn. — Menisperinum Cocculus, Linn, (in part). M. heteroclitum, Roxb. ;
Anamirta Cocculus, Wight & Am. Cocculus suberosus, DC.

Figures.— Nees, tt. 365, 366; Berg & Sch., 1. 14 a (fruit) ; Rheede, Hort.
Malab., vii, t. 1 ; Ann. des Sc. Naturelles, ser. 2, ii, t. 3; Miers, 1. c.,
t. 97 (fruit).

Description. — A large woody twiner, with thick branches ; bark
deeply corrugated, corky, grey. Leaves alternate, on long stalks,
which are thickened at both ends and prehensile, blade sub-
coriaceous, varying from 4 to 8 inches long, ovate or cordate-
ovate, acute, smooth and pale green above, whitish below with
tufts of hair in the axils of the prominent veins, margin nearly
entire. Flowers small, dioecious, arranged in pendulous compound
racemes 8 to 12 or more inches long, springing from the old
wood, on short, thick, divaricated pedicles, rachis smooth. Male
flowers : sepals 6 imbricate, surrounded at the base with 2 or
3 small bracts, ovate, thin, spreading ; petals none ; stamens
numerous, closely crowded on a shortly stalked globose receptacle,
so as to form a round mass in the centre of the flower, filaments
almost absent, anthers 4-celled. Female flowers : sepals as in the
male ; petals none ; stamens represented by a hypogynous ring of
10 very small bifid fleshy staminodes united below; carpels 5,
rarely 4 (or 3 ?), supported on a short gynophore, which divides

* Anamirta, taken " from an Indian term contrasting it with a name of a
common Menispermum."

f Cocculus, the mediaeval name for these fruits; from the Italian coccola, a
small berry.

14 ANAMIRTA PANICULATA

above into short thick branches, erect, flask-shaped, gibbous below,
smooth, 1 -celled; stigmas terminal, triangular, reflexed. Fruit of
1—5, usually 2, rounded-ovoid drupes about \ inch long, with
the remains of the stigma on the inner side, each obliquely
supported on a short strong branch springing from the summit of
the gynophore, which has become a hard woody stalk \ inch
long; pulp very scanty, endocarp thin, brittle, indehiscent, pene-
trating deeply on the ventral side, so as to form a hollow space in
the fruit, and reflexed so as to divide this into two cavities.
Seed reniform on section from the intrusion of the endocarp,
embryo large, curved, with two narrowly lanceolate widely sepa-
rated cotyledons lying in the centre of abundant endosperm.

Habitat. — This climbing shrub grows commonly on the eastern
side of the Indian Peninsula; also in Ceylon and some of the
Malayan Islands, unless the plants from these parts are to be
referred, as is done by Mr. Miers, to different species. There are
specimens in the gardens at Kew, Chelsea, and the Regent's
Park, but they have not flowered.

Miers, Contrib. Bot., iii, p. 51 ; Hook, f., PI. Brit. Ind., i, p. 185 ;
LindL, PL Med., p. 371.

Official Part and Name. — COCCULUS INDICUS ; the fruit dried of
Anamirta Cocculus, W. et. A. (I. P.). Not official in either the
British Pharmacopoeia, or the Pharmacopoeia of the United
States.

Commerce. — Cocculus Indicus is imported from Bombay and
Madras. It was formerly brought to Europe by way of the
Levant, and hence the names of Levant nut and Levant shell, by
which it used to be designated. The amount consumed in this
country is not accurately known, but the average imports annually
are probably not less than 50,000 Ibs.

General Characters and Composition. — As met with in com-
merce, the dried fruit, which is commonly known as Cocculus
Indicus, is somewhat kidney- shaped, and generally less than J an
inch in length, or about the size of a small hazel nut. It is
covered externally by a thin, blackish-brown, wrinkled skin,

14 ANAMIRTA PANICULATA

which covers a whitish, thin, woody shell or endocarp. On one
side of the fruit this shell doubles inwards, and forms a projection,
which is contracted at the base, but enlarged and divided above
into two branches; and upon this projection there is placed a
solitary, oily, yellowish- white seed, of a reniform or somewhat
seruilunar shape. In a vertical section of the fruit this seed
is seen not to fill the shell, as it contracts in drying, and by
keeping it becomes more and more shrivelled and wasted, so that
in old samples of cocculus indicus the shell is frequently found
almost empty. The test of the goodness of cocculus indicus
formerly given in the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, was, that " the
kernels should fill at least two thirds of the fruit." Cocculus
indicus has no odour, and the shell is almost tasteless, but the
seed is very bitter.

Cocculus indicus has been sometimes confounded with the fruit
of Laurus nobilis, which is commonly known as the Bay berry.
The latter is, however, generally larger, distinctly oval in form,
and its contained seed lies loose in, and fills the cavity of, the fruit.
The seed of the bay berry has also an agreeable aromatic
odour, a firm consistence, and is readily separated into two equal
portions.

The pericarp of cocculus indicus contains two isomeric, taste-
less, crystallisable alkaloids, termed menispermia and parameni-
spermia, combined with an acid called hypopicrotoxic acid. Of
these substances but little is known. The properties of cocculus
indicus are entirely due to the presence of a white, crystalline, non-
nitrogenised, intensely bitter, very poisonous, neutral principle,
termed picrotoxin, which is only contained in the seed. Picrotoxin
is soluble in water and in alkaline solutions. An aqueous solu-
tion is not affected by tannic acid, or by any metallic salt, hence
picrotoxin may be readily distinguished from the bitter poisonous
alkaloids.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Both cocculus indicus and picro-
toxin are poisonous. They are never administered internally, but
are occasionally employed externally in the form of an ointment
(made by incorporating about eighty grains of the seeds, or ten

14 A&AM1RTA PANICULATA

grains of picrotoxin, with one ounce of prepared lard), as an insecti-
cide, to destroy pediculi, &c., and in some obstinate forms of
chronic skin disease. Its use, however, requires great caution,
and more especially so when the skin is abraded.

Cocculus indicus and picrotoxin act as intoxicating agents,
and hence the former is used for taking fish, which it stupe-
fies, and for adulterating beer and ale. For the latter purpose
especially it is said to be largely employed by publicans, to impart
a bitter taste to the malt liquors and to increase their intoxicating
effects, but it must be admitted that we have no very satisfactory
evidence on this point, for but very few cases are on record in which
cocculus indicus has been detected by chemists in malt liquors ;
although recently a correspondent in the ' Pharmaceutical Journal '
Las found cocculus indicus in some port wine lees.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 667 ; Pharmacographia, p. 30 ;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 1573 ; Gerarde's Herbal, by John-
son, 1636, p. 1549 ; Bentley, Man. Bot., p. 411 ; Pharm. Journ.,
vol. xv, 1st ser., p. 407, and vol. vi, 3rd ser., p. 540.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

The male flowers and foliage drawn from a specimen in the British Museum
from the Calcutta Botanic Garden (Wallich) ; the female flowers and fruit
from specimens in the same herbarium, collected by Thwaites in Ceylon
(no. 2722 = A. toodfera, Miers).

1. Leaves.

2. Panicle of female inflorescence.

3. A female flower.

4. The same, with the sepals removed,

5. The same, with the carpels also removed to show the ring of abortive

stamens and gynophore.

6. A male flower.

7. Section of an anther,

8. Fruit.

9. A single drupe, ventral surface*

10. Vertical, and — 11. Transverse section of the same. <.

(3-7 enlarged.)

D.Bleuir ad sic c. del et lith.

M&ManharLimp.

CANELLA ALBA,M/rr.

26

N. Ord. CANELLACE.E. Lindl., Veg. K, p. 442; Baill., Hist. PI. i

(under Magnoliaceai) ; Le Maout & Dec., p. 243.
Genus Canella * P. Browne. B. & H. Gen., i, p. 121 ; Baill.,
I.e.. p. 185; Miers, Contrib. Bob., i, p. 112. Species 2,
natives of the W. Indies, Florida, and Columbia.

26. Canella alba, Murray, Linn. Syst. Veg., ed. 14, iv, p. 443

(1784).

White Wood. Wild Cinnamon (Jamaica).

Syn.— Winter an ia Canella, Linn. Canella Winterana, Gaertn.

Figures. — Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond., i, t. 8, cop. in Woodv., t. 237,
Hayne, ix, t. 51, and Steph. & Ch., t. 66 ; Nees, t. 418 ; Baill., 1. c., figs.
211-215; Miers, 1. c., t. 23 A (seed).

Description. — An evergreen tree, reaching 30 or 40 feet in
height, and much branched above, with a silver-grey bark on the
young branches. Leaves numerous, alternate, without stipules,
shortly stalked, 2 — 5 inches long, oblong-ovate, blunt at the apex,
tapering at the base, quite entire, thick, smooth, shining above,
paler below, the younger ones with immersed pellucid glands.
Inflorescence consisting of small, much branched, terminal corymbs,
shorter than the leaves, the pedicels about as long as the flowers,
J inch, or a little more. Sepals 3, rounded, coriaceous, short,
persistent, strongly imbricated. Petals 5, two or three times as
long as the sepals, oblong, erect, fleshy, blunt, imbricated, the 2
innermost narrower, pale violet-coloured. Stamens hypogynous,
monadelphous, combined into a rather fleshy tube a little shorter
than the petals, anthers apparently 1 0, forming a ring of 20 closely
placed equal linear cells adnate to the outer surface of the tube,
extrorse, tube prolonged a little beyond the anther- cells, margin
entire. Pistil flask-shaped, sessile, smooth, pellucid-punctate
with immersed glands ; style short, thick ; stigma faintly bilobed
at about the level of the top of the staminal tube; ovary 1 -celled,
with 4 reniform ovules attached in pairs to 2 opposite parietal

* Canella, from canela, the Spanish word for cinnamon.

26 CANELLA ALBA

placentas. Fruit a berry, about \ inch long, rounded-ovoid,
fleshy, when ripe blue-black, glossy, supported at base by the
persistent calyx, shortly pointed at apex. Seeds 2 to 4, immersed
in mucilage, somewhat irregular in form, roundish-reniform or
angular from pressure, testa black, shining, brittle, hilum minute,
inner coat membranous, thick ; embryo small, very excentric,
curved, lying at the upper end of a copious fleshy endosperm,
radicle thick, near the hilum.

Habitat. — This is a native of the wooded hills of Jamaica,
Cuba, and other of the West Indian Islands, the Bahamas, and
the south of Florida, forming, when well grown, a handsome tree
with abundant laurel-like foliage. The flowers have an exquisitely
sweet aromatic smell, due to the secretion in the glands studding
the ovary. It is in cultivation in our Botanic Gardens, but has
not flowered at Kew. In Nees' figure above quoted, the flowers
are coloured scarlet, probably from confusion with Oinnamo-
dendron.

Miers, Contrib. Bot., i, p. 112 ; Swartz, in Trans. Linn. Soc., i,
p. 96 ; Grisebach, PI. Brit. W. Indies, p. 109 ; Chapman, Fl.
South. States, p. 43; Lindl., PI. Med., p. 116.

Official Part and Name. — CANELLA ALB^E CORTEX ; the bark
(B. P.). The bark (I. P.). CANELLA; the bark (U. S. P.).

Collection and Commerce. — It is said to have been collected
formerly by first removing the entire bark with an iron instrument,
then depriving it of a portion of its external cellular coats, and dry-
ing the remaining bark in the shade. But from recent information
communicated to Hanbury, it appears that it is now collected in the
Bahama Islands, where it is called white wood bark or cinnamon
bark, as follows : — Preparatory to being stripped from the wood,
the bark is gently beaten with a stick, which removes the suberous
layer ; by a further beating, the remaining bark is separated,
and having been peeled off and dried, is exported without further
preparation. It is shipped to Europe from Nassau, in New
Providence.

General Characters and Composition. — Canella alba bark occurs

26 CANELLA ALBA

in more or less broken quills or pieces, which vary in length from
two inches to a foot or more, in width from half an inch to one or
two inches, and in thickness from one to two or three lines. The
"bark is generally somewhat twisted, and in some samples it is very
much bruised and fissured longitudinally in consequence of the
beating to which it has been subjected to in its removal from the
wood. Externally it has a pale orange-brown or buff colour, and is
usually marked by slight transverse wrinkles, and evident rounded
depressions or scars. Internally it has a yellowish-white colour,
and is nearly or quite smooth. It breaks with a short granular
fracture, and the fractured surface shows distinctly the two layers
(mesophlteum and endophlteum) of the bark, of which the canella
of commerce is essentially composed. It has an aromatic, agreeable
odour, resembling a mixture of cloves and cinnamon, and a bitter,
pungent, acrid taste.

The principal constituent of Canella alba bark is a volatile oil,
which was formerly said to be scented with oil of cloves, and sold
for it. The amount of oil obtainable from canella alba bark varies
from about 0*75 to 0'90 per cent. Canella alba bark also con-
tains about 8 per cent, of mannite, which was formerly regarded
as a peculiar saccharine substance, and named canellin ; and also
a bitter principle, which has not been isolated.

SUBSTITUTES. — Canella alba bark has been confounded with
Winter's Bark, obtained from Drimys Winteri, Forster, a tree of
the order Magnoliaceae, and hence has been called Spurious
Winter's Bark. The bark of a tree botanically allied to Canella
alba, namely, the Cinnamodendron corticosum, Miers, which will be
afterwards described, has been, however, known and used as
Winter's Bark, both in England and elsewhere for a long period
of time, and is, therefore, probably the bark referred to by writers
for which canella alba bark was said to be substituted. Both
kinds of Winter's bark may be readily distinguished from
Canella alba bark by their general characters, and also chemi-
cally as follows : — A decoction of Cinnamodendron bark and also
of true Winter's bark is blackened by a persalt of iron, which is
not the case with that of Canella alba bark. By the addition of

26 CANELLA ALBA

potash to a cold aqueous infusion of true Winter's bark, a dark some-
what violet colour is also produced ; whereas an infusion of Canella
alba bark is but slightly altered under the same circumstances.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Canella alba bark is an aromatic
stimulant and slight tonic. It is now, however, but rarely used
except in combination with tonic or purgative medicines, as aloes,
rhubarb, &c. It has been employed in dyspepsia, chronic forms of
gout, rheumatism, syphilis, and other cases where a warm aromatic
is indicated. In the West Indies it is used by the negroes as a
condiment, and is also regarded as useful in scurvy.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 532; Pharmacographia, pp. 19
and 68 ; Guibourt, Drogues Simples, tome iii, pp. 681 and
682; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., pp. 207 and 1720; Journ. de
Pbarm., vol. v, p. 481, and vol. viii, p. 197.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a Jamaica specimen communicated by Mr, Miers.

1. A twig with leaves and flowers.

2. Vertical section of flower.

3. A flower with the petals removed.

4. The staminal tube laid out.

5. Transverse section of ovary.

6. Fruit.

7. 8. Seeds.

9. Section of the same.

(2-5 and 9 enlarged.)

D Blair ad sico del. et Hth.

BAROSMA BETUUNA,

M^Hanharfc

45

N. Ord. RUTACEJE. Lindl., Veg. K., p.469; Baill.,Hist. PL, vol.iv.
Tribe Diosmete. Le Maout & Dec., Syst., p. 321.

Genus Barosma,* Willd. B. & H. Gen., i, p. 290 ; Baill., Hist.,
iv, p. 458; Berg, in Bot. Zeitung, 1853, 905-913 ; Harvey,
Fl. Cap., i, pp. 392-4. Species about 12, natives of the
Cape of Good Hope.

45. Barosma betulina,t Bartl. $• Wendl. Beitr. z. Bot., Diosm.,

p. 102 (1824).
Bucchu. Buchu. Bucco. Buku.

Syn— Diosma betulina, Thunb.% Bucco betulina, Roem. & Schultes.^
Hartogia capensis, Bergius. Diosma crenata, DC., Lindl., Loddiges,
Woodville, &c. (non Linn.).

Figures.— Lodd., Bot. Cab., t. 404, cop. in Steph. & Ch., t. 121 and
Woodville, vol. v; Berg & Sch., t. I f.

Description. — A small much-branched shrub ; branches slender,
somewhat twisted, slightly angular, with greyish-orange bark,
young twigs set with oil glands. Leaves nearly sessile, opposite,
or scattered, small, J — f of an inch long, variable in form, usually
cuneate- or rhomboid-obovate, texture cartilaginous, midrib
prominent, lateral veins scarcely visible, apex very blunt, usually
recurved, under surface slightly paler, with scattered glands,
margin serrate-dentate with few close large cartilaginous teeth
with glands in the serratures, nearly entire below. Flowers as
in B. crenulata, Hook., but the petals somewhat narrower and more
pink in colour; the fruit and seed appear also to be quite the
same as in that species.

Habitat. — This species of Barosma grows in mountainous places
in the district of Clanwilliam, north of Cape Town, and some
other parts of the west of Cape Colony. In its extreme forms it
can be readily distinguished from B. crenulata by its small rigid

* Name from fiapvc, heavy, and 607* »/, smell.
f Betulina, from the leaves resembling those of the Birch.
% These synonyms are referred by Berg to his var. (3 obovata of B. crenata,
Kunze.

45 BAROSMA BETULINA

cuneate leaves with, their blunt recurved apex and cartilaginous
margins set with large spreading denticulations. It must,
however, be allowed that plants occur which it is difficult to
place in either species, and of these the B. crenata, Kunze, with
its two forms ovalis and obovata, seems to be composed.

This shrub was formerly cultivated in our gardens, having been
introduced by Masson in 1774, but like many other Cape species
has been lost.

Harv. & Sond., Fl. Cap., i, p. 393; Lindley, Fl. Med., p. 213.

Official Part and Names. — BUCHU FOLIA ; the dried leaves of
Barosma betulina, Bart., Barosma crenulata, Hook., and Barosma
serratifolia, Willd. (B. P.). The dried leaves (Barosma vel Buchu
Folia) of the above species of Barosma (I. P.). BUCHU ; the
leaves of Barosma crenata, and of other species of Barosma
(U. S. P.).

Gommerce. — The leaves of the species of Barosma now under
notice, as well as of the other official species, are entirely derived
from the Cape of Good Hope. In 1873, the total exports from
the Cape Colony were about 400,000 Ibs., of which nearly 60,000
Ibs. were forwarded direct to the United States.

General Characters and Composition. — The general characters
and composition of commercial Buchu are described under
Barosma crenulata. The leaves of Barosma betulina, called in
the United States Pharmacopoeia B. crenata, the species now
under notice, are commonly less esteemed than those of the
other two official species, and are of less commercial value;
although Professor Bedford, of New York, found them to yield
on an average 1*21 per cent, of volatile oil, whilst the more
highly valued leaves of B. serratifolia only yielded him 0*66 per
cent. Fliickiger and Hanbury obtained as much as 1*56 per
cent, of volatile oil from the leaves of B. betulina ; and as Buchu
leaves owe their properties, in a great degree at least, to their
volatile oil, there is no satisfactory evidence to indicate the
inferiority of the present species. The leaves of B. betulina are

45 BAROSMA BETULINA

shorter than the other species, and from this circumstance they are
known in commerce as short buchu, or from their more usual shape,
they have been distinguished as obovate buchu. In the British
Pharmacopoeia they are briefly described as follows : About three
quarters of an inch long, coriaceous, obovate, with a recurved
truncated apex, and sharp cartilaginous spreading teeth.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Similar to the other species of
Barosma : they are described under B. crenulata.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & B., p. 888 ; Pharmacographia, p. 99 ;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 182; Royle's Mat. Med., by J.
Harley, p. 686; Proceed. Amer. Pharm. Assoc., 1863, p. 211.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a Cape specimen in the British Museum, collected by Auge;
the seeds added from Berg and Schmidt.

1. A flowering branch.

2. A branch bearing a solitary fruit.

3. Back view of a flower.

4. Vertical section of same.

5. Diagram of same (the petals should be imbricate).

6. Inside view of a coccus after dehiscence, showing the seed surrounded by

the separated inner wall.

7. 8. Seed.
9. A leaf.

(3, 4, 6, 8, 9 enlarged.)

Empleurum

D.Blaif adsicc.del.eth.th.

BAROSMA SEBRATIFOLIA, WMoL.

47

N. Ord. RUTACE.E.
Tribe Diosmece.

Genus Barosma, Willd.

47. Barosma serratifolia, Willd. Enum. Plant, p. 257 (1809).
Bucclm. Buchu. Bucco. Buku.

Syn— Diosma serratifolia, Curtis & others. Baryosma serratifolia,
JR. & S. Adenandra serratifolia, Link. Parapetalifera serrata,
Bartl & Wendl.

Figures.— Nees, t. 378; Berg & Sch., t. 2 a; Bot. Mag., t. 456.

Description. — An erect shrub, several feet high, with slender,
straight, angular branches; bark smooth, purplish-red. Leaves
imperfectly opposite, very shortly stalked, 1 — 1J inch long,
linear-lanceolate, tapering to either end, the actual apex truncate-
obtuse, margin sharply and closely serrate with glands in the
serratures, under surface paler, with scattered oil-glands, midrib
prominent, with 2 or 4 lateral veins, lower pair often running
almost to the apex and giving the leaf a 3-ribbed appearance.
Flowers as in B. crenulata, Hook., but petals always pure white ;
anthers purple before dehiscence. Fruit and seed as in the other
species.

Habitat. — This kind of Buchu grows in the districts of George
and Swellendam to the east of Cape Town, in damp situations on
the mountain sides. It forms a neater bush than the other species,
and was at one time in cultivation in England as a green-house
shrub ; specimens in flower from Kew Gardens, 1795, are in the
British Museum. From B. crenulata the longer leaves with a
blunt point are a ready distinction.

An allied Rutaceous shrub, Empleurum serrulatum, Ait., is some-
times imported as Buchu. Its leaf bears a strong similarity to
that of B. serratifolia, but is much longer and narrower, with the
sides parallel, the denticulations coarser, and the apex very acute.

47 BAROSMA SERRATIFOLIA

Empleurum is quite different in floral structure, being apetalous,
with large erect red anthers, and a monocarpellary horn-
shaped fruit; it is well and completely figured in Berg and
Schmidt, t. 2 b.

Harv. & Sond., 1. c., p. 393 ; Lindley, Fl. Med., p. 213.

Official Part and Names. — BUCHU FOLIA; the dried leaves of
Barosma betulina, Bart., Barosma crenulata, Hook., and Barosma
serratifolia, Willd. (B. P.). 'The dried leaves (Barosma; vel Buchu
Folia) of the above species of Barosma (I. P.). BUCHU; the
leaves of Barosma crenata, and of other species of Barosma
(U. S. P.).

General Characters, Composition, and Commerce. — The general
characters, composition, and commerce of Buchu have been
already given under Barosma betulina and Barosma crenulata.
The leaves of Barosma serratifolia, the species now under
notice, are not liable to any great variation in size and shape,
like those of the B. crenulata, and have been already fully
described. From their length they are known in commerce as
long buchu. In the British Pharmacopoeia their characters
are shortly given as follows : — " From an inch to an inch and a
half long, linear-lanceolate, tapering at each end, sharply and
finely serrated, three-nerved." From the shape of the leaves, this
kind of Buchu is sometimes distinguished as linear-lanceolate
Buchu.

Substitute. — The leaves of Empleurum serrulatum, Ait., a small
shrubby plant, of the same natural order as Barosma, and inhabit-
ing the same district, are not unfrequently imported and sold
as Buchu. They are readily distinguished, as is indicated in
the accompanying plate of Barosma serratifolia, by being narrower
and longer ; and likewise by their different odour. They also
terminate in an acute point without an oil-gland; whereas the
leaves of Barosma serratifolia are blunt or somewhat truncate,
and always provided with an oil-gland at the apex.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Similar to the other species ;

47 BAROSMA SEERATIFOLIA

they have been already referred to under the head of Barosma
crenulata.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 399 ; Phavmacographia, p. 101 ;
Gmelin's Chemistry, vol. xviii, p. 194; U. S. Disp., by W. and
B , p. 183.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the British. Museum, collected by Bowie at
Knysna, George, Cape Colony.

1. A flowering branch.

2. A flower.

3. A leaf.

(2 and 3 enlarged.)

DJBla-ir ad spin alc.asserv.

M& N Ha-nhart iafl

80

. Ord. LEGUMINOS^.
Tribe Pliaseolece.

Genus Physostigma,* Balfour. B. & H., Gen., i, p. 533 ; Baill.,
1. c., p. 233. One species only known.

80. Physostigma venenOSUm, Balf. in Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinb.,
xxii, p. 310 (1861).

Calabar Bean.

Figures.— Trans. Royal Soc. E-linb., xxii, tt. 16, 17; Baill., 1. c., figs
153-155.

Description. — A large perennial climber ; the stem, which is
woody and 2 inches in diameter below, reaching sometimes
50 feet in length, cylindrical, smooth, slender. Leaves alternate,
large, pinnately trifoliolate ; petiole stiff, thickened at the base,
with small triangular stipules; leaflets stalked, with short thickened
petiolules and small stipellao, 3 — 6 inches long, ovate-attenuate,
the terminal one broader, the lateral ones unequal at the base,
veiny, smooth. Flowers rather large, in long, lax, pendulous
zigzag racemes, with a thick rachis set with large solid tubercles
or knots, from each of which spring two or three articulated,
short, slender, smooth pedicels. Calyx cup-shaped gibbous above,
smooth, somewhat fleshy, 5-lobed, the two upper lobes obsolete,
truncate. Corolla papilionaceous ; standard ovate-orbicular when
expanded, but folded together and curved back into almost a ring,
auriculate at the base, beautifully and finely veined ; wings free,
almost hidden by the standard, ob ovate -triangular, curved up-
wards, eared near the base, with a longish claw ; keel half con-
cealed, greatly prolonged and stiffly twisted into a somewhat spiral
beak. Stamens 10, the upper one free, the other 9 combined for
about half their length into a sheath round the pistil ; anthers
small, similar. Ovary stalked, the stalk surrounded by a promi-
nent 10-lobed disk, style about 1^ inch long filiform, curved with

* From 0yo-a, a bladder, and stigma; on tlie supposition that the stigmatic
appendage was hollow and inflated.

80 PHYSOSTIGMA YENENOSUM

the keel and becoming thickened and stiff in its twisted beak,
where it forms a ring densely bearded on the inner side of its
distal half with crisp hairs, and provided at the extremity with a
triangular, solid, fleshy, reflexed, beaked appendage. Pod shortly
stalked, 4 to 7 inches long, compressed, pointed at the end,
2-valved, valves rather thin, horny, pale brown, with a network of
transverse veins, thickly lined within with a white loose woolly
tissue. Seeds 2 or 3 in the pod, oblong tending to reniform in
outline, 1^ inch long by f inch wide, flattened on the back, rounded
on the front, sides, and ends, hilum very long, linear, extending
from the micropyle at one end entirely along the rounded side of
the seed to the opposite extremity, with a raised border, and marked
down the centre by a thread-like line (raphe) ; testa nearly smooth,
dark chocolate-brown, paler on the borders of the hilum which is
black, lined with a yellowish skin; cotyledons when dry semilunar on
section, leaving a hollow space between them, with a shallow
groove running down the side next the hilum ; radicle short,
terete.

Habitat. — A native of an apparently restricted portion of west
tropical Africa, near the mouth of the Niger and Old Calabar, in
the Gulf of Guinea; it seems to be somewhat rare even there,
and is said to be destroyed everywhere by order of the government
except where it is preserved for the use of justice, as an ordeal.
The plant has been introduced, however, into Brazil and India.
The seeds readily germinate ; but in this country we believe that
the plants have not as yet produced flowers. In appearance and
structure Physostigma is very close to Pliaseolus, in which genus is
included the Scarlet Kunner and Haricot Bean ; indeed the
remarkably large hilum of the seed and the stigmatic appendage
are the only distinguishing characters. The late D. Hanbury
first pointed out that this appendage is not hollow, but solid.
We are indebted to Prof. Balfour for the loan of the original
specimens from which he described the plant, as well as for a
carefully coloured plate, of which the artist has availed himself.

Balfour, 1. c., p. 310; D. Hanbury, in Journ. Botany, 1863,
p. 239 ; Flora Trop. Africa, ii, p. 191.

80 PHYSOSTIGMA VENENOSUM

Official Part and Names. — PHYSOSTIGMATIS FABA ; the seed
(B. P.). The seeds (Physostigmatis Semina) (I. P.). PHYSO-
STIGMA; the seed (U. S. P.).

General Characters and Composition. — These seeds, which are

commonly known as Calabar Beans, are imported from Western

Africa. They are about the size of a very large horse bean,

averaging from 1 to 1J inch long, f of an inch broad, and 65

grains in weight. In shape they are somewhat reniform, being

straight or slightly concave on one side, and convex on the other.

The convex side is marked by a long, broad, black furrow (hilum),

with raised edges, which terminates in a small depression or

aperture (micropyle) near one end. The furrow is also traversed

from end to end by a central raised line, which corresponds to

the raphe. The seeds are covered by a hard, brittle, somewhat

rough, shining integument or testa, which is commonly of a deep

chocolate-brown colour, except on the raised edges of the furrow,

where the tint is lighter. In some cases, however, the colour of

the seeds is brownish-red or ash-grey. The nucleus or kernel

principally consists of two hard, white, brittle, cotyledons, closely

adherent to the testa, and separated from each other by a largish

cavity. The seeds have no marked taste, simply that of an

ordinary bean, and no odour. They yield their virtues entirely

to alcohol, and imperfectly to water. The characters of Calabar

beans are so marked, that they may be readily distinguished from

all other seeds which may be mixed with them. We have

frequently so noticed the seeds of a species of Mucuna ; and

others, have also detected those of the Oil Palm (Elais guine-

ensis) .

Calabar beans contain about 48 per cent, of starch, 23 per
cent, of albuminous matter, a little fatty oil, mucilage, sugar,
and other unimportant ingredients, and a peculiar alkaloid on
which their activity depends. This was discovered in 1863 by
Jobst and Hesse, and named physostigmin ; it is principally
contained in the kernel, but as shown by Fraser, the shells are
not devoid of active principle. The physostigmia or physo-
stigmin as thus found by Jobst and Hesse is an amorphous

80 PHYSOSTIGMA VENENOSUM

mass, of a brown colour, readily soluble in alcohol, ether, and
acids, but less so in water. Its watery solution has an alkaline
reaction ; and on exposure to the air soon becomes red or some-
times blue, from a partial decomposition of the alkaloid. As
subsequently obtained by Hesse, it was perfectly colourless and
tasteless, and on exposure to a temperature of 212° it reddened,
owing to decomposition commencing. In 1865, Vee and Leven,
by operating in essentially the same manner as Hesse, obtained an
alkaloid in the form of colourless, rhomboidal, tabular crystals,
having a bitter taste, but agreeing in most other respects with
the physostigmia, as just described. These chemists called this
substance eserin. Tison and other chemists regard eserin or eseria
as pure physostigmia ; but Fliickiger and Hanbury remark that
" at present we feel hardly warranted in admitting the identity
of the two substances." The activity of eseria or physostigmia ?
is indicated by the fact that if a single drop of a solution con-
taining only 1 part in 1 000, be placed within the eyelids, it causes
great and lasting contraction of the pupil. A peculiarity of the
alkaloid, according to Yee is, that if to its solution in water a little
potash, lime, or soda be added, a red coloration is produced,
which rapidly becomes more intense. The colour is not, however,
permanent, but gradually passes into yellow, green, and blue.
The same property is also said to be possessed by the alcoholic
extract of Calabar bean.

Medical Properties and Uses. — From the experiments of Dr
Fraser and others, it has been proved that Calabar bean is a
powerful sedative of the spinal cord, producing in over- doses
paralysis of the lower extremities and death by asphyxia, or in
still larger doses, death by paralysis of the heart. When applied
locally to the eye, it rapidly induces contraction of the pupil.
The principal use of the Calabar bean is as a local application to
the eye, to cause contraction of the pupil, in certain diseases and
injuries of that organ. It has also been given internally in small
doses, and with some benefit, in tetanus, chorea, epilepsy, and
other nervous affections ; also in the treatment of strychnia
poisoning, general paralysis of the insane, and other affections.

80 PHYSOSTIGMA VENENOSUM

The physiological antagonism of atropia and physostigma would
also direct attention to the use of the latter in poisoning by the
former. Atropia has also been found useful in poisoning by the
Calabar bean.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., p. 842 ; Pharmacographia, p. 167 ;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 669; Journ. de Pharm., 1864,
p. 277 ; Ohem. News, 22 March, 1867, p. 149 ; Mayer, Amer.
Journ. Pharm., 1865, p. 173 ; Comptes Rendus, 1865, p. 1194 ;
Edin. Journ. Med. Science, vol. xx, p. 193 ; Pharm. Jl., vol. xiv,
p. 470; Fraser, in Edin. Med. Journ., July, 1863, p. 36 ; Robert-
son, Edin. Med. Journ., March, 1863, p. 815 ; Bouchat, Bull.
Gener. de Therap., 1875.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

The flowering branch from a specimen in spirit collected at Old Calabar,
in the collection of the late D. Hanbury ; the fruit from a specimen in the
British Museum, collected at Old Calabar by the Rev. Z. Baillie.

1. A flowering branch.

2. Pistil, half of the calyx removed.

3. Terminal part of style and appendage.

4. Transverse section through the appendage.

5. A pod.

6. 7. Seeds.

8. Transverse section of a dry seed.

9. Base of one cotyledon, showing radicle and plumule.

(3, 4 and 9 enlarged.)

D. Blair ad sice del at KtL.

M&N-Hantiari i

PTEROCARPUS MARSUPIUM, Roxt>

81

N. Ord. LEGUMINOSJS.
Tribe DalbergiecK.

Genus Pterocarpus,* Linn. B. & H., Gen., i, p. 547; Baill.,
1. c., p. 319. Species 15, inhabiting tropical Asia, Africa,

and America.

81. Pterocarpus Marsupium,t Roxburgh, Plants of Coromandel,

ii,p. 9 (1798).

Vengay (Tamil). Buja (Bengal). Bastard Teak.
Figures.— Roxburgh, 1. c., t. 116; Beddome, PI. Sylvatica, t. 21.

Description. — -A large deciduous tree with an erect trunk 6 — 8
feet in girth and numerous spreading horizontal branches, bark
brownish-grey, coming off in flakes, the inner bark fibrous, red.
Leaves abundant, alternate, without stipules (?), unequally pinnate,
petioles round, slender, slightly thickened at the base ; leaflets
5 to 7, alternate, on short thickened stalks, oval or oblong-ovate,
2 — 4 inches long, blunt or subacute, emarginate, entire, cori-
aceous, smooth, dark green and shining when full grown, with
numerous lateral veins connected by raised reticulations. Flowers
rather small, in lax terminal or axillary paniculate racemes,
shortly stalked, the peduncles and pedicels more or less silky with
adpressed hairs, bracts minute deciduous, buds curved. Calyx
tubular- campanulate with 5 short nearly equal blunt teeth, very
shortly silky. Corolla papilionaceous, petals nearly equal with
long claws, wavy at the margins, pale yellow; standard narrow,
recurved, wings free, turned down, keel-petals connected in front,
curved upwards. Stamens 10, filaments monadelphous, forming a
tube for about half their length, sometimes split into 2 bundles
of 5 stamens, anthers small. Pistil small, stipitate, hairy, style
pointed. Pod indehiscent, stalked, greatly compressed, orbicular,
1 — 14 inch wide, falcate the style having become lateral, hard,
leathery, finely silky, with a broad, crisped, veined, parchment-

* Name from irnpov, a wing, and KapTrog, fruit, from the winged legumes.
f Mar sup ium, a pouch, from the shape of the fruit.

81 PTEROCARPUS MARSUPIUM

like wing. Seed solitary, kidney- shaped, or two separated by a
strong partition, without endosperm.

Habitat. — This fine timber tree grows in the forests of
Southern and Central India, where it was formerly common, but
has become nearly extirpated in many places, and large trees are
now rare. It is also found in Ceylon. The flowers appear in
May and June.

Roxb., Fl. Indica, iii, p. 234; Brandis, Forest Fl. Ind., p. 152;
Royle, in Pharm. Journ., v (1846), p. 495; Lindl., Fl. Mod.,
p. 256.

Official Part and Name. — KINO ; the inspissated juice obtained
from incisions made in the trunk (B. P.). The inspissated
juice obtained from incisions in the trunk (Kino) (I. P.). KINO;
the inspissated juice of Pterocarpus Marsupium, and of other
plants (U. S. P.).

Varieties of Kino. — The term kino is applied to the juice of
the tree now under consideration, as well as to that of other
plants, inspissated without artificial heat. Several varieties are
known to pharmacologists ; but those commonly distinguished in
Europe, the United States, and India, are as follows : — 1 . Malabar
or East Indian Kino, from Pterocarpus Marsupium, D. G. ; 2.
African or Gambia Kino, from Pterocarpus erinaceus, Poiret ; 3.
Butea, Bengal, Palas or Pulas Kino, or Butea Chim, from Butea
frondosa, Roxb., and allied species of Butea ; 4. Botany Bay, Aus-
tralian, or Eucalyptus Kino, from numerous species of Euca-
lyptus ; 5. West Indian or Jamaica Kino, from Coccoloba uvifera,
L. -, and 6. South American or Caracas Kino, which is supposed by
some authors to be the same kind as that described by Guibourt,
under the name of Columbian Kino. The botanical source of the
latter variety is not known with certainty ; though believed by
Wood and Bache to be derived from the same plant as that
yielding West Indian Kino. Some of these varieties of kino have
the appearance of extracts, rather than that of juices inspissated
without artificial heat, to which the term kino is only strictly
applicable. All of them have similar medical properties, and

81 PTEROCARPUS MARSUPIUM

analogous chemical characters, and some have a considerable
similarity of appearance. In the British Pharmacopoeia Malabar
or East Indian Kino is alone official ; in the Pharmacopoeia of
India, this kind as well as Bengal or Butea Kino are recognised ;
while in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States, East Indian
Kino, and also that of other plants are official. Our future remarks
in this article will refer simply to Malabar or East Indian Kino,
but the more important of the other varieties are described under
the plants yielding them.

MALABAK OR EAST INDIAN KINO. — Extraction and Commerce. —
This kind of kino derives its name from being obtained in the
forests of Malabar, where permission is granted by government
for its collection, on the payment of a small fee. In order to,
obtain it, the trees are incised as follows : — A perpendicular
incision, with lateral ones leading into it, is made in the trunk,
when the juice, which has the appearance of red currant jelly,
exudes, and is collected by placing a suitable vessel at the lower
end of the incision. This juice is then dried by exposure to the
sun and air, and subsequently packed in wooden boxes for expor-
tation. The amount of kino exported from Malabar is -said not
to exceed two tons annually.

General Characters and Composition. — Malabar kino is found in
small, angular, very brittle, glistening fragments, of a reddish-
black colour. When entire the fragments are opaque ; but in thin
laminae and at the edges they are transparent, and of a ruby-red
colour. They are without odour; but with a very astringent
taste; and when chewed they stick to the teeth, and tinge the
saliva blood-red. Kino is partially dissolved by cold water,
more readily by boiling water, and almost entirely soluble in
spirit of wine of specific gravity 0*838. All these solutions have
a red colour, the intensity of which will depend upon the quantity
of kino taken up ; the solution in boiling water becomes turbid on
cooling, and deposits a red sediment. The spirituous solution has
an acid reaction on litmus paper ; and when long kept it fre-
quently assumes a gelatinous condition. Kino is altogether
insoluble in ether.

81 PTEROCARPUS MARSUPIUM

In a chemical point of view kino closely resembles Pegu
Catechu derived from Acacia Catechu/ Willd., and Pale Catechu
from Uncaria Gambier, Roxb., both of which are described under
the plants yielding them. Its essential constituents are catechin
or probably pyrocatechin, kino-tannic acid, and kino-red.

Medical Properties and Use.^-In its action kino is closely allied
to catechu, but on account of its comparative insolubility it is less-''
astringent, and is, therefore, commonly regarded as less effective.
It may be used, however, in all cases where tannin is indicated,
that is, internally in diarrhoea and pyrosis ; in the form of a gargle
in relaxed throat ; as an injection in leucorrhcea, &c. ; and as a
topical application to indolent and flabby ulcers.

Kino is also used in the manufacture of wines ; and would be
valuable as a tanning and dyeing agent if it could be obtained at a
moderate price.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 325 ; Pharmacographia, p. 171 ;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 509; Royle, Pharm. Journ., vol. v,
1st ser., p. 4>95 ; Daniell, Pharm. Journ., 1st ser., vol. xiv, p. 55 ;
Cleghorn, Forests and Gardens of South India, p. 13 (1861).

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from specimens in the British Museum ; the fruit collected in India
by Roxburgh, the flowering branch by Thwaites in Ceylon (no. 1495).

1. A branch with flowers.

2. A flower.

3. The petals separated.

4. The tube of stamens.

5. Fruit.

(2-4 enlarged.)

D.Blair. ad sice daL etlL-tk.

M&W.Hariart

82

N. Ord. LEGUMINOS-E.
Tribe Dalbergiea.

Genus Pterocarpus, Linn.

82. Pterocarpus santalinus,* Linn. /., Suppl. PL, p. 318

(1781).

Chandam. Chundana. Red Sanders Wood. Ruby Wood.

Figures. — Woodville, t. 156 (drawn from Koenig's specimen in Herb.
Banks) ; Beddome, Fl. Sylvatica, t. 22.

Description. — A small tree about 20 to 25 feet high, the trunks
of very old and hollow ones reaching as much as 4£ feet in
circumference. Leaves alternate, without stipules, on round
downy petioles, always trifoliolate ; leaflets articulated, the lower
pair alternate or sub-opposite, all on short stalks, broadly oval or
sub -orbicular, rounded at both ends and deeply emarginate,
2 — 6 inches long, coriaceous, slightly silky below, veins numer-
ous, not prominent. Flowers much as in P. Marsupium, but a
little smaller, and the petals less crisped, yellow ; stamens diadel-
phous in 2 bundles of 5 each. Pod very like that of the last,
but with a less crisped wing and a longer stalk, downy. Seeds
2 or solitary.

Habitat. — The Red Sanders Wood is a rare tree found in abund-
ance only in a few parts of the Madras Presidency, on low hills,
and nowhere else in India. It is readily distinguished from
P. Marsupium by its constantly trifoliolate and broader leaf-
lets. Plantations have been formed for its cultivation in S.
India.

Eoxb., Fl. Ind., iii, p. 234; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 257.

* Sanialinus, referring to its name of red Sandal wood, which all its Indian
titles signify, though it bears no relationship to Santalum.

82 PTEROCARPUS SANTALINUS

Official Part and Names. — PTEROCARPI LIGNUM ; the wood
(B. P.). The wood (Lignum Santalinum rubrum) (I. P.).
SANTALUM ; the wood (U. S. P.).

General Characters and Composition. — Red Sandal Wood, Red
Sanders or Saunders Wood, is generally imported from Ceylon;
and as found in English commerce, it is principally obtained from
the lower parts of the stem, and from the thick roots. It occurs
in roundish, somewhat angular, or irregular logs or billets, which
are without bark and sapwood, from about three to five feet in
length, and in some cases as thick as a man's thigh, although
usually much smaller. These billets are heavy, dense, externally
dark reddish- or blackish-brown, and internally, if cut trans-
versely, of a deep blood-red, variegated with zones of a lighter
red colour. The wood is usually found in the pharmacies in the
form of raspings, chips, or coarse powder, of a deep reddish-
brown colour. Red Sandal Wood has a very slightly astringent
taste, and is almost odourless, although when rubbed it has a
faint peculiar smell.

The colouring principle of red sandal wood is almost insoluble
in water, either hot or cold, and also in fixed oils, such as almond
and olive ; but it is readily soluble in ether, alcohol, concentrated
acetic acid, and alkaline solutions, and forms deep coloured
solutions. It is also insoluble in oil of turpentine ; but partially
soluble in some of the essential oils, as those of lavender, rose-
mary, cloves, and oil of bitter almonds. This colouring principle,
which is termed santalic acid or santalin, is a resinous ruby-
coloured substance, without taste or odour, fusing at 202°, and form-
ing uncrystallisable salts with alkalies. Weidel also obtained from
the wood a minute quantity of colourless, tasteless crystals, which
he called santal. The wood also contains a small quantity of some
kind of tannin, probably kino-tannic acid.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Although much used in India as
an astringent, it can scarcely be said to have any virtue as
a medicine, but to be simply useful as a colouring agent.

The chief use of red sanders wood is as a dye stuff. Thus in
India it is employed mixed with sapan wood, for dyeing silk,

82 PTEEOCARPUS SANTALINUS

cotton, and wool, to which it imparts reds of various shades,
according to the kind of mordant used.

Pharmacogruphia, p. 175; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 772;
Ginelin's Chemistry, vol. xvi, p. 259 ; Uve's Diet. Arts, vol. iii,
p. 631 ; Ainer. Journ. Pharm., Jan., I860, p. 6,

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from Indian specimens in the British Museum, collected by Koenig
and by Hamilton ; the section of the fruit added from Beddome's figure.

1. A flowering branch.

2. Petals separated.

3. Calyx with stamens and pistil.

4. Section of the same.

5. Fruit.

6. Section of the same.

(2-4 enlarged.)

D Blur axi sice iel.etjjta.

N.Jb •

HEMIDESMUS INDICUS,5.Br.

174

N. Ord. ASCLEPIADACE^. Lindl., Veg. K., p. 623; Le Maout

& Dec., p. 551.
Tribe Periplocece.

Genus Hemidesmus,* R. Br. DC. Prod., viii,p.494. Species
3, natives of India.

174. Hemidesmus indicus, R. Brown, in Mem. Werner. Soc.,

\,p. 56 (1811).

Nunnari. Indian Sarsaparilla.

Syn. — Periploca indica, Willd. P. emetica, Eetz. Asclepias Pseudo-
Sarsa, Roxb.

Figures.— Rheede, Hort. Malab., x, t. 34; Delessert, le. Select., v, t. 55 ;
Wight, Ic. PI. Ind. Or., ii, t. 594; Burman, Thes. Zeylan., t. 83, f. 1.

Description. — A twining shrub with numerous very slender,
woody, diffuse, smooth stems, and a slender, slightly branched,
tortuous root; branches much elongated, whip-like, simple,
smooth. Leaves opposite, very shortly stalked, dark-green,
smooth, shining, variable in form, ovate, oval, oblong, lanceolate
or almost linear, usually broadest on the upper branches, acute at
the apex, margin entire ; stipules very small, caducous. Flowers
small, in little clusters of 5 or 6 in the axils of the leaves, shortly
stalked, the pedicel with several imbricated, acute, ovate,
minutely laciniated bracts, Calyx very deeply divided into 5
ovate, acute segments with a strong midrib, finely ciliated,
imbricate. Corolla rotate, very deeply 5-cleft, the segments
ovate, acute, valvate, texture leathery, deep purple and wrinkled
within, green outside, the short tube with a prominent laterally com-
pressed rounded ridge alternating with the segments. Stamens 5,
inserted at the very base of the corolla-tube immediately behind
the prominent ridges ; filaments long, slender, free for their whole
length,f connectives wide, prolonged beyond the anthers into

* Name from 17^1, half, and foo>ioj;, a bond, from the partial connection of
the stamens.

f So in the specimen examined. Brown, however, found them " basi
connata," and this is probably their usual condition.

174 HEMIDESMUS INDICUS

triangular inflexed appendages, which are united by their margins
to form a horizontal cover to the stigma; anther-cells small, in
contact with but fiee from the stigma, smooth; pollen collected
into masses, 2 in each cell, and becoming attached in fours to the
dilated apex of each angle of the stigma. Ovaries 2, small, com-
pressed ; styles united to form a short, thick, tapering body ;
stigma large, thick, capitate, bluntly pentagonous, smooth, the
top slightly raised in the centre. Fruit of 2 widely divaricated
follicles, about 4 inches long, straight, linear, tapering, smooth,
dehiscing along the ventral suture. Seeds numerous, overlapping,
elongated, brownish-black, provided with a long tuft of white
hairs at the hilum ; embryo straight, in scanty endosperm.

Habitat. — This grows throughout the Indian Peninsula, and is
a common and well-known plant, being found in uncultivated
places everywhere. The great variety in the form of the leaves
is remarkable, and led the native Hindoos to make two species of
the plant, but every variety of leaf may be found on stems
coming off from one root.

Roxb., PL India, ii, p. 39; Decaisne, in DC. Prod., viii, p. 494;
Lindl., PL Med., p. 543.

Official Part and Name. — HEMIDESMI RADIX ; the dried root
(B. P.). The root (Eemidesmi Radix) (I. P.). It is not official
in the Pharmacopoeia of the United States.

General Characters and Composition. — Hemidesmus root is
imported from India. It is commonly known under the name of
Indian Sarsaparilla ; and also in India as Nunnari Root. It
occurs in pieces of various lengths, but rarely less than 6 inches ;
and commonly from about \ to i an inch in thickness, although
thicker roots are sometimes to be found. The roots are more or
less twisted, unbranched or furnished with a few small rootlets,
cylindrical, furrowed longitudinally, and the cortical portion
divided transversely so as to form annular cracks. It has a
yellowish-brown or dark brown colour externally ; a peculiar
fragrant odour, resembling that of melilot or the tonquin bean ;
and a sweetish agreeable taste, combined with a very slight

174 HEMIDESMUS INDICUS

acridity. A transverse section shows that the root is composed
of a thin cortical portion, which is of a corky texture, somewhat
mealy, and commonly of a white or brownish colour; and a
yellowish woody centre (meditullium), which is separated from
the cortical portion by a narrow dark wavy ring, representing the
cambium layer.

The root as found in commerce is frequently of bad quality,
and in many cases has portions of the aerial stems attached;
these are almost tasteless and inodorous, and inferior in properties
to the root. Waring says that the fresher the root the greater
is its efficacy.

No satisfactory chemical examination of hemidesmus root has
as yet been made. Its properties are said to depend upon a
volatile oil and a peculiar crystallisable principle called hemides-
mine ; but according to Christison and Dr. Scott, of Madras, the
latter substance is only a stearoptene.

Medical Properties and Uses. — In India it is regarded as pos-
sessing similar properties to sarsaparilla, and is employed as a
substitute for that substance, as an alterative, tonic, diuretic, and
diaphoretic. Waring, in the Pharmacopoeia of India, speaks highly
of its value, more especially of that of the fresh root ; but in
this country and in the United States of America it is but little
esteemed.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., p. 660; Pharmacographia, p. 379;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 451 ; Pharmacopoeia of India,
pp. 140 and 457.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from specimens in the Britisl] Museum, collected at Tranquebar
and Ceylon. 1. A young flowering stem. 2. Portion of another branch, with
fruit. 3. A single flower. 4. Base of corolla, showing the androecium.
5. Summit of the androecium, showing the united anther-processes. 6. Calyx
and pistil (the ovaries and styles should have been shown to be separated).
7. Anther in the bud. 8. Hooded appendix, containing the pollen masses.
9. The same expanded. 10. A seed. (3-6 enlarged ; 7-9 after Delessert.)

10

N. Ord. MAGNOLIACE^. Lindl., Veg. K., p. 417 ; Le Maout & Dec.,

p. 192; BailL, Hist. PI., vol. i.
Tribe Winterea.

Genus Illicium,* Linn. B. & H., Gen., i, p. 18 ; Baill., 1. c.,
p. 183. Species 5, natives of Asia and North America.

10. Ulicium anisatum,t Linn., Sp. Plant, ed. 2, p. 664 (1764).

Star-Anise. Skimmi (Japan).

Syn. — I. religiosum, Siebold & Zuccarini.

Figures.— Nees, t. 371; Hayne, xii, t. 29; Berg & Sch., t. 30 f; Bot.
Mag., t. 3965 ; Sieb. & Zuccar., Fl. Japon., i, 1. 1 ; Miers, Contrib. Bot.,
i, t. 27 c; BailL, Hist. PL, i, figs. 195-199.

Description. — A small tree reaching about 20 feet high,
much branched, with smooth, round branches, young twigs
marked with the scars of fallen leaves and spotted with brown.
Leaves evergreen, alternate, rather crowded, without stipules,
stalked, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, tapering and pointed at
both ends, quite entire, smooth, shining, thick, with minute
pellucid dots, the lateral veins scarcely visible, 2 — 3 inches
long, on the young shoots much larger, 5 — 6 inches long.
Flowers on the young shoots of the year apparently terminal,
afterwards axillary, and sometimes coming from the old wood,
solitary, or in clusters of threes, shortly stalked, the pedicel sur-
rounded at the base with about six rounded, slightly ciliated
bracts, faintly sweet-scented. Sepals 3 — 6, roundish, caducous,
membranous, petaloid, imbricated. Petals about 24 (but varying
in number), imbricated in three or more series, spreading,
narrow- oblong, blunt, gradually smaller towards the centre, deci-
duous, pale greenish-yellow. Stamens indefinite (often about J6
or 20) in several rows, hypogynous ; filaments thick, short, dilated ;
anthers adnate, introrse, dehiscing laterally. Carpels 5 — 15 (often
8) in a single whorl, free, erect, compressed, 1 -celled ; style

* Illicium, an allurement, from the odour and attractive appearance,
f Anisatum, from the scent of the fruit, like Anise.

10 1LLICIUM ANISATUM

slender, short, slightly recurved, with the brownish stigma on its
ventral surface. Fruit consisting of 8 or more coriaceous- woody,
wrinkled, boat-shaped, more or less beaked, orange-brown follicles
arranged in a radiated, spreading circle, and attached by their bases
to a central axis, dehiscing along their ventral (upper) margin by
a broad chink, internally bright yellow and shining. Seed soli-
tary, in a cavity scooped out in the lower part of the carpel,
attached to the axis, ovoid, compressed, polished and shining,
hilum large, embryo very small, immersed in the abundant endo-
sperm near the hilum.

Habitat. — This shrub is planted in the neighbourhood of the
temples in Japan and is cultivated in China. In the former it
was first collected by Kaempfer and Thunberg, in the latter
by Loureiro. The plants of the two countries have been
considered to be different species in consequence of the fruits
of the Japanese tree being somewhat less rough, and having
a sharper and more recurved beak. It is now, however, gene-
rally held (Miquel, Baillon) that the differences are of but
little value. As cultivated in England, where it was introduced
in 1842, it is found to vary in the size of the flowers and
leaves. It produces abundance of its pretty scented blossoms
from January to April, and sometimes also in the autumn.

Kaempfer, Amcen. Exotic. (1712), p. 880; Loureiro, Fl. Cochin, i,
p. 353; DC. Syst. Veg., i, p. 441 ; Adansonia, viii (1867), p. 1 ;
Franchet &, Savatier, Enum. PL Jap., i, p. 15; Lindl., FL
Med., p. 25.

Official Parts and Names. — OLEUM ANISI ; the oil distilled in
Europe from the fruit of Pimpinella Anisum, Linn., and the oil
distilled in China from the fruit of Illicium anisatum, Linn.
(B. P.). The fruit (Star Anise) (I. P.) Not official in the
United States Pharmacopoeia ; the official oil of anise being there
directed to be obtained from Pimpinella Anisum only.

1. THE FEUIT. — The fruit of Illicium anisatum is commonly
termed Star- Anise, from its stellately-arranged carpels. In its

10 ILLICIUM ANISATUM

dried state, as seen in commerce, it is composed of generally 8, or
rarely 9 or more carpels, which are arranged nearly horizontally
in a single row, and diverging from one another from the short
central column, to which they are attached, in a star-like manner.
This rcentral column is commonly placed upon a short, more or less
oblique stalk or pedicel. Each carpel is boat-shaped, more or less
beaked at its apex, irregularly wrinkled below, of a rusty or
reddish-brown colour, and commonly split open on its upper
margin, so as to expose the solitary seed which it contains. The
seed is nearly oval in shape, oblique at the base, somewhat
compressed, smooth and shining, and of a brownish-red colour.
Star-anise has a pleasant aromatic odour and taste, resembling
a mixture of fennel and anise. Fliickiger and Hanbury state
that the seeds are not aromatic, but this does not accord with our
experience, for we find them distinctly so in commercial speci-
mens. Star-anise is imported into Europe, the United States, and
India, from China. Formerly it was brought to Europe by way of
Russia, and hence the names by which it was then designated,
Cardamomum Siberiense and Anis de Siberie.

2. OLEUM ANISI. Oil of Anise. — In the British and Indian
Pharmacopoeias, as above noticed, oil of anise is directed to be
obtained from the fruit of the plant now under notice, and from the
fruit of Pimpinella Anisum ; while in the United States Pharma-
copoeia the oil from the latter plant is alone official. Oil of Star-
Anise is sometimes known as Oleum Badiani. It is imported from
China. The amount of volatile oil which may be obtained from
star-anise has been variously stated at from 2 '8 to 5 per cent. ; the
average quantity being probably about 4 per cent. In its general
characters and composition it closely resembles the oil of anise
obtained from the fruit of Pimpinella Anisum ; indeed, Fliickiger
and Hanbury say, " We are unable to give characters by which
they can be discriminated, although they are distinguished by
dealers." Oil of Star-anise is now largely used in this country
in place of the European oil of anise, and in the United States of
America, although not official, as already mentioned, it is said to
have almost entirely -superseded the latter oil, to which it is by

10 ILLICIUM ANISATUM

many regarded as much, superior. The general characters and
composition of oil of anise are described under Pimpinella
Anisum.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The medical properties and uses
of oil of anise are given under Pimpinella Anisum.

Star- Anise fruit is much esteemed in India and China. It is a
great deal employed on the Continent, more especially in Italy,
France, and Germany, to flavour spirits.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, pp. 163 and 677 ; Pharmacographia,
p. 20; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 1303; Ph. Jl., vol. v, 2nd
ser., p. 484.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a plant at Kew Gardens in flower in January ; the fruit from
Chinese specimens in the British Museum.

1. A flowering branch.

2. Vertical section of flower.

3. Back, and — 4. Front view of stamens.

5. Pistil and receptacle.

6. Ripe fruit, back view.

7. The same seen from above.

8. A carpel opened, showing the seed.

9. Seed.

10. Section of the same.

(2-5, 8, 9 enlarged.)

D.Blair ad aacc.deletlitii.

T-:S

POLYGALA SENEGA, Lirvn/,

29

N. Ord. POLYGALACE^. Lindl., Veg. K., p. 375 ; Le Maout & Dec.,

p. 249; Baill., Hist. PL, vol. v.

Genus Polygala,* Linn. B. & H., Gen., i, p. 136; Baill., 1. c.,
p. 87. Species about 200 or more, natives of all parts of the
world in temperate and warm countries.

29. Polygala Senega, f Linn., Sp. Plant., ed. I, p. 704 (1753).
Rattlesnake-root. Seneca Snake-root.

Figures. — Woodville, t. 162?; Barton, ii, t. 36, cop. in Steph. & Ch.,
t. 103; Bigelow, t. 30; Nees, t. 412; Hayne, xiii, t. 21 ; Berg & Sch.,
t. 10 a; Bot. Mag., 1. 1051; Gray, 111. Gen. U. S., t. 183.

Description. — A perennial herb, with numerous slender, wiry,
erect, smooth, simple stems, 6 — 12 inches nigh, coming off from
the somewhat dilated knotty crown of a thick, hard, contorted,
slightly branched, irregular root. Leaves very small at the base
of the stems, becoming larger upwards, alternate, sessile, exsti-
pulate, narrowly lanceolate, acute at both ends, smooth, the
margins rather rough, pale below. Flowers small, numerous,
shortly stalked, crowded in a narrow terminal spike \ — 2 inches
long. Sepals 5, persistent, of which the upper one and two lower
are small, green, lanceolate, and acute, and the two lateral (inner)
ones (wings) large, petaloid, slightly veined, orbicular and
concave, enclosing the petals. Petals 3, hypogynous, united
below, the two lateral oblong, blunt, veiny, the lower one cup-
shaped, and provided at the end on the exterior with a tuft of
filiform processes (crest). Stamens 8, lying in the lower petal,
united into two bundles of 4 (diadelphous), the bundles fused
below with the petals, free above ; anthers very small, 1 -celled,
opening by a pore at the apex. Ovary laterally compressed, 2-
celled by a transverse partition, with one pendulous ovule in either
cell; style large, curved upwards into a thick blunt beak. Fruit

* Polygala, from TroXvf , much, and yaXa, milk ; from the supposed effects.
f Senega, from the Seneca tribe of North American Indians, among whom
the plant was used as a remedy for snake-bites.

29 POLTGALA SENEGA

a small 2-celled capsule, partially covered by the persistent calyx-
wings, dehiscing loculicidally. Seeds 2, black, hairy, with a white
caruncle extending from the hilum along the inner side almost
to the other end of the seed ; embryo in the axis of scanty endo-
sperm, straight, with flat cotyledons.

Habitat. — A native of North America, extending from the
northern parts of Canada, through the Northern United States
southward, to North Carolina and Tenessee, found in woods and
growing in dry rocky soil. It flowers in May and June, is quite
hardy, and was formerly in cultivation in our botanic gardens,
but is not now to be met with in those to which we have had
access.

Hook., PI. Bor. Am., i, p. 85 ; Gray, Man. Bot. U. S., p. 122 ;
Chapman, PI. South. States, p. 85 ; LindL, Med. Bot., p. 125.

Official Part and Names. — SENEGA RADIX ; the dried root (B. P.).
The dried root (Senega Radix) (I. P.). SENEGA; the root
(U. S.P.).

Collection. — It is collected for use in the southern and western
parts of the United States, whence it is forwarded to Europe
and other parts of the world.

General Characters and Composition. — Senega, Seneka, or
Seneca root, or as it is sometimes termed Seneka Snake-Hoot,
varies in thickness from that of a straw to that of the little finger ;
it is tapering, branched, twisted or somewhat spiral, and ter-
minated at its upper end in a thick irregular knotty crown or
tuberosity, which exhibits traces of numerous wiry aerial stems,
and scaly rudimentary leaves. A projecting line or keel- shaped
sinewy looking ridge extends along the whole length of the con-
cave side of the root. The bark is more or less wrinkled, some-
what knotted, transversely cracked so as to be partially annulated,
horny, translucent, and varying in colour from light yellowish-
grey in the branches and smaller roots to brownish-grey in the
larger pieces. The bark surrounds a white central woody column
or meditullium, which is about the same thickness as itself. Senega
root is brittle, and presents a short fracture ; its odour is peculiar,

29 POLYGALA SENEGA

disagreeable, and rancid; and its taste at first sweetish, but
ultimately very acrid and sourish, and when chewed exciting cough
and salivation. The odour and taste reside entirely in the bark
or cortical portion, the meditullium being quite inert.

Senega root owes its properties essentially to the presence of a
peculiar principle which has been termed senegin or polygalic acid,
which is said to be closely allied to saponin. Senega root also
contains a little volatile oil, resin, sugar, and other unimportant
constituents. Senegin is a white amorphous powder, insoluble in
cold water and ether, but soluble in alcohol and boiling water,
with which latter it forms a feebly acid frothy solution. Accord-
ing to Procter, the root yields about 5J per cent, of senegin, which
is present in the bark only. Senegin is a poisonous substance,
with a very acrid taste, and excites violent sneezing. Quevenne
regards it as a glucoside, as it is resolvable by the dilute mineral
acids and alkalies into a jelly-like substance called sapogenin, and
sugar, which remains in solution.

• Adulterations. — Senega root does not appear to be intention-
ally adulterated, but from carelessness in collection some other
roots or rhizomes in small proportion may be frequently found
mixed with it. American Ginseng root, from Panax quinquefolium,
is that most commonly found, and is readily distinguished by its
greater size, more or less fusiform shape, and by the absence
of any projecting line. The roots of Gillenia trifoliata and other
species of Gillenia ; and the rhizome of Cypripedium pubescens
have also been noticed in parcels of senega root. They are
readily distinguished by the absence of any projecting line, and
by their different taste and odour.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Senega root was introduced into
practice as a remedy for the bite of the rattlesnake, but it is now
known to be useless in such a case, and also in the bites of other
venomous reptiles. Senega root appears to excite, more or less,
nearly all the secretions, acting as a sialagogue, diaphoretic, expec-
torant, diuretic, and emmenagogue, in moderate doses ; and as an
emetic and cathartic in large doses. It is, however, chiefly
employed as a stimulating expectorant. It has been much used,

29 POLYGALA SENEGA

and is regarded generally as a valuable remedy in chronic bron-
chitis and chronic pneumonia. It has also been employed in
croup, whooping-cough, humoral' asthma, dropsy depending on
kidney disease, palpitations connected with disease of the heart,
amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, rheumatism, and other diseases. It
is frequently combined with great advantage with carbonate of
ammonia, as in chronic bronchitis, and also with other expecto-
rants and diuretics, as squill, &c.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 566 ; Pharmacographia, p. 72 ;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 795; Garr., Mat. Med., p. 211;
Journ. de Pharm., vol. xxii, p. 449, and vol. xxiii, p. 227;
Amer. Journ. Pharm., vol. xxvii, p. 45, and March, 1860, p. 150.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from specimens in the British Museum collected in Virginia and
Ohio, U. S. A.

1. Upper part *f a flowering stem.

2. Lower portion of a plant.

3. Calyx seen from below.

4. Vertical section of the flower.

5. Corolla and stamens seen from above.

6. Plan of tlie flower.

7. Capsule.

8. Vertical, and — 9. Transverse section of the same.
10, 11. Seed, showing the caruncle.

12. Vertical, and — 13. Transverse section of seed.

(3-13 enlarged.)

D, Blair ad nat.deleblib'h.

M^NUanhart, imp

CAMELLIA

34

N. Ord. TERNSTROEMIACE.ZE. Lindl., Veg. K., p. 396 ; Le Maout

and Dec., p. 271 ; Baill., Hist. PI., vol. iv.
Tribe Gordoniete.

Genus Camellia,* Linn, (including Thea, Linn.). B. & H.,
Gen., i, p. 187; Baill., 1. c., p. 227 (Thea). Species 15 or
more, growing in tropical and eastern Asia and the Indian
Archipelago.

34. Camellia Thea,f Link, Enum. Plant. Hort. Reg. Bet. Berol.
. Alt., ii, p. 73 (1822).

Tea.

Syn. — Thea chinensis, Linn. T. viridis, Linn. T. Bohea, Linn. T.
stricta, Hayne. T. Assamica, Masters. Camellia theifera, Griffith
(1838).

Figures.— Woodville, t. 225; Hayne, vii, tt. 27, 28,29; Nees, tt. 426-
28 ; Bot. Mag., tt. 998 and 3148 ; Griffith, Notulse ad Plant. Asiat., iv,
t. 601, f. 1 and 3; Trans. Linn. Soc., xxii, t. 61 (Assam plant); Baill.,
1. c., figs. 244—250.

Description. — A small, much-bran ched, evergreen shrub, with
slender branches covered with a smooth pale-brown bark ; young
twigs and buds downy. Leaves alternate, shortly stalked, some-
what variable in form and size, usually 2 — 4 inches long, oval or
lanceolate, pointed at each end or bluntish. and emarginate at the
apex, irregularly and rather distantly dentate- serrate except at
the base, thick, smooth and shining on both sides or slightly
downy beneath, dark green, paler below, veins strongly marked
with the leaf convex and rather bullate in the intervals. Flowers
solitary or two or three together on short branchlets in the leaf-
axils, somewhat drooping, on short stalks with a few small bracts,

* George Joseph Camel, or Camelli, was a Dutch Jesuit missionary in
Luzon, and a first-rate naturalist. His plants, drawings, and descriptions
were sent to Holland in 1700, afterwards came in the hands of Petiver, and
are now in the British Museum.

f Thea, a Latin rendering of the Chinese Teh, and first employed by
Kaempfer. " Nomen barbarum," says Linnaeus, who retained it, however, for
this divine plant, as though Thea might mean Dea (see Hort. Cliff., p. 205).

34 CAMELLIA THEA

about 1 or 1^ inch wide. Sepals 5, imbricate, slightly united
below, ovate or rounded, blunt, smooth, persistent. Petals usually
5, often more, up to 9, rather unequal, strongly imbricated,
rounded, concave, spreading, white, caducous. Stamens indefinite,
adherent to the petals at their base in two rows, filaments flexuose,
about half the length of the petals, anthers large, versatile. Ovary
small, free, conical, downy, 3-celled, with 3 or 4 pendulous ovules
in each cell ; styles three, distinct or combined at the base,
slender, with simple stigmas. Fruit a smooth, flattened, rounded-
trigonous, 3-celled capsule, with a thin, brown, woody pericarp
splitting loculicidally. Seed solitary in each cell, as large as a
small nut, rounded on the back with usually flattened sides
marked by impressions of the abortive ovules, testa hard, smooth,
cinnamon brown, brittle, the interior marked with ramifying vessels,
hilum large, nearly circular or oval, inner coat thin, pale brown ;
embryo straight, with large, thick, coalescent, unequal cotyledons,
and a very short radicle at the hilum ; no endosperm.

Habitat. — It is considered probable that the Tea-plant is really
native in Upper Assam, and that it was introduced into China in
very early times from India. Its cultivation on an immense scale is
now carried on in China, several parts of India (especially Assam),
Japan, Java, and the Southern United States. All botanists are now
agreed that the various kinds of tea are the product of a single
species, nor does it appear to vary so much as was formerly supposed.
In the case of a plant so long under cultivation, a considerable range
of form is to be expected. The cultivated races have in many
cases a much more stunted habit than the Assam plant, with
knotty branches, and the leaves frequently much smaller (f inch
long or even less), thicker and more obtuse.

As regards TTiea as a genus distinct from Camellia, Seemann
was of opinion that they could be separated by the staminal
arrangement, but more recent writers have failed to find this
constant, and the persistent sepals and nodding flowers alone are
insufficient distinctions for generic definition. Seemann described
five species under Thea besides the Tea of commerce. Baillon
keeps the name Thea instead of Camellia for the combined genera.

34 CAMELLIA THEA

Well-grown plants are very ornamental, and are common in
botanic gardens; the shrub was introduced in 1768. The flowers
are produced in autumn and winter, but rarely appear here in the
open air.

Seemann in Trans. Linn. Soc., xxii, p. 349 ; PI. Brit. Ind., i,
p. 292; Lindl., PI. Med., p. 349.

Part Used and Name. — THEA, Tea; the dried leaves. To
distinguish it from other Teas it is also called China Tea. It is
not official in either the British, Indian, or United States' Pharma-
copoeia.

Preparation and Kinds of Tea. — There are two well-marked
kinds of Tea distinguished as Black and Green, of each of which
we have several commercial varieties. Thus, of Black Teas, the
best known sorts are, Congou, Souchong, Oolong, Pekoe, and
Caper ; and of Green Teas — Hyson, Hyson Skin, Young Hyson,
Twankay, Imperial, and Gunpowder. Many teas are scented
with the flowers of different plants, as those of the orange,
rose, jasmine, sweet-scented olive, &c. The finest teas, some of
which sell for as much as 50s. per lb., are never forwarded to
this country, but are consumed by the wealthier classes in China
and Russia. It is not within our province to allude to all these
varieties of tea, but only to describe generally the differences
between black and green tea.

Black and Green Tea. — It was formerly supposed that black and
green tea were the produce of distinct plants, but Fortune, Ball,
and others, have proved that both kinds are prepared indiscrimi-
nately from the same plant, the differences between such teas
depending essentially upon their mode of preparation. Thus,
Green Tea is prepared as follows : — first, the leaves are exposed
after they are gathered for from one to two hours to the atmo-
sphere, for the purpose of drying off any superfluous moisture ;
they are then put for four or five minutes into the roasting-pan,
which is heated below with a brisk wood fire, and during which
time they are rapidly moved about by the hands of the workmen.

34 CAMELLIA THEA

In this heating process they becpme quite moist and flaccid,
and give off at the same time a considerable portion of vapour.
They are then removed and placed upon the rolling table, where
they are rolled into balls, and during which process they are sub-
jected to great compression with the object of twisting them,
and at the same time getting rid of a portion of their moisture.
When the leaves have taken the requisite twist they are removed
from the rolling table and shaken out upon flat trays ; after
which they are thrown again into the pan, which is heated by
a slow and steady charcoal fire and where they are kept in rapid
motion by the workmen, and in about an hour or an hour and a
half the leaves are well dried and have assumed a dullish green
colour. The leaves are subsequently winnowed and passed through
sieves of different sizes to get rid of the dust and other im-
purities, and then sorted into the different varieties known as
hyson, twankay, gunpowder, &c. By this time the colour is
more developed, and the finer sorts have become dull blueish-
green.

In the preparation of Black Tea, the leaves after having been
gathered are spread out and allowed to lie exposed to the air for
a considerable time, generally about twelve hours ; they are then
gathered up and tossed about by the workmen until they become
soft and flaccid, after which they are thrown in heaps and allowed
to lie in this state for an hour or more ; they are then put into an
iron pan, where they are roasted for about five minutes, and manipu-
lated as green tea under similar circumstances ; and then rolled.
After being rolled the leaves are shaken out and thinly spread on
sieves, and exposed to the air out of doors for about three hours,
after which they are put for a second time into the roasting pan for
three or four minutes, and then taken out and rolled again as before.
The leaves are subsequently placed in a sieve which is put in a basket,
and exposed in this manner to the heat of a charcoal fire for five
or six minutes ; after which they are rolled for the third time
and again heated in a similar way for a little while longer, and
are finally dried in baskets over a slow charcoal fire, by which
their black colour is fully brought out. They are then sifted,

34 CAMELLIA THEA

picked, and sorted into the different varieties, as congou,
souchong, &c.

The differences, therefore, in the manufacture of green and
black tea are most marked, and fully sufficient to account for
their differences of colour and other peculiarities. Thus, Green
Tea consists of the leaves quickly dried after gathering, so that
their colour and other characters are in a great measure preserved ;
and Black Tea consists of the leaves dried some time after being
gathered, and after they have undergone a kind of fermentation,
by which their original green colour is changed to black, and
other important changes produced. It should be noticed, however,
that a great part of the Green Tea which is exported from China,
and consumed in this country and in Europe generally, and also in
America, is coloured artificially with a mixture of Prussian blue
and gypsum, or indigo and gypsum, to which a little turmeric is
sometimes added. Both black and green teas are also frequently
adulterated with the leaves of different plants, and in other ways,
but the consideration of this subject does not come within our
province.

Commerce and Consumption. — The great tea-producing country
is China, where it is said four millions of acres of ground are
devoted to its cultivation, and the produce annually is estimated
at nearly three thousand millions of pounds. Tea is also largely
produced in Japan, Java, Assam, and other countries. In India it
is also now becoming an important article of commerce ; thus, in
1873 the total produce was over 20,000,000 Ibs., and the value of
tea exported from Calcutta was £1,692,699.

The consumption of tea in all parts of the world must be
enormous, as it is more or less partaken of by probably six
hundred millions of persons, or about one half of the whole human
race. In the United Kingdom the consumption of tea has very
much increased of late years. Thus, in 1840 it was about
50,000,000 Ibs., in 1856 it was 63,000,000 Ibs., in 1867 more
than 100,000,000 Ibs., while in 1873 it amounted to over
132,000,000 Ibs., and it is yearly increasing.

General Characters and Composition. — The different varieties

34 CAMELLIA THEA

of tea vary very much in colour, odour, flavour, strength, and shape
caused by the degree in which their constituent leaves have been
rolled, and in other particulars. These differences arise, more
especially as we have seen, from their different modes of prepara-
tion, and hence they may be all arranged under the two heads of
Green and Black teas. The colour, odour, and taste of both green
and black teas are communicated to hot water, an infusion of the
former having a more or less greenish-yellow colour, a peculiar,
somewhat aromatic odour, and an astringent, feebly pungent, and
agreeably bitter taste ; while an infusion of the latter has a dark
brown colour, a somewhat similar but generally less agreeable
odour, and an astringent, bitterish, but less pungent taste. The
odour, taste, &c., of the different varieties of tea vary, however,
excessively, and are too well known to require further notice
here.

The properties of tea depend essentially on the presence of
a volatile oil, tannic acid, and the alkaloid thein. This alka-
loid is also alluded to under Paullinia sorbilis, where it is said
to be identical with caffein, the alkaloid of coffee, and to be con-
tained in five different substances, namely, tea, coffee, guarana,
Paraguay tea, and Kola-nuts. Cocoa seeds also contain an alkaloid,
as is noticed under Theobroma Cacao, called theobromin, which
closely resembles thein both in its chemical characters and effects.
The amount of volatile oil varies in different teas from about 0'6
to O79 per cent. ; that of tannic acid from 13 to 18 per cent.;
and of thein, from 2 to 4 per cent. Tea also contains about 6 per
cent, of gluten.

Properties and Uses. — The principal use of tea is to form an
agreeable, slightly stimulating, soothing, and refreshing beverage.
It was also formerly believed that tea from the thein it contained,
had the effect of diminishing the waste of the body, and as any
substance that does this necessarily saves food, it was regarded as
indirectly nutritive ; but Dr. Edward Smith has shown that, on
the contrary, tea increases the bodily waste by acting as a
respiratory excitant, and in other ways. From containing
gluten, tea has also been regarded as directly nutritive, but in the

34 CAMELLIA THE A

ordinary mode of making tea this substance is scarcely extracted
in any amount. The action of tea is thus stated by Dr. Edward
Smith : — " It increases the assimilation of food both of the flesh
and heat-forming kinds ; and with abundance of food must
promote nutrition, whilst in the absence of sufficient food it
increases the waste of the body." It is frequently resorted to by
those who desire to produce wakefulness during the night for the
purpose of study, &c. Tea is also a powerful astringent, and
should not, therefore, be taken for some time after animal food,
otherwise it commonly produces dyspepsia, in consequence of the
formation of tannate of gelatine, from the combination of its tannic
acid with the gelatine of the food. In consequence of its astrin-
gent properties the use of tea also frequently causes constipation.
Tea should not be taken as a beverage by those who sleep lightly,
or by those who are liable to hysteria, or palpitation of the heart
from valvular disease.

As a nervine stimulant tea may be taken with great advantage
in headache and neuralgia, and in other affections caused by
exhaustion of the system from depression of nerve power. Its
effects in such cases are said to be analogous to quinia, and hence
tea has also been given in intermittent fevers, &c. It has also
been employed medicinally in the treatment of opium and other
narcotic poisonings ; and in asthma, whooping-cough, and other
spasmodic disorders. For use medicinally green tea is to be
preferred. Experiments show that the effects of tea as a nervine
stimulant are due to thein, as its administration produces
analogous effects on the system, and may be, therefore, used
medicinally in similar cases.

Boyle's Illust. of Himalayan Botany, p. 109; Johnston's Che-
mistry of Common Life, by Lewes, vol. i, p. 168 ; Fortune's
Tea Countries of China, vol. ii, pp. 69 and 233; Bent., Man.
Bot., p. 445; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p, 1708; Boyle's Mat.
Med., by J. Harley, p. 704; Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p.
551; Garr., Mat. Med., p. 220; Warington, in Chem. Gaz.,
1852, p. 238; Watts, Diet. Chem., vol. v, p. 703; Pharm. Jl.,

34 CAMELLIA THEA

vol. iv, p. 37, vol. x, p. 618, and vol. xv, p. 112 ; Amer. Jl.
Med. Sci., April, 1868, p. 525, and Oct., 1868, p. 260.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a plant in cultivation at the Royal Gardens, Kew, in flower in
January.

1. A young shoot with flowers.

2. A petal with the adherent stamens.

3. Attachment of stamens to petal.

4. An anther.

5. Vertical, and — 6. Transverse section of ovary.

7. Fruit.

8. Seed.

9. Section of the same.

(2-6 enlarged.)

MELALEUCA MINOR, Sm

108

N. Ord. MYRTACE.E. Lindl.,Veg. K., p. 734; Le Maout & Dec., p. 422.
Tribe Leptospermece .

Genus Melaleuca,* Linn. B. & H., Gen., i, p. 705. Species over
100, natives of Australia, with a single (?) species widely
spread through tropical Asia.

108. Melaleuca minor, Smith in Bees' Cyclop., vol. xxiii (1813).
Kayu-puti. White-wood. Gajuput.

Syn. — M. Cajuputi, Boxb. M. Leucadendron, var., Benth.

Figures. — Woodville, t. 195 ; Hayne, x, t. 9 ; Nees, t. 300 and Supp. ;
Trans. Med. Bot. Soc. Lond., t. 1, cop. in S. & 0., t. 84, and Woodv.,
vol. v; Berg & Sch., t. 3 c; Rumph., Herb. Amboyn., ii, 1. 17.

Description. — A rather small, irregularly growing tree, with a
smooth, pale yellowish-grey, brittle bark, which splits into
numerous thin layers, and slender flexuose branches. Leaves
alternate or subopposite, when young very silky, when full
grown rigid, tapering below into a very short petiole, blade twisted
vertically, so that its edges look upwards and downwards, 2J — 4
inches long, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, often oblique or falcate,
acute or rather blunt, quite entire, nerved with several parallel
anastomosing veins. Flowers sessile, arranged usually in threes
in terminal interrupted spikes about 2 or 3 inches long,
with a scaly bud at the end, which grows out afterwards into a
leafy branch, the rachis covered with white silky pubescence.
Calyx-tube thick, about | inch long, densely silky, cup-shaped;
lobes 5, short, rounded, somewhat scarious. Petals 5, rounded,
inserted in the mouth of the calyx, spreading, white. Stamens
indefinite, filaments very slender, greatly exceeding the petals,
united into 5 ribband- shaped bundles below, which are inserted in
the mouth of the calyx opposite the petals, anthers small, versa-
tile. Ovary enclosed in the calyx-tube and half inferior, convex
above, with a central hollow from which the filiform style arises,

* Name from jutXae, black, and \tvKOQ, white. Derivation not obvious; said
to be from the different colour of the bark of the trunk and branches.

108 MELALEUCA MINOR

3-celled, ovules numerous, in several rows ascending from large
axile placentas, stigma faintly 3-lobed. Fruit becoming woody
and very hard, sessile on the sides of the branches and remaining
several years, small, rounded, truncate, enclosed in the thickened
calyx-tube, and crowned by its free portion, dehiscing on the
summit loculicidally into three valves, 3-celled. Seeds cuneate,
flattened (many abortive), testa thin, embryo with large thick
cotyledons, no endosperm.

Habitat. — The tree yielding Cajuput oil grows in several of the
East Indian Islands, notably in Celebes, Bouro, and Amboyna, and
perhaps also in the Phillippines, Cochin China, and New Cale-
donia. The leaves vary somewhat in breadth and have a strong
aromatic fragrance. Mr. Bentham considers it a form of M.
Leucadendron, in which he also includes the other East Indian
described species, and remarks that none of the characters sup-
posed to separate them are sufficiently constant or so combined
as to allow of their definition. As, however, it appears that it
is this form only from which the oil is obtained, we have main-
tained the specific name, without intending thereby to express any
opinion as to its distinctness from the common Australian " Tea-
tree/' M. Leucadendron, L. The plant was introduced into the
Eoyal Gardens at Kew in 1775 and is still grown there, where,
however, it does not flower.

Colebrooke, in Trans. Med. Bot. Soc. Loud., i, p. 27 ; Benth., Fl.
Austral., iii, p. 142; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 73.

Official Part and Name. — OLEUM CAJUPUTI ; the oil distilled
from the leaves (B. P.). The oil distilled from the leaves (I. P.).
OLEUM CAJUPUTI ; the volatile oil obtained from the leaves of
Melaleuca Cajuputi, Roxburgh, (U. S. P.).

Extraction and Commerce. — Rumphius states that the leaves are
gathered on a warm day and placed in a sack, where they become
hot and damp. They are then macerated in water and left to
ferment for a night, and afterwards submitted to distillation.
Two sackfuls of the leaves yield only about three fluid drachms
of the oil. Lesson, who visited Bouro, one of the Molucca Islands,

108 MELALEUCA MINOR

in 1823, has thus described the method there adopted for obtain-
ing the oil : — " The leaves are gathered in the latter end of
September, and put into the cucurbit of a copper alembic sur-
mounted by a neck, terminated by a capital without a refrigera-
tory, and a sufficient quantity of water is then added. By dis-
tillation this liquid is made to traverse a worm immersed in a
hogshead filled with water, and is collected in a vessel." Bick-
more, an American traveller, who visited the same island in 1865,
also states that the oil is obtained by submitting the leaves to
distillation with water, the operation being conducted in the most
primitive manner.

Cajuput oil is imported from Singapore and Batavia in glass
beer or wine bottles. By far the largest quantity of oil is obtained
from Celebes, an island on the west of Bouro in the Molucca Sea ;
but some is also imported into Singapore from Java, Manilla,
Bouro, and other places.

General Characters and Composition. — Oil of Cajuput or Cajeput
is a transparent limpid liquid, of a pale blueish-green colour; a
strong, penetrating, agreeable, camphoraceous odour ; and a warm,
bitterish, aromatic, camphoraceous taste, succeeded by a sensation
of coldness in the mouth. It is very volatile and inflammable. Its
specific gravity has been found to vary from 0*914 to 0*930,
averaging probably about 0*926 ; it boils at 343°. It is wholly
soluble in alcohol. The researches of Schmidt and of Gladstone
show that cajuput oil is essentially composed of Bihydrate of
Cajuputene or Cajuputol. Cajuputene is a hydrocarbon, and
possesses an agreeable odour resembling that of hyacinths.

The remarkable green colour of cajuput oil has been attributed
to a salt of copper derived from the vessels in which it
is distilled, but neither Brande, Goertner, nor Pereira could
detect copper in specimens examined by them. Lesson also,
who, as already mentioned, witnessed the process for obtaining
the oil at Bouro, believed the green colour to be natural
to it, and, moreover, Guibourt has proved that the volatile oils
obtained by the distillation of the leaves of several other species
of Melaleuca and of allied plants have naturally a fine green hue.

108 MELALEUCA MINOR

It is clear, therefore, that the green colour is natural to the oil,
but it seems probable that this colour is lost by keeping, and that
it is contaminated by copper in order to make the green colour
permanent ; for whatever may have been the case formerly, it is
certain that traces of copper may be usually found in the cajuput
oil that is now imported.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Cajuput oil is a diffusible stimu-
lant, antispasmodic and diaphoretic when administered internally ;
and externally applied it is rubefacient. It is highly esteemed
by the Malays and other Eastern races ; but it is not much used
in this country. It is, however, generally regarded as an effica-
cious remedy in flatulent colic, hysteria, and painful spasmodic
affections of the bowels. As a diffusible stimulant it has likewise
proved useful in cases marked by depression of the vital powers,
as in low fevers and paralytic affections. In cholera it has been
much vaunted as a remedy, but on insufficient grounds. It has
also been successfully employed in chronic rheumatism, &c.
Externally applied, when mixed with olive oil, it is very service-
able in chronic rheumatism, gouty affections, and in neuralgic and
other painful diseases.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & B,., p. 796; Pharmacographia, p. 247;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 593; Trans. Royal Soc. Edin.,
vol. xii, p. 360 ; Gmelin's Chemistry, vol. xiv, p. 514 ; Histed,
in Pharm. Journ., vol. ii, 3rd ser., p. 804 ; Guibourt, Hist, des
Drog., vol. iii (1869), p. 278.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from specimens in the British Museum Herbarium collected by
Christopher Smith in Amboyna, 1. A small branch with leaves, buds, and
flowers. 2. Vertical section of flower, the upper part of stamens removed.
3. A staminal bundle. 4. Transverse section of ovary. 5. Fruit. 6. Vertical
section of the same. 7. A seed. 8. Old fruit; the growth of the terminal
bud has continued the branch. (2-7 enlarged,)

D .Bla

M&N.Kazibart

UNCARIA

139

K Ord. RUBIACE^E. Lindl., Veg. K, p. 761 (Cinchonacese) ; Le

Maout & Dec., p. 483.
Tribe Naucleece.

Genus TTncaria,* Schreb. B. & H., Gen., ii, p. 31. Species
30, all tropical, one African, another South American, the
rest Indian.

139. Uncaria Gambier,t Roxburgh, Fl. Ind., i, p. 517 (1832).

Syn. — Nauclea Gambir, Hunter.

Figures. — Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond., ix, t. 22, cop. in Hayne, x, t. 3, and
Nees, Supp. ; Berg, Charact., f. 340; Bumph., Herb. Amboyn., v,
t. 34, f. 2, 3; Korthals, Verhandl. Natuur. Gesch. Nedeiiansch.
Bezitt., 1839-42, Bot., t. 34.

Description. — A strong, shrubby climber ; stems rather slender,
slightly thickened at the nodes, cylindrical or somewhat angular,
smooth. Leaves opposite, stalked, readily disarticulating ; stipules
two at each node, interpetiolar, ovate or oblong, entire, blunt,
early caducous, leaving a linear scar after falling ; blade 3 or 4
inches long, ovate or oblong-ovate, rounded at the base, suddenly
narrowed into the attenuate apex, entire or with a very few wide
crenatures, smooth on both surfaces. Flowers small, closely
crowded on small, globular, hairy receptacles at the extremity of
axillary peduncles about an inch long and of singular structure ;
these are smooth, laterally compressed, and taper from a broad
base in their lower half ; half way they are provided with a cup-like
whorl of small bracts, and beyond this become slender, cylindrical,
and finely silky; at the whorl of bracts is an articulation, and
after the fall of the whole inflorescence at this point the broad
lower portions become elongated, very hard, and curved into hooks,
by which the plant climbs. Calyx woolly or silky, the tube united
with the ovary, the limb divided into 5 lanceolate or triangular
teeth. Corolla monopetalous, with a slender tube \ inch long,
widening upwards, and terminating in an open cup with 5 broadly

* Name from uncus, hooked, in reference to the falcate peduncles,
f Gambir is the Malay name of the extract.

139 UNCARIA GAMBIER

ovate segments, hairy externally, and with a tuft of hairs at the
base of each segment within. Stamens 5, inserted in the throat
of the corolla, filaments excessively short, anthers long, 2 -celled,
with pointed bases. Ovary inferior, 2-celled, style very long,
protruding much beyond the mouth of the corolla and ending in
a club-shaped stigma. Fruit about 1 inch long, on a long stalk,
narrow-ovoid, tapering at each end, pericarp dry, splitting into
two layers when ripe, and dehiscing vertically into two valves, the
valves of the outer layer remaining attached at the apex. Seeds
very numerous, minute, pale brown, rough, with a long, trans-
parent tail at each end, one split almost to the base, the other
entire.

Habitat. — This shrub is found in the Island of Pulo Penang,
and other districts about the Straits of Malacca, also in Sumatra
and in Ceylon, and is now cultivated in numerous and extensive
plantations in the neighbourhood of Singapore. It appears that
the curious axillary hooks are frequently produced without bear-
ing any heads of flowers.

U. acida, Roxb., is figured in Berg and Sch., t. 33 e ; it is
said to differ from U. Gambier in possessing a more angular stem,
deeply bifid stipules, and an acid taste in the leaves, and is also
found at Pulo Penang. Probably it may be reduced to a variety
of the species under notice.

Hunter, in Trans. Linn. Soc., ix (1808), p. 218; DC. Prod., iv,
p. 347 ; Roxburgh, Fl. Indica, i, p. 517 ; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 405.

Official Part and Name. — CATECHU PALLIDUM ; an extract of the
leaves and young shoots (B. P.). An extract obtained from the
leaves and young shoots (I. P.). Not official in the Pharmacopoeia
of the United States.

Uncaria acida, Roxb., appears also to be used in the prepara-
tion of Catechu pallidum, but it is not official.

Commercial Kinds of Catechu. — The term Catechu is applied to
various astringent extracts, of which the following three are more
especially known in commerce : — 1. Gambier, the one now to be
described under the official name of Catechu pallidum ; 2. Cutch,

139 UNCARIA GAMBIER

Catechu of the Acacia Catechu, or Catechu nigrum, which is
noticed under Acacia Catechu ; and, 3. Ceylon Catechu or Betel-nut
Catechu, which is described under Areca Catechu.

Preparation of Catechu Pallidum. — The Gambier or Gambir
plant is largely cultivated at Singapore and in the Island of
Bintang and other islands lying south-east of Singapore ; and also
to some extent in other parts. Gambier is prepared by boiling
the leaves and young shoots in water until all their astringency is
extracted ; the decoction is then said to be evaporated to the con-
sistence of a thin syrup, and put into buckets, and when suffi-
ciently cool stirred in the following manner : — The workman
pushes a piece of soft wood in a sloping direction into each
bucket ; and with two buckets before him he works a stick up and
down in each. " The liquid thickens round the stick, and the
thickened portion being constantly rubbed off, while at the same
time the whole is in motion, it gradually sets into a mass, a result
which, the workman affirms, would never be produced by simple
stirring round." The thickened mass, which is described by Mr.
Bennett as being of a light yellowish-brown colour, like clay, is
now placed in shallow square boxes, and when sufficiently hardened
is cut into cubes and dried in the shade. The process adopted
is given somewhat differently by others ; but in all cases the pre-
paration is said to be conducted with the simplest apparatus.

Commerce. — Gambier is principally obtained from Singapore,
from which port alone 37,352 tons were exported in 1872, of
which about 25,000 tons were imported into Great Britain, repre-
senting a money value of about £450,000. It is also largely
imported into the United States.

General Characters and Composition. — Gambier ', Gambvr, Pale
Catechu, or Terra Japonica, under all of which names it is known,
occurs in cubes, or in masses of variable size formed of more or
less agglutinated cubes, or rarely, in quite compact masses. The
separate cubes are about an inch square on each side, of a deep
reddish-brown colour externally, and of a pale cinnamon-brown
hue internally. They are dry and friable, and their fractured
surface presents a dull, porous, earthy appearance, and hence,

139 UNCARJA GAMBIER

under the impression originally that catechu was an earthy sub-
stance derived from Japan, it was called terra japonica. Catechu
has no odour; its taste at first is bitter and very astringent, but
subsequently sweetish. Under the microscope catechu is found to
consist mainly of myriads of very small acicular crystals of
Catechin or Catechuic Acid. It is entirely soluble in boiling
water, and its decoction when cool is not rendered blue by iodine,
indicating the absence of starch.

Pale Catechu has essentially the same composition as Cutch or
Black Catechu from Acacia Catechu; thus, it mainly consists of
Catechin or Catechuic Acid, and Catechu-tannic Acid. Like Cutch,
Pale Catechu also contains a yellowish colouring matter, which
has been named Quercetin.

Several other varieties of pale catechu have been described by
Pereira and other pharmacologists, but they are generally more
or less impure, and should not be used in medicine. They are
now, moreover, but rarely imported.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Pale Catechu is especially valu-
able as an astringent. Its properties are similar to the Catechu
obtained from Acacia Catechu, which is, however, preferred in the
United States ; but Pale Catechu is alone official in this country,
and is also more commonly used in India. It is more readily
soluble than that from Acacia Catechu; and is more powerful
than kino. Pale Catechu is a valuable remedy in chronic diar-
rhoea and dysentery, in which cases it may be advantageously
combined with opiates and chalk mixture. It may be also used
in passive uterine haemorrhages, and generally in mucous dis-
charges. When chewed, or taken in the form of a lozenge, it is
an excellent remedy in relaxed conditions of the uvula and palate,
and for hoarseness in public speakers and singers. As a topical
astringent it may be also applied in the form of an ointment to
ulcers ; and it is frequently very useful as an injection in bleeding
of the nose and in leucorrhoea, &c.

Pale Catechu is also largely consumed in the East by the Betel-
chewers, as it forms one of the ingredients in the famed mastica-
tory called Betel.

139 UNCARIA GAMBIER

By very far the largest consumption, however, of pale catechu
is in tanning, dyeing, &c.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 152; Pliarmacographia, p. 299;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 242; Watts' Diet. Chem., vol. i,
p. 816; Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., p. 749; Collingwood,
Journ. of Linn. Soc. Bot , vol. x (1869), p. 52; Garr., Mat.
Med., p. 287; Pharm. Journ., 2nd ser., vol. vi (1865), p. 18.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from specimens in the British Museum collected at Malacca by
Maingay (no. 827), and in Ceylon by Thwaites (no. 1661).

1. A flowering branch.

2. A flower.

3. Upper part of corolla laid open.

4. Stamens.

5. Vertical, and — 6. Transverse section of ovary.

7. Fruit.

8. Seed.

9. Extremity of a young twig to show stipules.
10. The hooked peduncles after the fruit has fallen.

D Blair «l.sicc. del. slliik

CHIMAPHILA tJMBEU.ATA

165

N. Ord. ERICACEAE.
Tribe Pyrolea:.

Genus Chimaphila,* Pursh. DC. Prod., vii, pp. 775. Species
3, natives of the northern parts of both hemispheres.

165. Chimaphila corymbosa, Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept., i, p. 300

(1814).

Winter-green. Pipsissewa. Princes Pine.

Syn. — Pyrola umbellata, Linn. Chimaphila umbellata, Nuttall (1818).

Figures.— Barton, i, 1. 1 ; Bigelow, ii, t. 21 ; Steph. & Oh., t. 93 ; Wood-
ville, vol. v ; Hayne, xiii, 1. 13 ; Fl. Danica, 1. 1336 ; Bot. Mag., t. 778 ;
Nees, Gen. Fl. Germ.; Schnitzlein, Iconogr., t. 161.

Description. — A sub-herbaceous or slightly woody perennial,
with long running semi- subterranean shoots and ascending stems
4 — 10 inches high. Leaves evergreen, arranged in 1 — 5 irregular
whorls which are closely placed on the short stem, very shortly
stalked, lanceolate or obovate-lanceolate, tapering at the base, acute,
serrate, thick, convex and glossy above, paler below. Flowers
4 — 8, forming a small terminal umbel or corymb, nodding on longish
stalks, pedicels with narrow small bracts about the middle. Calyx
small, with 5 blunt divisions, persistent. Petals 5, much longer
than the calyx, rounded, concave, flesh-coloured. Stamens 10,
hypogynous, free ; filaments with a double curve, convex fleshy and
much dilated with a fringed margin in their lower half, concave and
filiform in the upper half ; anthers violet-coloured, 2 -celled, attached
by their middle, opening by two round orifices at the narrow some-
what horned base, which, by a tilting-up movement of the filaments,
becomes the apparent apex. Carpels 5 ; ovaries slightly con-
nected laterally, arranged round the large conical spongy receptacle,
walls thin, ovules very numerous, placed all over the large axile
placentas ; style very short, obversely conical, nearly immersed in

* Name from x"/*a> winter, and 0i\a v, to love, a translation of " winter
green."

165 CHIMAPHILA CORYMBOSA

the cavity between the ovaries ; stigma large, convex, faintly 5-
lobed. Fruit a 5-celled globular capsule on an erect stalk, with
thin pericarp dehiscing loculicidally. Seeds minute, very
numerous, with a loose transparent cellular coat.

Habitat. — This pretty plant is not uncommon in dry woods
throughout the north of Europe, reaching southward to Switzerland
and South Germany, but more abundant in Scandinavia and Russia
and extending into Siberia. It does not occur in Britain or
Western Europe. In North America it is common, extending
from Northern Canada to N. Carolina. It does not seem to be now
in cultivation in our botanic gardens, but was formerly to be met
with, having been introduced at Kew so far back as 1762. The
main characters distinguishing Chimaphila from Pyrola are the
dilated base of the filaments and the absence of any connecting
web between the valves of the capsule, points hardly sufficient
perhaps to warrant a generic separation.

DC. Prod., vii, p. 775; Hook., Fl. Bor. Am., ii, p. 49; A. Gray,
Fl. U. States, p. 303; Chapman, Fl. South. States, p. 267;
Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 375.

Official Part and Names. — CHIMAPHILA, Pipsissewa ; the leaves
(U. S. P.). Not official in the British Pharmacopoeia, or the
Pharmacopoeia of India.

General Characters and Composition. — These leaves are some-
what lanceolate in outline, but broadest at their apex, and wedge-
shaped at the base ; and have a uniform shining green colour.
These characters will distinguish them from the leaves of an allied
species — Chimaphila maculata} or Spotted Winter Green, which
are similar in outline, but rounded at the base and broader at
that point than at their summit, and have a deep olive- green
colour with greenish-white veins. When fresh and bruised they
have a peculiar odour, but this is lost when they are dried, as in
those of commerce ; their taste is pleasantly bitter, astringent,
and sweetish. Their infusion is rendered green by a solution of
the perchloride of iron.

The leaves are alone official in the Pharmacopoeia of the United

165 CHIMAPHILA CORYMBOSA

States, but all parts of the plant have active properties, and the
leaves and stems are kept in the shops and frequently used together.
The stem and root have a pungent taste combined with bitter-
ness and astringency.

The more important constituents of Chimaphila are tannic
acid, resin, bitter extractive, and a peculiar crystalline neutral
principle which has been called by Fairbank Chimaphilin.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Chimaphila possesses mild tonic,
astringent, and diuretic properties. It resembles Uva Ursi in its
action, but is less astringent than it. It has been used in
dropsies combined with great debility and loss of appetite ; in
chronic diseases of the urinary organs, as cystirrhoea and calculous
complaints ; and also in gonorrhoea, haematuria, &c. In the
United States it has been regarded as more especially valuable in
scrofula, from which circumstance it has even acquired the title of
" King's Cure " in some of the States. Besides its use internally
in scrofula, it has also been employed locally as a wash, in the
form of a ^decoction, to unhealthy scrofulous sores.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., p, 673 ; U. S. Disp., by W. & B.,
p. 256 ; Steph. & Church., Med. Bot., by Burnett, vol. ii, pi. 93 ;
Fairbank, in Journ. and Trans, of the Md. Col. of Pharm., U. S.,
March, 1860; Somerville, in Trans. Med.-Chir. Soc. Lond.,
vol. v, p. 340 ; Paris's Pharrnacologia.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

The flowering plant drawn from a specimen collected in Sweden, the fruit
from one collected in the Rocky Mountains, both in the British Museum.

1. A flowering stem.

2. A flower.

3. Diagram of flower.

4. Vertical section of same.

5. Transverse section of ovary.

6. Stamen with the anther in two positions.

7. A specimen in fruit.

8. A capsule.

9. A seed.

(2-6, 8 enlarged ; 9 greatly magnified.)

E Blair ad sice

OPHE L1A CHIRATA

183

N. Ord. GENTIANACE^I.
Tribe Swertiece.

Genus Ophelia,* Don. DC. Prod., ix, pp. 123-7. Species 18
or 20, Datives of India, and a few in China and Australia.

183. Ophelia Chirata,f Grisebach, Gen. $ Spec. Gent., p. 320

(1839).

Chiretta. Chirayta.

Syn. — Gentiana Chirayita, Roxb. G. floribunda, Don. Ophelia lurida,
Don. Agathotes Chirayta, Don.

Figures.— Wallich, Plant. Asiat. Bar., iii, t. 252.

Description. — A large annual (?) herb, reaching 5 feet in height,
with a thick, tapering, scarcely branched root. Stem erect,
branched in the upper part, stiff, smooth, cylindrical below, bluntly
quadrangular above, slightly thickened at the nodes, with a very
large pith, often hollow in the lower part. Leaves ovate or ovate-
lanceolate, opposite, sessile, smooth, rounded, and semi-amplexi-
caul at the base, acuminate at the apex, the largest 4 inches long,
very much smaller on the branches, with 5 or 7 parallel curved
nerves prominent below. Inflorescence consisting of numerous
small axillary, opposite, lax cymes (often reduced to a single
flower) arranged on the short branches and the termination of the
stem, the whole forming an elongated tapering panicle 2 feet in
length ; flowers small, stalked. Calyx deeply divided into 4 linear
acute segments, smooth. Corolla nearly twice as long as the
calyx, divided nearly to the base into 4 ovate-lanceolate, strongly
acuminate, erect segments, each provided on the upper surface
with a pair of " nectaries " covered by pouch-like, oblong scales
which terminate in long fringes, persistent. Stamens 4, shorter
than the corolla, and inserted at its base, filaments tapering.
Pistil of two carpels, ovary compressed, one- celled, tapering into

* Name from 6<t>t\\eiv, to bless, from its valuable properties,
f The Kiratas are " an outcast race of mountaineers in the north of India,"
among whom this plant was used.

]8S OPHELIA CHIRATA

the short style which terminates in two slender recurved stigmas,
ovules numerous, inserted on two double (sutural) parietal
placentas. Fruit a small one-celled capsule, pericarp transpa-
rent, yellowish, dehiscing from above septicidally into two valves.
Seeds very numerous, minute, many-sided, angular, testa pitted,
embryo very small in fleshy endosperm.

Habitat. — This species is found in the mountainous parts of
North India, Sikkim, Kumaon, Khasia, and especially Nepal, at
an altitude of 5000 — 9000 feet. It may be readily distinguished
from the other species, many of which have a strong superficial
resemblance, by its minute seeds, tetramerous flowers, and double
nectaries. The size of the corolla varies, and is sometimes
scarcely longer than the calyx ; it also presents some difference in
colour, being described as yellow, greenish, or purplish, or as
combining these colours, by different authors. Wallich's figure
above quoted is probably this species, but the characteristic
nectaries are entirely omitted. The plant is not yet in cultivation
in this country.

Roxb., PI. Indica, ii, p. 71; Grisebach, in DC. Prod., ix, p. 127;
0. B. Clarke, in Journ. Linn. Soc. Lond., xiv, p. 447 ; LindL,
PI. Medica, p. 519.

Official Part and Names. — CHIRATA; the entire plant (B. P.).
The entire plant (Chirata, Chiretta), collected when the fruit begins
to form (I. P.). CHIRETTA; the herb and root of Agathotes
Chirayta, Don, (U. S. P.).

Collectionj General Characters, and Composition. — The entire plant
is collected about the time the flowers begin to decay, or rather when
the fruit begins to form ; it is then commonly tied up with a slip
of bamboo into flattish bundles, each of which is about 3 feet long,
and from 1| to 2 Ibs. in weight. The stems have an orange-brown
or purplish colour, and an average thickness of that of a goose-
quill ; the roots are usually simple and tapering, and from 2 to 4
inches long, and frequently half an inch thick. The stems are
rounded below and throughout nearly their whole length, and very
faintly quadrangular above, and are branched in a decussate

183 OPHELIA CHIRATA

manner. A transverse section of the stem exhibits a thin woody
ring, enclosing a large continuous easily separable pith, which is
yellowish in colour. The whole plant is intensely bitter, but has
no odour.

The analysis of Hohn shows that Chiretta contains two bitter
principles, which he has named Ophelic acid and Chiratin ; and
also a tasteless, yellow, crystalline substance, which he obtained
in too small a quantity for a thorough investigation.

Substitutes. — In the Indian bazaars several other plants are known
by the name of Chiretta or Chirayta, besides the true drug, and
possess to a greater or less degree its bitter tonic properties. Thus,
Ophelia angustifolia, Don, 0. elegans, Wight, 0. densifolia, Griseb.,
and 0. multiflora, Dalzell ; Exacum tetragonum, Eoxb., E. bicolor,
Koxb., and E. pedimculatum, Linn. ; and Slevogtia orientalis,
Griseb., all of which are Gentianaceous plants, are so characterised ;
as also Andrographis (Justicia) paniculata, Wall., of the natural
order Acanthacese, which is described in its proper place, is so
designated. It is, therefore, somewhat remarkable, considering the
number of substitutes for the true Chiretta, which are thus known
in India, that some of them should not have found their way,
accidentally or intentionally, into other parts of the world ; but
none such have been described until one of us noticed at the end
of the year 1874, the substitution of the plant of Ophelia angusti-
folia} Don, which is called in India Puharee (hill) Chiretta, for
that of the true Chiretta, and the substitution is still to be found
in this country. This spurious Chiretta may be readily distin-
guished from that of the true drug by the far less bitter taste of
its infusion ; by its stems being evidently quadrangular and some-
what winged throughout their whole length ; and by their trans-
verse section exhibiting a thick woody ring on the outside, and
with the centre hollow or presenting but faint traces of pith.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Chiretta is highly valued in India
as a powerful and pure bitter tonic, without aroma or astringency ;
but it is comparatively little used in this country, and but very
slightly so on the Continent, and in the United States. It is,
however, more bitter than Gentian, and may be employed in

183 OPHELIA CHIRATA

similar cases to it. It is reputed to be especially serviceable in
tlie dyspepsia of gouty subjects. It is sometimes employed
instead of Gentian to impart flavour, &c., to cattle foods.

Pharmacographia, p. 392; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 258;
Pharm. of India, p. 149; Royle's Bot. of the Himalayan
Mountains, p. 277; Archiv der Pharmacie, 189 (1869), p. 229;
Bentley, in Pharm. Journ., vol. v, 3rd ser., p. 481.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from specimens in the British Museum collected in Nepal by
Wallich (no. 4372 B).

1. Portion of flowering panicle.

2. Lower part of stem, with root.

3. A flower.

4. Corolla spread open.

5. Pistil.

6. Transverse section of ovary.

7. Fruit, showing persistent corolla.

8. Seeds.

(3-7 enlarged ; 8 much magnified.)

3CHCENGCAIJLON OFFICiNALE . _A Gray

287

N. Ord. MELANTHACEJE.
Tribe Veratrea*.

Genus Schcenocaulon,* A. Gray. Species 3, all found in
southern North America.

287. Schoenocaulon officinale, A. Gray in Benth. Plant. Hart-

weg., p. 29 (1839).

Sabadilla. Cevadilla.

Syn— Melanthium Sabadilla, Thunb. Veratruin officinale, Schlecht.
Helonias omcinalis, Don. Sabadilla ofncinarum, Brandt. Asagrseaf
officinalis, Lindl.

Figures.— Nees, Supp.; Hayne, xiii, t. 27; Berg & Sch., t. 9 e; Bot.
Reg., xxv (1839), t. 33.

Description. — A bulbous herb, the small ovoid bulb covered
with numerous thin, black scales, and the scape reaching 5 feet or
more in height. Leaves all from the bulb, linear, grass-like, 1J — 4?
feet long, smooth, entire, gradually tapering, keeled with a strong
midrib. Scape slender, cylindrical, or somewhat angular, smooth,
quite simple. Inflorescence a moderately dense, very narrow, spike-
like raceme, 9 — 18 inches long, pedicels short, with small bracts at
the base, flowers very numerous, scarcely f inch wide, those in
the lower part of the inflorescence hermaphrodite, those in the
upper part staminate and sterile. Perianth-leaves 6, spreading in
two whorls, the outer 3 slightly larger, strap- shaped, blunt, thick,
greenish-yellow, hollowed and nectariferous at the base. Stamens 6,
hypogynous, opposite the leaves of the perianth and longer than
them, very slightly adherent to their base, filaments flat, anthers
large, reniform, yellow, the cells confluent, dehiscing along the
top. Carpels 3, superior, erect, shorter than the stamens, in
contact by their ventral sutures, each with several (6 — 8) ascending
ovules, styles slender, slightly combined at the base, curved

* Name from <r\oivoe, a rush, and KavXot,, a stem, from the habit of its scape,
f Asagraea was given in commemoration of Prof. Asa Gray, of Harvard
University, the most distinguished of living American botanists.

287 SCHCENOCAULON OFFICINALE

outwards; in the barren flowers the carpels are rudimentary.
Fruit composed of three dry follicles about \ inch long, surrounded
at the base by the withered perianth and slightly spreading at the
top; pericarp pale brown, papery, dehiscing down the ventral
suture. Seeds (often abortive) 2 — 5 in each follicle, dark brown,
fusiform, somewhat compressed, prolonged above into a mem-
branous wing ; embryo very small, immersed in copious endosperm
at the base near the hilum.

Habitat. — The Sabadilla is found in grassy places on open hills
in Mexico, Guatemala, and Venezuela. The plant found in the
neighbourhood of Caracas has somewhat broader and more
distinctly carinate leaves, but can scarcely be held to constitute
a different species. Sabadilla and Schoenocaulon differ only in
the former having polygamous flowers, and the two genera may
be, therefore, combined with propriety. The date of both
names is 1837 (the latter genus having been founded on 8. gracile),
so that we are free to adopt either.

Veratrum Sabadilla, Eetzius, Obs. Bpt., i, p. 31 (1779), is also
a source of Sabadilla, having been originally described from a
raceme of flowers picked out from among the drug. They were
polygamous, with purplish-black, ovate perianth leaves. Des-
courtilz gives a full description of a ."West Indian plant under
the same name with a figure which is reproduced in Nees, t. 48,
and represents a true Veratrum. Mr. Baker is inclined to refer
it to the common European V. nigrum, L. The plant, however,
is not known in our herbaria (see Eoem. and Schultes' Syst.,
vii, p. 1558, Lindl. PI. Med., p. 586, Kunth, Enum. iv, p. 188,
Fliick. and Hanb., Pharmac., p. 634, note).

Kunth, Enum. Plant, iv, p. 184 ; Ernst, in Journ. Bot., ix, p. 91 ;
Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 586.

Official Parts and Names. — SABADILLA; the dried fruit of
Asagraea officinalis, Lindl. (B. P.). The seeds (Sabadilltc Semina)
of Asagraea officinalis (I. P.). SABADILLA; the seeds of Veratrum
Sabadilla, Eetzius, (U. S. P.).

Commerce, General Characters, and Composition. — It seems
probable that the Sabadilla, Cevadilla, or Cebadilla of commerce,

287 SCHCENOCAULON OFFICINALE

may be obtained from more than one plant. The dried fruit was
formerly alone imported from Vera Cruz, being the produce of
plants cultivated in Mexico ; but of late years, as stated by Ernst,
the seeds are now alone shipped in large quantities from La
Guayra, the port of Caracas.

Each fruit, as found in commerce, is about half an inch long,
and is surrounded at its base by the remains of the perianth, and
attached to a short stalk ; it consists of three light brown, oblong,
pointed carpels (follicles), of a papery texture. The carpels are
united at their base, but separated above, and open on their inner
or ventral suture. Each carpel contains from one to three or
more seeds, usually two, which are about -^ of an inch in length,
narrow, pointed, somewhat scimitar-shaped and winged, shining,
corrugated, of a blackish-brown colour, an acrid bitter taste, and
without odour, but when powdered producing violent sneezing.
In commercial specimens the carpels are frequently found without
any contained seeds, these having fallen out, and may be seen
lying in a loose state mixed with the empty carpels.

Cevadilla owes its properties essentially to the alkaloid veratria,
but it is still doubtful whether this alkaloid is confined to the
seeds, or whether it is likewise contained in the pericarp. Veratria
is said to be combined with gallic acid. As seen in commerce,
and used in medicine, veratria is always in an amorphous powder,
but when pure it is in long acicular crystals. Veratria in a
pure state is nearly insoluble in water, but readily soluble in
alcohol, ether, and chloroform. It has no odour, but if inhaled
it produces violent sneezing ; its taste is persistently and strongly
bitter, and highly acrid.

Two other alkaloids have been also discovered in Sabadilla, one
crystallizable and called sabadilline, and the other uncrystallizable,
and to which the name of sabatrine has been given. The former
is always present in commercial veratria ; it may be distinguished
from it by being insoluble in ether, and by not causing sneezing.
Sabatrine is also said to be contained in the veratria of commerce.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Cevadilla can scarcely be said to
be in use at the present time in itself as a medicinal agent, although

287 SCHCENOCAULON OFFICINALE

it was formerly employed internally as an anthelmintic, and in
rheumatic and neuralgic affections • and externally for destroying
pediculi. It is official in the pharmacopoeias as the source of vera-
tria, which is of a highly poisonous nature, but it has been
employed in very minute doses internally in acute rheumatism
and gout ; as an antiphlogistic in some inflammatory diseases ; and
in other cases ; but it is a very dangerous remedy for internal use.
For external application, however, in the form of an ointment,
veratria has been found very useful in rheumatism, neuralgia, and
other painful affections, but it is not generally regarded as so
valuable as aconitia when used in the same form, and in like cases.
The ointment is also employed for the destruction of pediculi.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & B,., p. 422; Pharmacographia, p. 633;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., pp. 750 and 1497; Garr, Mat. Med.,
p. 384; Wigger's and Husemann's Jahresbericht for 1871,
p. 24; Journ. de Pharm., vol. xiv, p. 527; Amer. Journ. of
Pharm., vol. xxv, p. 133.

DESCRIPTION of PLATE,

Drawn from a specimen collected by Ernst in Venezuela (no. 219), in the
British Museum. The fruit added from the commercial drug.

1. A sterile flower.

2. Anthers,

3. A fertile hermaphrodite flower,

4. Perianth segments.

5. Transverse section of ovaries.

6. Vertical section of a carpel.

7. Part of raceme of fruit.

8. A single fruit.

9. Seed.

10. Section of the same.

(1-6, 9, 10 enlarged.)

ALTHAEA OFFICIK

35

N. Ord. MALVACE J3. Lindl., Veg. K., p. 368 ; Baill., Hist. PL, iv ;

Le Maout & Dec., p. 279.
Tribe Malve<s.

Genus Althaea,* Linn. B. & H., Gen., i, p. 200 ; Baill., 1. c.,
p. 138. About 12 species, natives of the temperate and
warmer regions of the northern hemisphere.

35. Althaea officinalis, Linn., 8p. PL ed. i, p. 686 (1753).

Marsh Mallow.

Figures.— Woodville, t. 198 ; Hayne, ii, t. 25 ; Steph. & Ch., t. 51 ; Nees,
t. 417 ; Berg & Sch., t. 21 f ; Syme, E. Bot., ii, t. 278.

Description. — A perennial herb with numerous stems springing
from a large, thick, elongated, tough, fleshy, yellowish-white,
tapering root-stock, reaching a foot in length. Stems erect, stiff,
2 — 4 feet high, unbranched or nearly so, cylindrical, covered with
a very dense, velvety pubescence of stellate hairs. Leaves alter-
nate on rather long stalks, 1J — 3 inches long, the lower ones
roundish- ovate, the upper triangular- oval, or somewhat 3- or
5-lobed, irregularly cut, acute, serrate, rather thick, plaited, velvety
on both sides with a close felt-like pubescence, and some longer
hairs on the veins, pale greyish-green; stipules narrowly tri-
angular, quickly caducous. Flowers in small axillary clusters of
2 — 4 or solitary, shortly stalked, forming at the end of the stem
narrow leafy panicles. Involucre (epicalyx) with 7 — 10 subulate-
triangular erect segments. Calyx deeply divided into 5 narrowly
triangular acute segments, about twice the length of the involucre,
densely pubescent, persistent. Corolla cup-shaped, varying from
1 to 2 inches across, of 5 obcordate wedge-shaped and truncate petals
coherent by their narrow bases, pale purplish-rose-coloured, finely
veined, twisted in the bud. Stamens numerous, monadelphous,
the filaments combined in their lower portion to form a thick
hollow tube, united at the base with the corolla, anthers drooping,

* Althsea, d\0aia, Dioscorides, from a\0av, to heal.

35 ALTHAEA OFFICINALIS

reniform, 1- celled, dark purple, flat after dehiscence. . Ovary
covered by tlie base of the combined petals and staminal tube,
roundish, flattened, with numerous cells, and a single ovule in
each, style cylindrical, tapering, passing through the staminal
tube, and dividing beyond it into numerous slender filiform
branches with the stigmatic surfaces on the inside. Fruit
brownish-green, flattened- spherical, partially covered by the
closely inflexed persistent sepals, consisting of a radiating whorl
of numerous dry, laterally compressed, circular, indehiscent carpels
(cocci) attached to a central axis, smooth on the flat sides, hairy
on the back, separating from each other when ripe. Seed kidney-
shaped, smooth, brown; embryo curved, with thin cotyledons,
endosperm almost absent.

Habitat. — The marsh mallow grows in ditches and wet places
in the neighbourhood of the sea and tidal rivers throughout
Europe, with the exception of Scandinavia and North Russia ;
also in Asia Minor, Western Asia (reaching Kashmir), and
Algeria. In England it can be scarcely called common, but is to
be found in most of the southern counties in suitable situations.
Further north in this country it is considered to be introduced or
escaped from cultivation, as is also the case in Norway and in the
United States. It grows very readily in inland gardens, but
loses there a good deal of the characteristic grey velvet-like
covering and becomes greener. For medicinal use it is culti-
vated chiefly in Bavaria and Wurtemberg.

Syme, E. Bot., ii, p. 163; Hook, f., Stud. PI., p. 71; Watson,
Comp. Cyb. Brit., p. 128; PL Brit. India, i, p. 319; Boissier,
PI. Orient., i, p. 428 ; Gren. & Godr., Fl. France, i, 494; Lindl.,
Fl. Med., p. 143.

Official Part and Name. — ALTHJIA; the root (U. S. P.). Not
official in the British Pharmacopoeia, or the Pharmacopoeia of
India.

Collection. — Marsh mallow roots are usually collected in the
autumn from cultivated plants of two years old; they are then
scraped so as to remove the outer portions of the bark and the

35 ALTHAEA OFFICINALIS

small root branches; and are finally dried, in which condition
they are commonly found in commerce. Sometimes the roots
are simply washed, after which their branches are removed, and
they are then dried without being scraped ; but the former mode
of preparation is generally preferred.

General Characters and Composition. — Marsh mallow root as pre-
pared by scraping, is in straight, somewhat cylindrical or tapering,
unbranched pieces, from about 6 to 8 inches long, and varying in
thickness from that of a quill to the middle finger. It has a whitish
colour externally, is deeply furrowed longitudinally, and its surface
is covered by short soft projecting fibres. When cut transversely
it is seen to consist of a central white woody column, which is
separated by a dark wavy ring from a thick bark. The central
portion breaks short, but the bark has a tough fibrous fracture.
It has a feeble peculiar odour, and a mild, mucilaginous, somewhat
sweetish taste.

The unscraped root has a yellowish-brown colour externally,
and its surface is not covered with fibres ; but in other respects its
characters are essentially the same as those of the scraped root.

The principal constituents of marsh mallow root are mucilage,
starch^ sugar, and a neutral inert crystalline substance, called
asparagin, which is found in various other plants besides the
marsh mallow, as the asparagus, liquorice, &c. Its medical pro-
perties are essentially due to the mucilage.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Marsh mallow root is demulcent
and emollient. It is but little used in this country, but on the
continent it is a very favourite remedy. It is employed inter-
nally as a demulcent in inflammatory affections of the alimen-
tary canal, and of the pulmonary and urinary organs ; and
externally as an emollient poultice and fomentation to inflamma-
tory and abraded surfaces, &c. A favourite preparation in
France is the pate de guimauve. In France the powdered root
is also much used in the preparation of pills, &c.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 2, p. 555; Pharmacographia, p. 85;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 97; Journ. de Pbarm., vol. xix,
p. 208.

35 ALTHAEA OFFICINALIS

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a plant cultivated in the garden of the Apothecaries' Com-
pany at Chelsea.

1. A plant, reduced.

2. Upper part of a flowering stem.

3. Vertical section of a flower.

4. Calyx and involucre.

5. Ripe fruit.

7. Seed.

8. Section of the same.

(3, 4, 6-8 enlarged.)

59

N. Ord. BUESERACE^E.
Tribe Burserece.

Genus Balsamodendrum,* Kuntli. B. & H., Gen., i, p. 323
(and Hemprichia, p. 327); Berg, in Bot. Zeitung, 1862,
p. 153; Baill., Hist., v, p. 310 (Balsamea, Gled. Includes
Protium, W. & A.). About 15 species have been described,
natives of sub-tropical and tropical Africa, Arabia, and
Western India.

59. Balsamodendrum Opobalsamum,t Kunth, in Ann. Sc.
Nat., ser. I, ii, p. 348(1823).

Balessaiij Bechan (Arabia). Balm of Gilead. Balsam-Tree.

Syn. — Amyris gileadensis and A. Opobalsamum, Linn. Balsamoden-
drum gileadense, Kunth. Balsamodendron Ehrenbergianum, Berg.
Protium gileadense, Lindl. non W. & A. Balsamea Opobalsamum,
Baillon.

Figures.— "Bruce, Travels (1790), Appendix, 2nd and 3rd plates; Wood-
ville, t. 214, cop. in Steph. & Ch., t. 157; Nees, t. 356; Berg & Sch.,
t. 29 d (B. Ehrenbergianum} ; Baill., 1. c., f . 277-279.

Description. — A shrub or small spreading tree, 10 — 12 feet
high, with long, slender, wand-like, irregular branches, without
spines ; bark smooth, striate, orange- or purplish-brown, the outer
layers peeling off on the old stems ; the twigs irregularly set with
short, wart-like branchlets, closely marked with leaf -scars, and
producing at their extremities the leaves and flowers. Leaves
usually scanty, in fascicles of 2 — 6 from the extremities of the
rudimentary branchlets, generally about an inch long including the
long, slender petiole, trifoliolate ; on the young shoots of the year
alternate, with long internodes, often pinnately 5-foliolate ; leaflets
scarcely | inch long, sessile, narrowly oval or obovate, acute, entire,
thin, veined beneath, pale glaucous green, usually quite glabrous,
sometimes densely pubescent on both sides, the terminal one the
largest. Flowers imperfectly dioecious, on short pedicels jointed to

* The (BaXo-dfiov Ikvtipov of Theophrastus.

f Opobalsamum, oTro^dXo-afjiov in Dioscorides, the juice flowing from the
Balsam-tree.

59 BALSAMODENDRUM OPOBALSAMUM

longer peduncles, which are solitary or 2 — 3 together at the extremi-
ties of the stunted branches, with several small, ovate bracts at the
forks, whole inflorescence shorter than the leaf -petiole. Calyx cup-
shaped, smooth, persistent, with 4 faint distant teeth or shallow
lobes. Petals 4, alternating with the calyx-teeth, oblong, acute,
erect, reddish, valvate in the bud. Male flowers : — stamens 8, hypo-
gynous, inserted beneath a ring-shaped hypogynous disk surround-
ing the rudimentary ovary, about as long as petals, the alternate 4
often shorter, anthers large, 2-celled ; pistil rudimentary. Female
flowers: — stamens usually 4, about half as long as the petals, disk
small ; ovary longer than the stamens, ovoid, tapering, 2-celled,
with 2 axile ovules in each cell, stigma large, capitate. Fruit
slightly compressed, ovoid or somewhat pyriform, apiculate, about
§ inch long, stalked, surrounded at the base by the persistent calyx,
glabrous, epicarp leathery, ultimately dehiscing into 2 or partially
into 4 boat-shaped valves, mesocarp (?) yellowish-white, pulpy,
irregularly cup-shaped, and extending up the pyrenes on 4 sides,
but not covering them, fertile pyrene very hard, black, containing
a single seed, with the fibrous, cord-like axis of the fruit running
up between it and the other scale-like, adpressed, abortive pyrene
and attached to the top of both. Seed solitary, grooved down
one side, testa thin, yellow ; embryo large with plaited cotyledons,
and a short, thick, superior radicle ; no endosperm.

Habitat. — This species of Balsamodendrum appears to have a
somewhat extensive range on both sides of the Ked Sea, south of
22° north latitude, and is in many places one of the most fre-
quent shrubs. From Africa we have seen specimens from several
places on the Nubian Coast and the islands near, from Abys-
sinia both from the coast and inland hills, and from Somali-land.
In the latter country, according to Hildebrandt, it is called
"Dossemo " by the natives, and grows at an elevation of 1100 —
1600 metres. From the Asiatic side, we have specimens from
Ghizan on the Red Sea in Arabia collected by Ehrenberg and from
the neighbourhood of Aden. Forskal's specimens, merely labelled
" ex oriente," are said to have been collected in the province of
Yemen in Arabia, and there is abundant evidence to show that the

59 BALSAMODENDRUM OPOBALSAMUM

tree grows in the interior of the latter country. It is not now
known to occur in Palestine, and the famous trees of antiquity men-
tioned in the Scriptures and by old writers may probably have
been cultivated there.

From want of satisfactory and complete specimens the species
of this genus are in considerable confusion. We agree with
Professor Oliver in combining B. Ehrenbergianum with the
present species; indeed they appear identical. Both Berg and
Schweinfurth, however, consider the plants distinct ; and the
name was bestowed by Berg on the specimens from Ghizan,
above noticed, which the collector labelled as certainly the source
of myrrh. These were in fruit only. Schweinfurth says that
B. Ehrenbergianum is confined to Asia.

As understood here there is very little variability in the species,
the greater or less pubescence of the usually glabrous leaves, and
the occasional production of an extra pair of leaflets being the
chief. The flowers appear with the young leaves in February and
March, and the fruit is ripe in May and June, by which time the
branches are not unfrequently leafless.

In the above description of the fruit and seed we have followed
the view commonly held as to the signification of the different
parts. The pulpy layer within the epicarp — which seems to have
escaped the notice of previous describers of the plant — has a
remarkable form, and might be readily taken to be an arillus,
were it not for the remains of the second abortive pyrene.

Little or nothing more is known at present (May, 1876) of
B. Myrrha, Nees, than the poor figure in Nees, t. 357 (a portion
of which is reproduced in Pharm. Journ., 1873, p. 822). This
also was collected as a myrrh-producing shrub at Ghizan by
Ehrenberg in 1820 — 6. It is said not to be found on the African
side of the Red Sea. So far as the description and figure enable
us to judge, it must be a very close ally of the Indian B. Berry*,
Arn. (Protium gileadcnse, W. & A.), if not the same as that,
species.

Prof. Baillon adopts the name Balsamea, Gleditsch, for this
genus, the date of which is ] 782 (Berlin Gesellsch. Naturforsch.

59 BALSAMODENDRUM OPOBALSAMUM

Freunde, vol. iii, p. 103, t. 3, fig. 2). It does not, however,
appear from the description and figure given, that Gleditsch really
had this plant under his observation.

Berg, in Bot. Zeittmg, 1862, p. 163 ; Oliver, Fl. Trop. Africa, i,
p. 326 ; Schweinfurth, in Petermann, Geograph. Mitth., 1868,
p. 127; Boiss., Fl. Orient., ii, p. 2; Lindl., Fl. Med., p. 169;
D. Hanbury, in Pharm. Journ., April, 1873, p. 821.

Official Part and Name. — MYRRHA ; a gum-resinous exudation
from the stem of Balsamodendron Myrrha, Ehrenb. (B. P.). The
gum-resinous exudation from the stem of Balsamodendron
Myrrha (I. P.). MYRRHA; a gum-resinous exudation from the
stem of Balsamodendron Myrrha (U. S. P.).

It will be noticed that the plant now under description is not
the official one of the Pharmacopoeias ; but in the uncertainty as
to the botanical source of myrrh it will be better for us to
describe that drug in the present place, although we shall pro-
bably figure and describe the so-called Balsamodendrum Myrrha,
hereafter.

Collection and Commerce. — According to Bhrenberg, myrrh exudes
from the bark like cherry tree gum. It is at first soft, of an oily
nature, and of a yellowish- white colour; but it gradually assumes
a golden tint, and ultimately, as it hardens, becomes reddish.
But Ehrenberg says nothing about the collection of this myrrh
by the natives, although he describes it as of good quality ; and
it is now certain that the myrrh of commerce is not brought from
the country about Gison or Ghizan, in Arabia, on the eastern shore
of the Red Sea, which was the district visited by Ehrenberg. Indeed,
at the present time, it would appear, from information obtained from
Vaughan, Harris, Cruttenden, and others, that true myrrh is not
obtained in Arabia at all, but from Africa, and that it is chiefly, if not
entirely, collected in the Somali country and the districts around
Harar or Hurrur. From these parts it is brought to the great
fair of Berbera, where it is purchased by the Banians of India,
and forwarded to Bombay. From recent information communi-
cated to the Pharmaceutical Journal by Dr. Dymock, it would

59 BALSAMODENDRUM OPOBALSAMUM

appear that the bags or bales which contain the myrrh when
opened in Bombay, are found to be made up of myrrh of various
qualities, mixed with another allied gum-resin, which is probably,
according to Dymock, the opaque bdellium of Guibourt; it is
termed in the local markets meena hdrma, true myrrh being
distinguished under the name of kdrdm. In Bombay the contents
of the package are sorted, the myrrh being separated from the
bdellium, and then the best myrrh is picked out and forwarded to
Europe ; the darker pieces constitute myrrh of second quality ;
and the refuse is exported to China. Nearly all the myrrh used
in Europe and elsewhere, is obtained from Bombay. In the year
1872 — 73 the exports amounted to 546 cwt., of which 493 cwt.
were forwarded to the United Kingdom.

General Characters and Composition. — Myrrh is in irregular
roundish pieces, varying in size from small grains up to that
of a hen's egg, or rarely, as large, or even larger, than a man's fist.
The pieces either consist of distinct tears, or are agglutinated
masses of tears. Externally, the masses of myrrh have an opaque
appearance, a reddish-brown or reddish-yellow colour, -and are
covered by a fine powder. They are brittle, and when broken the
fractured surface presents an irregular, somewhat translucent,
rich brown, moist, and oily appearance ; and in many cases
exhibits opaque whitish spaces or striae, which the ancients
compared to the white marks at the base of the finger-nails. The
odour of myrrh is peculiar, aromatic, and agreeable ; the taste
bitter, aromatic, and acrid. The finer pieces are sold as picked
myrrh, and were formerly distinguished as Turkey myrrh.

Myrrh is essentially composed of gum, resin, and volatile oil.
It is only partially soluble in water, alcohol, or chloroform ; the
first liquid taking up the gum principally, and the two latter the
resin and oil. When triturated with water myrrh forms a brownish -
white milky emulsion. The gum, which resembles gum arabic,
although not altogether identical with it, constitutes on an
average from 40 to 50 per cent., but sometimes over 60 per cent.
The volatile oil, which may be readily obtained by the distillation
of myrrh with water, is a yellowish, somewhat viscid liquid, with

59 BALSAMODENDRUM OPOBALSAMUM

a powerful odour of myrrh, and having a specific gravity, ac-
cording to Fliickiger and Hanbury, of 0*988, but Gladstone
found it to be heavier than water. The amount of oil obtainable
has been variously estimated at from f to over 3 per cent. The
resin is readily soluble in alcohol or chloroform, but only partially
soluble in alkalies or bisulphide of carbon ; its amount probably
averages about 25 per cent, but it has been found by different
chemists to vary from 23 to 44 per cent. When first moistened
by alcohol, and then by hydrochloric acid, the resin assumes a
violet hue.

ADULTERATIONS AND OTHER KINDS or MYRRH. — The inferior
qualities of myrrh are often adulterated with various gums, resins,
&c. These may be usually distinguished by the transparency of
their fractured surface, and by their deficiencies of odour and taste ;
they are fully described in special treatises on the Materia Medica,
and need no further mention from us. But besides the true
myrrh, as hitherto described, there are two other varieties of
myrrh, which we must briefly refer to. These are commonly
distinguished under the names of Arabian Myrrh and East Indian
Myrrh. Both varieties are frequently sold by dealers as true myrrh.

1. Arabian Myrrh. This is collected to the eastward of Aden, in
Southern Arabia, and is probably the produce of a species of
Balsamodendrum closely allied to that from which the true or
African Myrrh is derived. It is forwarded from Makulla and Aden
to Bombay, where its trade name is meetiga ; it is mostly sold in
India as true myrrh. It occurs in irregular gummy-looking
masses, the largest which are formed by the agglutination of
small, shiny, translucent tears, rarely exceeding 1J inches in
length. It is more brittle than true myrrh, and when broken,
although its fractured surface much resembles that drug, the
whitish opaque markings so characteristic of it are absent.
Arabian myrrh is also more gummy than African myrrh, but it
possesses a similar taste and odour.

2. East Indian Myrrh, the Bissa Bol of the Arabs. This
is collected like true myrrh in the Somali country, and is also
doubtless the produce of a species of Balsamodendrum , allied to

59 BALSAMODENDRUM OPOBALSAMUM

that from which the true myrrh is derived. It is forwarded to
Aden, Makulla, and other ports of Arabia, &c., and thence to India
and China, where it is chiefly consumed. When of good quality
it closely resembles true myrrh in its external characters, but its
odour, which has been compared to that of mushrooms, at once
distinguishes it. As usually seen it is generally regarded as a very
inferior dark-coloured kind of myrrh.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Myrrh is a stimulant tonic, and
expectorant, and is also commonly regarded as possessing anti-
spasmodic and emmenagogue properties. When combined with
iron and aloes, myrrh is a remedy of great value in amenorrhcea.
It is also frequently administered in leucorrhcea and chlorosis ;
and occasionally, with benefit, in chronic bronchitis, phthisis,
and atonic dyspepsia. Locally applied it is a useful stimulant in
spongy gums, the aphthous sore mouths of children, and various
kinds of indolent ulcers.

Besides its use in medicine, myrrh has been employed from the
earliest times as an ingredient in incense and perfumes, &c. It
entered into the composition of the holy oil in use by the Jews ;
and also into the Kyphi of the Egyptians, which was used in
fumigations, and for embalming, &c.

BALM OP GILEAD. — The oleo-resin known under the names of
Balm or Balsam of Gilead, Balm of Mecca, and Opobalsamum,
which is supposed to be the Balm of the Old Testament, is said
by some authors to be the produce of Balsamodendrum Opobal-
samum. Balsam of Gilead is a whitish, viscid, turbid liquid, of
an agreeable odour when fresh, but it thickens by age and
becomes of a yellow colour. Its use has become obsolete in
Europe, although formerly the most wonderful properties were
attributed to it. But it is still esteemed in the East for its
fragrance and medicinal properties.

STACTE OK LIQUID MYRRH.— We have no positive evidence of the
source of the liquid myrrh or stacte of the ancients, but it is said
by Pliny to be a spontaneous liquid exudation of the myrrh tree,
of even more value than myrrh itself. Formerly, it was
obtainable in large quantities, but, as stated by Fluckiger and

59 BALSAMODENDRUM OPOBALSAMUM

Hanbury, no drug of modern times has been identified with it.
Stacte entered into the composition of the holy incense in use by
the Jews.

Genesis xxxvii, 25 ; Exodus xxx, 23 and 34 ; Solomon's Song iii, 6 ;
Jeremiah viii, 22.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & E,., p. 872; Pharmacographia, p. 124;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 571 ; Pharm. Journ., 1 ser., vol. xii,
p. 226, vol. iii, 3rd ser., p. 821, and vol. vi, 3rd ser., p. 661 ; Ann.
de Chimie, vol. Ixvii, p. 72 ; Archiv der Pharm., vol. Ixi, p. 1,
and vol. xliii, p. 304; Am. Journ. of Pharm., vol. xviii, p. 228.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from specimens in the British Museum, collected in Nubia and
Abyssinia by Schweinfurth.

1. Branch of a male plant in flower.

2. Vertical section of a male flower.

3. Branch with fruit.

4. A fruit.

5. Transverse, and — 6. Yertical section of fruit.

7. Fruit with the epicarp removed, showing the aril-like mesocarp (?).

8. Portion of an old branch with young shoots of the year.

(2, 4-6 enlarged.)

D.B Laar aJ.na.-t old etliii

EXOGONIUM PURGA.J3&1&,

186

N. Ord. CONVOLVULACEJ5.

Genus Exogonium,* Choisy. Choisy, in DC. Prod., ix, pp.
346-7. Species 8 or more, natives of the W. Indies and
tropical America.

186- Exogonium Purga,f Benth., Plant.Hartweg.,p. 46 (1839).

Jalap.

fifyn.— Ipomsea Purga, Hayne. I. Jalapa, Nutt. (non Pursh). Convol-
vulus Puvga, Wenderoth. C. Jalapa, Schiede (non Linn.).

Figures.— Nees, Supp.; Hayne, xii, tt. 33, 34; Berg & Sen., t. 5 a, b;
Bot. Mag., t. 4280 ; Zuccarini, PI. Nov., fasc. i, t. 12.

Description. — An herbaceous perennial twiner. Stems numerous,
slender, twisted and furrowed, twining, smooth, purplish, reaching
] 2 feet or more in length, moderately branched, arising from the
crown of fleshy tubercular roots, which are nearly globular, tapering
below into a fibrous termination, reaching the size of an orange or
small turnip but usually smaller, brown and finely mottled or
spotted externally, white within. Leaves alternate, without
stipules, on thick stalks nearly as long as themselves, 4 or 5
inches long, deeply cordate at the base with pointed lobes,
attenuated at the apex, quite entire, smooth on both surfaces,
paler below, veiny. Flowers in small axillary cymes usually of
3 flowers, on long wiry twisted peduncles, pedicels with small
bracts at base, about half an inch long, thickened upwards. Calyx
short, ovoid, smooth, cut into 5 oblong, blunt, imbricate segments,
the two outer shorter, margins membranous. Corolla large, salver-
shaped, glabrous, the tube about 2 inches long, slender, slightly
wider above, again, contracted where it joins the limb, which is
nearly horizontal, about 2 \ inches across, somewhat undulated, of 5
broad truncate segments scarcely separated by a faint notch,
and marked down the centre by a tapering band, twisted in
aestivation, deep, dull, purplish-pink. Stamens 5, inserted near

* Exogonium, from the stamens projecting out of the corolla,
f Purga, the Spanish name of ihe drug, from its action.

186 EXOGONIUM PURGA

the base of the tube, filaments somewhat flattened, 3 longer than
the other two, all somewhat exserted beyond the throat of the
corolla and towards one side, anthers small, introrse. Ovary
tapering into the slender style which extends a very little beyond
the stamens, 2 -celled, surrounded by an annular disk ; stigma of
two rounded papillose lobes ; ovules 2 in each shell. Fruit not
seen.

Habitat. — This grows in damp, rich, shady woods in the moun-
tainous country near Jalapa* in West Mexico, at an elevation of
about 6000 feet above sea level. It was introduced into the Edin-
burgh Botanic garden in 1838, and is now to be met with pretty
generally. As an ornamental plant it has considerable claims to
notice, being easily propagated and flowering in the open air with
but slight shelter from September till checked by the first frosts.
It is not, however, able to ripen its fruit here, nor have we met
with any description of it. The tubercles are hypertrophied roots,
and are usually accompanied by ordinary fibrous ones and often
by some intermediate in character. Subterranean white horizontal
shoots are also given off from the crown of the tubercles.

Choisy, the monographer of the Convolvulacete, places this in
Ipomcea, but the long corolla tube and exserted stamens are at
variance with the characters of that genus as given by him.

D. Hanbury has described and figured (Journ. Linn. Soc.,
Bot. xi, p. 279, t. 2), under the name of Ipomtea simulans, the
plant which yields the Jalap of Tampico, a coast town of Mexico,
north of Jalapa. Another sort called Orizaba root, from the place
of that name, is the produce of I. orizabensis, Ledanois.

Choisy, in DC. Prod., ix, p. 374 ; Balfour, in Bot. Mag., t. 4280
Lindl., Pi. Med., p. 396.

Official Part and Name. — JALAPA ; the dried tubercules (B. P.).
The dried tubercules (Jalapa) (I. P.). JALAPA; the tuber
(U. S. P.).

Collection and Commerce. — In Mexico, whence the official jalap
is obtained, the tubercules are dug up, to some extent, during the

* Whence the drug gets its name of Jalap.

186 EXOGONIUM PURGA

whole year ; but principally in the spring when the young shoots
begin to appear. The roots (tubercules) are then placed in nets,
and dried by the aid of fire heat. The smaller tubercules are
dried entire ; but the larger ones are more or less incised to
facilitate desiccation, or cut into halves or quarters, or rarely into
transverse slices, for the same purpose.

Jalap is imported from Vera Cruz, and the average imports
into the United Kingdom may be estimated at about 180,000 Ibs.

General Characters and Composition. — When entire, the tuber-
cules are usually irregularly roundish or somewhat ovoid, rarely
they are fusiform or even cylindrical ; they vary commonly in
size from a hazel-nut to that of a hen's egg, but sometimes
they are as large as a man's fist, or even larger. The large
tubercules are generally marked with the circular or transverse
incisions, made as noticed above, to facilitate their drying.
Externally they have a dark brown colour, and are more or less
deeply furrowed, contorted, and wrinkled, or rarely they are
nearly smooth. Internally their colour is dirty yellowish or
brownish, and marked frequently with darker brown irregularly
concentric rings. They have a faint, peculiar, somewhat nauseous
odour, which is increased by rubbing or powdering them ; and
a nauseous, sweetish, subsequently acrid taste. Good jalap is
hard, heavy, plump, and resinous ; the light, whitish, amylaceous,
shrivelled, or woody pieces, are of inferior quality. The powder
of jalap is of a yellowish-grey colour.

The activity of jalap is due to a resin, which is official in the
British Pharmacopoeia and in the Pharmacopoeias of India and the
United States.. The amount of resin has been variously estimated
at from 11 to 21 per cent. Among other constituents of jalap,
are sugar, starch, gum, and colouring matter. From this crude
resin which is obtained from jalap by spirit of wine, two resins
may be extracted, one which is soluble in ether, and which consti-
tutes from 5 to 8 per cent, of its substance, or, according to
Umney, 12 per cent. ; and another forming the residue, which is
insoluble in ether, and which has been termed Convolvulin, or
formerly by Pereira Jalapin, but this latter name, as will be presently

186 EXOGONIUM PURGA

mentioned, is now applied to a resin which is soluble in ether.
Convolvulin is a glucoside, being resolvable by moderate heating
with emulsin, or dilute acid, into sugar, and a crystallizable
substance called Convolvulinol. Convolvulin when pure is colour-
less, and readily dissolves in alcohol or the fixed alkalies ; but is
insoluble in ether, or ammonia, or in oil of turpentine.

ADULTEEATIONS AND SUBSTITUTIONS. — In consequence of the
increased demand for official jalap combined with a falling off
in the supply from its original source, jalap has of late years been
frequently adulterated by being intermixed with the roots of other
plants, but the characters given above of true jalap are such as
will readily distinguish it. The roots of two plants which are
extensively used as adulterants of, or substitutes for, the official
jalap, require, however, some notice from us ; these are Tampico
Jalap and Woody Jalap.

1 . Tampico Jalap, as its name implies, is imported from Tampico,
a port to the north of Vera Cruz, in the Gulf of Mexico. Han-
bury traced its botanical source to Ipomtea simulans. Tampico
jalap agrees with true jalap in odour and taste, and pieces may
be found which also resemble it in other respects, but it may be
generally distinguished from the genuine drug by its more
shrivelled appearance, lighter weight, smaller size, and more
elongated and tapering form. Tampico jalap yields from 10 to
15 per cent, of a resin, which in its pure state is entirely soluble
in ether. This resin therefore differs from Convolvulin, the principal
constituent of crude jalap resin, which is insoluble in ether.
Tampico jalap is generally regarded as inferior in medicinal
activity to the official jalap, but we have no very accurate informa-
tion on this point. It is imported in large quantities into this
country and elsewhere.

2. Woody Jalap or Orizaba Root, or as it is also termed Light,
Fusiform, or Male Jalap, or Jalap Tops or Stalks ; is derived
from the neighbourhood of Orizaba, and its botanical source is
Ipomaa orizabensis, Ledanois. It is generally found in irregular,
angular or circular pieces, which are clearly portions of a large
root ; or sometimes the smaller roots are found entire, and are

186 EXOGONIUM PURGA

then fusiform. It is readily distinguished from true jalap by its
paler colour and more woody character ; it is also commonly more
shrivelled and of lighter weight. Its essential constituent is a
resin, to which the name of Jalapin has been unfortunately given,
and which may be obtained from it to the extent of about 12 per
cent. When pure Jalapin is colourless, amorphous, translucent,
and perfectly soluble in ether, by which it differs from Convolvulin.
It is regarded by chemists as identical with scammony resin, and
hence, probably this kind of jalap is but little, if at all inferior, as
a medicinal agent, to that of true jalap.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Jalap is a certain, powerful, and
speedy drastic purgative, causing copious watery stools. It is
less irritant than gamboge, podophyllum, or even scammony ; but
it occasionally causes griping, aud sometimes nausea and vomiting.
It is frequently given to children as a vermifuge, on account of
its little taste, and generally safe action. It is a valuable purga-
tive in habitual constipation, and in febrile and inflammatory
affections, especially when combined with aromatics which diminish
the griping ; it is also given as a hydragogue in dropsies, as a
derivative purgative in head affections, and in other cases.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 1, p. 614 ; Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R.,
p. 634; Pharmacographia, p. 399; U. S. Disp., by W. & B.,
p. 501 ; Guibourt, Histoire des Drogues (1869), vol. ii, p. 523 ,
Gmelin's Chem., vol. xvi, pp. 154 & 159; Hanbury, in Journ.
Linn. Soc. Bot. (1871), p. 279; Umney, in Pharm. Jl., vol. ix,
2nd ser., p. 282 ; Evans, in Pharm. Jl., vol. ix, 2nd ser., p. 330 ;
Squibb, in Amer. Journ. of Pharm., Jan., 1868, pp. 65-6 ; Amer.
Journ. of Pharm., vol. ii, p. 22, and vol. x, p. 224 ; Watts' Diet.
Chem. vol. ii, p. 15.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.
Drawn from a specimen in the Royal Gardens, Kew, flowering in September.

1. Part of stem, with flowers and leaves.

2. Vertical, and— 3. Transverse section of ovary.

4. Stigma.

5. Base of the stern and tubercular roots.

D .B : air as.

N I G O T 1 ANA TAB A C U M , /

M&N.Hajihart .

191

N. Ord. SOLANACE^J.
Tribe Nicotianea:.

Genus Nicotiana,* Linn. Dunal, in DC. Prod., xiii, sect, i,
pp. 556-572. Species about 60, natives of tropical America,
the Pacific Islands, and Australia.

191. Nicotiana Tabacum,f Linn., Sp. Plant, ed. i, p. 180

(1753).

Tobacco. Cultivated Tobacco. Virginian Tobacco.

Syn. — Nicotiana macrophylla, Lehm. N. auriculata, Bert. ?

Figures.— Woodville, t. 77; Bigelow, t. 40; Steph. & Ch., t. 37; Nees,
t. 194; Hayne, xii, t. 41 ; Berg. & Sch., 1. 12 d; Nees, Gen. Fl. Germ.

Description. — A coarse robust annual, reaching 6 feet high,
with a long tapering root. Stem erect, unbranched, cylindrical,
solid, green, thickly set with soft viscid hairs. Leaves alternate,
numerous, the lower ones very large, reaching as much as 2 feet
in length, shortly stalked, ovate-lanceolate or ovate, the upper
ones smaller, more or less amplexicaul at the base, rather variable
in form, oval-oblong or lanceolate or somewhat obovate, all
acute, quite entire, somewhat waved, covered with viscid hairs,
and some small sessile glands, bright green, paler beneath,
midrib thick, lateral veins curved at the margin. Inflores-
cence a terminal, rounded or oval panicle, with a few short
branches ; flowers not numerous, spreading horizontally, shortly
stalked ; bracts linear. Calyx tubular, somewhat inflated, green,
cut half way down into 5 narrow-lanceolate acute segments,
viscid-hairy. Corolla If — 2 inches long, tubular, the tube in-
flated in its upper half, smooth within, pale greenish-yellow,
finely glandular-hairy outside, the limb spreading, cut into 5
broadly triangular pointed lobes, dull pink or red, plicate in the

* So called in the 16th century, in honour of Jean Nicot, French ambas-
sador at Lisbon, who in 1560 brought the plant thence into France.

f Tabacum, a Latin form of Tobacco, which is said to be originally a
native word meaning the pipe or tube used in smoking by the Indians.

191 NICOTIANA TABACUM

bud. Stamens 5, inserted in the base of the corolla, filaments
about the length of the tube, one usually shorter than the rest,
anthers small, oblong. Ovary smooth, conical, 2- celled, style
about as long as stamens, slender, stigma bilobed. Capsule
barely an inch long, often shorter, ovate in outline, the lower
half closely covered by the dry persistent calyx, pericarp thin,
papery, veined, splitting septicidally into 2 valves, which again
are partially split from the top, 2 -celled, placentas axile, large,
spongy. Seeds minute, very numerous, somewhat irregular in
form, oblong, ovoid, or sub-reniform, pale brown, the testa marked
with a raised reticulation of large pattern with sinuous meshes ;
embryo slightly curved in axis of endosperm.

Habitat. — There is no doubt that the tobacco is a native of
some part of South or Central America, but the precise country
of its origin cannot now be determined. Martius considered it
introduced in Brazil, and it is nowhere known in a truly wild
state.

The plant was first grown in Europe at Lisbon in 1560, the
dried leaves and the practice of smoking having been introduced
nearly a century before by the Spaniards. In nearly all temperate
and warm countries of both hemispheres, the culture of tobacco is
now carried on j it grows well in England, into which country it
was introduced before 1570, and is now frequently employed as
an ornamental plant in gardens, but except in very small quantity
it has been, since 1660, illegal to cultivate it for use ; the statute
then passed for the benefit of the " American Colonies " being
still unrepealed. It flowers freely from late summer till the
middle of September.

Many varieties are recognised by cultivators, the principal
characters being found in the form of the leaves, and colour and
size of the flowers. The remarkable N. fruticosa, Linn., lately
figured (Bot. Mag. 6207) as a variety of the present species, is
a very handsome plant, and differs especially in its sharp-pointed
capsules : there are good specimens in the British Museum, one
from Teneriffe.

Dunal, in DC., 1. c., p. 557 ; Bigelow, Amer. Mecl. Bot., ii, p. 171 ;

191 NICOTIANA TABACUM

De Candolle, Gcogr. Bot., ii, p. 848; Lindl., Med. Bot., p. 513;
Pritzel, Thesaurus Literat. Bot., ed. 1, p. 457.

Official Part and Names. — TABACI FOLIA ; the dried leaves of
Virginian Tobacco (B. P.). The dried leaves (Tabaci Folia) (I.
P.). TABACUM; the commercial dried leaves (U. S. P.).

Preparation, Kinds of Tobacco, and Commerce. — In America,
from which our official tobacco leaves are directed to be obtained,
the tobacco harvest takes place in August, when the plants are
regarded as ripe. At this period the stems are cut off from the
plants just above their roots, and then hung up in the drying
houses, where they are exposed to a considerable degree of heat,
and during this process of curing, as it is termed, they become
moist, or in bther words, are said to sweat. They are then further
dried and stripped of their leaves ; and the latter are then tied in
bundles, and packed for exportation, &c. In the process of pre-
paration tobacco leaves appear to undergo a kind of fermentation
by which important chemical changes take place in their composi-
tion, one of the most evident being the formation of some new
volatile principle, for the heavy narcotic odour of the dried leaves
is wanting in the fresh ones.

In commerce two states of tobacco are distinguished, in one of
which it is termed unmanufactured or leaf tobacco, in the other
manufactured tobacco. In the British Pharmacopoeia the dried
leaves of Virginian tobacco, or unmanufactured tobacco, cultivated
in America, are alone official. Under the head of manufactured
tobacco are included the different forms of tobacco prepared for
chewing and smoking, and for taking as snuff. The description
of the numerous forms and varieties of manufactured tobacco does
not come within our province.

Besides Virginian tobacco, which is derived, as we have seen,
from Nicotiana Tabacum, the plant now under notice, other com-
mercial kinds from the same plant are also obtained from the
United States of America, as Maryland, Kentucky, &c. By far
the greater proportion of unmanufactured tobacco imported into
the United Kingdom is from the United States. Professor
Thiselton Dyer has also just proved that Latakia Tobacco, which

191 NICOTIANA TABACUM

has hitherto been always supposed to be derived from N. rustica, L.,
is prepared from the flowering panicles and even the capsules of N.
Tabacum, and that its peculiar flavour is due to being smoked
for some months in the smoke of the wood of Pinus halepensis.
The other principal kinds of tobacco are the Shiraz or Persian from
Nicotiana persica, Lindl. ; East Indian, Manilla, and Turkish, from
N. rustica, L. ; and Cuba and Havannah from N. repanda, Willd.

The consumption of tobacco in this country has very much
increased of late years. Thus in the year 1841 the quantity of
tobacco cleared for home consumption amounted to 8f oz. per
head of population. In 1851 the amount had increased to 1 Ib.
01 oz. per head; in 1861 to 1 Ib. 3± oz. ; in 1865 to lib. 5 oz. ;
and in the year 1874 to nearly 1J Ibs. per head of population
of the United Kingdom. Thus in the year 1874 no less than
45,253,303 Ibs. of unmanufactured tobacco were retained for
home consumption, and of manufactured cigars and snuff,
1,280,154 Ibs., the whole representing a money value of about
£1,600,000; and the duty paid on this amounted to £7,500,000
sterling. The total annual production of tobacco over the whole
globe is probably not less than 3,000,000 of tons.

General Characters and Composition. — The characters of leaf
tobacco are thus given in the British Pharmacopoeia : — Large
mottled brown ovate or lanceolate acuminate leaves, bearing
numerous short glandular hairs; having a peculiar heavy odour
and nauseous bitter acrid taste ; yielding when distilled with
solution of potash, an alkaline fluid, which has the peculiar odour
of nicotia, and precipitates with perchloride of platinum and
tincture of galls.

The active principle of tobacco is a volatile alkaloid termed
Nicotia or Nicotine. Virginian tobacco in the dried state con-
tains a varying preparation of nicotia, but probably on an average,
about 6 per cent. Nicotia is also generally said to be present in
tobacco smoke, but this is denied by Vohl and Eulenberg. Nicotia
is a colourless, oily, volatile, inflammable, powerfully alkaline
liquid, of sp. gr. 1*048 at 60°, boils at 482°, and has an acrid odour,
and a burning taste. It is very soluble in water, the fixed

191 NICOTIANA TABACUM

oils, alcohol, and ether ; and by exposure to air and light it quickly
assumes a brown colour.

By distillation with water, tobacco leaves yield a concrete
volatile oil, which has been termed Nicotianin or Tobacco 6V//yW,
which is tasteless, crystalline, and with a tobacco-like smell. The
other constituents of tobacco leaves are albumin , resin, gum, and
from 16 to 27 per cent, of inorganic matters. As in the process
of smoking, the albuminous, resinous, and gummy principles of
the leaves, as well as the cellulose of the thick midrib, produce
unpleasant products, the manufacturer endeavours to get rid of
these by taking out the midrib, and by subsequent preparation to
destroy as far as possible these constituents, and cause the
development of aromatic ferment-oils.

Medical Properties and Uses. — The alkaloid nicotia is a most
energetic poison. As a medicine, tobacco leaf owes its value to
its powerfully sedative and antispasmodic properties. In over
doses it acts as an aero-narcotic poison. It especially affects the
action of the heart ; and on account -of the dangerous depression
sometimes produced by its administration, it is, as a general
rule, but little employed as an internal remedy. It has been
given, however, in tetanus, dropsical affections, spasmodic asthma,
spasmodic colic, retention of urine ; and as a means of inducing
muscular relaxation, and thus assisting in the reduction of strangu-
lated hernia, and dislocations ; but in the latter conditions its use
has been now superseded by that of chloroform. Topically, it has
been employed in a variety of skin diseases, &c. ; and in the form
of snuff it has been prescribed as an errhine in head affections, and
to arouse the respiratory functions in poisoning by opium and
hydrocyanic acid ; also in the form of smoke, in asthma, spasmodic
coughs, nervous irritability, and sleeplessness. In prescribing
tobacco, it should be ascertained whether the patient is in the
habit of smoking, snuff- taking, &c., as a dose which might scarcely
affect one person, might seriously affect another ; for, like opium,
a tolerance of tobacco is established by its use.

The enormous consumption of tobacco is, of course, not as a
medicine, but in the various modes of smoking, snuffing, and

191 NICOTIANA TABACUM

chewing, which are in common use in nearly every part of the
globe. In habitual smokers, the practice, when employed mode-
rate^ produces a remarkably soothing and tranquillising effect on
the mind, which has made it so much esteemed and employed by
all classes of society, and by all nations, civilised and barbarous ;
and such high authorities as Pereira and Christison say that they
are not acquainted with any well-ascertained ill-effects resulting
from the habitual practice of smoking in moderation. But when
indulged in to ' ' excess, it enfeebles digestion, produces emaciation
and general debility, and lays the foundation of serious nervous
disorders " ; and, according to some practitioners, it also then
produces mental affections resembling delirium tremens and
insanity.

Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii, pt. 1, p. 569 ; Pharmacographia, p. 420 ;
IT. S. Disp., by W. & B,, p. 851 ; Garr., Mat. Med., p. 330 ;
Boyle, Mat, Med., by J. Harley, p. 482 ; Watts, Diet. Chem.,
vol. iv, p. 44 ; Joiirn. de Pharm., vol. xxii, p. 689 ; Taylor, in
Pharm. Journ., vol. xviii, 1st ser., p. 620; Proc. Amer. Pharm.
Assoc., 1858, p. 300, and 1865; Johnston, Chemistry of Common
Life, vol. ii, p. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen grown in the Garden of the Apothecaries' Com-
pany, Chelsea.

1. Summit of stem with inflorescence.

2. Corolla split open.

3. Capsule with persistent calyx.

4. A seed.

5. Section of the same.

(4, 5 greatly enlarged.)

I

237

N. Ord. EUPHORBIACE.E.
Tribe Acalyphece.

Genus Ricinus,* Linn. Mull. Arg. in DC. Prod., xv, pt. 2,
pp. 1016-21 ; Baill., Hist. PL, v, p. 109. Species a single
very variable one.

237. Ricinus communis, Linn., Sp. Plant, ed. I, p. 1007 (1753).
Palma-Christi. Castor Oil.

Syn.—n. europseus, Nees. R. laevis, DC. R. viridis, Willd. R.
lividus, Jacq. R. africanus, Mill. &c. &c.

Figures.— Woodville, t. 22] ; Nees, 1. 140 ; Hayne, x, t. 48 ; Steph. & Ch.,
t. 50; Berg & Sch., t. 1 c; Flora Grseca, t. 952; Nees, Gen. Fl.
Germ. ; Baill., 1. c., f . 153-162.

Description. — Very variable in habit and appearance ; in tropical
countries a tree reaching 40 feet high, in warm, temperate regions
a slender, woody, branching bush of 12 — 14 feet, in this country
a very large branched, annual herb 4 or 5 feet high ; herbaceous
stems hollow, smooth, cylindrical, glaucous, with a purplish bloom
in the upper part. Leaves alternate, on long, curved, cylindrical,
purplish petioles, sub-peltate, drooping, stipules large, ovate,
yellowish, united into a cap enclosing the buds, deciduous,
blade 6 — 8 inches across, palmately cut for three quarters of its
depth into 7 — 11 lanceolate, acute, coarsely serrate segments,
smooth, blue-green, paler beneath, red and shining when young.
Flowers monoecious, large, arranged on the thick rachis of an
oblong, spicate panicle, which is at first terminal, but becomes
lateral by the growth of an axillary bud beneath it j male flowers
shortly stalked, on branched peduncles at the base of the panicle,
pedicels articulated about the middle ; female flowers sessile, at
the upper part ; bracts broadly triangular. Male flowers : Calyx
deeply cut into 3 — 5 smooth, broadly ovate, pointed segments, val-
vate in aestivation ; petals none ; stamens very numerous, irre-
gularly combined into many much branched, compound stamens,

* Ricinus, a dog-tick, from the form of the seed ; the plant was called KIKI
and Kporuv by the Greeks, the latter word having the same meaning.

237 RICINUS COMMUNIS

inserted on the raised centre of the receptacle, anthers small, 2-
celled, dehiscing longitudinally. Female flowers : Calyx as in
the male, but more deeply cut, with the segments narrower, more
acute and erect; petals none; ovary shorter than the calyx,
superior, globular-trigonous, with the blunt angles bearing several
lines of large, soft, erect, finger-shaped prominences, tipped with
a transparent spiny bristle, 3-celled, with a single ovule attached
to the top of the axis in each cell, style very deeply divided into
three long, flattened branches, each split into two, the inner sur-
face covered with papillae, bright carmine-red. Fruit a blunt,
greenish, deeply-grooved, tricoccous capsule, less than an inch
long, with the prominences of the ovary become sharp, weak,
spreading spines, 3-celled, dehiscing loculicidally and septicidally
into 6 valves. Seeds ovoid, flattened, nearly f inch long by i
broad, smooth, shining, pinkish-grey, prettily mottled with dark
brown, caruncle large, subglobular, raphe faintly raised, running
down centre of ventral surface, embryo large in axis of the endo-
sperm, cotyledons foliaceous, broadly ovate, with a cordate base,
veined.

Habitat. — It is believed that this well-known plant is a native
of India, and that it has spread thence over all the warmer
countries of the world. In the Mediterranean region, especially
in Spain and Sicily, where it occurs as a bush or small tree, it
has quite the look of a native plant. It is cultivated for medi-
cinal purposes in India, Italy, and other countries ; in England it
is only grown as a garden ornament and is an annual. The
known varieties are very numerous, and have mostly been
described as species. Miiller groups them in one species under 16,
distinguished by the varying size and form of the capsules and
seeds ; the colour of the latter varies also considerably, and the
spines on the capsule are sometimes quite absent.

The name " Castor " was originally applied to this plant in
Jamaica, where it seems to have been called " Agnus Castus,"
though it bears no resemblance to the South European plant
properly so named (Vitex Agnus-Castus, L.).

Mull. Arg. in DC., 1. c., p. 1017; Lindl., PL Med., p. 183; Pappe,

237 RICINUS COMMUNIS

Fl. Cap. Med. Prodr., p. 37 ; Gris, in Ann. des Sc. Naturelles,
ser. 4, xv, p. 5.

Official Parts and Names. — OLEUM RICINI ; the oil expressed
from the seeds (B. P.). The seeds (Ricini Semina) (I. P.).
OLEUM RICINI ; the fixed oil obtained from the seed (U. S. P.).

1. THE SEEDS. — The seeds are oval, somewhat compressed, convex
on one side, and with two flattish surfaces on the other ; varying in
length from about | to over ^ an inch, and in breadth from \ to y^
of an inch, and about ^ of an inch thick ; ordinarily they may be
described as being about the size of a coffee grain, or small bean.
In India two varieties of the seed are distinguished, the large and
the small ; the latter being usually considered to yield the better
product. A fleshy, tumid process, termed a caruncule or strophiole,
is situated at one end of the seed, or if this is broken off, a
blackish scar remains. Externally, the seeds are very smooth
and shining, and of a greyish colour, marbled with brownish or
blackish bands and spots, of various tints and shapes, so as to
give the seeds a great variety of appearances. In one hundred
parts of castor oil seeds Geiger found, exclusive of moisture,
23'82 parts of seed-coats, and 69*09 of nucleus or kernel, which
is of a whitish colour. The seed-coats are without taste or odour;
but if not rancid, the nucleus has a bland sweetish taste, succeeded
by a very slight degree of acridity.

The principal constituent of the nucleus is the fixed oil, com-
monly called Castor Oil, which is described below. The seeds
are only official in the Pharmacopoeia of India as the source of the
oil ; of which the nucleus yields from about 40 to 50 per cent.
The other constituents of the seeds are, about 20 per cent, of
albuminoid matters, 2*2 of sugar and mucilage, and about 18 per
cent, of cellulose. Professor- Tuson has also indicated the pre-
sence of a crystalline alkaloid, which he has named Ricinine, but
his results have been called in question by Werner, and recently
by E. S. Wayne, of Cincinnati; he still, however, maintains the
correctness of his conclusions. The seeds are also supposed to
contain a very small portion of some acrid purgative principle;
but this matter has not been isolated. But a small proportion of
this purgative principle is contained in the castor oil as ordinarily

237 EICINUS COMMUNIS

obtained by expression, for the oil obtained by absolute alcohol
from castor oil seeds, as well as the seeds themselves, or an
emulsion prepared with them, have a far more powerful purgative
action than the expressed oil.

2. OLEUM KICINI. Castor Oil. — Production, Varieties , and Com-
merce. Castor oil may be obtained from the seeds in three ways : —
1. by decoction ; 2. by expression; and 3. by some solvent, as
alcohol. All the oil, however, now consumed in England, India,
and the United States ; and with few exceptions, in other parts
of the world, is obtained by expression. All processes in which
a high temperature is employed are considered objectionable from
increasing the acridity of the oil. In India, in order to extract
the oil, the seeds are first gently crushed between rollers,
and after the seed coats or husks, and unsound seeds, have been
removed by hand-picking, the cleaned kernels are submitted to
pressure in an hydraulic press ; and the oil thus obtained is first
heated with water until the water boils, by which the albuminous
matters are separated as a scum ; and the oil is then finally
strained through flannel. In the north of Italy, more especially
about Verona, the fresh seeds are alone used, and after the seeds
have been broken and their integuments very carefully removed
with a winnowing machine and by the hand, the blanched seeds
are put into small hempen bags, which are arranged in super-
posed layers in a powerful hydraulic press with a sheet of iron
heated to 90° between each layer, so as to enable the oil to flow
readily ; they are lastly submitted to pressure in a room, which in
the winter is heated to a temperature of about 70°. The oil
which first flows is of the finest quality ; but an inferior oil is
subsequently obtained by pressing the marc at a somewhat higher
temperature.

By somewhat modified processes good castor oil is also obtained
in this country and in the United States ; but in the West Indies
it is prepared by boiling the crushed seeds after depriving them
of their integuments, in water, and afterwards separating the oil
by skimming or straining. The oil thus extracted is very inferior
to that obtained by expression, as before described.

237 BICINUS COMMUNIS

General Characters and Composition. — Good commercial castor
oil has a viscid consistence, and a specific gravity of about 0*96.
It is colourless, or' pale straw-yellow ; with scarcely any odour,
and a mild, somewhat unpleasant taste, which is succeeded by a
very slight acridity. Inferior oils have a brownish colour, a
nauseous odour, and a disagreeable acrid taste. Castor oil is
especially distinguished by its ready solubility in absolute alcohol
and in glacial acetic acid ; it is also soluble in about two volumes of
rectified spirit. It does not generally solidify until about 0° ;
and when exposed to the air in thin layers, it slowly dries up to a
varnish, and hence it belongs to the class of drying oils.

When saponified, castor oil yields several fatty acids, one of
which is supposed to be palmitic acid, and another, which is
peculiar to castor oil, is termed Eicinoleic acid.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Castor oil is a mild and most effi-
cient purgative, and is well adapted for infants and young children,
the puerperal state, and in irritable conditions of the alimentary
canal or of the genito-urinary organs. It is one of the safest
and most reliable purgatives we possess for the relief of obstinate
constipation. It has also been strongly recommended by Dr.
Johnson as an eliminant in malignant cholera, and has the high
authority of Sir Thomas Watson and numerous other practitioners
in its favour.

In India, Algeria, &c., castor oil has been used for burning in
lamps, and the inferior qualities are also employed in India for
soap-making.

Formerly the seeds were employed as a purgative, but on
account of their violent action, they are not now administered.

The leaves have been also recommended in the form of a de-
coction or poultice, as an application to the breasts of women
to increase the secretion of milk. The decoction has also been
reputed to act as a lactagogue and emmenagogue when administered
internally.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., p. 531 ; Pharmacographia, p. 512;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 609; Gmelin's Chemistry, vol. xvii
(1866), p. 131 ; Groves, in Pharm. Journ., vol. viii, 2nd ser.,
p. 250; Amer. Journ. Pharm., vol. xxvi, p. 207, and vol. xxvii,

237 BJCINUS COMMUNIS

p. 99; Chemical News, vol. xxii (1870), p. 229; Pharmacopoeia
of India, pp. 201 and 462.

DESCRIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the Garden of the Apothecaries' Company,
Chelsea, flowering in September.

1. A flowering top.

2. Section of male flower.

3. A group of united stamens.

4. A female flower.

5. Vertical, and — 6. Transverse section of ovary.

7. Fruit.

8. Seed.

9. Vertical, and — 10. Transverse section of the same.

(2-6 enlarged.)

PINUS L

260

N. Ord. CONIFERS.
Tribe Pinea.

Genus Finns, Linn.

260. Pinus Larix,* Linn., Sp. Plant, ed. I, p. 1001 (1753).

Larch.

. — Abies Larix, Lam. Larix europsea, DC. L. decidua, Miller.

Figures.— Woodville, t. 4 ; Nees, t. 84; Berg & Sch.,t. 11 b; Reichenb.,
Ic. Fl. Germ., xi, t. 531; Nees, Gen. Fl. Gerin. ; Lambert, 111. Gen.
Pinus, ed. 3, t. 48.

Description. — A tall tree, reaching 80 feet or more in height,
with a straight trunk and spreading whorled branches, the
smaller branchlets slender and elegantly pendent; bark flaky,
whitish- or pinkish-grey, rosy-red beneath. Leaves deciduous,
appearing in spring in spreading brush-like tufts, each con-
taining numerous (30 — 40) leaves, from perennial permanent
rounded buds projecting horizontally from the slender branchlets
with a cup-shaped mouth; when full grown about an inch
long, linear, rather blunt, entire, smooth, bright green. Fls.
monoecious. Male catkins sessile, ovoid, reaching J inch long,
surrounded at the base by a cup formed of persistent adnate
bracts, and by some inner deciduous, reflexed, fringed, brown
scales ; stamens numerous, crowded, anthers almost sessile
on the thick central column, with a short recurved crest at the
summit, 2 -celled, opening longitudinally, pollen globose, pale
yellow. Female cones shortly stalked, f inch long, erect, ovoid,
surrounded at the base with spreading linear leaves ; bracts mem-
branaceous, oblong or oval, blunt with a sharp central point,
bright dark pink, the midrib and point green; carpellary scales
not \ the length of the bracts, and adnate to their base, rounded ;
ovules 2, inverse, bottle-shaped, with a large papillose mouth.
Ripe cones erect, light, 1 or li inch long, broadly ovoid, pale
greyish-brown, axis solid and woody, carpellary scales hard,

* Larix, Pliny, from XdpiKa, the name of the resin in the time of Dioscorides.

260 PINUS LARIX

woody, and tough, greatly enlarged to twice the length of the
bracts, orbicular, striate, spreading, somewhat wavy at the margin
where they become thin. Seeds 2, in the hollowed-out base of
each scale, somewhat triangular, with a large thin wing, straight
along inner margin, and rounded on the outer, embryo straight
in axis of the endosperm, polycotyledonous.

Habitat. — This well-known tree forms extensive woods in the
mountain regions of Central Europe, where it ascends to an
altitude of over 5000 feet above the sea : in the Apennines it is
always a cultivated tree. In this country the Larch is largely
grown in plantations, and is very ornamental in the spring, the
young leaves being of an intensely bright green. It flowers in
April and May.

Parlatore, in DO., 1. c., p. 411 ; London, Arboret. Brit., iv, p. 2350 ;
Lindl., PI. Med., p. 554.

Official Part and Name. — LARICIS CORTEX ; the bark, deprived
of its outer layer, of Larix europaBa, DC. (B. P. Additions, 1874).
It is not official in either the Pharmacopoeia of India, or the Phar-
macopoeia of the United States.

Preparation. — Larch bark should be obtained in spring; and
after the external rough portion has been removed, the remainder,
consisting of the inner bark, middle bark, and a variable portion
of the outer bark, should be quickly dried. This constitutes the
official bark of the British Pharmacopoeia.

General Characters and Composition. — Larch bark is generally
found in flattish pieces, or sometimes in quills. The pieces and
quills vary much in length and thickness. The outer surface
has a dark red or rosy colour, with frequently intervening whitish
portions of liber, and presents a more or less uneven character ;
the inner surface is smooth, yellowish- white in colour in the
larger pieces, and pinkish-red in the smaller quills, and may be
readily separated into layers. Larch bark breaks with a close
fracture, except as regards the liber, which is somewhat tough
and fibrous; and the fractured surface, except that of the liber,
has a deep carmine-red colour. It has a slightly balsamic tere-
binthinous odour ; and an astringent taste.

260 PINUS LARIX

The principal constituents of larch bark are tannic acid, a
volatile crystallizable principle called larixin or larimnic acid, and
a little turpentine, which is described below.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Larch bark is regarded as
stimulant, astringent, and diuretic, and is supposed to have a
direct tendency to the mucous membranes. It has been especially
recommended as an internal remedy to check profuse passive
expectoration in cases of chronic bronchitis ; in haemoptysis, and
other forms of internal haemorrhage ; and in cystitis and purpura.
It has also been used as an external application in chronic eczema,
psoriasis, and some other cutaneous affections.

Besides its medical properties, larch bark is sometimes used in
tanning.

OTHER PRODUCTS OF THE LAECH TREE. — A kind of turpentine
which is commonly known as Larch or Venice Turpentine, is
obtained as follows : — In the spring a narrow hole is bored to the
centre of the stem of the larch tree, at about a foot from the
ground ; the hole is then stopped up, and in the autumn of the
same or following year, the oleo-resin which has then exuded, is
collected with an iron spoon. It is chiefly contained in the heart-
wood, and is principally obtained in the Tyrol ; but occasionally
in parts of Switzerland, Piedmont, and France.

Venice turpentine is a thick, honey-like, slightly turbid fluid.
It has a pale yellowish colour ; an odour which resembles common
turpentine, but weaker and not so agreeable; and an aromatic,
somewhat acrid, bitter taste. It thickens but very slowly when
exposed to the air, and does not harden when mixed with mag-
nesia. It dissolves entirely in alcohol. It consists of volatile
oil and resin.

Venice turpentine is common on the Continent, but that sold in
England and in the United States, is almost always spurious ;
being a mixture of common resin and oil of turpentine ; and dis-
tinguished readily from the genuine drug by its stronger
turpentine odour, and by drying into a hard varnish when spread
out on a piece of paper.

Its properties and uses appear to be the same as other

260 PIN CIS LARIX

turpentines. It is not now used in this country, except in veteri-
nary practice.

The substance called Brianqon Manna, or Manna of the Larch,
also exudes in the height of the summer from the leaves of the
larch tree. It is a white saccharine substance, occurring in small,
opaque, sometimes crystalline, usually oblong tears, enclosing the
needle-like leaves ; and without any very marked odour, but having
a sweet taste. It contains a peculiar sugar called Melezitose. It
was formerly used in medicine, but has now disappeared from
commerce.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & E., p. 1070 ; Pharmacographia, pp. 373,
549, and 551 ; U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 863; Stenhouse, in
Phil. Trans., vol. clii (1862), p. 53 ; Mohl, in Botanische Zeitung
(1859), p. 329; Greenhow, in Medical Times, Feb. 20, 1864;
Dublin Hosp. Gaz., April 15, 1858, and Jan. 15, 1859; Amer.
Journ. Pharm., Jan., 1859, p. 61, and Nov., 1862, p. 555; Gui-
bourt, in Journ. de Pharm., vol. xxv, p. 500.

DESCEIPTION OP PLATE.

Drawn from a tree in Kew Gardens in April.

1. A branch, with cones and male and female flowers.

2. A male catkin.

3. Section of the same.

4. A stamen.

5. Section of female cone.

6. A bract, with the carpellary scale and ovules.

7. Upper view of ripe scale with the two seeds.

8. Outer view of same.

9. A seed.

10. Section of the same.

(2-10 enlarged.)

Jj ..Blair ainai del etlitii

CANNA

266

N. Ord. CANNACE^E.

Genus Canna,* Linn. Bouche, in Linnsea, xviii, p. 483. Species
about 60 or more, natives chiefly of the tropical and warmer
parts of America.

266. Canna edulis, Ker, in Bot. Register, ix, t. 775 (1823).
Achira (Peru). Meeru (Brazil).

Syn. — C. indica, Ruiz & Pav. (non Linn.). C. discolor, Lindl. 1

Figures.— Bot. Beg., t. 775 and ? 1231; Bot. Mag., t. 2498; Roscoe,
Scitaminese, 5th plate.

Description. — An herbaceous perennial with a large, creeping,
fleshy, branched, definite rhizome, with thick, nodular, tuberiform
joints, ringed with the brown fibrous remains of the leaves of
previous years. Roots long, cylindrical, rather thick, unbranched,
fibrous. Flowering stems terminal, erect, 8 feet high, somewhat
compressed, smooth, solid, green, triangular in the upper part.
Leaves very large, alternate, lower ones on long stalks, upper ones
sheathing, broadly oval- or ovate-oblong, attenuate at both ends,
smooth, bluish-green, with a broad strong midrib, and numerous,
curved, parallel, prominent, secondary nerves. Flowers few, in
pairs, nearly sessile, erect, arranged in a rather close, short, race-
mose inflorescence at the end of the stem ; a single bract below
each pair of flowers, ovate, blunt, membranous and crumpled,
purplish-pink, persistent, and two small opposite ones below the
ovary of one of the flowers. Sepals 3, superior, slightly unequal,
ovate, blunt, imbricate, greenish. Petals 3, superior, alternate with
the sepals, and three times as long as them, erect, lanceolate, con-
cave, very acute, red. Andrcecium of 5 superior petaloid staminodes
exceeding the true petals, and appearing to constitute the corolla,
imbricated in (irregularly) 2 rows, unequal, bright scarlet, yellowish
below; the 3 outer at the back of the flower, erect, the longest
nearly 3 inches long, all oblong- spathulate, blunt, entire ; the 2
inner dissimilar, one curved over the front of the flower, forming
a sort of lip, and internally constituting the floor of the flower,

* Canna, Greek KO.WO., a reed or cane.

266 CANNA EDULIS

the other bearing an anther on one side in contact (in the bud)
with the front of the style, round which this staminode is folded,
the upper part recurved, the base fused with the posterior surface
of the style ; anther apparently 1 -celled, dehiscing down the
centre, pollen yellowish- white. Ovary inferior, oblong-ovoid,
green, papillose, 3-celled, with numerous axile ovules in two rows
in each cell ; style 2 J inches long, horizontally flattened, sub-
petaloid, scarlet, erect in the posterior part of the flower; stigma
terminal, truncate, linear. Fruit, a roundish capsule about J inch
long, crowned with the withered remains of the flower, pericarp
thin, membranous, greyish-brown, muricated with deciduous
filiform processes, dehiscing loculicidally into 3 valves. Seeds
several, nearly globular, dark brown; testa thin, marked with
minute distant punctuations ; embryo club-shaped, the narrower
radicle at the hilum in contact with the testa and covered for a
short way down with a sheath prolonged from the inner seed-coat.
Habitat. — G. edulis is cultivated in Peru, where it was originally
observed by Euiz and Pavon; it was first grown in England in
1823 from seed collected by them JO years before. It is also
supposed to be the species cultivated in the "West Indian Islands
(especially St. Kitts) for the starch of its rhizomes, but this has
not been made out with certainty.

The species of Canna have been as yet little studied, and their
limits are ill- defined ; they are also said to vary much under culti-
vation. The plant figured and above described has been grown
at Chelsea Gardens under the above name for many years, but it
cannot be said to agree well with the authentic specimens of
C. edulis in the Lainbertian* herbarium (now in the British
Museum). These have smaller (and paler?) flowers and narrower
staminodes, the bracts are much larger, and the habit of the plant
more slender. We have not, however, been able to refer the
Chelsea Gardens plant with more certainty to any other described
species, though G. Lamberti Lindl. (figured in Bot. Reg. t. 470, and
Roscoe's 2nd plate) appears to have several characters in common
with it.

Ruiz & Pavon, PI. Peruviana, i, p. 1 ; Roscoe, Scitaminese ;

266 CANNA EDULIS

Botanical Register, vii, Appendix; Grisebach, PI. Brit. W.
Indies, p. 603; Lindl., PL Med., p. 570.

Official Part and Name. — CANNA ; the fecula prepared from the
rhizome of an undetermined species of Canna (U. S. P.). It is
not official in either the British Pharmacopoeia, or the Pharma-
copoeia of India.

This starch is commonly known under the name of Tous les
Mois. It is principally imported from St. Kitts, but nothing is
known of its botanical source, except that it is derived from one
or more species of Canna.

Extraction. — In order to extract the starch, the rhizomes or
tubers are first rasped by means of a machine into a pulp ; and
from this pulp the starch is obtained by washing, straining,
decantation of the supernatant liquor, and desiccation of the
deposited starch.

General Characters and Composition. — Canna starch or Tous les
Mois, as seen by the naked eye, is a white powder, having a
peculiar satiny or glistening appearance on account of the large
size of its constituent granules. The sparkling or glistening
appearance of the granules is very obvious when viewed by a
magnifying lens. When examined by the compound microscope
the granules are seen to be very large, exceeding in this respect
all other known starches, being from the 200th to the 300th of an
inch in length. They have a somewhat flattened appearance, and
an ovate or oblong form ; the hilum, which is not very con-
spicuous, is at one end of the granule, and is encircled with
numerous, regular, distinct, unequally distant rings.

Tous les Mois has the same composition as that of other
starches.

Medical Properties and Uses. — Tous les Mois has all the properties
of starch, and is nutritious and demulcent. It may be used as a
demulcent in urinary and bowel complaints. It affords, when
boiled with twenty times its weight of water, a more tenacious jelly
than that of West Indian Arrow-root or Maranta Starch, and is
well adapted to form a wholesome and nutritious food for infants,

266 CANNA EDULIS

convalescents, and invalids. It is, however, but little used in
this country, or elsewhere.

Per. Mat. Med., by B. & R., p. 450; PharmacograpMa, p. 573;
U. S. Disp., by W. & B., p. 208.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE.

Drawn from a specimen in the Garden of the-" Apothecaries' Company,
Chelsea, in flower in September.

1. Inflorescence.

• ,•

2. Vertical section of flower.

3. Transverse section of ovary.

4. Ripe fruit.

5. Seed.

6. Section of the same.

7. Embryo.

8. Diagram of flower.

9. Rhizome.

(3 enlarged.)

,

NON-CIRCULATING BOOK

The conditions under which this book was
acquired place certain restrictions upon its use.
It may not be taken from the Library building,
nor may it be reserved in the Reserved Book
room, in a seminar room or elsewhere.

747777

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY