MEDICAL BOTANY: SYSTEMATIC AND GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS, ‘Plates of all the Medicinal ‘lants, CATALOGUES OF THE MATERIA MEDICA, AS PUBLISHED BY THE ROYAL COLLEGES OF PHYSICIANS OF LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND DUBLIN; TOGETHER WITH THE PRINCIPAL MEDICINAL PLANTS NOT INCLUDED IN THOSE PHARMACOPGIAS. ACCOMPANIED WITH A CIRCUMSTANTIAL DETAIL OF THE MEDICINAL EFFECTS, AND OF THE DISEASES IN WHICH. THEY HAVE BEEN MOST SUCCESSFULLY EMPLOYED. BY WILLIAM WOODVILLE, M.D. F.LS. THIRD EDITION, IN WHICH THIRTY-NINE NEW PLANTS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED. THE BOTANICAL DESCRIPTIONS ARRANGED AND CORRECTED BY DR. WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, F.R.S. L. S. &c. Who has uddded on Index following the ‘Arteaga of Jasin THE NEW MEDICO-BOTANICAL PORTION SUPPLIED BY G. SPRATT, ESQ. aurHor oF THE FLORA MEDICA, Under whose immediate Inspection the whole of the Plates have been coloured. IN FIVE VOLUMES. VOL. V. LONDON : PUBLISHED BY JOHN BOHN, 17, HENRIETTA STREET. 1832. ePeneus balsamea C Spratt dee. ORD. I. CONIFER. PINUS BALSAMEA. BALM OF GILEAD FIR. SYNONYMA. Abies taxi fclio, odore balsami Gileadensis. Du Hamel, Arb. v. 1.3... Pinus balsamea. Willd. v. 4. p.504; Lin. Sp. Pl. 1421 ; Ait. Kew. Ed. 2. v. 5. p.319; Lambert. 48. t.31. Abies balsamifera. Mich. Boreal-Amer. v. 2. 207; Mich. Arb. For. v. 1. 145. .14. Class Monoecia. Ord. Monadelphia. Nat. Ord. Conifer. Linn. Juss. Gen. Char. Male flower in a catkin, naked. CalyxO. CorollaO. Stamens numerous, on a common stalk. Female flower in a catkin or cone of close, rigid, two-lipped, two-flowered scales; Seeds, two to each scale, winged. Sp. Char. Leaves solitary. flat, imperfectly two-ranked. Cones eylindsical, erect, with sharp seis scales. Crest of the anthers pointless. , THIS species of pine forms a very beautiful tree, rising to the height of about forty feet: the trunk, which measures from twelve to fifteen inches in - diameter, is straight, and covered with a smooth, whitish grey bark. The leaves are very fragrant, disposed on either side of the branches, like the teeth of a comb; they are solitary, flat, linear, short, not exceeding eight lines in length, and pointed ; of a bright green on their upper surface, paler No. 1. B 2 ORD. I. Coniferz. PINUS BALSAMEA. beneath, and marked with whitish lines. The male catkins are ovate; the crest of the anthers kidney-shaped, pointless, or furnished with short spines, but never bifid; the females with numerous ovate, notched, pointed bracteas. The cones, which stand erect upon the branches, are large, nearly cylindri- cal, and when full grown, of a beautiful, deep, glossy, purple colour, inclining to black, and exuding a great quantity of transparent resin, which gives them a very beautiful appearance. Figure (a) represents a female catkin, (2) a male catkin, (c) scales of a catkin, (d) its bracteole, (e) the anthers, (/) scale of a cone. The Pinus balsamea is a native of the coldest regions of North America, growing abundantly in Canada, Nova Scotia, New England, and the other northern provinces. It has been cultivated in this country since 1698, but our climate does not appear to be congenial to it, for although it attains a considerable height, it seldom survives above twenty years.* The fine turpentine of the shops, or what is commonly called Canada bal- sam, is yielded by this tree. It exists in great quantity, in the vesicles be- tween the wood and bark; being collected by making incisions in the trunk of the tree, through which it exudes. It is imported into this country in casks, weighing about one cwt. each. Sensible and Chemical Properties, Sc. Canada balsam, or turpentine, has a strong, but rather agreeable odour; its taste is somewhat bitter, and re- sembles the other turpentines; its colour is pale yellow, with a greenish tinge, transparent, and has the consistence of honey fresh from the comb. Distilled with water, it yieldsa limpid, colourless, essential oil, and leaves a solid resin, resembling the common yellow resin. Distilled by itself, it yields, first, a clear oil, in appearance like that obtained by distillation with water, but which gradually changes to yellow, and then red, and leaves a black resin.. During the operation of distillation, succinic acid also rises. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol and ether, also in the volatile and drying oils; it is soluble in alkaline leys and the strong acids; the sul- phuric and nitric acids convert it into artificial tannin. The essential oil, or spirit of turpentine, as it is commonly called, has a strong penetrating * Some of the largest and oldest trees are said to be on the estate at Warwick Castle, and at Woburn, the seat of the Duke of Bedford. + Annales de Chim. xxi. 328. PINUS BALSAMEA. ORD. I. Coniferex. 3 odour, and a hot, pungent, bitterish taste. Itis perfectly limpid and colour- less, light, volatile, inflammable, and burns with a very vivid, crackling flame. It is soluble in six parts of sulphuric ether, very sparingly soluble in cold alcohol, one hundred parts unite with twenty of alcohol; if the alcohol be heated, the oil readily combines with it, but will be separated again as soon as the spirit cools. A stream of oxymuriatic gas passed through it, converts it into a yellow resin. Distilled with four times its volume of water, it becomes lighter and brighter. Medical Properties and Uses. Canadianbalsam possesses similar medicinal properties to the other turpentines, which have been fully described under the article Pinus sylvestris, Pinus abies, Pinus picea, and Pinus larix, in Vol. L. of this work. We have, therefore, only a few observations*to make on the use of the oil of turpentine as a remedial agent, more especially for the expulsion of tenia. It was first recemmended by Dr. Fenwick as an anthelmintic * of very considerable powers. The Doctor prescribed it in doses of two ounces, and repeated it in ounce doses till it had the desired effect; purging is in general produced, and the worm is usually evacuated lifeless.t+ Turpentine, when given in large doses, by acting as a cathartic, seems to prevent its absorption; hence its action on-the urinary organs be- comes obviated, and stranguary, which so frequently accompanies the inter- nal use of small doses of turpentine, is not to be apprehended ; not only for the expulsion of tenia, but for other worms, (especially the dwmbrici) it has been administered with equal success. Dr. Copeland { strongly recommends the oil in the hemorrhagie, particularly in atonic epistaxis, also in epilepsy, in the last stages of puerperal fever, and in the convulsions of infants, when arising from a disordered state of the alimentary canal. It is also a power- ful emmenagogue, thence useful in chlorosis. We are told by Dr. Copeland, that in some cases of ovarian dropsy, its effects were such as to recommend its employment in the incipient stages of that disease, and also in other dropsies. Externally, the oil of turpentine is used with much advantage as a primary application to scalds and burns. Dr. Kentish was the first who * Vide Med. Chir. Trans. vol. ii. +Vide Med. & Phys. Jour. v. xlvi-p. 185 & seq. { The action of oil of turpentine appears to differ from every other medicine that has been administered for the expulsion of tenia, by killing the worm; for we are told, that every worm that has been ejected by the oil of turpentine, generally had a livid hue, and was lifeless B2 se ORD. I. Conifere. PINUS BALSAMEA. introduced its use* and subsequently his practice has been confirmed and adopted by many surgeons of skill and eminence. It is also topically ap- plied as a discutient to indolent tumours, and as a rubifacient, in chronic rheumatism, sciatica, lumbago, &c. * Vide Essay on burns.—To those who are unacquainted with the importance of tur- pentine oil, as an application to burns, we would recommend a perusal of Dr. Kentish’s Essays, and Medical and Physical Journal, vol. iii. p. 262. ORD. I. AMENTACEZ. QUERCUS INFECTORIA. STAINING OAK. SYNONYMA. Quercus infectoria. Willd. Sp. Pl. v. 4. p. 436: Olivier. Voy. dans ? Empire Othoman, Ate.t. 14,15. Farber Eiche. Nom. Triv. Wilid. Class Monoecia. Order Polyandria. Nat. Ord. Amentacee. Linn. et Juss. Gen. Char. Male flowers in a catkin. Calyx of several segments. Corolla none. Stamens five to ten. 3 ——s Calyx double, the outer inferior, scaly, undivided; the inner su- perior, of six deep segments. Corolla none. Styleone. Nut coriaceous, surrounded at the base by the persistent calyx. f Spec. Char. Leaves oblong, mucronate-dentate, glabrous on both sides. - THE Quercus infectoria is a native of Asia Minor, and to be met with from the Bosphorus as far as Syria, and from the coast of the Archipelago to the frontiers of Persia. Olivier seems to have been the first who ascer- G. Spratt ae. QUERCUS INFECTORIA. ORD. II. Amentacez. 5 tained this species of guercus to be the one which produces the galls of com- merce.* Weare told by General Hardwicke, in the narrative of his journey to Sirinagur, that he found this guercus growing in the neighbourhood of Adwaanie.t The greater part of the galls found in the Indian Bazaars are said to be brought from Persia by the Arab merchants. This species of oak has a crooked stem; it seldom exceeds six feet in height, and more frequently assumes the character of a shrub than of a tree; the leaves, which are deciduous in Autumn, are on short petioles, glabrous, ob- long, with three or four teeth on each side; the teeth oblong, obtuse, mucro- nate, as is the blunted apex, the base rounded, and generally unequal, of a bright green colour on both sides, but paler beneath. The fruit or acorn is solitary, elongated, smooth, twice or thrice as long as the cup, which is nearly sessile, in a slight degree downy and scaly. The gal/ appears upon the shoots of the younger branches, and soon acquires from four to twelve linesin dia- meter; the insect which produces it is the Cynips Quercus-folii of Linneus (Diplolepsis Gallz-tinctoriz of Geoffroy) a small hymenopterous insect, or fly, with a fawn-coloured body, dark antenne, and the upper part of its body of a shining brown. The insect punctures the tender shoot with its spiral sting, and deposits its eggs, which attain their full size in a day or two, before the larva is hatched. The eggs grow with the gall, and it is by the ir- ritation which they keep up, (not, as has been supposed, by the maggot feed- ing on the juices of the plant) that the morbid excitement is maintained in the vessels of the part, sufficient for the production of this kind of vegetable wen. Figure (a) on the drawing represents the insect magnified, (natural size, about half an inch from-the tip of one wing to the other,) (6) the larva, (¢) a different sort of gall said by Olivier to grow on the same oak. — The sensible qualities of galls, and their medical properties and uses, have already been detailed under the article Quercus Robur, (see Vol. I. p. 25-27) we have therefore only to enlarge upon their Chemical Properties. From the analysis of Sir H. Davy, we learn, that 500 grains of Aleppo galls yielded to pure water by lixiviation, 185 grains of solid matter, of which 130 were tannin; mucilage and matter rendered insoluble by evaporation, 12; gallic acid, and a little extractive, 31; saline and earthy matter, 12. The soluble part of galls is taken up by about forty times its weight of boil- ing water, the residue is tasteless. The watery infusion reddens tincture of * Vide Olivier’s Travels, (translation) p.41. + Asiatic Researches, v. 6. p. 376. 6 ORD. II. Amentacex. QUERCUS INFECTORIA litmus, and forms precipitates with solutions of the following substances :— isinglass, lime-water, subcarbonate of potass, acetate of lead, sulphate of copper, nitrate of silver, sulphate of iron, nitrate of mercury, tartrate of anti- mony, and the infusions of Columbo root, Cusparia bark, and Cinchona bark. The muriate of mercury renders the infusion milky and opaque; but no precipitate is formed. Nitrous acid, sulphate of zinc, infusion of quassia, ammonia, and infusion of saffron, occasion no precipitate. A saturated de- coction of gall,.on cooling, deposits a copious pale yellow precipitate, which appears to be. purer tannin than can be got by any other process. Alcohol takes up nearly seven parts out of ten, and ether five. Newmann obtained from 960 grains of coarsely powdered galls, 840 watery extract, and after- wurds 4 alcoholic ; and inversely, 760 alcoholic, and 80 watery. The ethe- real tincture, when evaporated on water, leaves on the side of the glass an _opaque pellicle, and on the surface of the water small drops of an oily resin- ous-like matter, while the substratum of water becomes charged with tannin and gallic acid. The alcoholic tincture reddens litmus, and forms precipi- tates with the re-agents as the watery infusion. To what principles these precipitates are owing, remains to be ascertained. It is observed by Vauquelin, that the infusions of nut-galls and cinchona, agree in precipitating both ge- latine and tartrate of antimony, and that they precipitate each other. We are told by Dr, Duncan, that, in his experiments, “ a saturated mixture of the infusions of nut-galls and cinchona still precipitate gelatine; but infu- sions, separately saturated by gelatine, do not act on each other.” Hence it appears, that the action of the infusions on each other, depends on prin- ciples contained in each, compatible with the presence of tannin, but re-act ing on each other, and that gelatine precipitates the principles, along with the tannin. It has been generally asserted, that the precipitate of tannin - and gelatine is insoluble in water, either cold or hot; but I find, that in boiling water, it not only becomes soft and viscid, but a certain portion is dissolved, which separates again when the solution cools.”* M. Braconnot has discovered in nut-galls a new acid, which he has named Ellagic.t This acid is in the form of a white powder, with a slight tinge of red, itis insipid, inodorous, and insoluble in boiling water; combined with nitric acid, and gently heated, the mixture acquires a deep red colour. Galls also yield, by distillation with water, a small portion of a concrete, volatile oil.t . * Edin. New Dispensatory. + Ann. de Chim. et Phys. t. ix. p. 187. + Phil. Mag. C. Spratt aed. SALIX CAPREA. ORD. II. Amentacezx. ee i SALIX CAPREA. ROUND LEAVED SALLOW., SYNONYMA, Salix latifolia inferne hirsuta. Bawh. Hist. p. 215. Raii Hist. 1422. n.1. Salix latifolio rotunda. Bauh. Pin. 474. Dill. App. 37. Rati Angl.3.p.449. Salix caprea latifolia. Fl. Lapp. Tab. viii. Fig. 8. Salix caprea. Lin. Sp. Pl. 1448. § Fl. Suec.n.900. Gmel. Sib. p. 137. Hoffm. Sal.i.3. With. Arrang. vol. ii. p.74. Willd. Sp. Pl. v. 4. p. 703. Huds. Fl. Angl. Ed. 2. p. 429. Smith, Fl. Brit. p. 1067. Engl. Bot. t. 1488. Hook, Fl. Scot. i. p. 286. Smith, Engl. Fl. v. 4. p. 225. Hook. Br. Fi. p. 425. Salict. Wob. p. 243. t. 122. Class Dioecia. Order Diandria.* Nat. Ord. Amentacez, Juss. Gen. Char. Male. Amentum cylindrical. Calyx a scale. Corolla none. Gland at the bottom of the lower nectariferous. Female. Amentum cylindrical. Calyx a scale. Style bifid. Capsule one- celled, two-valved. Seeds comose. Spec. Char. Leaves ovate-elliptical, acute, serrated, and waved at the mar- gin, downy beneath. Stipules semi-cordate. Germens pedicellate, lanceo- late-subulate, silky. Stigmas sessile, undivided. THE Salix caprea is indigenous to Britain, it sometimes becomes a mo- derately-sized tree, no other species of willow requiring so dry a soil; it blossoms in April, and enlivens the Spring with its numerous yellow flowers. The trunk rises to a considerable height, and sends off many spreading branches, which are covered with a smooth ash-coloured bark. The leaves are petiolate, four or five inches long, and about three broad, obtusely ser- rated, lanceolate, or ovate-oblong, of a dark green, and smooth or downy on the upper surface ; beneath, of a bluish grey colour, somewhat cottony, and _ marked with a network of veins. There are sometimes no stipules, but when " present, they usually accompany the uppermost leaves, are rounded and ob- * Class Diandria. Order Monogynia. Withering’s Arrangement of British Plants, 7th Edition. 8 ORD. I. Amentacez. SALIX CAPREA. seurely toothed. The male catkin is pale, cylindrical, one or two inches long, and one broad, with ovate, downy scales; stamens two, filiform and smooth ; nectary composed of two yellow, glandular scales, the larger being between the stamen and the receptacle, and the smaller between the stamen and the scale. The female catkins oblong or cylindrical, on foot-stalks, which have six or seven scales; the germen ovate, supporting two bifid, erect stigmas; the capsule is ovate, and contains many small seeds. Figure (a) female flowers, (4) the same magnified, (c) the germen, (d) stigmas, (e) gland, _(f) male flower, (g) the same magnified, (h) gland, (é) stamens. The bark* of this speceies has not been chemically examined; its sensible qualities being however the same as the white willow, it probably contains similar constituent principles. As a remedial agent, it has been given with success, as a substitute for the cinchona bark, in the same diseases and under similar circumstances, in which the bark of the white willow has been ad- ministered; but the comparative powers of the two have not been defined. It certainly would be of some importance to ascertain, by a series of experi- ments, which of the species of willow might be administered with the greatest advantage. At present the shops are supplied from a variety of different species. : * The wood and branches of this species of willow are manufactured into a variety of useful articles: the bark has been used for tanning leather; bees extract much honey from its catkins; goats are said to be particularly fond of the foliage and young shoots. SALIX ALBA. COMMON WHITE WILLOW. SYNONYMA. Salix. Lob. Ic. 2. p.136. Salix vulgaris alba arborescens. C. Bauh. Pin. 473. Dill. App. p. 42. Salix maxima fragilis alba hirsuta. J. Bauh. Hist. p. 212. Salix arborea angusti folia vulgalis. Rai Hist. n. 1419. Salix alba. Lin. Sp. Pl. p. 1449. Fl. Suec. 2. n. 903. Hort. Cliff. 473. Hud. fl. Angl. Ed. 2. p. 430. Light. Fl. Scot. p. 609. Hoff. Sal. i. 7 & 8. Willd. Sp. Pl.v. 4. p. 710. With. Arrang. ii. p. 76. Smith, Fl. Brit.. p- 1071. Engl. Bot. t. 2430. Hook. Scot. 1. p. 287. Smith, Engl. Fl. v. 4. p. 231. Salict. Wob. p. 271. t. 136. Hook. Brit. Fl. p. 418. a > Soralé del SALIX ALBA. ORD. IL. Amentacezx. 9 Spec. Char. Leaves elliptical-lanceolate, regularly glanduloso serrate, acute, silky beneath, often so above. Germen ovate acuminate, nearly sessile, glabrous. . Stigmas sub-sessile, short, recurved, bifid. Scales short, pubes- cent at the margin. THE common White Willow is a native of Britain, growing in woods, hedge-rows, and wet meadow and pasture land; flowering in April and May. It is a tall straight tree, and attains a very considerable size.* The trunk is covered with a cracked bark of a greyish colour; the branches are numerous, spreading widely; the deaves are alternate, on short petioles, sharply and elegantly serrated; their lower serratures, remote and glandular, shining, pubescent above, white and silky beneath; the barren catkins cylindrical, blunt, one and a half to two inches long, four lines broad, on foot-stalks which are half an inch long. Stamens two; nectaries two, one before the stamens, and inversely heart-shaped, the other behind them, and oblong. Fertile catkins slender, cylindrical, two inches long, three or four lines broad, on foot-stalks near an inch in length: the style is short; the stigmas bipar- tite, and thick; the capsules are nearly sessile, ovate, smooth, and of a brown- ish colour. The drawing represents a branch of a male plant, figure (a) a | single scale of a male catkin, shewing the stamens, &c. (magnified), (6) a mature amentum of a female plant, (c) a single scale of the natural size, (d) the germen and stigmas magnified, (e) scale, (f) a seed. We are told by Withering, that this species of willow prefers an open and moist situation, where it grows quickly, and bears lopping.t The wood is light, tough, pliable, and very white ; hence it is much esteemed for many economical purposes :—viz. for making pails, chests, boxes, and for chips for willow bonnets, &c.; and also for the purpose of tanning leather. Horses, cows, and sheep, feed on the leaves and young shoots. Sensible Qualities and Chemical Properties, &c. The bark is inodorous, somewhat bitter and astringent; water extracts these qualities: the decoc- * A willow of this species, grawing at Bury St. Easnuinds, (called the Abbot's wil- low) measures in height seventy-five feet, in girth eighteen feet six inches, and contains 440 cubic feet of timber.—Vide Streitt's Sylva Britannica. + The same author says, that, “ whoever desires to shade a walk with willows, should set barren plants only ; or they will soon multiply so as to form a thicket, instead of a walk.” Nad. c th Re Ue ater oe ee Fen ron ne gisege 10 ORD. II. Amentacezx. SALIX ALBA. tion is of a reddish colour; sulphate of iron produces a dark green precipi- tate; asolution of isinglass throws down a precipitate, at first blue, but changing to a buff colour; carbonate of ammonia, and potass, and also lime water, throw down precipitates of the same colour. The watery extract has a bitter taste, is somewhat brittle, ofa reddish colour, and does not deliquesce. The alcoholic tincture is of a greenish yellow colour, and is rendered turbid by the addition of water; when evaporated, it leaves a bright yellow ex- tract, which melts at a moderate heat, and emits an aromatic odour.* Hence it appears, that the constituents of the white willow bark are, extractive, bit- ter resin, gluten, and tannin: . A. Buchner of Munich+ has lately discovered a bitter principle in the barks of the salix incana and vitellina, to which he has given the name of salicine. This substance, we are told by him, belongs to the class of alka- loids, and it is to this principle M. A. Buchner attributes the febrifuge pro- perties of the different species of willow. To obtain this principle, he treated «1 ry | aS he BEETLE | aay | + PS hi 1 4} 4 = 2 ie 7 exhausted it with water acidulated with sulphuric acid: this produced him a very bitter solution. He then precipitated the sulphuric acid and the co- louring matter, by acetate of lead ; and afterwards separated the excess of lead from the liquor, by means of the hydro-sulphuric acid. The liquor was then treated with the whites of eggs, and animal charcoal (ivory black), to separate the remaining colouring matter: by these means he obtained a very bitter solution, nearly colourless. Having boiled the liquor with caustic am- monia, he volatilized the acetic acid; during which the liquor took a yel- lowish tinge, the evaporation was continued until he obtained a soft extract, intermixed with crystals of salicine. Ina second mémoire on the prepara- tion and properties of salicine.t M. Buchner gives the preference to the following mode of preparing this substance :—viz. dissolve four parts of the extract of the bark of common willow] in 24 to 30 parts of water; and add * Ann. de*Chimie, liv. 290. + Vide Extrait du Recueil de Pharmacie, rédigé par M. Buchner 4 Munich. Jour- nal de Pharmacie, No. X. 15iéme Année, Octobre 1809. { Vide Mémoire sur la préparation et les propriétés de la salicine, par A. Buchner. Journal de Pharmacie, No. IV. 1Giéme Année, Avril 1830. || The particular species is not named, but we have every reason to believe that salicine may be obtained from every individual species of the genus salix. SALIX ALBA. ORD. IL. Amentacezx. — ll from 1 to 2 parts of sulphurie acid, weakened with water; immedi- "ately on shaking this mixture, a flaky precipitate separates, produced by the tannin; while the salicine is combined with the sulphuric acid: the liquor, which by this means acquires a straw colour, passes with facility, and per-. fectly clear, through a filter. To obtain the salicine without combination, we must separate the acid employed, by carbonate of barytes or of lime, a process which gives a red tint to the liquor: this, being separated from the precipitate, is immediately evaporated to the consistence of syrup, and after- wards treated by six to eight times its weight of alcohol, which determines the formation of a red, flaky deposit ; it then only remains to filter and eva- porate the liquor to obtain the salicine. Salicine, when pure, is in the form of yellowish, shining, transparent, brittle, crystals; taste extremely bitter, resembling quinine; soluble in water in all proportions; also in alcohol, but insoluble in ether, and the essential oils.* We have no doubt but salicine may be used with advantage under many circumstances, as a substitute for quinine. Medical Properties and Uses. The bark of this willow, and also that-of the salix fragilis (crack willow)t and the salix saprea (round leaved sallow), have been given as a substitute for the cinchona barks, in the cure of inter- mittent and remittent fevers. The Rev. Mr. Stone, of Chipping-Norton, Oxfordshire, was the first who drew the attention of physicians to the bark of the white willow; he gave it successfully in doses of one drachm of the powder, every two, three, or four hours, between the paroxysms. In quar- tans, and a few obstinate cases, he occasionally added one-fifth of the Peru- vian bark.t It has also been administered with success in cases of debility, and in other diseases, requiring the aid of bitter, astringent medicines. Willow bark may be given in decoction :—* An ounce anda half of the dried bark should be first macerated for six hours in two pounds of water, and then made to boil in it for ten or fifteen minutes. An ounce or two of this decoction may be given three or four times a day, or oftener.” || For the cure of intermittents, the bark, in substance finely powdered, may be ex- hibited in doses of from one to two drachms. , * Journal de Pharmacie, No. iv. 1830. p. 247. + Vide vol.i. p. 19 of this Work. t Phil. Trans. vol. liii. p. 195. —_|| Edin. New Dispens. 11th Ed. ORD. Ill. COMPOSITA DISCOIDEA. SOLIDAGO VIRGAUREA. COMMON GOLDEN-ROD. SYNONYMA. Virga Aurea vulgaris latifolia. Bauh. Hist. v. 2. 1062. f. Virga aurea. Raii Syn. 176; Camer. Epit. 748, 749, f.f.; Park. 542; Ger. Em. 430. f.; Matth. Valgr. v.2. 354. f.; Dod. Pempt. 142. f. Soli- dago, v.69. Hall Hist.v. t.29. Solidago virgaurea. Lin. Sp. Pl. 1235. Hook. Scot. 244; Stokes, v. 4.219; Fl. Brit. 889; Engl. Bot. t.301; Engl. Fil. v.3. p.438 ; Hook. Br. Fl. p.362. Small, with broader radical leaves. S. cambrica Huds.; Willd. v. 3. 2065: Wither. Arrang. of Brit. Pl. v. 4; Solidago vulgaris. Gray, Nat. Arr. of Brit. Pl. v. 2. p. 465. Class Syngenesia. Ord. Polygamia Superflua. Nat. Ord.. Composite, discoidie, Linn. Corymbifera, Juss. Gen. Char.. Receptacle, naked. Seed, downed, simple. Calyx, imbricated, with close scales. Florets of the Radius, about five (yellow.) Sp. Char. Stem slightly zigzag, angular. Clusters, downy, panicled, crowded, erect. Upper leaves, lanceolate. Lower leaves, elliptico-lanceolate, hairy, partly serrated. : THE Solidago Vigaurea is the only species* of the genus that is indigenous to Britain.t It is a perennial plant, flowering in July and August; inha- * Withering says that “ these plants are so variable in size and other m characteristics, that it is difficult to determine species and varieties,” + The genus solidago comprises a very numerous tribe of plants ; sixty-six are enu- merated in Loudon’s Hortus Britannicus, as being cultivated in our gardens, nearly the whole of which are natives of North America; though Sprengel confines the list of spe- ore proper cies to sixty-three. SOLIDAGO VIGAUREA. ORD. III. Composite Discoidex. 13 ‘biting groves and heaths, and flourishing in poor soils on mountainous situations. The root is woody, and furnished with long simple fibres; the stem rises from one to three feet in height, erect, slightly zigzag, angular, solid, downy, branched towards the top. The leaves are elliptic-oblong, stalked, more or less serrated, rough, clothed with a rigid down, of a dull _ green.on the upper surface, paler beneath. The stem-leaves are smaller, more entire, sessile, alternate, downy, and gradually diminishing to lan- ceolate bracteas. The Jlowers are of a bright yellow colour, in terminal and axillary panicles, forming dense leafy clusters, which vary much in the number and size of the flowers; in elevated situations being more dense, shorter, and less compound, The scales of the calyx are erect, lanceolate, downy, membraneous at the edges, and finely fringed, within of a silvery whiteness.* The florets of the disc are numerous, tubular, with five equal segments: those of the ray from five to ten; elliptic-oblong, three-toothed, spreading; the filaments are capillary, short; the anthers united into a cylindrical tube; the seeds are ovate, hairy; their down appearing rough when magnified; the receptacle is punctated and toothed at the margin. Fig. (a) represents the lower part of the stem and leaves in outline: (0) the calyx : (c) a floret of the ray: (d) a floret of the disc: (e) the receptacle. Qualities, &c. The whole herb, when slightly bruised, has a slight aromatic odour, and a weak astringent taste: these qualities are extracted both by water and alcohol: the watery infusion, made ‘with boiling water, has a slight astringent taste, and strikes a black colour with the sulphate of iron. We have not learnt that this plant has been chemically examined ; but from its slight astring gency, it probably contains a small portion of the tannin prin- cip €. Medical Properties amd Uses. This plant is astringent, tonic, and slightly diuretic : formerly it was much employed in calculous and other diseases of the bladder, and several cases are recorded+ of its beneficial effects. Never- theless it is seldom employed in modern practice : like many of our other indigenous plants, it is too common to be held in any esteem.. Old Gerarde, when alluding to the high. price this plant fetched, till it was discovered growing in the neighbourhood of London, when it ceased to be held in any estimation, observes—* This verifieth our English proverbe, ‘ Far fetcht and - * Withering. + See Gent. Mag. for 1788—and Med. and Phy. Journ. vol. 19. 14 | ORD. III. Compositz Discoideer. SOLIDAGO VIRGAUREA. deere bought, is best for the ladies.’ Thus much I have spoken, to bring these new-fangled fellowes back again, to esteeme better of this admirable plant.” Gerarde, no doubt, overrated the medicinal properties of this indi- genous herb; but modern practitioners, probably, equally undervalue it. We feel convinced that many valuable native plants are discarded from our materie medicz, to gratify the prevailing rage for exotic productions. ORD. IV. AGGREGATA. CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA. TIPECACUAN. SYNONYMA. Ipecacuanha fusca. Piso, Bras. p.101. Herba Paris Bra- _ Siliana, Polycoccos. Raii Hist.669. Callicocca ipecacuanha. Brotero, Linn. Trans. v. 6. p. 137, t. 11. Psychotria ipecacuanha. Stokes, Bot. Mat. Med. v. i. 364. Cephaélis ipecacuanha. Rich. Hist. Ip. p. 21. t. 2. Reem. et Sch. Syst. Veg. v. 1. p. 210. St. Hil. Pl. Us. Brazil. v. i. t. 6. Class Pentandria. Ord. Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Aggregate. Linn.—Rubiace. Juss. Cinchonacee, Lindley. Gen. Char. Flowers in an involucred head. Corolla tubular. Prostar two-parted. Berry two-seeded. Receptacle chaffy. Spec. Char. Stem simple ascending, somewhat shrubby, sarmentose. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, somewhat pubescent. Head of flowers terminal, pedunculated, solitary. Corolla five-cleft, chaffy. piiauniee ee Involucre tetraphyllous. THE Cephaélis yes is a perennial plant, native of Brazil, and found in moist situations in the provinces of Rio Janeiro, Mariannia, Gphactes preeacuanha G.Sprate del CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA. ORD. IV. Aggregate. Bees Pernambuqua, Bahia, &c. inhabiting the woods, and flowering from No- vember to March. The root is simple, or somewhat branched, and furnished with a few short radicles; it is roundish, three or four inches in length, and two or three lines in thickness, irregularly bent, externally of a brown co. lour, and annulated with numerous, prominent, unequal, rings. The stem is procumbent at the base, rising from five to nine inches in height, round, the thickness of a hen’s quill; smooth, leafless, of a brownish colour, knotted at the lower part, and leafy towards the upper: after the first year it throws out a few knotty runners, from which, about six inches apart, new stems arise. The inferior leaves are caducous, so that not more than eight gene- rally remain at the summit of each stem, when it flowers: they are nearly sessile, opposite, spreading, ovate, pointed at both ends, three or four inches long, and less than two broad; of a bright green on the upper surface, be- neath of a whitish green colour, pubescent, veined ; at the base of each pair of leaves, is a pair of short, fimbriated, withering, stipules, embracing the stem. The flowers are aggregated in a solitary head, on a round, downy foot-stalk, terminating the stem; somewhat drooping, and encompassed by a four-leaved involucre. The florets are sessile, from fifteen to twenty-four in number, interspersed with little bracteas; the calyx very small ,five-toothed, superior, and persistent ; the corolla monopetalous ; the border shorter than the tube, woolly about the throat, swelling upwards, and divided into five ovate, acute, spreading, segments. The filaments are short, capillary, in- serted into the upper part of the tube, and bearing oblong, linear, erect, anthers. The germen is ovate, surmounted by a thread-shaped style, as long as the tube, surrounded at its base with a short, nectariferous rim, and ter- ' minated by two obtuse stigmas, the length of the anthers. The fruit is a one-celled berry, of a reddish purple colour, becoming wrinkled and black, and containing two smooth, oval seeds. Figure (a) represents a flower mag- nified: (b) the corolla spread open, to show the anthers: (c) the germen, style, and stigmas: (d) an interfloral bractea: (e) a berry: (f) section of a berry, shewing the seed. Although the root of this plant* has been long employed as an emetic, and * Brown Ipecacuan was first brought into Europe about the middle of the last cen- tury; but it is impossible to ascertain at what period this root was first known for its emetic effects in America. Piso published an account of it in 1618. 16 ORD. IV. Aggregate. CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA. as otherwise forming a valuable remedial agent in our list of materia medica ; yet the botanical characters of the plant itself were unknown, till Professor Brotero of Coimbra, determined the genus to which it ought to be referred.* According to Decandolle, the term Ipecacuanha, in South America, implies vomiting-root, and therefore it is applied to the roots of very different plants, viz. Asclepias currassavica—Cynanchum Ipecacuanha—Viola parviflora—V. Ipecacuanha—V. Calceolaria—and Cynanchum tomentosum : and sometimes to the Dorstenia brasiliensis—D. Arifolia—and to the Euphorbia ipecacuanha.t Two varieties of the root are brought to this country, packed in bales from Rio Janeiro,—the brown and the white, but whether they be the roots of one and the same plant, or otherwise, does not appear to be exactly determined. According to Mutis, the former is the root of the cephaélis, and the latter, on the authority of M.Gomez, we must suppose to be yielded by the Richard- sonia Brasiliensis. There is also a third variety, called black Ipecacuan, which is a native of Peru, and is exported from Carthagena to Cadiz. It is the root of the psychotria emetica. It is fusiform, striated, articulated, but not annulated. White Ipecacuan is externally ofa dirty white éolonr, and turns brownish by drying, is simple, or little blanched, five or six lines thick, three inches long or upwards, attenuated at the extremities, variously con- torted, with transverse annular rugosities, but larger than those of the brown Ipecacuan, its bark is thick, white, internally softer than the brown, the woody part white, hard, and as fine as a thread. The brown Ipecacuan is characterized by being contorted, wrinkled, and unequal in thickness, having - a thick bark, deeply fissured transversely, covering a very small, central, woody part, so as to give the idea of a number of rings strung upon a thread. Its colour varies with different shades of brown or grey. Sensible and Chemical Properties, §c. The root of Ipecacuan is inodorous, unless when reduced to powder, in which state it has a faint and somewhat unpleasant smell. The taste is nauseous, bitter, and slightly acrid. Boiling water takes up eight parts in twenty, proof spirit about six and a half, and alcohol four parts. Various experiments have been instituted by chemists, to detect the particular constituent to which Ipecacuanha owes its emetic * Vide Verses Trans. vol. vi. +In St. Domingo, several species of Ruellia, which excite vomiting, are denominated false Ipecacuan. Vide Nouveau Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle, Art. Tpecacuanha. CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA. ORD. IV. Aggregate. 17 quality.* M. M. Pelletierand Magendie found that the cephaélis Ipecacuanha, Viola emetica, and Psychotira emetica, contain a common principle, which they named emetine; to obtain which, they digested the powdered root in double its weight of ether, in order to separate any fatty matter; the re- mainder was heated with four times its weight of highly rectified alcohol, until it ceased to become coloured, even when aided by heat. The solution was evaporated to dryness, and re-dissolved in water, acetate of lead being dropped into the solution; the precipitate, which falls, is to be diffused through water, and exposed to a current of sulphuretted hydrogen gas. Sul- - phuret.of lead falls to the bottom, and the emetine remains in solution. The solution being again evaporated to dryness, the emetine appears in the form of transparent scales ofa reddish brown colour, nearly devoid ef odour, and the taste is bitter, but not very nauseous. It is capable of supporting the heat of boiling water, without undergoing any change, is very deliquescent, soluble in water, and incrystallizable. Emetine, as above prepared, is not quite pure. To obtain pure emetine, _ powder the ipecacuanha, and digest it in ether at sixty degrees, to dissolve the fatty, odorous, matter. When the powder yields nothing more to the ether, exhaust it again, by means of alcohol. Place the alcoholic tincture in a water-bath, and re-dissolve the residue in cold water: it thus loses a portion of wax, and a little of the fatty matter which still remained. Mace- rate iton calcined magnesia, by which it loses its gallic acid,—and re-dissolve it in aleohol. The emetine, thus isolated and rendered less soluble, is pre- cipitated in combination with the excess of magnesia. This magnesian precipitate, after being washed by means of a little very cold water, to separate the colouring matter, which is not combined with the magnesia, must be carefully dried, and digested in alcohol, which dissolves the emetine. After the emetine has been separated from the alcohol by evaporation, it should be re-dissolved in a diluted acid, and blanched by digestion with purified animal charcoal: it must then be precipitated by a salifiable base.t Pure emetine is white, pulverulent, and unalterable by the air; although coloured emetine is deliquescent. It is scarcely soluble in water, but readily * According to the analysis of M.M. Pelletier and Magendie, the components of ipecacuanha, are :—Oil, 2: Wax, 6: Gum, 10: Emetine, 16: Starch, 40: Wood, 20: Loss, 6=100.—Annales de ‘Chimie, iv. 180. + Magendie’s Formulary. No. 3. , D 18 ORD. IV. Aggregate. CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA. dissolves in alcohol and ether: its taste is slightly bitter, it restores the blue of turnsole when reddened by an acid, and is soluble in all the acids, the acidity of which it diminishes, but without entirely destroying it. Like veratrine, it forms crystallizable saline compounds with acids. It may be precipitated from the combinations by the gall-nut, like the alkalies of the different species of Cinchona. M. M. Pelletier and Dumas have found the composition of pure emetine obtained from the Cephaélis emetica, to be as follows :-— Carbon! Siesqins le igerint, 6 92. fozg 64,57 . Azote! egs; sien addy bys econcsks 4,00 Hydrogen: adi sxcovtheheosgies 7,77 JORGEN: fonts ay fos eet - 22,95 Emetine .. . 4 99,29 Action of E'metine on the Animal System. This substance, given to dogs and cats to the extent of from half a grain to two or three grains, produced vomiting, followed sometimes by long protracted sleep ; but when adminis. tered to a greater extent, such as ten grains, it produced upon dogs con- tinued vomiting, accompanied by stupor; in which, the animal, instead of recovering, as in the other case, commonly died in. the course of twenty-four hours. On Snes Sones the cause of death was discovered to be a violent inflammation 0: pulmonary tissue, and of the mucous membrane of the intestinal canal, from the cardia to the anus,—phenomena, very ana- logous to those resulting from emetic tartar. Similar effects are produced, if the emetine be injected into the jugular vein, or absorbed from any part of the body. ; Emetine acts on man as it does on animals. In doses of two grains, taken on an empty stomach, it both vomits and purges, followed by a disposition to sleep. Sometimes half or a quarter of a grain will excite nausea and vomiting. In cases of disease, the action of emetine is perfectly analogous, in addition to which, however, it exerts beneficial effects on catarrhal af- fections, especially those of a chronic kind.* * ‘Geo Recherches Chimi ques et Physiologiques sur lTpecac. par M. M. Macend; et Pelletier, Paris, 1807 z = ae CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA. ORD.IV. Aggregatx. - : 19 Medical Properties and Uses of Emetine. The cases in which Emetine may be employed, are the same as those in which Jpecacuanha is indicated.* To produce vomiting, four grains of the impure or coloured emetine, may be dissolved in two or three ounces of water or any other vehicle, and given in divided doses, repeated at short intervals; for if the whole be administered at once, the vomiting thereby excited, would probably expel it altogether from the stomach, without producing any other effect. The following formula may also be used :— EMETINE MIXTURE. Take of Emetine . . . . 4grains Weak Orunge-fowee in fialéionn- . . ~' 2 ounces Syrup of Orange-flower. . . + ounce. A dessert-spoonful to be given every dulblcaia In chronic pulmonary catarrhs, whooping-cough, obstinate diarrhceas, &c. the following lozenges may be advantageously substituted for the common Tpecacuanha lozenges. PECTORAL LOZENGES OF EMETINE. Take of Sugar. wk, Issicesia af; }d ounber /oloured Brootine, : sin + esenecol ic Sa eiTaiIns, Mix, and form into lozenges of nine grains each. These lozenges should be coloured with carmine, or other colouring matter, to distinguish them from similar preparations of Ipecacuanha. One of these lozenges may be given every hour; if repeated more frequently, they would excite nausea. Emetic lozenges may be prepared by using double the quantity of emetine:; and only half the proportion of sugar. Nine grains of this preparation is commonly sufficient to make a child vomit, and three or four times the quantity will produce the same effect in adults. The following formula may be substituted for the syrup of ipecacuanha. SYRUP OF EMETINE. Take of simple syrup - gia ak te sk pO Coloured Wonsne Pas. sks, 4 te Bee The action of pure emetine is similar to that of the coloured, but much * For the medical properties and nsee of Ipecacuanha, our readers will refer to the article Ipecacuan, in vol. iv. of this work. D2 20 ORD. VI. Aggregate. CEPHAELIS IPECACUANHA. more-powerful. Two grains are sufficient to destroy a large dog. M. Ma- gendie saw vomiting produced by one-sixteenth of a grain, in a man aged eighty-five : in whom, however, vomiting was readily excited. M. Magendie recommends the following formula for the exhibitions of pure emetine :— EMETIC DRAUGHT OF PURE EMETINE. Take of Infusion of Lime Flowers . . . 3 ounces Pure Emetine, dissolved in a suffi- cient quantity ofnitricacid . . 1 grain Syrup of Marshmallows ... . 1 ounce.—Mix. Dose—a dessert-spoonfal every quarter of an hour, until vomiting be produced. The following syrup is also a convenient mode of exhibiting emetine. , SYRUP OF PURE EMETINE. Take of simplesyrup . . . .. +. - 1 pound Pure Emetine. . .. . . 4 grains.—Mix. Dose—one or two tea-spoonsful, according to circumstances. M. Lerminier, of the Hospital Za Charité, has frequently administered emetine in the form oflozenges ; and, from his observations, he is enabled to a sert that ten or twenty grains of the root of ipecacuanha are adequately represented by one or two grains of emetine, (impure or coloured) so far as regards intensity of action. The convenient and agreeable form under which emetine may be administered, gives it a preference over ipecacuanha in substance.* ~ * Vide Clinique Médicale, &c. par M. Andral, Paris 1823. 7 Cocestlud palnratus. ,. Sprast de me ORD. VIII. SARMENTACE. COCCULUS PALMATUS. PALMATED COCCULUS, OR : CALUMBA PLANT. SYNONYMA. Menispermum palmatum. Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. p. 825. Lam. Dict. iv. p.99. Spreng. Syst. Veg. v. ii. p. 154. Berry, in Asiat. Res. v. x. p. 385. 2.5. Coeculus palmatus. Curt. Bot. Mag. v.iv. N.S. t. 2970-71 Decand. Syst. Veg. v.i. ‘pp. 522. Ejusd. Prodr. v. i. p. 98. Class XX. Dioecia. Ord. VI. Hexandria. Nat. Ord. Sarmentacee, Linn. Menispermee, Juss. Gen. Char. Sepals and petals arranged in a double series, very rarely in a triple series. Stamens six, free, opposite to the petals. Carpels from three to six. Fruit drupaceous, reniform, rather compressed, oue-seeded Uoty ledons distiutt. | Spec. Char. Leaves cordate, five to seven-lobed. odes entire, acuminate somewhat hairy on both sides. Stem and germen clothed with glandular hairs. THIS species of Coceulus is a native of the eastern part of southern Africa ; it has been ascertained to grow naturally, and in great abundance, from fifteen to twenty miles inland, in the thick forests about Oibo and Mosam- _bique, on the Zanguebar coast. Formerly it was erroneously supposed, that the plant which produced the calwmba-root of commerce, was a native of the island of Ceylon, and that its name was derived from Columbo, the principal town of that island. We are indebted to M. J. F. Fortin, a French gentle- 22 ‘ORD. VIII. Sarmentacez. coccULUS PALMATUS. man, for the discovery of the true plant, which produces this valuable root ; who, when at Mosambique, procured an entire offset, of a larger size than usual, (from the main root). This he brought with him to Madras in 1805, from which a male plant was raised in Dr. Anderson’s garden; and from this individual, Dr. Berry’s figure and description were made. The female plant had not been described at that period, but it was ascertained to belong to the natural order—Menispermex. The root is perennial, composed of a number of fasciculated, fusiform, somewhat branched, fleshy, curved, and de- scending tubers, of the thickness of an infant’s arm, clothed with a thin, brown, epidermis, marked, towards the upper part especially, with transverse warts; internally they consist of a deep yellow, scentless, very bitter flesh, filled with numerous parallel, longitudinal fibres or vessels. |The stems are annual, herbaceous, one or two proceeding from the same root, about the thickness of the little finger, twining, simple in the male plant, branched in the female, rounded, green; in the full grown plant, below thickly clothed _ with succulent longitudinal hairs, which are tipped witha gland. The leaves are alternate, the younger ones thin, pellucid, bright green, generally three- lobed; older ones remote, a span in breadth,'nearly orbicular in their cir- cumscription, deeply cordate, five to seven-lobed, the lobes entire, often de- flexed, wavy on the surface and margin, dark green above, paler underneath, hairy on both sides, with prominent nerves, and supported on round, hairy, foot-staiks, about as long as the leaves. In the male plant, the racemes are axillary, solitary, or two together, drooping, about as long as the petioles, compound, clothed with glandular hairs, and having at the base small deciduous bracteas. The calyx is smooth, consisting of six ovate, acute, nearly equal, leaves, arranged in a double series, The corolla is pale green; consisting of six oblong, free, petals, with involute margins, and recurved apices, arranged round a central, orbicular, disc or gland, in a single series. The jilaments are six, thick, shorter than _ the petals, with terminal, truncated, four-celled anthers ; \ the cells opening internally, and filled with linear, oblong grains of yellow pollen. In the Female plant, the racemes are also axillary, solitary, simple, patent, shorter than those of the male. The pedicels are furnished with minute, caducous, bracteas. ‘The sepals, or leaves of the calyx, are six, in two series ; three in- fenior, smal vt, ovate acute, subpatent, plane, glabrous. The petals are six, rarely eight, green, glabrous, shorter than the germens, and recurved at the COCCULUS PALMATUS. ORD. VEIL. Sarmentacex. . 23 extremity. ‘The pistils are three, free, of which two are generally abortive, ovate, acuminate, glanduloso-pilose, and containing one ovule. The style is very short, and the stigma has several spreading points. The frwit is drupa- ceous, or berried, about the size of a hazel nut, densely clothed with long spreading hairs, which, at their extremity, are tipped with a black gland. The seed is subreniform, clothed with a thin black shell, transversely striated.* Figure (a) the pistils, (6) a female flower, (c) a stamen and petal, (d) a male flower, (e) a seed. Calumba root is the staple export of the icicures from Mosambique ; and, from the quantity exported, it is not a little remarkable that its place of growth should have so long remained unknown, or doubtful to the rest of Europe. The roots are dug up in March, but the offsets only are taken. Soon after they are dug up, they are cut into slices, strung on cords, and hung up to dry in the shade; when they are sufliciently dry, they break short, and are then deemed good; but when they are soft, and of a dark co- lour, their quality is considered bad, and not marketable. ‘The dried root is brought to this country, packed in bags or cases. It is in transverse sections, - generally about one third of an inch in thickness and from one to two inches in diameter.t | “The late Sir Walter Farquhar was very anxious to introduce into Eng- land the calumba-root in a living state ; and for that purpose, he desired his son, Sir Robert Farquhar, Governor of Mauritius, Bourbon, and their de- pendencies, to procure the plant from its native soil in Africa, and forward it to London. Sir Robert lost no time, after assuming his government at the conquest of the French Islands, in applying to the Governor of Mosam- bique for growing plants ; and was repeatedly assured that these should be sent to him at the proper season. The promises, however, were never ful- filled ; although renewed by the several succeeding officials of the Portu- guese possessions on the East coast of Africa, ever since the year 1811. Dr. Wallich also took much pains for effecting the same object, and sent to Governor or the —— made at Calcutta of a male plant of the * The above Ff is ‘transcribed from that Pees by Dr. Hooker in the Botanical Magazine for March 1830. + We are told that the root of white pias tinged with the tincture of calumba, has been not unfrequently substituted for this roo _: ers ORD. VIII. Sarmentacex. CocCULUS PALMATUS calumba-root, whith had been brought to the Botanic garden there by Mr. Berry. Copies of this drawing were distributed to the different ships of war, and captains of merchant vessels, trading to the eastern coast of Africa, that they might be enabled to distinguish the plant, and bring it to the Mauritius; since there had been an evident unwillingness on the part of the Portuguese authorities to permit this precious vegetable to be taken away in any other state than what it bears in commerce, when deprived of vegetative power by passing through the oven. “All the attempts resulting from these means, proved fruitless; until aptain William Fitzwilliam Owen, commanding the surveying squadron of His Majesty’s Navy, on the East African coast, undertook the task. The extensive influence he had acquired by his intercourse with the native chieftains and tribes, enabled him to procure living plants ; while his bo- tanizal knowledge secured him against the mistakes committed by others, who had been misled by the local settlers in their search, and imposed on by the substitution of other species, instead of the true Calumba root. Cap- tain Owen, in the year 1825, brought away, in His Majesty’s ship Leven, from Oibo, a great number of cases, filled with growing roots of male and female plants, laid down in the sandy loam, which appears to be their favourite soil. No time was lost by him in forwarding a great portion of these to M. Telfair, at Mauritius, planting some also at Mahé, an island in the Seychelles Archipelago, and sending to Bombay several cases, in order to multiply by dispersion, the chances of success in naturalizing them in different climates. . “The roots that were brought to Mauritius, were partly transmitted to England, New Holland, and America ; but the greater number were dis- tributed among the various districts of Mauritius and Bourbon. Many of these plants blossomed at Mauritius in the course of a,year, but the flowers. all proved male. The roots, however, had, during that period, multiplied to - twenty or thirty times the original quantity ; and thus an opportunity was given for distributing them still more extensively. The female plants flowered at Seychelles, and Mr. G. Harrison, the Government agent there, transmitted some of these roots to Mr. Telfair, in whose garden of Bois Chéri in the Mauritius, they have flowered, and being fecundated by Pro- fessor Bojer, who touched them with the pollen of the male blossom ; they bore seeds. From these individuals, the drawings by Professor Bojer have been taken, which give a delineation and dissection of every part.” ‘ COCCULUS PALMATUS. ORD. VIII. Sarmentacex. 25 Sensible and Chemical Progerties, §c. Calumba root is bitter and slightly aromatic; it breaks with a starchy fracture, and is easily pulverised; exter- nally, of a brown wrinkled appearance; internally, yellow. The woody part of the root should be of a light yellow colour, somewhat solid and _ heavy. Its smell is weak, with a slight aromatic odour. Boiling water takes up about one-third of its weight; the infusion has the sensible qualities of the root ; it is not altered by sulphate of iron, nitrate of silver, corrosive sublimate, nor by emetic tartar; but it is copiously precipitated by, acetate of lead, tincture of nutgalls, lime-water, and yellow cinchona bark. It gives out its properties also to alcohol and proof spirit ; but the latter is the best menstruum. It affords an essential oil, by repeated distillation with water ; the remaining decoction yields malate and sulphate of lime. M. Planché obtained from this root one-third its weight of starch ; a yellow, bitter, resin ; a small quantity of volatile oil; salts of lime and potass; oxide of iron; silex; and a large proportion of a substance, which resembled animal matter.* We are told that a spurious calwmba root is met with in France, which is imported from the states of Barbary. It is known by its not con- taining starch ; hence it is easily detected by the agency of iodine, which does not alter its colour; by its changing black with sulphate of iron, and by its infusion reddening turnsole paper. Medical Properties and Uses. Calumba root is considered a powerful antiseptic and tonic, and also possessed of some astringent properties ; thence it is recommended in diarrhcea,t cholera morbus, general debility, and in the last stages of phthisis pulmonalis, and in hectic fever; it has _ been found to check colloquitive diarrhea, to allay nervous irritability, and to impart some degree of vigour to thestomach. It has also been considered useful in allaying the distressing nausea and vomiting which accompany pregnancy, and in the low stage of puerperal fever.{ It is also an excellent remedy in dyspepsia. Calumba root may be given in powder in doses of from fifteen to thirty grains, and repeated once in four or six hours. It is * Bull. de Pharm. iij. 289. + By the natives of Mosambique, and also by those at a remote distance, this root is considered almost a specific for every disorder of long standing ; but more especially for dysentery and venereal disorders. t Vide Denman’s Introduction to Midwifery, vol. ij. 524. No. 1. E : 26 ORD. VIII. Sarmentacez. coccULUS PALMATUS, usually, however, taken in the form of infusion, either alone, or in combina- tion with neutral or alkaline salts, aromatics or opiates, according as cir- cumstances may indicate. Off. The Root. Off. pp. Infusum calumbe, L.E. Tinct. Calumbe. L. E. D. ORD. XIV. RUBIACEZ. CINCHONA. | PERUVIAN BARK. Class Pentandria. Ord. Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Rubiacee, Juss. Cinchonacex, Lindley. THE entire genus of this valuable tribe of plants is indigenous to the New World; growing for the most part among mountainous regions, difficult of access, and in other respects affording but little encouragement to the mane traveller: To this cause we = soceibe oieis Seis genes want of tl ate ting ONC Of THE Lae 5S i bs 8 the vegetable world has jets ‘offered to mankind. Readie events, added to the valuable labours of: pharmaceutical chemistry, and the present enterprise and im- provement in that science, will, it is hoped, soon bring us better acquainted with the’ botanical characters of those species of cinchona, to which medicine is so much indebted. We believe the fact to be pretty well established, that there are many species of this tree, which yield a bark partaking more or less of the properties that distinguish the peruvian bark of commerce, although the distinctive characters of these species are still a desideratum in our botanical works: Ruiz and Pavon. have: described.. atteon species, & CINCHONA. ORD. XIV. Rubiacex. Bs 27 natives of Peru and Chili, and seven have been found by Mutis,* in the neighbourhood of Santa Fé. It is probable that very many more remain undescribed. The Edinburgh College formerly enumerated three varieties of the Peruvian, viz. the common or pale bark, the red, and_ the yellow ; but it has been long since ascertained by the Spanish botanists, that these barks not only belong to distinct species, but that, probably, each of them is taken indiscriminately from several different species. The first of these is now generally referred to the cinchona lancifolia of Mutis; the second, to the cinchona cordifolia of the same botanist, (under which he includes the cinchona purpurea and micrantha of the flora Peruviana, and the cinchona ' ovata of Ruiz;) and the third to. the eehone oblongifolia of Mutis; the _magnifolia of Ruiz and Pavon. CINCHONA LANCIFOLIA.+ THE cinchona lancifoliat grows to a great height and bulk, particularly before the great demand for the cinchona bark led to the destruction * Mutis was a native of Cadiz, who went to Santa Fé in 1760, as physician to the Viceroy, Don Pedro Misia de la Cerda. He discovered the Cinchona, in the forests be- tween Gauduas and Santa Fé, in 1772; although the credit of this discovery was at- tempted to be wrested from him by Don Sebastian José Lopez Ruiz; who, however, from his own documents, (transmitted by his brother to Baron Humboldt, to prove the priority of his discovery) appears to have known the Cinchona about Honda, only since 1774. + We refrain from giving any synonyms under this species, because they are involved in such great obscurity. Lambert, in his Illustrations of the Genus Cinchona, published in London, 1821, considers the Cinchona lancifolia of Mutis, together with the Cinchona lanceolata of Ruiz and Pavon, Cinchona nitida, Cinchona angustifolia, and Cinchona cucumefolia (MSS.) of the same authors, to be identical with the Cinchona Officinalis ef Linneus; and finally, as being the Cinchona condaminea, Humb. § Bonpl. PI. ZEquinoct. v. i. p. 43. t. 10. under which name Mr. Lambert adduces the following spe- cific character :—Cinchona Condaminea. Leaves ovato-lanceolate, acute, glabrous, and as well as the branchlets, very shining; panicle brachiate, much branched, and smooth ; calycine teeth, ovate acuminate ; segments of the corolla linear-lanceolate ; stigma emar- ginate ; capsules ovate, ribbed. + The bark of this species was formerly described under the vague name of Cinchona oficinalis. x8 28 ORD. XIV. Rubiacezx. CINCHONA. of so many full-grown trees, by stripping them of their bark; after which, it is said, they always die.* It is chiefly found in the neighbourhood of the village Ayavaca, in the woods of Caxanuma, Uritusinga, Monge, and. Villo- naco. This species of cinchona usually grows singly ; whereas most of the others are usually found in groups. This handsome free rises to the height of thirty or forty feet ; its trunk is erect, and measures from fifteen to twenty inches in diameter, and is covered with a rough, blackish-brown, or ash- . coloured bark, which exudes when wounded, a yellow, astringent juice: the branches are round, in opposite pairs, erect, brachiated, the younger ones obscurely quadrangular at the joints: the eaves are about four inches long, ovate, lanceolate, of a bright shining green, having a little depressed gland in the axils of the nerves on the under side, which is filled with an astringent aqueous fluid, having its orifice shut with hairs; they stand on fvotstalks, about one-sixth of their length, flat above, convex below, and of a purple colour :+ the stipules are two,—supra-axillary, acute, silky, contiguous, and caducous : the flowers are odorous, of a very pale rose-colour, and furnished with small bracteas ; they are produced in terminal, brachiated, trichotomous, lealy, panicles, supported upon round peduncles and pedicels, which are pow- dered and silky: the calyx is of a globular bell-shape, five toothed, powdered and silky, like the peduncles, with the teeth very short, ovate, acute, con- tiguous, and purplish: the corolla is somewhat salver-shaped, with linear, lanceolate segments, much shorter than the tube: the anthers are twice the length of the free portion of the filaments, and the free parts are two-thirds shorter than the adherent :{ the germen is globular: the capsule woody, ovate, longitudinally ten-striated, two-celled, many-seeded, oppositely twice furrowed, opening from the apex to the base with two valves, and crowned with the permanent calyx.|| 5 * Condamine however asserts, that the young trees do not die by losing their bark, but send out fresh shoots from the base. + The leaf is said to vary in form, according to the altitude at which the tree gTOWS ; particularly before it comes into blossom. {t Humboldt. : | This species of Cinchona will be found figured under the name of Cinchona offici- nalis, in vol. ij. ¢.91. of this Work. (7 "ho ge , 2-7 Ze, ; (ipchona cordifolia. G Spraéé adel CINCHONA. ~ ORD. XIV. Rubiacez. : 29 CINCHONA CORDIFOLIA.* The cinchona cordifolia is a native of Peru, where it grows in great abun- dance, on a long chain of mountains that extend to the north and south of Loxa. The soil in which it thrives best, is generally a red clay or rocky ground, and particularly on the banks of small rivers, descending from the mountains,t flowering from May to September. The stem is of no great thickness, erect, round, and covered with a smooth bark, externally of a brown grey colour; the branches are spreading, the younger ones quadrangular, smooth, leafy, sulcated, and tomentose; the leaves are opposite, spreading, about nine inches long, entire, and varying much in form, being oblong, ovate, or cordate; of a shining green on their upper surface, ribbed and pubescent underneath, and standing upon pur- plish footstalks, which are plain on one side, and roundish on the other: the flowers are produced in terminal, leafy, panicles, supported on long tetragonous flattish peduncles: the calyaz is of a dull purple colour, downy, and five-toothed: the corol/a is internally tomentose, white above and purplish below; its segments spreading with reflected lips; the tube of a pale red colour: the filaments are short, and support linear, bifid anthers : the germen is tomentose: the capsule narrow, oblong, about an inch and a half in length, of a reddish-brown colour, and crowned with the permanent calyx. Fig. (a) the corolla spread open: (6) the calyx and style: (¢) an anther: (d) the style and stigmas. Our figure was copied from that given in the Flor. Peruv. tom. ij. 52. t. 193: : * If this plant be the Cinchona cordifolia of Mutis, and of Mr. Lambert, the follow- ing is the specific character given by the latter author :— ' Cinchona cordifolia. Leaves roundish ovate, acute, heart-shaped, or attenuated at the base; beneath, as well as the branches, somewhat hairy; above, glabrous and shin- ing ; panics brachiate, diffuse, pubescent; calycine teeth broadly rounded, mucronulate ; stigma two-lobed ; capsules oblong-ovate, cylindrical, without ribs. Mr. Lambert considers this to be the true cordifolia of Mutis, MSS. of Rohde, Mo- nogr. eS Humb. Nov. Gen. v. iii. p. 401. (but excluding the synonyms there adduced, of the Flora Peruv. Linn. Vahl. & Lambert). + Phil. Trans. vol. xl. p. 83. 30 ORD. XIV. Rubiacez. ' CINCHONA. CINCHONA OBLONGIFOLIA.* This ¢ree rises to a considerable height; its stem is (single?) round, and erect, with a smooth, brownish, or ash-coloured bark; the older branches are smooth, round, and of a rusty colour; the younger ones obtusely quadran- gular, leafy, and of a reddish colour; the /eaves, when full-grown, from one to two feet long, of an oblong-oval shape, and stand opposite, supported on semi-round petioles of a purple colour; the stipules are supra-axillary, inter- foliaceous, opposite, contiguous, united at the base, and ofan obovate figure ; _ the flowers are produced in large, erect, compound, terminal, panicles, and placed upon long, brachiated, many-flowered peduncles ; the calyx is small, five-toothed, and of a purple colour ; the corolla white, and odorous ; the ji- laments are very short, inserted into the tube of the corolla; anthers oblong, bifid at the base, and situated below the middle of the tube of the corolla ; the capsules large, oblong, obscurely striated, somewhat curved, and crowned _ ‘by the calyx.+ This tree is found on the Andes, growing in woods, on the banks of mountain streams, and particularly abundant at Chinchao, Rio- bamba, and Cuchero, flowering in June and July. Figure (a) the corolla, spread open, shewing the anthers, (4) the-pistil, (c) the calyx.t wy he Chemical Properties. The recent discoveries of the French chemists, MM. Caventou and Pelletier supersede all the previous researches, so far as medicine is concerned, into the nature of the cinchonas. Vauquelin ascer- _ tained that there were three, if not four, classes of cinchona-bark, differing essentially in their chemical constitution. The first class precipitates astrin- * The Cinchona oblongifolia is thus characterized by Mr. Lambert :— Cinchona oblongifolia. Leaves oblong or cordate; on both sides, as well as the pp rough with dense hairs; panicle between britallinte and corymbose, rough airs; segments of the hairy corolla linear, stamens and‘siyle included ; anthers Mi the length of the filaments ; stigma bipartite ; capsules ovate. To this Mr. Lambert refers tite cNoki oblongifolia of Mutis, MSS. Humb. in Magaz. Rohde, Monogr. Humb. Nov. Gen. p. 401. (exelading the —_— of “Fl. Peruv. & Ruiz. Quinolog.) + Flora Peruvian, ij. 33—196. { For our figure and — we are indebted to bi ii. of the Fl. Peruv. CINCHONA. ORD. XIV. Rubiacez. $1 gents, but not gelatine; the second precipitates gelatine, but not astringents ; the third precipitates both gelatine and astringents; and lastly, there are some barks which precipitate neither gelatine nor astringents: but these he did not consider as properly belonging to the genus cinchona, Each of the three first classes was thought capable of curing intermittents, It had been long a desideratum among pharmaceutical chemists to dis- cover in the barks the particular substance to which the febrifuge property might be ascribed; and in pursuit of this object, MM. Laubert of Paris, Strenss of Moscow, and Gomez of Lisbon, published, about the same time, the result of their observation ; unfortunately, however, they did not agree in their conclusions.. The French chemists were more successful; they ob- tained a substance, which they recognized as that to which M. Gomez had given the name of cinchonine, and they further discovered that it was an al- kaline. The cinchonine was obtained by operating on the cinchona nd nc sat or Grey-bark of the French botanists. The cinchona cordifolia, (the cinchona officinalis of our Colleges, the yellow-bark of the French), was next subjected to analysis,t and from this was obtained an alkali, in many points resembling the cinchonine, but still differing in many important ones, sufficiently to pre- vent their being confounded : this new alkali was called Quinine. The ex- amination of the red-bark (cinchona oblongifolia) followed ;{ and “it was an interesting question,” says M. Magendie, “to determine whether this species, * According to the analysis of MM. Caventou and Pelletier, the Cinchona Conda- minea yield the following constituents :—1! cinchonine united with Kinic acid (the cin- chonine forming 0 ,2 per cent. of the whole bark); 2 green fatty matter ; 3 red colouring matter, very sparingly gages 3 4 red colouring matter, soluble (tannin); 5 yellow co- louring matter ; 6 Kinate of lime; 7 gum ; 8 fecula; and 9 ligneous fibre. + The Cinchona ee yielded, according to M. M. Pelletier and Caventou :— 1 yellow, odorous, adipocire ; 2 yellow colouring matter ; 3 tannin, which turns iron of a green colour; 4 red of cinchona, more abundant than in the red bark; 5 Kinate of quinine, with very little einchonine (the quinine forming 0,9 per cent. of the bark, but according to Voreton, 1,4); 6 fecula; 7 woody fibre ; and 8 Kinate of lime. t The Cinchona oblongifolia consists of :—1 adipocire; 2 yellow colouring matter 3 aces 4 red of cinchona, in a large proportion ; 5, Kinates of cinchonine and quinine _ (100 parts of the bark, yielding 0,8 of cinchonine, and 1,7 of sinbiias 6 fecula; 7 woody fibre ; 8 Kinate of lime. Magendie, Formulaire. 4 32 ORD. XIV. Rubiacez. CINCHONA. considered by many medical men as eminently febrifuge, contained quinine, cinchonine, or a third variety of alkali. The result was, that they obtained, not only a treble quantity of cinchonine, (in all respects like that obtained from the grey-bark) but also nearly twice as much quinine as the same quan- tity of yellow-bark had yielded. From ulterior experiments, made on large masses, it appears that guinine and cinchonine exist in all three species of bark, but the cinchonine is in greater quantity than the quinine in the grey- bark ,whilst in the yellow-bark, the quinine greatly predominates.”* The mode of obtaining the quinine and cinchonine is thus given by Ma- gendie :—‘ Boil the bark in alcohol, until it loses all its bitterness ; evapo- rate the decoction to dryness in a water bath ; dissolve the extract thus ob- tained in boiling water, strongly acidulated with hydrochloric acid ;+ add an excess of calcined magnesia; which, after boiling a few minutes, fixes the red colouring matter, and leaves the liquid clear: when cold, filtrate, and wash the magnesian precipitate with cold water, dry it on a stone, separate all the bitterness by repeated digestion in boiling alcohol, mix the alcoholic liquors, and the cinchonine will crystallize as the fluid cools.’’t The cinchonine and quinine may be obtained by one operation, as follows. Having obtained the sulphate of quinine by the above process (operating on the cinchona cordifolia) decompose the mother waters, and the washings of that operation, (which hold in solution the sulphate of cinchonine) by mag- nesia or lime; dissolve the quinine and cinchonine contained in these li- quors, by digesting the magnesian precipitate when washed and well dried, in boiling alcohol: if the spirit be sufficiently charged, the cinchonine which predominates will crystallize; if it de not, further concentration is necessary. The cinchonine thus obtained, must undergo a re-crystallization to purify it; this is done by dissolving it in a sufficient quantity of boiling alcohol. The following process of M. Henry, Jun. for obtaining the sulphate of quinine, is much more cheap and expeditious. He digests the bark repeatedly in hot water, acidulated by sulphuric acid, blanches the liquors by means of hot lime, and washes the precipitate to separate the excess oflime; this precipi- tate he repeatedly digests, when well drained, in alcohol at 36° (837); he * Magendie, Formulaire. + Mnuriatic acid of former chemists. t M. Magendie here speaks of the grey-bark, Cinchona condaminea ; for if the Cin- chona cordifolia be subjected to the same process, quinine is obtained, or rather, the sulphate of quinine. CINCHONA. : ORD. XIV. Rubdiacex. 33 then obtains, by distillation, a brown viscid matter, which becomes brittle when cold, and is very bitter; this matter he digests in hot water, acidulated by sulphuric acid; and the liquor, when cold, gives pure sulphate of qui- nine, in the form of perfect white crystals. These crystals are soluble in boiling water, especially if it be weakly acidulated ; they are but little solu- ble in cold water, without the addition of an acid. We are told by Dr. Paris, that five or six drachms of the sulphate* may be obtained from two pounds of bark, by boiling it for half an hour, in sixteen pints of distilled water, acidulated with two fluid ounces of sulphuric acid. The quantity of lime necessary to be used is half a pound, or sufficient to render the solution of a dark brown, and to produce a reddish brown precipitate.+ Chemical Properties of Cinchonine and Quinine. Cinchonine is white, trans- lucent, crystallizable in needles, and soluble only in seven hundred parts of cold water. If dissolved in alcohol or an acid, its taste is powerfully bitter, and resembles that of the grey-bark. . Itis dissolved in very smal] quantities by the fixed or volatile oils, and sulphuric ether. _ With acids it forms salts which are more or less soluble. According to the analysis of Mr. Brande, cinchonine consists of about— CAsOON ee ee ee 80,20 Nitroget oS ra ee eee Hiyvatogen. 2 re re ee ee 99,90 Quinine is white, incrystallizable ;{ it is as little soluble in water as cin- chonine, much more bitter to the taste, as are also most of its salts, which * Eight grains of which are equal to an ounce of bark. + M. Robiquet, by adopting a somewhat different mode of aoudinis: obtained a sul- phate of quinine, the characters of which are different from those we have described. He obtained a sulphate, in solid transparent prisms, of a flattened, quadrangular form, and soluble even in cold water: by comparative trials he found also, that this difference arose from the prismatic sulphate being acid, and the other alkaline. He is satisfied of the stability of the characteristics ; for the salts preserve them without alteration after several crystallizations, although the sub-sulphate lost each time a small portion of its acid. t MM. Pelletier and Dumas have succeeded in giving to quinine a crystalline form by Sbatibaiens it to a state of fusion in vacuo, and allowing it to cool in a slow manner. Under this treatment, instead of preserving its resinous aspect and transparency, it con- tracts, becomes opaque, and forms at its surface centres of — which radiate on all sides ; the fracture of the mass is crystalline. VOL. V. r 34 ORD. XIV. Rubiacez. CINCHONA. are distinguished by a pearly appearance. It is very soluble in ether, while cinchonine is very little so; this difference serves as well to distinguish their bases, as to separate them when united. Quinine likewise differs from cin- chonine in containing oxygen, and that in nearly as large a proportion as hydrogen. According to Mr. Brande, its ultimate components are nearly as follows :— Carbon: vir Seicderls: oA te aedenth 778RO PEE oe eet ie fon & bee a = NRE Seon eee EK WEVRO0 ee ys pa i 100, 0 Quinine, when melted, becomes idio-electric, and acquires the resinous | electricity with much intensity when rubbed with a piece of cloth. M. Robiquet, in the Journal of Science, has given an analysis of the two sulphates of quinine, but he found that the sub-sulphate lost a portion ofits acid during’ each crystallization; he has given the composition of this salt, both after the first and third crystallization, as follows :— 100 parts of acid sulphate of quinine contain— MONE: ice et ec i 2 ee Quinine: 3 5 4.34 5 ee 5 82.6 100 parts of sub-sulphate, first crystallization, contain— BOR SS eee ee ee Ee Quinine + Our drawing was copied from the one published by the Medico-Botanical Society of London, from the original drawing, furnished to that Society by T. H. Colebrooke, Esq. F.R.S. Ed. 12 60 ORD. XXIX. Hesperidee. MELALEUCA CAJUPUTI. camphor and oil of turpentine, but gradually becomes more fragrant. It is transparent, and of a beautiful bluish green colour; when dropped on the surface of water, it diffuses itself over it, and very rapidly and completely evaporates : this is said to be a test of its purity.* When ignited, it burns rapidly, without leaving any residue. When pure, it is entirely soluble in alcohol, and partly so in water. Its green colour is said by some to be de- rived from the copper vessels in which it is imported, but by others this is denied ; in confirmation of which, we are told by Mr. Brande, that none of the samples which he examined contained copper. For the Medical Properties and Uses of this tree, we refer our readers to Vol. III. page 547 of this work. 3 * Cajuputi oil is said to be frequently adulterated with a mixture of fine oil and oil of turpentine. ORD. XXXII. GRUINALES. QUASSIA EXCELSA. LOFTY, or ASH-LEAVED QUASSIA. SYNONYMA. Quassia excelsa. Swartz in Stockh. Trans. For 1788, p. 302, #.8; Prodr. Ind. Oceid. v. 2,742; Willd. Sp. Pl. v. 2. p- 569. Simaruba excelsa. De Cand. in Ann. du Mus. v. 17, p. 424; Prodr.v.\. p. 733; Unchte Quassie, Nom. Triv. Willd. Quassia Polygama. Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. v. 3. p. 205. t.6. : Class, Decandria. Ord. Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Gruinales, Linn. Magnoliz, Juss. Simarubex, Rich. De Cand. Gen. Char. Calyx, fiveleaved. Petals, five. Nectary, composed of five seales. Drupes, five, distant, bivalved, placed on a fleshy receptacle. Spec. Char. Flowers, polygamous. Stamens, five. : Leaves, pinnate. Leaflets, opposite, petioled ; common stalk naked. Atttdsdst "0 A neoukios : — QUASSIA EXCELSA. ORD. XXXII. Gruinales. 61 The Quassia excelsa is a very large and lofty tree, frequently rising to the height of 100 or more feet, and measuring from eight to ten feet in circum- ference: the trunk is straight, tapering, and sends off many branches towards the top; both trunk and branches are covered with a smooth, ash- coloured, or grey ark ; the wood is of a pale yellowish colour, tough, but not very hard, and takes a good polish: the /eaves are pinnated, composed of from four to eight pair of pinnz, with a terminal one; the pinne aré nearly opposite, elliptical, pointed, firm, entire, smooth, from two to four or five inches in length, and standing on short footstalks: the ribs are of a reddish colour, and the young leaves are covered with a fine brownish down. The flowers are produced in clusters, or panicles, from the lower part of the last shoot before the leaves. The male and hermaphrodite flowers are in the same cluster: the male flowers are similar to the hermaphrodite, excepting that they have the rudiments only of a style, and no stigmas: the calyx is very small, and consists of five, equal, ovate, pointed, segments; the corolla of five, small, equal, lanceolate, yellowish-green petals: the jilaments are mostly five (sometimes four to six) -a little longer than the petals, downy, and supporting roundish anthers: the germen is ovate, bearing a slender style, with a trifid stigma: the fruit is a small, round, smooth drupe, about the size of a pea, when ripe, of a blackish colour ; these drupes are one, two, or three together, attached sideways to a round, fleshy receptacle. It flowers in October and November, and the fruit is ripe in December. Fig. (a) represents the ripe fruit ; (6) a male flower; (c) an hermaphrodite flower ; (d) a stamen—(these three last somewhat magnified ;) (e) a transverse section of the fruit. This lofty species of Quassia is a native of Jamaica and the Caribbean Islands. Dr. Wight, in his account of the medicinal plants growing in Jamaica, notices this species of Quassia under the title of Picrania amara : it is also mentioned by Mr. Brown and Dr. Patrick Brown, in their histories of Jamaica, by the names Xylopicrum, Xylopia glabra, bitter-wood or bitter- ash. But we are indebted to Mr. John Lindsay, Surgeon, of Jamaica, for an accurate account of this tree, which he published, accompanied with a figure, in the third volume of the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. : Sensible Qualities and Chemical Properties, &c. The wood comes to us in billets of various sizes, which are reduced to chips or shavings by the 62 ORD. XXXII. Gruinales. QUASSIA EXCELSA. druggists. Quassia-wood is inodorous, its taste intensely bitter: both water and alcohol take up its bitterness. The watery infusion, evaporated by a low heat to dryness, leaves a brownish yellow, somewhat transparent, . intensely bitter substance, which continues ductile for some time, but by degrees becomes brittle. This substance has been regarded as a vege- table constituent sui generis, by its discoverer, Professor Thomson, of Glasgow, who has named it Quassine.* Quassine possesses the following properties :—When heated it softens, swells, and blackens ; then burns away with but little flame, and leaves a small quantity of ashes: it is very soluble in alcohol and water: it does not change the colour of the infusion of litmus. The alkalies produce no alteration in the diluted solution of the bitter principle. Lime-water, barytes-water, and strontian-water, occasion no precipitate ; neither is any precipitate thrown down by silicated potass, alu- minated potass, or sulphate of magnesia. Oxalate of ammonia occasions no precipitate, neither does “corrosive sublimate, nor nitrate of mercury : nitrate of copper and the ammoniacal solution of copper leave it unaltered; but muriate of copper gives a white precipitate, which falls when this liquid salt is dropped into water. Nitrate of silver renders the solution muddy, and avery soft, flaky, yellow precipitate falls slowly to the bottom. Sul- phate and permuriate of iron occasion no change. Muriate of tin turns the solution muddy, but occasions no precipitate unless the solution is concen- trated ; in that case a copious precipitate falls. Acetate of lead occasions a very copious white precipitate, but the nitrate of lead effects no alteration. Nitrate of bismuth produces no change ; though, when the salt is dropped into pure water, a copious white precipitate appears. Tartar emetic leaves it unaltered; but when the muriate of antimony is used, the white precipi- tate appears, which always falls when this salt is dropped into pure water. Muriate and arseniate of cobalt, arseniate of potass, tincture of nut-galls, and gallic acid, produce no effect. The little action of the different re-agents is remarkable ; nitrate of silver and acetate of lead being the only substances which throw it down.t These properties Dr. Thomson remarks, are suffi- cient to convince us that the bitter principle differs considerably from all other vegetable principles. * Vide Thomson’s Chemistry, 4th edit. v. 32. + Hence nitrate of silver and acetate of lead are incompatible in formulz with it. A 1 eon a oe 8 AVLECLLPIE, ECLA OE . os See G prac del. QUASSIA EXCELSA. ORD. XXXII. Gruinales. 63 Medical Properties and Uses. Quassia excelsa is a simple and powerful bitter ; hence it is considered tonic, and has been employed under the same circumstances, and for the same diseases in which the Quassia amara has been found useful ;* it is, therefore, unnecessary to enlarge upon the subject . here. It is usually exhibited in the form of infusion, combined with mineral acids or neutral salts, according to circumstances: it may be given in substance, in doses of from ten to thirty grains, repeated three or four times a day; but it is an inconvenient form for administering quassia, as it cannot be reduced to a fine powder; hence. its bulk and extreme bitterness render it excessively nauseous when exhibited in substance. Off. Prep. Infusam Quassie, L.E. Tinctura Quassie Excelse, E.D. * Vide Quassia amara, vol. iii. p. 573—574 of this work. LINUM CATHARTICUM. PURGING FLAX, OR MILL- MOUNTAIN. ‘SYNONYMA. Linum pratense, flosculis exiguis. Bauh. Pin. 214. Linum. n. 839. Hall. Hist. v.i. 374. Chamzlinum Clusii flore albo, sive linum sylvestre catharticum. Park. 1336. Linum sylvestre catharticum. Raii ~ Syn. 362; Ger. Gm. 560.7. Linum catharticum. Linn. Sp. Pl. 401; Willd. v.i. 1541; Sm. Fl. Brit. 844; Eng. Bot. v. vi. t. 382; Curt. Flor. Lond. fase. 3. t.19. Hook. Flor. Scot. 97; Stokes, v.ii. 188. Br. #1. p. 147. Class Vv. Pentandria. Ord. V. Pentagynia. Nat. Ord. Gruinales, Linn. Linew, Decand. Gen, Char. Calyx five-leaved ; petals five; capsule five-valved, ten-celled ; seeds solitary: Spec. Char. Leaves opposite, obovate-lanceolate ; stem dichotomous ; petals acute. 64 ORD. XXXII. Gruinales. LINUM CATHARTICUM. THE root of this species of Flax is small, tapering and woody, and sends up several slender, smooth, straight stems, which rise to the height of six or eight inches, and are branched towards the upper part; the leaves are small, lanceolate, elliptical, smooth, sessile, and stand opposite in pairs ;* those to- wards the lower part of the stem are rounded at the extremity ; the flowers are small, and stand upon long peduneles, at the end of the branches; the calyx is composed of five permanent, lanceolate leaves, serrated and’ one- ribbed; the petals are white, ovate, pointed, and slightly united at the base ; the germen is ovate, triangular, and crowned with yellow stigmas; the fila- ments are ranged in a circle round the germen, and support yellow anthers ; the capsule is globular, about the size of a pea, ten-celled and ten-valved, each cell enclosing an oblong, glossy, pointed seed. Figure (a) the capsule, (d) the stamens, (c) the valyx, (d) the germen and styles, is small, delicate species of flax is indigenous to Britain. It is a very common plant throughout the kingdom, on hilly situations, particularly where the soil is chalky ;+ flowering from June to August, and it is some- times found in meadows. Sensible Qualities, §c. Purgingflax, when well dried, is of a green co- lour. It is nearly inodorous, whether in its recent or dried state. Water ex- tracts the virtues of this plant, which communicates to the menstruum a yellowish-brown colour (resembling an infusion of tea); with sulphate of iron it strikes a black colour. Macerated in sulphuric ether, it affords a fine green tincture, which deposits, when evaporated upon the surface of water, a green, bitter resin, and an extractive matter, on which, probably, the virtues of the plant depend. Medical Properties and Uses. This species of flax was highly extolled, both by Lewis and Gerarde, as a purgative ; the former of whom states that it occasionally acts as a diuretic. It operates chiefly, however, as a gentle cathartic ; the watery infusion, made with two drachms of the dried plant to one pint of boiling water, and taken to the quantity of two ounces, once or twice in the day, usually keeps the bowels pretty well open. The watery infusion also forms a convenient vehicle for salts, rhubarb, &c. Like most * It belongs to the second section of the genus Linwm, from having opposite leaves. + It grows in great abundance on the waste ground, opposite the chalk-pits, at Greenhithe. ; ; c. Spract dea. LINUM CATHARTICUM. ORD. XXXII. Gruinales. 65 other aperients, it occasionally produces a little griping ;* which may be ob- viated by the addition of a drop or two of some essential oil. We are told by Dr. A. T. Thomson, that “it possesses no particular advantages, and only swells unnecessarily the list of purgatives ;” but we cannot agree with him in this opinion, feeling that a preference should bé given to our indigenous plants, rather than to those of foreign growth. Off. The Herb. * We are told that Mr. Houlton has prepared an extract, which operates somewhat violently*in doses of ten grains, ORD. XXXIV. CALYCANTHEM. LYTHRUM SALICARIA. LOOSE-STRIFE, OR PURPLE WILLOW HERB. SYNONYMA. Lysimachia altera. Matth. Valgr.v.ii. 299. f.; Camer. Epit. 687. f. Lysimachia spicata purpurea. Bauh. Pin. 246. Salicaria. Hall. Hist. v.i. 378. Lythrum salicaria. Linn. Sp. Pl. 640. Willd. v. 11. 865; Curt. Lond. fasc. iii. t. 28; Hook. Scot. 147. Fl. Brit.510; Eng. Bot. v. xv. t.1061; Hook. Br. Fl. 217. Class XI. Dodecandria. Order I. Monogynia. ; Nat. Ord. Calycantheme, Linn. Salicarie, Juss. Gen. Char. Calyx twelve-toothed, inferior; petals six, inserted into the calyx ; capsule two-celled, with many seeds. Spec. Char. Leaves opposite, lanceolote, heart-shaped at the base ; flowers in whorled leafy spikes ; stamens twelve. Vou. Vo: K 66 ORD. XXXIV. Calycantheme. LYTHRUM SALICARIA, THIS species of Lythrum rises to the height of three or four feet. The root is woody, branched, spreading, and furnished with many fibres ; the stem is erect, leafy, quadrangular, (but, towards the lower part,. often hexa- gonal) smooth or downy, and of a reddish colour. The deaves vary in length, are opposite, sessile, lanceolate, entire, cordate at the base, smooth on their upper surface, and somewhat pubescent beneath ; the flowers arise from the axills of the leaves, and terminate the stem in a spike of whorls; calyx in- ferior, cylindrical, striated, downy, and divided at the margin into twelve segments ; of which six are long, awl-shaped, and erect ; the others smaller, . ovate, concave, and bent inwards: the petals are six, of a reddish purple colour, elliptic-oblong, and undulated; the twelve filaments are thread- shaped, alternately shorter, and inflected, inserted above the base of the ca- lyx, bearing roundish anthers ; the germen is ovate-oblong, the style simple, supporting a capitate stigma. The capsule is small, elliptical, two-celled, “inclosed in the tube of the calyx, and containing several small seeds. Fig. (a) the calyx, spread open to shew the stamens, (4) the germen, style and | stigma, (c) the calyx, (d) the capsule open, (e) the capsule, (/) seeds. This species of Zythrum is an indigenous, perennial plant, flowering from July to September. It is found wild on the banks of rivers and ponds, and other moist situations, in almost every country of Europe. Qualities, §c. The dried herb has little or no odour ; its taste is herbace- ous and sub-astringent. Its active matter is dissolved equally by water and alcohol; the watery decoction is mucilaginous, and strikes a black colour with sulphate of iron; hence it appears to consist chiefly of extractive mat- ter, combined with a small portion of tannin. Medical Properties and Uses. Loose-strife is astringent and tonic ; it has been chiefly celebrated as a remedy in diarrhea, for which disorder it has long been a very popular and favorite medicine in Ireland. Stork, De Hean, and other continental practitioners, have also prescribed it with much suc- cess, in laxity of the intestines, chronic dysentery, and intermittent fever. In dysentery it has often been found useful; but in most cases it is proper to give some aperient previous to its exhibition. It has been administered ge- nerally in the form of decoction, made by boiling two ounces of the dried herb in a quart of water, down to one pint. Of this, two or three ounces may be taken twice or oftener in the day; the powder may be sivan in doses of one drachm, night and morning. Off. The Herb. Khus LOLMOAETRALOW. G. Spratt. dee ORD. XXXVII. DUMOSA:, RHUS TOXICODENDRON. PUBESCENT. POISON-OAK, , SUMACH. SYNONYMA. Hedera trefolia virginiensis. Park. Theatr. 679.5. Arbor trifolia venenata virginiana, folio hirsuto. Raii. Hist. 1799. Rhus radi- cans. Linn, Sp. Pl. 381. Wild. Sp. Pl. I. p. 1481 ; Kalm. Trav. v. 1. 67. 177. Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v. 2. p. 163. Bigel. Med. Bot. Rhus. Toxicoden- dron. Sept.205; Linn. Sp. Pl.381. Willd. 1. 1481. Bot. Mag. v. 43. t. 1806; Mich. Bor. Am.1.p.183. Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v. 2. p. 164. t. 43. Pursh. Fl.Amer. Class V. Pentandria. Ord. II. Digynia. Nat. Ord. Dumose, Linn. Terebintacee, Juss. Gen. Char. Calyx, five parted. Petals, five. Berry, one—seeded. Spee. Char. Leaves, ternate. Leaflets, petioled, often angled, pubescent Stem, frequently rooting. 4 te THIS species of sumach is a small shrub; seldom exceeding three feet in height. The root is woody, fibrous, and horizontal. The stems, which are many, divide into slender branches, covered with a greyish brown bark. The leaves arise alternately upon the branches, supported upon long petioles, composed of three broadly, and almost cordate-ovate, pointed leaflets, entire, or lobed and angled, about threeinches long, and two broad; the terminal leaf- let is considerably larger than the two lateral, which last are nearly sessile, of a deep shining green colour above, glabrous, or sometimes downy beneath. K2 é 68 ORD. XXXVII. -Dumose. RHUS TOXICODENDRON. The fructification is dioecious; the male flowers are produced in close short spikes, and arise from the sides of the stalks ; the calya: is composed of five ovate, smooth, caducous leaves ; the corolla consists of five greenish petals, twice as long as the calyx; the stamens are shorter than the petals, attachedto the recep- tacle, and support yellow ovate anthers, excavated by a longitudinal groove. The female flowers are produced in loose panicles; the pistil is composed of a roundish hairy germen, supporting a thick, short, smooth style, crowned with three sessile stigmas, one of which is usually larger than the rest; the fruit is a striated berry, containing one seed. Fig. (a) a male flower, (6) the fruit, (c) an anther magnified, (d) the pistillum. This species of swmach is a native of North América, and very frequent in Carolina ; it is also a common tree, in fields and hedges, from Canada to Georgia, flowering in June and July. Botanists have not agreed if this be a distinct species from the Rhus radicans of Linneus: Michaux and Parsh, | who had extensive opportunities for observation, consider the Tosicoden- dron and radicans as mere local varieties: on the other hand, Nuttall and Elliott agree in opinion with Linnzus, who founds his specific distinction on the leaves of the latter being naked and entire, while they are pubescent and angular in the former. Professor Bigelow, who had opportunities of seeing the plants in every stage, states that, “ among the plants which grow abundantly round Boston, I have frequently observed individual shoots, from the same stock, having the characters of both varieties. I have also observed that young plants of Rhus radicans frequently do not put-out rooting fibres until they are several years old; and that they seem, in this respect, to be considerably influenced by the contiguity of supporting objects. The radicans is indeed said to be a smaller shrub, with smooth and slender shoots, roots entire, leaflets smaller, and standing upon shorter and more slender footstalks: but, as far as we can judge from the specimens in our own Herbarium, from various parts of North America, there is no specific distinction between the two. Sensible and Chemical Properties, 8c. The leaves of this plant have no _ odour, their taste is mawkish, and slightly acrid; they give out their virtues completely to water and proof spirit, but only partially to alcohol: the watery infusion reddens litmus paper, and yields a precipitate with gelatine : sulphate of iron produces a black precipitate, and nitrate of silver a brown. We are told by Professor Bigelow that “if a leaf or stem of this plant be RHUS TOXICODENDRON. ORD. XXXVIL. Dumose. hee broken off, a yellowish milky juice immediately exudes from the wounded extremity ; after a short exposure to the air, it becomes of a black colour, and does not again change. This juice, applied to linen, forms one of the most perfect kinds of indelible ink; it does not fade from age, washing, or exposure to common chemical agents. I have repeatedly, when in the country, marked my wristband with spots of this juice; the stain was at first faint, and hardly perceptible, but in fifteen minutes became black, and was never afterwards eradicated by washing, but continued to grow darker as long as the linen lasted.”* Poisonous Effects. An acrid poison exists in the juice of the Toxicodendron, and in many other species of the Rhus genus.+ The symptoms commonly produced are violent itching, redness, tumefaction of the face and other parts affected; succeeded by vesications, great swelling, heat, pain, and fever.{ The symptoms often begin in a few hours after the exposure, and when the disease is at its height, the skin becomes covered with a crust, and the swelling is so great, as in some instances to close the eyes, and almost to obliterate the features of the face. The celebrated Fontana relates, that having touched at three different times, and at the interval of several days, some leaves of the Toxicodendron, he experienced some serious symptoms : some days after, the eye-lids, the extremities of the ears, and almost every part of the face became tumefied, and filled with an aqueous fluid; the spaces which separate the fingers, became red, and were covered with small vesicles, full of transparent humour; the epidermis came off in little scales, and he felt a terrible smarting for the space of a fortnight, and an insup- portable itching for a longer period. The disease produced by this poison requires the general antiphlogistic treatment, viz. rest, low diet and evacua- tions: if the symptoms be very violent, bleeding may be occasionally re- quired, and the usual means resorted to in erysipelatous disorders. Medical Properties and Uses. The leaves of this plant are narcotic, stimu- lant, and somewhat aperient. It appears to have been introduced into prac- * Some attempts have been made with a view to ascertain the nature of this colour- ing principle, and the means of fixing it on stuffs, but without success; the reason of this appears to be that the colouring principle does not reside in the sap, but in a pecn- liar secretion or suceus proprius of the plant, and is wholly insoluble in water: hence, some other medium becomes necessary for its solution. + Viz. Rhus pumilum, R. typhinum, R. vernix, &e. +t This disease appears to be of an erysipelatous nature.—Ep. 70 ORD. XXXVII. Dumose. RHUS TOXICODENDRON. tice by Dufrenoy, a physician at Valenciennes, about the year 1788. His attention was drawn to this subject, by finding that a young man, who had a dartre on his wrist, of six years standing, was cured by accidentally be- coming poisoned with this plant. It was first brought into notice in this country by Dr, Alderson of Hull, as a remedy for paralysis; and under his direction, it appears to have proved an efficacious remedy. Dr. Alderson relates several cases in which it perfected a cure, and others in which it proved of very considerable benefit. The first symptom of amendment was always a feeling of pricking and irregular twitching in the paralytic limbs; these effects were soon followed by a gradual return of voluntary motion, and feeling in the affected parts.* Dufrenoy administered an extract of this plant in several cases of palsy, four of which, he says, were cured by it. Dr. Givesius relates five cases of paralysis, four of which were cured, by taking the dried leaves of this plant, in doses of one-fourth of a grain twice a day.t The good effect of this medicine, however, in paralysis, does not appear to be generally confirmed; we have pushed it in some cases to a considerable extent without deriving any benefit; and we are told by Dr. _ A. Dunean, “ that he gave it in larger doses, without experiencing the same success; but that it in general operated as a gentle laxative, notwithstand- ing the torpid state of the bowels in such patients.” We are also told by Dr. Alderson, that this plant has been frequently employed in cases of dyspepsia and atonic gout, and with more success than any other tonic; and he further says, “ I could easily adduce, from my own practice, and that of several of my friends, a variety of cases of stomach complaints, where it has been highly serviceable.” Dr. ieee adenineresd a strong infusion of the plant, in doses of a teacupful, to a patients. It appeared to act as an immediate iaesieast to the stomach, producing some uneasiness in that organ, also promoting perspiration and diuresis. From variety of constitution, and those peculiarities which are called idiosyneracies, (which experience alone can fully inform us of) no one ean - pretend to say to what extent such a medicine as the Toaicodendron ouglit to be administered at first; and as convulsions and other untoward symp- toms have been brought on by a too rapid increase of quantity, it is neces- sary to employ caution in the exhibition of this plant. This uncertainty ‘of * Vide Essay on the Rhus Toxicodendron, by J. Alderson, M.D. 4th edit. ‘+ Bulletin des Sciences Medicales, Sept. 1825. Ki COHOTL Tiglium G Spratt a ed RHUS TOXICODENDRON. ORD. XXXVII. Dumose. 71 effect however, though a considerable objection to the employment of Toxicodendron, is not peculiar to it, as all the other vegetable poisons are liable to the same inconvenience. The dried leaves have been given in powder, beginning with half a grain for a dose, repeated three titmes a day, or every four hours, gradually increasing the dose to six, or even more grains, according to the effects produced. We are told by Dr. Alderson, that in some instances the leaves of Toaicodendron have lost five-sixths of - their weight in drying, in others, four-fifths : hence, the active properties of the powder must vary very considerably. It has also been given in the form of tincture* and extract. * In the Medical and Surgical Journal for July 1825, p. 82, a case is related, of the good effects of the tincture in palsy; a drop night and morning, increasing the dose to “ten drops. ORD. XXXIX. TRICOCCA. CROTON TIGLIUM. PURGING CROTON. SYNONYMA. Pinus indica. Bauh. Pin. 492. n. 11. — Ricimoides indica. Flor. Zeyl. 343.—Ricinus indicus arborescens. Chom. i. 61.—Croton Tig- lium. Linn. Sp. Pl. 1426. Wiild., iv. 543. Sp. 36. Class 21 Monoecia. Ord. vit. Monadelphia. Nat. Ord. Tricocce, Linn. Euphorbiacew, ddr. de Juss. Gen. Char. Male. Calyx cylindrical, five-toothed. Corolla of five petals. Stamens ten to fifteen. 72 = ORD. XXXVIII. Tricocer. CROTON TIGLIUM. Female. Calyx polyphyllous. Corolla 0. Styles three, bifid. Capsule triocular. Seed, one.” Sp. Char. Leaves ovate-acuminate, serrated, glabeous, with two glands at the base. Petioles shorter than the leaves. Racemes terminal. Stem arboreous. | THIS species of Croton is a native of Asia, growing in many parts of India, China, the islands of Ceylon, Java, &c. It is a tree of a middling size, seldom exceeding the height of fifteen or twenty feet: the trunk and larger branches are covered with a soft bark, ofa blackish colour; the younger branches green, with a reddish tinge. The leaves are alternate, ovato-acu- minate, serrated, smooth, and of a bright green colour when old; downy - with stellated hairs while young, standing upon petioles about one-fourth their length, with two glands seated at their base. The flowers are in erect, simple, terminal racemes, with downy pedicels. Calya in the male flower, _eylindrical and five-toothed; the corolla composed of five straw-coloured petals, very hairy in the drawing in the possession of the East India Com- pany; the stamens from ten to fifteen; in the female flower the calyx is divided into many obtuse segments, which are reflected under the downy germen; there is no corolla; the styles are three and bifid; the capsule rather bigger than a hazelnut, trilocular, smooth, and containing three seeds. Fig. (a) represents a raceme of male flowers ; (6) a capsule ; (c) a sec- tion of the capsule ; (d) a seed. The genus croton contains upwards of 150 species, of which the Tiglium is the only one possessing purgative qualities. In Europe, the seeds have been long known under the names of Grana Molucca and Grana Tiglit; the former of which names, seems to have been derived from the Molucca’ islands, whence the seeds were formerly exported into Europe. It appears that the natives of the Eastern nations have for centuries past been well ac- quainted with the purgative effects of the seeds; and in Europe they were formerly prescribed as a drastie purge, but fell into disuse on account of the very violent somptoms and untoward accidents frequently produced by their ‘use. In this country, the fixed oil, expressed from the seed, has been lately brought into general use, thr mene the exertions of Drs. Conwell and Nimmo, Mr. Frost, and others.* © * The oil of Croton was introduced into Europe in the year 1630, and employed in- ternally with success by several physicians. In 1632, Artus Gyselius extolled it in dropsy. CROTON TIGLIUM. ORD. XXXIX. Tricocce. 73 QUALITIES AND CHEMICAL PRoPERTIES, &e. Oil of Croton is of an orange or deep yellow colour, with a peculiar odour, swi generis; and an ex- tremely acrid and pungent taste. Dr. Nimmo of Glasgow, found 100 parts of this oil to consist of 45 percent. of an acrid purgative principle, soluble in volatile and fixed oils, alcohol and sulphuric ether; and 55 per cent. of a bland oil, (resembling oil of olives) insoluble in alcohol. According to the experiments of Mr. Frost,* one hundred grains of the seeds consist of thirty- two shell, sixty-eight kernel. On digesting one hundred grains of the seeds in three drachms of sulphuric ether, sp. grav. seventy-one, afforded twenty- five grains of fixed oil. Thirty-two grains of the oil were put into a Florence flask, containing some alcohol previously digested on olive oil, to prevent the spirit from dissolving any of the oil of the Croton Tigliwm seed. The mixture was now agitated, and then passed through a filter containing carbonate of ammonia; the filtered solution was then evaporated without heat, and yielded—active matter, (soluble in alcohol and ether) combined with a very small portion of fixed oil, 8—5 grs., inert fixed oil, 23.5,— 32 grs. It appears the Croton oil of commerce is usually very much adulterated, either with the oil of olives or castor, and differing in strength ten-fold ; the consequence of prescribing a medicine of such unequal powers must be ob- vious. Dr. Nimmo has made some experiments, for the purpose of detecting this fraud. Dr. Nimmo digested the suspected oil in alcohol, which will dis- solve a less proportion of the Croton oil, if adulterated with olive oil; and a larger proportion if mixed with castor oil; but it is evident, the test must fail, if the adulteration be with a combination of both. Mepicau Prorerries AND Uses. Every part of the Croton Tiglium tree is said to possess medical properties. We are told, that in the Eastern nations,t it is valued for its purgative, diaphoretic, and diuretic properties ; the roots, as well as the seeds, are powerfully cathartic, and used in Batavia and other parts as a specific for dropsy ; the wood of the trunk and branches, in small doses, acts upon the skin and kidneys; and the leaves, in powder, In the Herbarium Amboinense of Rumphius, published at Amsterdam, 1750, by Bur- mann, a description of the Croton is given; the seeds of which, we are told, yield, on expression, an oil, which, when taken in the dose of one drop in Canary wine, was, at that time a common purgative. % See Observations on the properties and effects of the seeds of Croton Tiglium. + Vide Ainslie’s Materia Indica of Hindostan. Vou. V. | L 74 ORD. XXXIX. Triceocce. CROTON TIGLIUM: are used by the Japanese, as a topical remedy for the bites of serpents. In this country, the expressed oil is the only part medicinally employed, and when genuine, generally proves powerfully cathartic, in doses of from one to two minims; its effects are commonly very rapid, often supervening at the expiration of half an hour; and in cases of obstinate constipations, when other medicines have failed, it will be found a valuable remedy. In using this oil, the greatest caution will be required, and we would by no means re- commend a repetition of the dose, for at least some hours. The safest way of administering the Croton oil, is in combination with other aperients. Where patients are incapable of swallowing, a drop or two, let fall upon the tongue, will in general operate powerfully ; and we are told, that a few drops rubbed round the umbelicus, have produced purgative effects.* The follow- ing we have found an useful formula for the exhibition of this oil :—R. Ol. Tiglii, m. ij; Pilul. Colocynth. 9ij. Ft. massa et divid. in pilul. decem. From two to three of these pills may be given every two, three, or four hours, until the desired effect is produced.+ Off. Oil of Croton or Tiglium. * Ainslie’s Materia Medica. + One of the best modes of exhibiting the Ol. Tiglii, is in combination with the Ol. Papav. or Ol. Amygdal. in the proportion of one drop of the former to an ounce of éither of the latter ; the mode recommended in Hufeland’s Journal der practischen Heilkunde, for making artificial castor oil. EUPHORBIA OFFICINARUM. OFFICINAL EUPHORBIUM, OR SPURGE. LG CS A SS SYNONYMA. Euphorbii tenella planta. Lob. Ic. ii. t. 25, Advers. v. ii. t. 28. Euphorbium. Tabern. 104. Raii Hist. 872; Bauh. Pin. 387. Blackw. Trew. Cent. iti. t. 340. f. 2. | Euphorbium polygonum spinosum cerei ef- figie. Isn. Act. Acad. Scien. 1720. p. 385. n. iv. t. 10. Euphorbia officina- trum. Linn, Sp. Pl. 647. Willd. v. ii. 884. Ameen. Acad. iii. p-107. Plenck. Icon, t.365. Decand. Pl. Grasses,t.79. Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v.ii. p. 157. G Spratt aed bf + ag FEMME . t “yf thor ben EUPHORBIA OFFICINARUM. ORD. XXXIX. Tricocce. 75 Class XXI. Monoecia. Order I. Monandria. (Dedecandna, Trigynia, Lin.) Nat. Ord. Tricocce, Lin. Euphorbie, Juss. Euphorbiacexr, Adr. Juss. Gen. Char. Involucre, of one piece, including several barren flowers, and one fertile. Barr. Fl. A single stamen, without calyx or corolla. Fert. Fl. A single pistil, without calyx, (or, rarely, a very minute one) or corolla. Germen three-lobed ; styles three-cleft ; capsule three-seeded. Spec. Char. Aculeated, naked, many-angled ; prickles in pairs, spreading, equal. THE stem of this plant rises four or five feetin height, simple, or branched towards the top, erect, angled, or furrowed with eight or more longitudinal fissures ; the branches go offfirst horizontally, and then ascend ; they are more distinctly angled than the stem, the angles notched, and furnished with prickles, which are every where in pairs ; these branches are every where des- titute of leaves. The involucres are sessile, and arise at the extremities of the branches, in the axils of the spines. The involucre is monophyllous, bell-shaped, persistent, and divided into eight or ten teeth or segments, of which the four or five outer are thick, yellow, obtuse, spreading; four or five alternate and inner ones, smaller, obtuse, entire, and directed inwards. Barren or male flowers about twelve, each consisting of a single capillary filament, which supports a globular, two-lobed anther. Fertile or female flower, a Single naked pistil; the germen roundish, three-lobed, supporting a short, simple style, crowned with three spreading obtuse stigmas, The cap- sule is tricoccous, elastic, and contains three roundish seeds. Figure (@) re- presents the flower, (4) the germen and styles, The genus Euphorbia comprises a very numerous tribe of singular plants. Upwards of 200 species are described by authors, and 120 are cultivated in our Botanic gardens.* The Euphorbia officinarum is a perennial, shrubby, and very succulent plant; a native of Africa, where it grows in great abun- dance. It is the Aévépor cipopBioy of Dioscorides, and derived its appellation ‘from Euphorbius, physician to Juba, king of Lybia, who named it in honour of his physician.+ This plant was first cultivated in Britain about the year * Fourteen species of this genus are natives of Britain. + Antonius Musa and Euphorbus were brothers; the former, physician to Augustus Cesar, the latter to Juba, king of Lybia. Czsar raised a statue to Musa—Juba named L2 76 ORD. XXXIX. Tricocce. EUPHORBIA OFFICINARUM, 1597. The officinal euphorbium of the shops is the concrete juice of this plant, - obtained by making slight incisions in the branches with a knife, from which a milky juice exudes, which by exposure to the air soon becomes solid. The recent juice is so corrosive as to erode the skin wherever it touches, and the people employed to gather it are obliged to tie a cloth over their mouths and nostrils, to protect them from the acrid dust of the withered branches. We are told by Bruce, that “ when the tree grows old, the branches wither, and in place of milk, the inside appears to be full of powder, which is so pungent, that the small dust which he drew upou striking a withered branch, seemed to threaten to make him sneeze to death; and the touching the milk with his fingers, excoriated them, as if scalded with boiling water.” In the lower regions of Mount Atlas the inhabitants collect the gum-resin, (which they call furbiune) in September; the quantity yielded is so consid- erable that they are cut only once in four years, the produce then obtained being sufficient to supply all Europe for that space of time: the concrete juicé imported into Europe, however, is the produce of several species of this genus, many of which furnish a similar acrid juice to the officinarum ; among whichare, the Euphorbia antiquorum and Euphorbium canariensis of Willde- now. Euphorbium is brought to this country immediately from Barbary, in packages containing from 100 to 150 Ibs. weight. Sensible and Chemical Properties. This concrete juice is in the form ofsinall drops of an irregular shape, externally of a pale yellow colour, but whitish within, and breaks readily between the fingers. It is inodorous, and when first chewed, has little taste, but soon gives a very acrid, burning sensation to the mouth and fauces, which is very permanent. When triturated with water, it renders it milky, but only one part in seven of the Euphorbium is dis- solved. It is soluble in ether, alcohol, oil of turpentine, oil of almonds, and partially so in acids and alkalies. Aleohol takes up one part in four, and forms a clear, straw-coloured solution, which is rendered milky by the addi- tion of water. When the ethereal tincture is evaporated on water, it leaves on the side of the glass a pellicle of transparent resin, resembling an offici- nal plaister. When ignited, it burns with an agreeable odour and a bright flame. Its specific gravity is 1,124. According to Braconnot, 100 parts of Euphorbium contain 37,0 of resin, 19,0 wax, 20,5 malate of lime, 2,0 malate of potass, 5,0 water, 13,5 woody matter, and 3,0 loss. this plant after Euphorbus.—“Ubi jam Muse statua? Periit! evanuit ! Euphorbi autem perdurat, perennat, nec unquam destrui potest.”"—Crit. Bot. 89. EUPHORBIA OFFICINARUM. ORD. XXXIX. Tricocce. 77 Poisonous Effects. Euphorbium is ranked by toxicologists among the ac- rid poisons, and when taken inwardly, it produces the general effects of this class of vegetable poisons,—viz. violent vomiting and purging, accompanied with great pain in the stomach and bowels, strong and frequent pulse, quick and difficult respiration, appearance of intoxication; pupil of the eye fre- quently dilated, insensibility and death. Orfila made many experiments on dogs, to ascertain the effects of Euphorbium on the animal economy, and from them has drawn the following conclusions : — First, that Euphorbium exerts a local action extremely violent, capable of producing acute inflam- mation. Secondly, that its fatal effects depend rather on sympathetic irita- tion of the nervous system, than on its absorption. Thirdly, that it acts on the human species as on dogs.* Many other species of Euphorbia are equally violent in their effects as the officinarum— viz. Euphorbia Antiquorum, palustris, hyberna, amygdaloides, 2 ], typhy , verrucosa, canariensis, it neriife olia, exigua, and Esula. . We are told by Scopoli that the Huphorbia Esula produced death in a wo- man, in half an hour after she had swallowed thirty grains of the root; and also that he witnessed gangrene and death to follow the application of the same plant to the abdomen. . a Medical Properties and Uses. Euphorbium is powerfully cathartic, emetic, and errhine; formerly it was given asa hydragogue in anasarcous and other disorders requiring the aid of powerful remedies; but its effects are so vio- lent, even when exhibited in small doses, that it is now seldom prescribed as an internal medicine. When used as an errhine, it requires to be diluted with starch or some other inert powder; for if taken alone, its action is so violent as to produce inflammation and hemorrhage; but when properly di- . CUuereee (ts * In the Philosophical Transactions for 1760, the following case is recorded, of a Mrs. Willis, who took by mistake two ounces of the tincture of Euphorbium, prepared with two drachms of camphor and two of Euphorbium to two ounces of rectified spirit. Immediately after, she experienced a violent suffocation, attended with a burning heat™ in the mouth and stomach ; large draughts of warm water were immediately exhibited, which produced copious vomiting ; the burning pain at the stomach continuing, she was ordered to drink oil and water alternately ; the vomiting continuing, an ounce of ipecac- uanha wine was administered, which caused copious evacuations from the stomach and bowels; after which, an opiate and mild diluents soon produced tranquillity. ‘The vio- lent effects produced by the tincture of Euphorbiwm in this case, must be partly attri- buted to the camphor. 78 ORD. XXXIX. Tricocce. EUPHORBIA OFFICINARUM. luted, it has been found efficacious in lethargy, paralysis, amaurosis, deafness, &e. Several other species of Euphorbia have also been used medicinally, with good effect. The Euphorbia coroliata is a pretty certain purgative, in doses of from ten to five grains; double the quantity proves emetic, and generally acts without much violence. The Euphorbia Ipecacuanha is also emetic, in doses of fifteen or twenty grains. The seeds of the Euphorbia Lathyrus are also both emetic and cathartic, and have been proposed as a substitute for Ipecacuanha. The juice of the Euphorbia helioscopia is an useful escharotic for destroying warts. Officinal, Euphorbium. 3 STALAGMITIS CAMBOGIOIDES. THE GAMBOGE TREE. : eer ese ERASERS SYNONYMA. Stalagmitis cambogioides. Murry App. Med. iv. 645. Plenck, Icones Plant. Med. t. 421; Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. 980; De Cand. Prodr. v.1. p. 562. Class. Polygamia. Ord. Monecia. Nat. Ord. Tricoccae, Linn. Guttifere, Juss. Gen. Char. Calyz, Ginn iaved: Corolla, four-petaled. Stamens, thirty, inserted into a fleshy, four-cornered receptacle. Style, thick. Stigma, four-lobed. Berry, one-celled, crowned by the style and stigma. Spec. Char. O. THE Stalagmitis cambogioides is a middling-sized tree ; branches opposite and divaricated: the leaves are opposite, ovate, entire, smooth, coriaceous, rigid, and supported on short petioles: the flowers are hermaphrodite and male; the hermaphrodite flowers are in axillary or lateral whorls: the male Stowers are either in distinct clusters or mixed with the hermaphrodite; the calyx in the male flowers consists of four ovate leaflets, the two exterior of which are smaller than the two interior; the petals are four, spreading, coriaceous, with ciliated margins, and of a yellow colour: the stamens are about thirty, and placed upon a quadrangular, fleshy, receptacle: the anthers amboguedtas : OO ie (74 ‘ SS, G. Zé al STALAGMITIS CAMBOGITOIDES. ORD. XXXIX. Tricocce. 79 are club-shaped ; sometimes there are rudiments of a style, and an unequal, sterile, stigma: the calyx, corolla, and stamens of the hermaphrodite flowers, resembling those of the male: the germen globular, and supporting a short style, crowned with a three or four-lobed stigma, the lobes of which are ob- cordate and persistent: the fruit is a smooth, globular, yellow, berry, crowned by the style and lobes of the stigma, and containing several long, trianglar seeds. Fig. (a) section of the fruit ; (8) a seed. This tree is a native of the kingdom of Siam and Ceylon, where it is known by the names of Ghokata, Gokkata, or Gohlata. Koenig, who resided many years at Siam, clearly ascertained that the Stalagmitis is the tree that affords the genuine Gamboge. But this tree is not the only plant which yields that substance, 14] gl wi: Rie ict as 4 woe is the product of that tree. The Gambogia gutta, Garcinia eelibica, Hyperi- cum pomiferum, and many other plants, yield a yellow gum-resin, resembling in every respect the gamboge of the shops. Gamboge is obtained by wounding the bark of the tree with sharp stones, or by breaking off the leaves and‘young shoots; the former mode is usually practised in Ceylon, and the latter at Siam. It is said to be first collected in cocoa-nut shells, and thence poured into the joints of the bamboo (which gives it the cylindrical form) or into earthen vessels, where it remains until it becomes sufficiently dry to be rolled into masses, when it is wrapped up in leaves, the state in which it is usually imported’ Gamboge was first brought to Europe about the middle of the seventeenth century: it comes» packed in cases or boxes. Sensible and Chemical Properties, &c. Gamboge has little or no odour, and scarcely any taste; when pure,* it is of a golden yellow colour, opaque, and breaks with a vitreous fracture; its specific gravity is 1,221; exposed to heat, in a ladle, it slowly softens, but does not smoke, nor melt, but by degrees grows black, and changes into a soft, toughish, black mass. When applied to the flame of a candle, it takes fire, and burns with a bright, crackling, sparkling, flame, with smoke ; at first it softens, then partly melts and drops, and the remainder grows black, swells, and is changed into a shining, friable charcoal. Gamboge, when macerated in water, forms a fine turbid yellow solution, and about two-thirds of its substance is dissolved ; (Se a ees 4 eat preovavre (Hes tcatel partor § ; * It is generally, more or less mixed with sand and other impurities. 80 ORD. XXXIX. Triccocce. STALAGMITIS CAMBOGIOIDES. the solution is not precipitated by alcohol; but rendered transparent: oxy- sulphate of iron strikes with it a pale olive brown, but causes no precipitate, nor is it affected by solutions of any of the other metallic salts. Alcohol dissolves about 90 per cent; the solution, after settling for some time, be- comes transparent and deep yellow; water renders the tincture cloudy and bright yellow, but it is long before any precipitation takes place. Ether dissolves 60 per cent.; the solution is transparent, and of a deep golden colour : when evaporated on water, it leaves an orange-coloured resin, which does not colour water. In strong solutions of ammonia and potass, it forms with them deep red solutions, which are not rendered turbid by the addition of water ; with weak acids, yellow precipitates are produced, which are taken up again by adding the acid to excess. Gamboge was separated by Bra- connot into one part cerasine or tragacanthine, and four of a reddish brittle resin, which dissolves in spirit of wine and the alkalies; these experiments, however, do not throw any light upon the cathartic property of gamboge. Medical Properties and Uses. Gamboge is a drastic cathartic, acting powerfully upon the alimentary canal: even when administered in small- doses, it often produces vomiting, hypercatharsis, and other untoward symp- toms. Orfila has given it a place amongst the acrid poisons, and infers, from his experiments made on animals, that it occasions death by the powerful local action which it exerts, and by the sympathetic irritation of the nervous system.* When administered with due caution, gamboge often proves a successful hydragogue in dropsy, either alone, or in combination with cream of tartar or jalap; it has also been given with. success for ex- pelling teniz, and is probably the active ingredient in most nostrums sold for that purpose. For destroying the tape-worm it has been given to the extent of fifteen or twenty grains, combined with an equal quantity of vegetable alkali: this dose is ordered to be taken in the morning, and if the worm be not expelled in two or three hours, it may be repeated a second or third time with safety, and often with efficacy. It is also frequently ad- ministered with success in cases of obstinate costiveness, either alone, or combined with calomel, jalap, or rhubarb. Off. The Gum Resin. Off. PP. Pilulea Cambogie Composite, L.E. * Orfila’s Toxicology, vol. ii. p. 24. C. Spratt del. ORD. XL. HOLERACEA. RHEUM UNDULATUM. ? WAVED-LEAVED, or CHINESE RHUBARB SYNONYMA. Acetosa montana. Messerch.m. in Am. Ruth. 226. Rheum sinense. Amm. Herb. 206. Rheum Rhabarbarum. Linn. Syst. Veg. 385; —Pallas, It. 2. 559. Rheum undulatum. Linn. Sp. Pl.531; Ameen. Acad. 3. p.212, t.4; Willd, 2. 489; Hort. Kew, ed. 2. v. 2. p.430; Plenck. Ic. t. 321. Class. Enneandria. Ord. Trigynia. Nat. Ord. Holeracee, Linn. Polygonea, Juss. Gen. Char. Calyx, O. Corolla, six-cleft, persistent. Seed, one, three- sided _ Spec. Char. Leaves, villous, wavy ; the sinews dilated at the base. eels, flat above, with an acute edge. THIS species of Rhubarb is a native of China, Siberia, and Tartary; and was supposed by Boerhaave to be the plant which yields the true Chinese and Turkey Rhubarb.* The root of this plant is divided into a number of * Another species of this genus, the Rheum compactum, a native also of Tartary, pos- sesses similar medicinal properties, and the roots resemble those of the Rhewm undula- tum; hence, it is most probable, that the markets are supplied indiscriminately from both.species. The Rheum Australe, described by Don,—Prodr. Fl. Nepal. p.75, and figured by Sweet in the British Flower Garden, is now considered by many to be the true Officinal Rhubarb. Vou. V. M 82 ORD. XL. Holeracezx. RHEUM UNDULATUM. thick fibres, which run deep into the soil and are of a bright golden yellow colour internally: the leaves, which appear early in the spring, are numerous, large, oblong, somewhat tapering, villous above, much waved at their edges, strongly veined beneath, and supported upon moderately thick footstalks, which are furrowed on their under side, and plane on the upper. The flower. stem is of a pale brownish colour, about four feet high, and dividing into several loose panicles of white flowers; these are succeeded by triangular seeds, which ripen early in the season: the other parts of the fructification resemble those of the Rheum palmatum. Figure (a) a flower, (b) the seed, @ the pistil. e Rheum undulatum and Rheum palmatum* have both been successfully grown on a large scale in this country. We presume the following account of the culture of so valuable a drug will not be uninteresting to our readers. ‘The seeds are sown in March or April, or during the Autumn, in August or September; the former to be transplanted in Autumn, the latter in Spring. Instead of placing the seedling plants where they are to remain, as is usually recommended, beds should be prepared, resembling those which are made for asparagus, of fine mould, from twelve to eighteen inchesdeep. When the young plants are four or five inches high, and have thrown out as many leaves, transplant them upon those beds, at eight inches asunder; selecting first the largest, carefully drawing them out, so as neither to destroy, nor even scarcely to disturb the fibres. Watering the bed previously to the removal, will greatly facilitate the operation.” In the culture of rhubarb, the whole difficulty consists in bringing the plants through the first season ; if the weather be hot and sultry, they must be shaded, and at all events, aoutindsilly watered. For transplanting, a wet or cloudy day should be preferred; and if the weather should continue wet for two or three days successively, not more than four or five in a hundred will probably be lost. In a month the roots will have made fresh shoots, and new leaves will have succeeded the former, which commonly, notwith- standing all our care, will wither away. The plants may now remain till the ensuing Spring ; or if the Summer be favourable, and the land intended for the plantation be well trenched, three feet deep, the removal may be com- pleted without delay. It is a good way, to sow the ground with carrots; the * This species of Rheum will-be found figured in Vol. IV. of this work. RHEUM UNDULATUM. ORD. XL. Holeracee. 83 surface by this means being preserved from weeds, and rendered finer by re- peated hoeings, and the bottom kept light and open.* In the choice of situation, the aspect is not very material, provided it be not too much towards the south or west. The indispensable points are, the depth and quality of the soil, which should be light, loamy, and:rich, but not too much so, lest the roots should be too fibrous ; it cam scarcely be too dry, for more evil is to be expected from a superabundance of moisture, than from any actual want of it. A declivity is. very eligible for the plantation. When a plantation does not possess this: material adyantage, narrow beds and deepened trenches are among the-artificial means that should he adopted; but most situations will require some care to prevent the ill effects of water remaining on the crowns of the plants; therefore, when the seed-stalks are cut off (which ought always to be done on the withering of the radical leaves) they should be covered with mould in the form of a hillock. This will an- swer two good purposes,—that of throwing off the rain, and keeping open the trenches, by taking the earth from them. Mr. R. Davis, Jun. of Minehead, recommends the seeds to be sown in a very gentle hot-bed during March, and when the roots are about the size of a crow’s quill, they should be drawn up carefully, to preserve the tap-root, and planted in a fine rich earth in a deep soil; if the weather proves dry, they must be watered. When the plants are once in a growing state, all further care and trouble are at an end, but that of keeping them free from weeds. The distance between the plants should be eight feet. Weare told by Mr. Salisbury of the Fulham Road, Middlesex, that “ Rhubarb grows well in light, loamy soils; it blooms at the age of three years, and ripens abundance of seeds, by which the plants are raised. The propagation, re- quiring particular care and-attention; should be considered more the work of a nurseryman than that of the farmer; and if a sale were found for a quantity, they could be raised, fit for planting out, at five shillings per hun- “ The land intended for this crop should be trenched as deep as it will bear, without throwing up a bad. under-soil, and the plants set at exact squares, three feet apart; so that 4,840, will just plant: an English acre. During the Summer season the land must be frequently hoed, and at the Autumn or Wiuter it should be every season dug, and particular care paid * Trans. Art. 15, 167. M2 84 ORD. XL. Holeracex. RHEUM UNDULATUM. to throw thé mould up to the roots. By observing this plan during the Win- ter, and raking off in Spring, the growth will be much encouraged. Unless it be necessary for the purpose of saving seeds, none of the plants should be allowed to throw up blooming stems, which, on their first appearance, should be cut down ; otherwise the plants are weakened at the root. “ The crop must stand seven years on the land; and, in fact, experience proves that the roots will keep increasing in size till a much older date, so that it might be taken up after that period, at such time as best suited the -market, or the proprietor’s pleasure.” The quantity in weight of the roots, at the end of seven years, will consequently vary according to circumstances ; but from’an experiment made this present Autumn, the writer is warranted in the supposition, that from one acre, jive thousand pounds’ weight may at least be expected of prime Rhubarb, besides a quantity that would find sale for inferior purposes to the druggists—as extract, tincture, &c. The labour attending this crop, from the distance which the plants are apart, is very trifling, and would require less expense, than in crops where the plants stood thicker, as in madder, &c. where the hoeing and weeding is more tedious. The expense would be in Ireland as follows :—First year Rent of one acre, or 160 perches 2 Five thousand plants at 50s. . . =: 12 Trenching, at 5d. PS rood ; ere Plantin 1 Hoeing three times, Aa 7s. per acre Seach ae 1 SomooR ig i178 Second year— Rent PRE oN 200 Digging, (a man) the plants at od. pet sd b 658 oeing three times . kit : Ditto for five following years ....- ... = .+-:-% 2 Trenching land to take up crop at 1s. per perch pairing & drying the crop, at 2d. per lb.—5000lbs. 2016 8 _. Tithe, seven years, at 8s, : 2160 RHEUM UNDULATUM. ORD. XL. .Holeracezx. 85 From the above calculation, we may readily estimate the profitable re- turn to the cultivator of a rhubarb crop—fine specimens of English Rhubarb fetching from five to six shillings per pound. We are informed that the London market is chiefly supplied from Banbiary. English rhubarb is equally purgative as the foreign, but less astringent and tonic. Chemical Properties, §c. Boiling water dissolves about 40 per cent. of Turkey Rhubarb, the infusion is limpid, of a deep yellow or orange colour, changing to a greenish black with sulphate of iron, and yields a scanty pre- cipitate with lime-water, solution of acetate of lead, and oxymuriate of mer- cury. Spirit of wine takes up 27 per cent. ; the solution is of a golden yel- low, not altered by adding water, but changing to dark olive green by sul- phate of iron. Ether dissolves 15 per cent.; the tincture is of a gold yellow colour, and on evaporation, leaves a yellow resin. East India Rhubarb is bitterer to the taste than that from Turkey, its grain is more compact and smooth, and when powdered, it is of a deeper colour. Water dissolves 50 per cent.; the infusion is thick, and affords more precipitate, on adding a solution of isinglass, than that of Turkey Rhubarb; it also yields a copious precipitate with lime-water, solutions of corrosive sublimate, or sugar 0 lead.* Alcohol takes up 40 per cent.; the solution is clear, of a brownish yellow, is rendered slightly turbid by the addition of water, and yields a co- pious dark green precipitate with sulphate of iron. Ether dissolves only 2 per cent. . By digesting the remains of the infusion in muriatic acid, and afterwards adding spirit of sal-ammoniac, oxalate of lime is precipitated. Turkey Rhubarb yields about 48,3 per cent., and East India 30, of this oxalate. The following constituents were obtained from one hundred parts of fine Turkey Rhubarb :— Resin : = ‘ i : oo aes Gum ; : 31,0 Extract, tei, ind pallic acta d : 26,0 Phosphate of lime . : ; 2,0 Malate of lime . : ; ; 2 6,5 Woody fibre 16,3 Water ‘ ‘ 8,2 * Grey’s Elements. 86 ORD. XL. Holeracex. RHEUM UNDULATUM. It is generally supposed that Rhubarb contains some oxalate of lime ;— Mr. Brande, however, has never succeeded in obtaining oxalic acid from it, but he has obtained an uncrystallizable acid, having the characters of the malic acid. M.de Lassaignes, however, imagines, that the acid termed rheumic by Mr. John Henderson,* is the oxalic acid. The following tables, by Dr. Anthony Todd Thomson, show the effects of various re-agents on the aqueous infusions of the two varieties of rhnubarb.— * Annals of Philosophy. 4 TABLE I.—Precipitates formed by Acids, Alkalies, and Neutral Salts. dyir tia Sulphuric | Nitric Muriatic | Oxymuriatic | Solution of oeution of Time |Muriate of | Silicated cag. acid acid acid Pot tio Palen Water Baryt Pot Blader : : ‘ “_ of Potass . arytes. otass. None, but Scant Copious (Scanty, floc-| Scanty, very =? hy None, but Russian. |} greenish post pale| slowly formed sy) bead Prati en sha? fgg dite orikes a ee Poa on,| , Strikes a yellow. P : ea Pencil Breed doep brown. but ren- | Copious Mor copi- \Scanty,quickly Nofp, piovss (Less scanty! None, but Chinese. lous brigerituhl pale ae Yformed fam joi esa Hehain aed ee it oe & qeeky orange strikes a yellow. y ish yellow. Bey fee Nag ane Oia = Gehan w rae yellow. |deep brown. Tase II.—Precipitates formed by Solutions of Metallic Salts. Variety | . Solution of Solution of babes of Solution of Solution of Solution of Solution of 0 Oxysulphate of | of Nitrate of Nitrate of Nitrate o Muriate o Acetate of Tartarized wyrurne Rhubarb. iron. ile Mevdhes lead. Mercury. Antimony ‘ : , pra uickl : : Copious, nearly Copious, olive | Scanty, iy = : y Scanty, greenish} Scanty, slowl Russi black. Scania peal aie. yellow. fatihed yellow. ned hry ellow. formed, whitish. . yer Scanty, slowly | Copious, slowly Scanty, still Chinese. ees oe ome hia Sean rellow? formed, Sea ale | Copious yellow. | more slowly yellow formed. For the Medical Properties and Uses of Rhubarb, see Rhewm Palmatum, Vol. 1V. of this work. ss 3 ORD. XL. Holeracex. LAURUS CASSIA. LAURUS CASSIA. CASSIA. TREE. SYNONYMA. Laurus Cassia. Linn. Sp. Pl.p. 528. Wild. Sp. Pl. p. 477. - Burm, Ind. p. 91. Lam. Encyel. 8. p. 441. Illustr. t. 821. f.2. Bot. Mag. t. 1636. Laurus Canella, Mill. Dict. n. 12. Cinnamonum perpetuo florens, s tenuiore acuto. Burm. Zeyl. p. 63. t: 28. Cassia lignea. Blackw. Herb. 391, Cinnamonium, seu Canella Malabarica, seu J avanensis. Bauh. oe 409. Carua. Hort. Mal. v. 1. p. 107. t. 59. Persea Cassia. Spreng. Syst. Veg. v. 2. p. 267. Class, Haivenhdri Ord. Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Holeracee, Linn. Lauri, Juss. Gen. Char. Calyx, O. Corolla, resembling a calyx, six parted. Nectary of three two-bristled glands, surrounding the germen. Interior filaments, glanduliferous. Drupe, one-seeded. ' Spec. Char. Leaves, ovato-lanceolate, three-nerved, acute, the younger ones coloured ; peduncles trichotomously panicled and very spreading. THIS species of Laurus is a native of Malabar, Sumatra, Java, and Ceylon: it is a lofty éree, rising to the height of fifty feet, and gives out numerous large branches, which spread horizontally ; the trunk and branches are covered _ with a greyish brown bark; the leaves are ovate lanceolate or elliptical, entire, smooth, from four to six inches long, longitudinally nerved, of a bright green colour on the upper surface, paler beneath ; when young of a delicate red colour; the flowers are produced in axillary clusters, six together, on slender flower-stalks; the corolla is monopetalous, small, white, and divided into six stellated teeth; the fruit is an ovate, oblong, black berry, with a mucronate apex, it contains a somewhat bitter pulp, and when dried is insipid and without smell. CLAAII ALT. Seateris al &. Seradt wed, LAURUS CASSIA. ORD. XL. Holeracex. 89 The cassia tree arrives at its greatest perfection in exposed situations, on a high altitude and dry soil. The dark of those trees which grow in moist and shady situations is said to be of an inferior quality ; the larger branches and the trunk, we are told, are the parts of the tree from which the bark is taken, and the cuticle only appears to be scraped off; and from the larger — branches it is thick, of a spongy texture, and full of slimy mucus. We are informed by Mr. Marshall, (Annales de Phil. vol. x. p. 245.) that the cassia- buds of commerce are not the produce of the cassia tree, but the fleshy recep- tacle of the seed of the Laurus Cinnamomum, and that they are not prepared at Ceylon, but come chiefly from China, through Madras, Calcutta, or Bom- bay. Cassia is imported into this country in packages, denominated chests, half-chests, or quarter-chests. The inferior or third sort of cinnamon pre- pared in Ceylon, is said to be imported into England and sold as cassia. Qualities, $c. Cassia bark has a pleasant, fragrant odour, very much re- sembling that of cinnamon, but less powerful ; its taste is pungent, aroma- tic, and somewhat sweet, appearing slimy when much chewed, of a reddish- brown colour, in pieces more or less quilled, but much less so than cinna- mon ; about one-tenth of an inch in thickness, internally of a fine, smooth texture, externally of a paler colour, and somewhat spongy. The watery infusion is reddish coloured, has the odour of the bark; taste sweetish. and somewhat astringent; sulphate of iron changes it to a deep brown; the spirituous solution is of a deep red-brown colour, and yields an aromatic ex- tract by distillation. The distilled water is fragrant, aromatic, and slightly astringent. Cassia, by distillation with water, yields an essential oil, simi- lar tothat of cinnamon, on which its qualities depend; it requires a strong heat to carry it over, and separates very slowly from the distilled water. The. buds of cassia yield an oil similar to the bark, which is often sold for the oil of cinnamon ; one pound of cassia bark, or buds, yields from one to two drachms of oil. Medical Properties and Uses. The bark and buds of cassia are stomachic, tonic, and cordial, and may be used as a substitute for cinnamon bark,* in doses of five grains to one scruple, in all cases in which cinnamon may be indicated. * In pharmacy, the druggists apa! employ cassia bark, or buds, in the preparing tinctures, extracts, cinnamon-water, Sc ‘ Vou. V. N ORD. XLI. SCABRID/. HUMULUS LUPULUS. THE HOP. SYNONYMA, Lupulus salictarius. Fuch. 144; Plin. Hist. Nat.1. 21. n. xv. Ger. Em. 885. Lupulus. Camer. Epit. 933-4; Dod. Pempt. 409, 1.; n. 1618. Hall. Hist. Lupulus, mas. et femina. Bauh. Pin. 299. 1, 2; Raii Hist. 156. Lupulus, seu sativus, seu sylvestris. Park. 176; Trag. 812, Humulus Lupulus. Linn. Sp. Pl. 1457; Willd. v.iv. 769; Eng. Bot. t. 427; Flor. Brit. 1077; Sm. Engl. Fl. v. iv. p. 240; Hook. Fl. Scot. 1. p. 288; Hook. Br. Fl. p. 436. ' Class Dioecia. Order Pentandria. Nat. Ord. Scabride, Linn. Urticer, Juss. Gen. Char. Male. Calyx five-leaved; corolla 0; anthers with two pores. Female. Scales of the catkin, large, concave, oblique, entire.; corolla O; - styles, two; seed, one, within a leafy calyx. Spec. Char. OQ. THE Hop is an indigenous, perennial plant, growing in hedges, flower- ing in June and July, and ripening its seeds in September. Sir J, E. Smith considers the hop as truly wild in England, notwithstanding the old distich— “ Turkeys, carp, hops, pickerel, and beer, _ Came into England all in one year.” This is supposed to have been in Henry VIII’s reign, a, perhaps, hops were first used for making beer, and (as has been the case with some other + Hemelis Casfeecleed ; ed Spratt adel, HUMULUS LUPULUS. ORD. XLL Scabride. 91 plants) might be imported from abroad, though really wild at home. The female plants are very abundantly cultivated in the counties of Kent, Surry, Suffolk, and Essex, for the use of the brewers, who consume large quantities of the strobiles in the brewing of malt liquors. There is but one species of the genus Humulus; the male and female flowers are on separate plants. The roots are branching, from which arise many long, twining, rough, angular, flexible stems, which support themselves by twining round bodies that may be placed near them. The deaves are op- posite, in pairs, petiolate, cordate or entire, serrated, of a dark green on the upper disc, paler beneath; both the leaves and petioles are scabrous, with minute prickles, and at the base of each leaf-stalk are two interfoliaceous, entire, reflected, smooth stipules. The flowers are axillary or terminal, and furnished with bracteas ; the males are in drooping panicles of a pale green- _ish-yellow colour; the calyx consists of five oblong, concave, minutely ser- rated leaflets. The filaments are five, capillary, and supporting oblong an- thers, which open at the apex by two pores. The female flowers are in solitary, pendulous, ovate cones or strobiles, composed of membranous scales of a pale greenish colour; tubular, from being rolled in at the base, and containing the germen, which is small, supporting two short, subulate | styles, tipped with awl-shaped, downy stigmas. The seed, which is enclosed “in the tubular part of the scale, is round, flattish, truncated, and of a bay brown colour. Figure (a) female flower, (6) the germen and styles, (c) male flower, (d) back of an anther magnified, (¢) front of an anther, shewing the pores by which they open at top. The hop is not confined to Britain, but is found in many parts of Europe, ~ and also in America. ‘The culture of this plant was introduced into Eng- land from Flanders, about the year 1524, and the strobiles were first used for preserving malt liquor in the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII.; but the prejudice against them continued for a long period, as the citizens of London, a century afterwards, petitioned Parliament to prevent their use.* At the season when the strobiles are sufficiently ripe, the plants are cut, a foot or two from the ground, and the poles on which they were supported, pulled up. The strobiles are then cautiously picked off, care being taken to * 'The prejudices of the present times are probably as great as those in former days, for the brewers are now subject to severe penalties, who use any other bitter for preserving malt liquor, although many others are equally wholesome. N2 92 ORD. XLI. Scabridz. HUMULUS LUPULUS. separate those that are defective from those that-are sound ; both kinds are carried to the kiln (for the purpose of drying) as soon as possible after they are gathered. The heat of the kiln requires to be regulated with great nicety, to prevent their being dried too rapidly. To obviate this occurrence, many kilns have two floors, on the uppermost of which the greener hops are laid, and gradually dried, before being brought to support the heat of the lower floor. Charcoal is usually employed, as the other kinds of fuel are said to injure the flavour of the hops. The strobiles are considered suffici- ently dried when they become crisp; but they acquire some degree of te- nacity and toughness, from lying in heaps on the floors of the store-houses, previous to their being bagged. Sensible and Chemical Properties. The dried strobiles have a peculiar fragrant odour, and a very bitter, somewhat aromatic, and slightly astrin- gent taste. New hops are of a pale, greenish-yellow hue, and appear like thin, transparent leaves; by long keeping their colour changes to a yellow- ish-brown. The watery infusion has a pale straw colour, is rendered muddy by the mineral acids; alkalies deepen its colour; it strikes an olive with sulphate of iron, is precipitated by solutions of nitrate of silver, tartarized antimony, superacetate of lead, and alcohol: and when rubbed with mag- nesia, or lime, a rod dipped in muriatic acid discovers the presence of am- monia. By distillation in water, an essential oil is obtained. The virtues of hops are extracted by alcohol, ether, and boiling water; by long boil- ing the aromatic properties are dissipated. : From the experiments of Dr. Ives of New York, it appears, that the active properties of hops reside in a powder, which may be readily separated from the strobiles, by merely sifting in a fine sieve. This substance forms about one-sixth part of their weight, and to it Dr. Ives has given the name of Ju- ' pulin. According to Dr. Ives’ analysis, 120 grains of lupulin contain about —of tannin 5 grains, extractive 10, bitter principle 11, wax 12,.resin 36, lignin 46. The extractive matter is soluble in water only; the bitter prin- ciple is soluble in alcohol and water; the wax soluble only in the alkalies and boiling ether ; the resin soluble in ether and alcohol; the aromatic and bitter properties of the lupulin are more readily and completely imbibed by alcohol than by water, and much sooner by both when hot than when cold ; about fiye-eighths of lupulin are soluble in water, aleohol, and ether, three- eighths being vegetable fibrous matter. M. Payer, and A. Chevalier have HUMULUS LUPULUS. ORD. XLI. Scabridez. -. 308 confirmed Dr. Ives’ opinion, that the properties of the hop reside in the lu- pulin, or the yellow grains which are scattered over the membranous scales of the strobiles. They also discovered a volatile oil in lupulin, which is si- milar in odour to the hop, bnt much more penetrating. The following pro- cess has been practised by M. Planche, for purifying lupulin :— “ To separate the sand from the lupulin—put it into water, shake it for a few minutes, decant that which is held in solution by the water, and a dark- coloured sand is deposited: repeat the process several times, and spread the lupulin, which is insoluble in water, on bibulous paper; let it drain, and then dry it in the air, neither exposed to the sun, nor to a temperature above 76° Fahrenheit. It should be prepared yearly, and this cleansing process must be quickly conducted, or it will undergo a change.” Medical Properties and Uses. Hops are narcotic, tonic, and diuretic. We are told by Dr. Maton, that, besides allaying pain and producing sleep, the preparations of hops reduce the frequency of the pulse, and increase its firm- ness in a very decided manner. One drachm of the tincture, and four grains of the extract, given once in six hours, reduced the pulsations from ninety- six to sixty in twenty-four hours.* He found the extract very efficacious in allaying the pain in articular rheumatism, in which disease we have fre- quently administered both the tincture and extract with much benefit to our patients. As a narcotic it is very far inferior to opium; but under certain circumstances, where opium disagrees, (which is not unfrequently the case) it will generally procure undisturbed and refreshing sleep. Dr. Ives ob- serves, “ with regard to the medicinal efficacy of hops, every accurate obser- ver must acknowledge, that they possess little merit if administered according to the directions given in our pharmacop@ias. The quantity of proof-spirit which enters into the tincture would produce stimulating effects, indepen- dent of any properties which it imbibes from the hops; and, although its action may be modified by their combined agency, so as, in some measure, to increase the cordial and invigorating influence of the alcohol, it is diffi- cult to conceive, that the tonic or narcotic virtues of the hop should be sufhi- ciently concentrated to produce much remedial benefit. It is otherwise with the pharmaceutical preparations of the lupulin, which I have been accus- tomed to prescribe. Pretty extensive observation has confirmed my former opinion, that diseases which are the consequence of exhausted excitability, » Observations on the Humulus Lupulus, Sc. by A. Freake. 94 ORD. XLI. Scabride. HUMULUS LUPULUS. or, more directly, of a deranged state of the stomach and bowels, are certainly much relieved by this medicine. It frequently induces sleep, and quiets nervous irritation, without causing costiveness, or impairing, like opium, the tone of the stomach, and merely increasing primary disease. The prepara- tion most commonly used in this city, is the tincture prepared by digesting 3ij of the lupulin in Oj of aleohol—dose, from 3i to 3ij. Inquietude and watchfulness, connected with excessive irritability in all its gradations, from the restlessness consequent upon exhaustion and fatigue, to the most uncon- trollable paroxysm of delirium tremens, are more frequently allayed by this remedy than any other in ordinary use. Another eligible mode of exhibit- ing, the lupulin, is in pills. From two to four pills, each containing three grains of the powder, may be given at a dose. Dr. Desroches, who pub- lished a dissertation on the hop in 1803, supposed that its narcotic principle resided in the essential oil; but is it not more than probable that this was a conjecture, arising from the imaginary soporific virtues of the hop-pillow? It requives much experience, and accurate observation to speak confidently upon this subject; but, from having frequently used the lupulin collected from old hops, in which little aroma seemed to remain, and also the extract, prepared by decoction, by which process the essential oil is chiefly dissipated, - [ am still of opinion, that its narcotic properties reside in the resinous ex- tract.” Externally, an ointment compounded with the powder of the hop and lard, is reeommended by Mr. Freake as an anodyne application to can- cerous sores, and a decoction, used as a fomentation, affords much relief in _ painful tumefactions. A cataplasm, made of an infusion of the strobiles has been applied to ill-conditioned ulcers, with decided benefit, Off. pp. Extractum Humuli. L Tinctura Humuli. L. E. Mode of employing Lupulin. Lupulin may be ‘administered in form of extract, tincture, pills, powder, or syrup. . The Extract may be prepared either with the aqueous infusion, or with the decoction; when prepared with the latter, it is equally bitter, but less aromatic—dose, from five to ten ains, Pills of Lupulin. Bruise the lupulin strongly,* and divide into pills of two or three grains each, of which from two to four may be taken for a dose. * This substance becomes converted into a ductile mass, which renders it unnecessary to add any excipient, 6. Sprad. dee. HUMULUS LUPULUS. ORD. XLI. Scabridz. 95 Powder of Lupulin. Take of powdered lupulin one part, powdered loaf- sugar two parts. Mix—dose from ten to twenty grains. Tincture of Iupulin. Take of bruised lupulin one ounce, alcohol two ounces,—digest for six days in a close vessel ; strain, press strongly, filter, and add a quantity of alcohol, so as to make three ounces of tincture—dose, from thirty drops to one or two drachms.* + Mr. Nicholas Mill affirms, that from forty to sixty minims of the saturated tincture of lupuline act as an anodyne, and have a powerful effect in allaying great nervous irri tation ; whilst.that stupidity which often wie eects the use of opium is never induced by Shia medicine. ‘ORD. XLIV. PIPERIT-. PIPER CUBEBA. _ CUBEBS, or JAVA PEPPER. SYNONYMA, Piper caudatum. Ger. Em. 1540; Bauh. Hist. 2,185. Cubebe. Raii Hist, 1813; Park. Theatr. 1583 ; Clus. Exot. 184 ; Piper Cu- beba. Walla. Sp. Pl. 1. p.159; Gertn. de Fruct. 2. p.67. t. 92. Vahl. En. n. 61. Class UW. Diandria. Ord. III. Trigynia. Nat. Ord. Piperite, Linn. Urtice, Juss. Piperacee, Kunth. Gen. Char. Calyx O. CorollaO. Berry, one-seeded, coriaceous, smooth. Joints of the stem tumid. Spec. Char.’ Leaves, elliptico-lanceolate, smooth, five-ribbed, unequal at the base. Spike, solitary, on a peduncle opposite to the leaves. Berries on partial stalks, THIS species of pepper is a native of Java, where it is called cumac: it grows in great luxuriance in the woods of Tuntang; it also inhabits Sierra 96 : ORD. XLIV. Piperite. PIPER CUBEBA. & Leone, Batavia, Guinea, and the Isle of France. The stems are round, _ smooth, long, creeping and rooting. The leaves are from one to two inches in length, mostly elliptic-lanceolate, or cordate, entire, solitary at each joint of the stems, and supported on channelled footstalks, about half an inch in length. ‘Che flowers are small, and produced in crowded, solitary, terminal, spikes. The fruit is a smooth, fleshy, globular, one-celled berry, on a short stalk, of a deep red colour at first, but changing to brown and coriaceous when dried, containing a single roundish seed.* Fig. (a) section of the fruit ; (6) a seed ; (c) the embryo. Sensible and Chemical Properties, &c. The berries (the officinal part of this plant) are of a grayish brown colour when dry; they have a strong aromatic odour, and a hot, spicy, pungent taste: when chewed, they heat the mouth, but leave a cool sensation on the palate. If dried with much heat previous to pulverisation, they are said to lose a considerable portion of their active properties. According to the analysis of M. Vauquelin,t cubebs contain a coloured resin, a thick volatile oil of a reddish colour, nearly concrete ;{ a resin analogous to that of balsam of copaiba, coloured gummy matter, extractive, analogous to that of the Leguminose, and various saline substances. The watery infusion of the powdered berries is of a reddish brown colour, cloudy, with the odour and flavour of the drug: its colour is not altered by sulphate of iron, but a precipitate falls. The pow- | dered berries should be kept in close-stopped bottles, as it quickly loses its active properties, if exposed to the atmosphere. Medical Properties and Uses. Cubebs are diuretic and gently aperient : _by the Indian practitioners they are used as a grateful stomachic and car- minative ; and we are told the Arabs also use them asa condiment. Cubebs were introduced into this country a few years ago as a remedy for gonor- rhea, in which they were said to moderate the inflammation and discharge; and in the majority of cases cut short the disease in less tine than any medicine previously made use of. Mr.Jefferies, who published an essay on this © subject a few years since, considers it not only as a very safe remedy, but, in the generality of cases, infinitely more useful and expeditious than any * The figuré accompanying the above description was made from an original drawing, - copied from dried specimens in the Museum of the Hon. East India Company. + Journ. Pharm. vi. 309. ; ; Two pounds and a half have been found to afford about two ounces of oil. al PIPER CUBEBA. ORD. XLIV. Piperitz. 97 which has ever yet been introduced into practice. It possesses what may be justly called a specific power in most constitutions, especially when ad- ministered in the early and acute form of the disease. It moderates the inflammation and most painful symptoms, and suppresses the quantity of the discharge in a shorter time, and with more certainty, than any other remedy with which I am acquainted. We are told by Mr. Crawford (see Edinburgh Medical and Physical Journal for January, 1818) that “the pepper, well pounded, is exhibited in a little water, five or six times a day, in the quantity of a dessert-spoonful, or about three drachms.” The ardor urine ceases, the discharge grows ropy, commonly in 48 hours, and frequently in less time, and the disease ceases altogether soon after. These, of course, are the most successful effects of the medicine. Iu some cases the cure is slower; in a few it has been said to produce swelled testicle; and in a still smaller number it has been found altogether ineffectual. The sensible effects of this remedy are ex- tremely mild. It occasions, (though not always) a slight purging: it im- parts to the urine its own peculiar odour, and promotes its quantity. Now and then it occasions a flushing of the face and a burning heat in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Mr. Marley says, “In cases of a recent nature, I think it may be called specific. The head and stomach are always more or less affected during the exhibition of cubebs, and there is generally a tendency to constipation.”* Dr. Trail of Liverpool states, that as far as his opinion goes, it is most useful in old and obstinate blenorrheea, and also that it is highly beneficial in the last stage, or when the discharge is of a gleety nature. Mr. Adams, from his experience of the eflicacy of cubebs, says, they are not a specific for gonorrhea, but that they may be considered a valuable remedy when fresh, of good quality, and finely powdered. We have been told by scme respect- able surgeons that they have not found it of any service whatever, that it has invariably produced some untoward symptom, which has obliged them to discontinue its use; viz. deep-seated pain in the head, distressing diar- rhea, hemorrhoids, hematuria, urticaria, violent nausea, &e.t From our * Vide Medical and Physical Journal for June, 1821. + Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, for 1820. { Dr. Fosbrooke has commended cubebs in cases of inflammation of the mucous membrane of the intestines, and also in cases of chronic inflammation of the xsophagus. This is rather at variance with the opinion that it induces hemorrhoids and hematuria. Von ¥: 1) 98 ORD. XLIV. Piperitz. PIPER CUBEBA. own experience, we can confidently recommend cubebs as the most effica- cious medicine we are acquainted with: that it will cure every case, is not to be expected, but, from numerous trials we have had, we are of opinion that more reliance may be placed on it than any other medicine that has hitherto been recommended for the cure of gonorrhea., Many of the ~ untoward symptoms said to be occasioned by its use, we believe to have been caused by over-doses, too frequently repeated: we have seldom gone beyond one drachm, and usually combined it with the mucilage of acacia: we have more frequently found it open the bowels than induce constipation, as stated by Mr. Marly. Cubebs are usually given in powder, either in milk, mucilage of gum- arabic, or barley-water, or administered in the form of tincture, made by macerating two ounces of powdered eubebs in one pint of proof spirit, for fourteen days. Dose—from ten drops to sixty, in any proper vehicle. ORD. XLVI. LILIACEA. ALOE VULGARIS. YELLOW-FLOWERED ALOE. SYNONYMA. Andén, Dios. lib. iii. cap. 25. Aloe. Trag. Hist. 932; Fuchs. Hist. v. ii. 160; Camer. Epit. 430; Matth. Vaigr. v.ii. 45-6. Aloe vul- garis. Ger. Em. 507; Fl. Gree. Sibth. v. iv. p. 34. t. 341. Bauh. Pin. 286. Tourn. Inst. 8366; Decandolle, Pl. Grasses, 27, cum icone; Ait. Hort. Kew. ed. 2. v. ii. 292. Aloe perfoliata =, vera. Linn. Sp. Pl.458. Aloe pertfo- diata \, vera. Willd, Sp. Pl. v. ii. 186. Aloe barbadensis. Haworth, in Trans. Linn. Soe. v. vii. 19. Class Hexandria. Order Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Liliacee, Coronarize, Linn. Asphodeli, Juss. Prembed: dy & £ Madatey c. Sorat del ALOE VULGARIS. ORD. XLVI. Liliacex. | 99 Gen. Char. Corolla tubular, border spreading, six-cleft, nectariferous at the base. Filaments inserted into the receptacle. Capsule superior, oblong, three-celled. Seeds several, angular. _ Spec. Char. Leaves sword-shaped, toothed, upright. Stem branched. Flowers yellow, in a dense panicle. THE stem of this species of aloe* is short, thick, shrubby, and branched. The leaves are nearly erect, or somewhat spreading, upwards of a foot in length, and about four inches broad at their base, lanceolate, acute, smooth, succulent, concave above, of a bright sea-green colour, (but when young, often spotted with white,) sessile, and crowded on the lower part of the stem. The flower-stem rises about three feet in height; it is round, thick, erect, smooth, of a purplish colour, branched at top, and terminated by a loose, slender spike of bright yellow flowers. The flowers are numerous, and stand on short, smooth foot-stalks, each flower: being accompanied by a single bractea. The bracteas attached to the flower-stems are triangular, membra- naceous, and of a deep brownish colour. The corolla is monopetalous, cy- lindrical, oblong, and divided at the margin into six deep segments ; the outer segments are larger than the inner, ovate, blunt, and spreading at the border. The filaments are thread-shaped, as long, or somewhat longer than the corolla, inserted into the receptacle, and furnished with oblong, incum- bent anthers. The germen is oblong-ovate, angular, bearing a style nearly the length of the stamens, crowned with a small, simple stigma. Figure (a) represents the pistil, with the base of the corolla, (6) the same, with the sta- mens. . } The whole plant abounds with a clammy, bitter, fetid, yellowish juice. This plant is a native of the Levant and Barbary; it is also very common in the West India Islands, and generally known under the name of Barba- does aloe; which, probably, has urisen from its being commonly cultivated in the island of Barbadoes, for the purpose of obtaining the aloes of the shops, known by the name of hepatic aloes. The different methods em- ployed for collecting the juice, and preparing the various kinds of aloes, and also their medical properties and uses, have been explicitly detailed in Vol. * Itis the addy of the ancient Greeks, and was found by Dr. Sibthorpe, growing spontaneously in the island of Cyprus. 100 ORD. XLVI. Liliacez. ALOE VULGARIS. IV. of this work: we have, therefore, a few observations only to make on the chemical properties of the hepatic, or Barbadoes aloes: which, as we have before observed, are the product of the aloé vulgaris. Hepatic aloes have a peculiar strong odour, somewhat aromatic, but less so than the Socotrine aloes. The taste is nauseous and intensely bitter. The pieces are of a dull brown colour, glossy, and when broken, the splin- " tered edges appear rather blunt, and of a dull yellowish hue. It becomes soft by the heat of the hand, and is adhesive ; when reduced to powder, it is of a dull yellow brown. All kinds of aloes yield a small portion of vegetable mucus, resin, and a peculiar extractive matter. Braconnot* found aloes to consist chiefly of a peculiar bitter matter, which he has termed the resinous bitter principle (dmer résineua).+ The odour, taste, and medical virtues of aloes, reside chiefly in the extractive. Boiling water dissolves nearly the whole of any of the kinds, but least of the hepatic or Barbadoes. | Proof- spirit takes up 86 parts in 100; the alkalies and their carbonates greatly as- sist in promoting the solution of aloes. _ By boiling aloes in water, the ex- tractive is altered, and rendered insoluble in water, and approaches to the nature ofa resin. _ Socotrine aloes yield, upon distillation, a small portion of volatile oil; but none is obtained from the hepatic. * Annales de Chimie, lv. 152. + According to the analysis of Vogel, and Bouillon la Grange, aloes contain 32 parts resin, and 68 extractive. t This circumstance forms a test, which iectctahe hepatic aloes from the other ahs andependantly. of sensible properties, G ORD. LI. GRAMINA. TRITICUM HYBERNUM. WINTER, orn LAMMAS-WHEAT. SYNONYMA. Siligo spicd mutica, Lod. Ic. 25; Triticum spicd mutica, Ger. Em. 65. f.1; Park. Theatr. 1120, f.1. Triticum hybernum aristis carens, Bauh. Pin. 21; Mor. Hist. 3. t.11. 7.1. Triticum hybernum, Linn. Sp. Pl. 126; Willd. v.1.477; Ehrh. Pl. Offic.n. 151; Ait. Hort. Kew, ed, 2. v.2. p.130. Triticum vulgare, Host. Gram. Austr. v. 3. p. 18. t. 26. Class III. Triandria. Ord. I. Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Gramina, Juss. Graminee, Br. Gen. Char. Calyx, two-valved, many-flowered ; its valves opposite, trans- verse; the sides, (not the back,) of one of them directed to the rachis, nearly equal. Cor. Two-valved; its valves lanceolate; ext. one acumi- nate or awned at the extremity ; int. bifid at the point. Spec. Char. Calyx, four flowered, tumid, smooth, imbricated, slightly awned. ; THE root of Lammas, or Winter-Wheat, consists of numerous downy fibres.* The stems are from three to four feet high, jointed and terminated by the inflorescence, which consists of long spikes, with the flowers arranged in four rows, and imbricated. The chaff or calyx is composed of two con- cave, oblong, keeled, smooth, nearly equal, valves, the outer terminated by * This plant has two sets of roots; one set proceeding directly from the seed, and the other from the corona of the plant, about two inches above the first; the latter do not shoot till the Spring of the year, and they collect more nutriment than the seminal roots. 102 ORD. LI. Gramina. TRITICUM HYBERNUM. very short awns, which distinguish the Lammas from the Spring wheat (Tri- ticum sativum) which has awns three inches long: they contain from three to four florets, three of which are usually productive. The outer valve of * the corolla is concave and pointed, the inner one flat, blunt, and two-toothed ; The filaments are capillary: anthers, linear and forked: the germen turbi- nate, bearing a short style, crowned with feathery stigmas ; the seed or grain is oval or elliptical, with a narrow channel along the upper side. Fig. (d) the germen and calyx, magnified ; (e) the flower expanded and magnified. The native country of this valuable grain is entirely unknown: it has, however, been conjectured from the nature and habits of wheat, that it may have been originally a native of Asia; but it is pretty certain that Sicily was the part of Europe where it was first cultivated, It will not vegetate beyond the 62° of northern latitude, nor will it often form an ear below the ~ elevation of 4,500 feet, or ripen at above 10,800 feet under the equator. In England, wheat is chiefly cultivated in the counties of Essex, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Herefordshire, Hampshire, and Berkshire. Wheat thrives best in rich clays, and heavy loams, and in favorable seasons, on good lands, — the bashel of grain will weigh from 60 to 62 pounds. Several varieties of wheats are grown in this country; but the Winter or Lammas is the most productive, and hence most esteemed by agriculturists. Chemical Properties, &c. Flour, or the farinaceous part of the seed, is separated from the husk or bran, after the operation of grinding, by means of sieves of various degrees of fineness. Flour, when good, is insipid, and nearly inodorous, and constitutes more than two-thirds the weight of the seed. Wheat-flour consists principally of gluten, starch, albumen, and a sweet mucilage. Its constituents may be separated by forming the flour into a paste with a little water, and washing this paste with fresh quantities of water, until it runs from it colourless. What remains, is the gluten, which, if not the same, is very analogous to, the fibrine of animal substances. From the water with which the paste is washed, a white powder (Amylum) separates on standing: thealbumen and sweet mucilage may be obtained: by total evaporation. It is the presence of gluten which characterises By some botanists, Spring and Winter-wheat are considered as varieties only, not as distinct species. The latter is the most productive, and is generally cultivated on that account, for there is no material difference between the grains they produce, either che- mical or medicinal—hence they are indiscriminately ecpeherel for every purpose. TRITICUM HYBERNUM. ORD. LI. Gramina. 108 wheat-flour, and on a due admixture of it with the constituents, depends the superiority of wheat-flour for making bread. Bread is made by working the flour into a paste with warm water, a quantity of ferment, such as yeast, and a little muriate of soda to render it sapid, allowing the paste to stand until a certain degree of fermentation takes place, and then baking it in an oven, heated to about 488°. During the fermentation, a quantity of gas is formed, and as it is prevented from escap- ing by the toughness of the paste, and dilated by the heat of the oven, the bread is rendered light and spongy. In this process, the nature of the con- stituents of the flour is altered; for we are not able to obtain either gluten or starch from bread. Water, in which flour has been macerated, acquires a sweetish taste and an opaline colour, and affords precipitates with infusion af galls and the strong acids. According to Vogel, 100 parts of flour con- _ tain—gluten, 24; saccharine-gum, 5; fecula, 68; albumen, 1,50. -Starch* is a fine white powder, generally concreted in friable hexagonal columns, smooth to the feel, and emitting a peculiar sound when compressed. It has neither taste nor odour, is decomposed by heat, is not soluble in cold water or in aleohol. Warm water, at about 190° Fah. converts itinto a kind of mucilage, which, on cooling, assumes a gelatinous consistence. This jelly, when dried by heat, becomes brittle and transparent like gum, but is not soluble in cold water. At 78° Fah. its watery solution ferments with the addition of yeast. By roasting, it becomes soluble in cold water, and it is converted by three or four hours boiling with sulphuric acid, into a saccha- rine liquid. Alcohol precipitates starch white and tough from its solutions; acetate of lead and infusion of galls also throw it down, but the precipitate formed by the latter is redissolved by heating the liquid to 120°. Both acids and alkalies combined with water, dissolve it. The strong acids de- compose it, especially the sulphuric and nitric acids; the latter converting it into malic and oxalic acids. When exposed to a moderate heat, it begins to swell, and is gradually chenged into a brownish substance, which is used * Searels is found in many vegetables, combined with different substances: — 1. with gluten or fibrin, as in wheat, rye, and other similar seeds; 2. with extractive, asin beans, peas, lupins, &c.; 3. with mucilaginous matter, as in unripe corn, the potatoe, and in many other roots ; 4. with saccharine matter, in beet-root, and in corn, after it has begun to germinate ; 5. with an acid principle, as in the root of the Burdock, Jatropha Mani- hot, Arum, i other tuberous roots. 104 | ~ ORD. LI. Gramina. TRITICUM HYBERNUM. by the calico printers, and commonly called British gum. The most delicate test of the presence of starch is iodine, which renders its solution in water, even when largely diluted, of a beautiful blue colour. From the products obtained by distilling starch per se, it appears to be a ternary compound of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. According to the analysis of MM. Gay Lussac and Thenard, 100 parts of starch consist of 49,68 oxygen, 43,55 carbon, 6,77 hydrogen. In this country, starch is manufactured exclusively from wheat-flour and potatoes; in .the West Indies, from the Jatropha Manihot, which is the well known substance, called arrow-root.* Starch is not absolutely identi- cal, as obtained from different vegetables. | According to M. Planche, the specific gravity of flour-starch to potatoe-starch is as 62 to 84, and this diffe- rence is not unimportant in pharmacy, as the former serves admirably to suspend camphor, and the latter is unfit. Gluten is a tough, fibrous, elastic substance of a greyish colour; it is almost tasteless, and bears a considerable resemblance, both in its properties and composition, to the peculiar animal principle, named jfibrine. When dried, it becomes semi-transparent, and somewhat resembles glue. It is dissolved by the alkalies and acids; the latter, when strong, decomposing it at the same time. M. Jaddei has “ ascertained, that the gluten of wheat may be separated into two distinct proximate principles, which he has distinguished by the names gliadine and zimome. They are obtained by kneading newly prepared | gluten, in successive portions of alcohol, until it is no longer rendered milky by the addition of water. The alcoholic solution being allowed to evapo- rate spontaneously, a small portion of gluten is at first deposited, and the gliadine remains behind, of the consistence of honey, and mixed with a little yellow resinous matter, from which it may be freed by digestion in sulphuric ether. The portion of the gluten not dissolved by the aleohol, is the zimome.” Gluten appears to be one of the most nutritive of vegetable substances; hence the superiority of wheat to all other grains as an article of nourishment. Medicai Properties, &c. Bread, as a remedial agent, is only used as -an’ex- ternal application in the form of poultice, or as a medium to increase the bulk, and give form to very active medicines—as in pills. When toasted, i. Sago, Tapioca, Salep, and Cassava, are all varieties of starch ; the former is obtained from the pith of some species of palms, and from Cycas circinalis. Salep is prepared from the bulbs of the orchis mascula; Tapioca and Cassava from the Jatropha Manihot. TRITICUM HYBERNUM. . ORD. LI. Gramina. 105 and infused in water, it imparts a pleasant flavour to the fluid, and renders it more acceptable as a beverage in febrile diseases and dyspeptic complaints. Starch is considered demulcent; hence it forms the principal ingredient in an officinal lozenge: the vaisallnge prepared from it, administered in the form of enema, is used with much advantage for ee irritation of the intestines in diarrhcea and dysentery. Off. pp. Mucilago Amyli. L. E. D. HORDEUM DISTICHON. COMMON BARLEY. SYNONYMA. Hordeum Distichon. Willd. Sp. Pl. v, i. p. 473, Host. Gram. Austr. v. iii. t, 36. Proem. et Sch. Syst, Veget. v. ii. p. 793. Class III, Triandria. Order IT. Digynia. Nat. Ord. Gramina, Linn. Graminee, Br. Gen. Char. Calyx lateral, two-valved, one-flowered, ternate, central, floret perfect, lateral ones mostly imperfect (having often, at the back of the in- - ner valve, a bristle or abortive floret). Outer valve of the corolla awned. Fruit incorporated with the corolla. " Spec. Char. Spike distichous, awns of the hermaphrodite florets appressed, the lateral ones (male) awnless. THE Hordeum distichon is an annual plant; its native country has no been satisfactorily ascertained: by some it is said to be a native of Tartary,* and also to have been found wild in Russia and Sicily. It has been long extensively cultivated in almost every country of Europe. * Linnzus says that it is a native of Tartary, but without adducing sufficient proof. Vou. V P 106 ORD. LI. Gramina. HORDEUM DISTICHON. The stem of this plant rises from two feet to two and a half high, termi- nated by the ear or spike, which is flat, with a double row of defective, or male florets, on each flat side; and a single row of fertile florets on each ridge. ' The valves of the calyx are linear, and one half shorter than the corolla, or inner chaff, which terminates in a straight serrated awn or beard, sixteen times its own length. When ripe, the husk is coriaceous, angular, and con- tinues closely attached to the grain, which is ovate, oval, acute at both ends, and angular. Figure (c) a flower, largely magnified. Chemical Properties, §c. Barley has little: or no taste, and is inodorous. According to the analysis of Fourcroy and Vauquelin, it contains a large pro- portion of starch, an animal substance partly soluble in water, and partly forming glutinous flocculi, phosphate of lime, and magnesia; silica, iron, a small portion of unctuous, coagulable oil, and a little acetic acid. Pearl-barley is prepared by grinding off the husk of the rough grain, by means of machinery; it is afterwards rounded in a mill, which at the same time gives the granules a polish. In this state, barley consists almost solely of amylaceous matter. Economical Uses, §c. Barley cannot be considered as a medicine, nor is it ever used as such im substance. A decoction of pearl-barley, properly acidulated, is one of the best beverages in acute and febrile diseases. Bar- ley, as an article of food, is less used than it was formerly. It is chiefly cul- tivated in this country for the purpose of converting into malt, for making beer, and for the distillation of ardent spirits. Pearl-barley, when boiled, forms an excellent article of nourishment. Off. Prep. Decoctum Hordei, L. E. D. S MOR -Hordei Compositum, L. D. AVENA SATIVA. ORD. LI. Gramina. 107 AVENA SATIVA. | COMMON OAT. SYNONYMA. Avena. Camer. Epit. 191; Fuchs. Hist. 185. Avena sativa. Linn. Sp. Pl.118; Willd. Sp. Pl. v,i. p. 446, Proem. et Sch. v. ii. p. 668. Host. Gram. Austr. v.ii. t. 59. Class III. Triandria. Order IT. Digynia. Nat. Ord. Gramina, Linn. Graminee, Br. Gen. Char. Panicle lax. Calyx two-valved, two-flowered. Corolla of two lanceolate valves, firmly enclosing the seed, exterior one bearing a twisted dorsal awn. Upper florets often imperfect. Spec. Char. Panicle equal, spikelets somewhat two-flowered. Filorets shorter than the calyx, one or more of the upper ones imperfect and awn- less, their base naked, root fibrous, annual. THE root of this plant is annual, and consists of many fibres; the stem or culm rises about two feet in height, glabrous and smooth. The leaves broadly linear, rough, especially at the margins. The inflorescence is produced in a - loose panicle, with the subdivisions on long pendulous peduncles; the two - glumes of the calyx are marked with lines, pointed, unequal, and longer than the flower. There are two or three flowers in each calyx, of which one is usually imperfect ; they are alternate, conical, the smaller ones awnless, the larger puts forth a strong, two-coloured bent awn, from the middle of the back. Seeds oblong,downy. Figure (a) a magnified flower, (4) the ger- men and anthers magnified. The Avena sativa has been long cultivated in many countries in Europe, but it has never been satisfactorily ascertained if it be a native, or a natural- ized production.* In the north of Europe many varieties of this plant are * It was found by Commodore Anson growing wild upon the island of Juan Fernan- dez, on the coast of Chili. P2 108 ORD. LI. Gramina. AVENA SATIVA. cultivated ; and in the northern parts of England, Scotland, Sweden, Siberia, and Norway, oats form the chief part of the vegetable diet of the inhabitants. In England, that which is called the potatoe oat is considered the best. Qualities, §c. Oats are inodorous, taste very slightly bitter; they are chiefly composed of fecula, or starch,* combined with a portion of saccharine matter, bitter principle, and fixed oil. ee found in the ashes of oats, phosphate of lime, and silica. Medical Properties and Uses. Oats can scarcely be considered as a medi- cine, but when freed from their cuticles, they are denominated grits, and are much used for making gruel or decoctions, which preparations are esteemed demulcent, cooling, and nutritive; hence they are much used in all inflam- matory and febrile diseases. The grits, ground to gross powder, and boiled in water to a proper consistence, form an excellent suppurative poultice. * For the chemical properties, &c. of starch, see Triticum Hybernum. ORD. LIV. ALGA. ROCCELLA TINCTORIA. DYERS’ LICHEN, ROCK-MOSS, OR 3 ORCHAL. SYNONYMA. Parmelia Roccella. Achar. Meth. Lich. 274. Lichen Roccella. Linn. Sp. Pl. 1622; Dicks. Crypt. fase. 3.19; Eng. Bot. v.3. ¢. 211. Rocecella tinctoria. Achar. Lichenogr. Univ. 430 ; Syn. Lich.’ p.243 ; Hook. Br. Fl. p.458. Corraloides corniculatum fasciculare tine. etethii, fuci teretis facie. Dillen. Muse. 120. t.17. f. 39. Class. Cryptogamia. Ord. Algze. Nat. Ord. Algzw. Linn. Lichenes, Achar. ROCCELLA TINCTORIA. ORD. LIV. Algz. 109 Gen. Char. Frond between coriaceous and cartilaginous, rounded or plane, branched. Fructifications orbicular, adnate with the frond: seed-bearing portion a plano-convex disc, circumscribed by a margin of the same sub- stance as the frond, and covering a’black, compact, lentil-shaped, mass, immersed in the frond. . : Spec. Char. Frond rounded, glaucous-green, branched, and nearly erect. Fructifications scattered, elevated, with the disc plane, glaucous, and pruinose, even with the margin which is formed by the frond. THIS species of Lichen is the \ynv of Dioscorides, and the Phycos Tha- lassion of Pliny. It is an indigenous plant to our own country, growing on the maritime rocks of the south of England, particularly in Portland Island ; but it is not found in any great abundance. It grows very plentifully in the Levant, Canary Islands, &c. from whence it is chiefly collected to supply the markets. The Canary Islands alone are said to produce two thousand six hundred quintals annually, and it is from this abundance of Orchall that the ancients gave them the name of the Purple Isles.* Mr. Macintosh of Glasgow, who is, perhaps, the largest consumer of this plant in Europe, reckons the kind brought from the Canaries as by far the most valuable ; for while much of that imported from other countries is not worth £30. per ton, the best canary-weed (as it is called) fetches upwards of £200. per ton. From this Lichen is prepared the Argol or archil, so much used as a dye-stuff. ‘The Roccella tinctoria is a small species of lichen, from two ~ to four and even six inches in height, firmly fixed to the rocks by a solid base, from which rises a tuft of small, round, smooth, acutely pointed stems, more or less branched, of a whitish gray or brownish hue, and studded ‘towards their upper part with scattered tubercles,+ replete with a white powder, which some consider to be the true fructification, but the real fruit, as described by Acharius, is of a much darker colour and rarer occurrence. * Mém. de I’Acad. des Inscriptions, iv. p. 457. 4+ Gertner considers them as a peculiar sort of germs or buds, which opinion has been established by Acharius. Lichens are now ranked as gemmiparous plants, propa- gated only by bud-knots, or gongyli. 110 ORD. LIV. Alge. ROCCELLA TINCTORIA, The preparation of the Archil from this species of lichen was long kept a secret by the Dutch, who manufactured it into a paste, called by them lacmus or litmus ; and the persons by whom it was formerly prepared, with a view to engross the manufacture, gave it the name of tincture of turnsole, pretending that it was extracted from the turnsole, (Heliotropium europeum). This substance (Litmus) was sold in square, hard brittle masses, about an inch in length, and half an inch in breadth and thickness. Archil is now prepared in this country, and large maufactories of it are carried on in London and Liverpool. The lichen, after being dried and cleaned, is re- duced to powder in a mill; itis then mixed in a vat, with one half its weight of pearl-ash, and moistened with human urine: fermentation soon ensues, and is kept up by stirring, and by successive additions of urine, until the co- lour of the mass changes, first to red and then to blue. _In this state it is mixéd with a third of its weight of good ‘potass, and spread out to dry.* Chalk is sometimes added to it, but with no other view than to increase its weight, but we are told that it is sometimes mixed with the lichen fucifor- mist It is usually sold in the form of cakes, but sometimes in that of moist pulp. Sensible Qualities, $c. of Archil. Prepared Archil has a violet odour, which is said to be derived from a certain quantity of Orris-root, with which it is always more or less mixed; its taste is mawkish, with some degree of pungency. It communicates both to water and to alcohol a beautiful violet colour, which changes to red by the addition of any acid; this red colour is again destroyed, and replaced by the violet, by adding a portion of any of the alkalies. Hence, it is used in chemistry as a delicate test, to detect the presence of acid or alkaline substances. Paper which has been dyed with litmus, changes to red by acids, and has its blue colour immediately restored by an alkali : the oxygen of the air, also, in a short time, destroys stuffs dyed blue with archil. By the addition of a little solution of tin, archil gives a durable dye of a fine scarlet colour. It is least liable to change when red- dened by an acid, and kept in close vessels. * Nicholson’s Journal, vol. ii. p.311. + This species is said to vie in richness of colouring-matter with the common Orchal, while the plant attains a much larger size; this lichen occurs very sparingly on the rocks of the south of Europe, but it is said to abound in the East Indies, especially on the shores of Sumatra. G. Spratt det. ROCCELLA TINCTORIA. ORD. LIV. Algz. — 111 Medical Properties and Uses. As a remedial agent, the Roccella tinctoria has very little, if any efficacy, although it was formerly celebrated as a spe- cific in disorders of the lungs.* In the present day, it is chiefly used for preparing the Archil, used as a chemical test or dye-stuff, as above stated. * Many species of Lichen have at different times been employed; not only in do- mestic economy and the arts, but in medicine; viz. Lichen caninus, deriving its spe- cific name from its supposed specific effects in preventing or curing hydrophobia; Lichen - pullus, esteemed astringent, and administered in asthma and coughs ; Lichen pyxidatus, much used in whooping-cough and other complaints of the lungs; Lichen sazratilis, considered astringent and employed in hemorrhages ; Lichen pustulatus, which may be substituted for all-spice; also dyes a fine red ; and Lichen aphthosus, a drastic vermifuge. Some of the above, and many other species, are also used as dye-stuffs. FUCUS VESICULOSUS. BLADDER-FU: CUi S. BLADDER- “sere meneeromeralerm enm SYNONYMA. Fucus sive Alga marina latifolia vulgatissima, Raii Syn p-40.”.4. Quercus Marina. Gel. Hist. Fuc. p.60. Alga sive Fucus, Quercus marina, dictus. Baster, Op. Subs. 2. p. 4, 116. ¢.11. 7.2. Fucus vesiculosus. Linn. Sp. Pl. v. 2. p. 1626; Eng. Bot. v.15. t.1066; Wither. Bot. Arr. v. 4. p.84; Esper. Icon. Fuc.1. p. 38. t.12; Hook. Scot. P. II. p.94; Turner, Hist. Fue. v.2. p. 44. t.88; Hook. Br. Fl. p. 459. Class XXIV. Cryptogamia. Ord. III. Alge. Nat. Ord. — Alge. Gen. Char. Seeds mixed with jointed fibres, produced: in clustered tuder- cles, which burst at their summits. Spec. Char. Frond coriaceous, flat, linear, dichotomous, entire; with a central rib; vesicles innate, in pairs; receptacles, distinct, terminal, turgid, mostly elliptical. 112 ORD. LIV. Alge. _FUCUS VESICULOSUS. THE root of this plant is black and woody, forming an expanded callous disc ; the frond is smooth, glossy, flat, linear, winged, from one to four or five feet long, and from half an inch to two inches wide, forked near. the root, and afterwards repeatedly dichotomous, of a dark olive-green colour, becoming paler near the apices, and, when dry, black and dull. All the - branches are nearly of an equal height, with the apices rounded, often notched, with the margin entire. The substance of the frond is coriaceous, tough and flexible; (when dried brittle) and furnished with a midrib. In the membraneous part of the frond, throughout its whole length, are found immersed spherical vesicles, varying in size from that of a small pea to a hazel-nut, externally smooth, and containing in their cavity a quantity of air. The fructification consists of compressed, turgid receptacles, solitary or twin, placed at the end of the branches, varying in form, but mostly ellip- tical, from one-fourth of an inch to two inches Iong, and perforated with very minute pores, under which lie embedded spherical tubercles, composed of short jointed fibres, mixed with seeds of an elliptical form, surrounded with a pellucid limbus, and appearing under a powerful microscope, to con- tain six or seven roundish grains; the receptacle is filled with a tasteless and colourless mucus, through which passes anastomosing fibres. Its fruc- tification is produced in spring. Fig. (a) part of a receptacle magnified ; (6) horizontal section of a receptacle ; (c) longitudinal section of a vesicle ; (d) seeds ; (e) tubercle. The Fucus vesiculosus* is a perennial plant, growing abundantly on rocks and stones, or cast up on the beach every where on the British shores, and well-known by the popular name of sea-weed. In Scotland the name Wrack is applied to this and other species of Fuci which are gathered on the shores, for the manufacture of kelp.t+ When the plant is dried in the usual manner, it becomes brittle and of a dull blackish colour; and is often : : _ * The ancients were unacquainted with this plant, which was first. described by Clu- sius, under the name of Quercus marina.—Hist. i. 21. : + Kelp is a very impure carbonate of soda, containing muriate and sulphate of soda, charcoal, and other impurities ; and is manufactured chiefly in Scotland, in the months of July and August. It is obtained by burning sea-weed in a kiln, until it becomes a compact mass, which, when cool is broken to pieces, and packed for use. Several kinds. of sea-weed are used for this purpose, but chiefly the Fucus vesiculosus, serratus, and FUCUS VESICULOSUS. ORD. LIV. Alge. 113 covered with a saline efflorescence: but if the fresh plant be immersed in boiling water before drying it, the colour remains as vivid as in the fresh plant. Qualities. Its taste is nauseous and somewhat like that of soda; its odour peculiar but slight. When fused, it yields charcoal, soda, and iodine. Medical Properties and Uses. The'burnt plant is considered deobstruent ; and has been exhibited in diseases of the glands (particularly goitre and scrofula) with much success. Dr. Russell found the mucus in the vesicles of the plant to be an excellent resolvent when externally applied, in dis- persing scrofulous swellings. He recommends the patient to rub the tu- mout with these vesicles bruised in the hand, and afterwards to wash the part with sea-water. It appears that: the beneficial effects produced by the external exhibition of this plant, may be chiefly attributed to the iodine it contains. Iodine is a simple body, discovered by M. Curtois in the mother-waters formed in the preparation of soda from sea-weed.* These waters are ob- tained by burning the different fuci which grow on the sea-shores, lixiviating the ashes and concentrating the liquor. The name iodine is derived from the Greek word ‘wénc, on account of the blue colour of its vapour. At the ordinary temperature, iodine is a solid substance, inthe form of small greyish crystals, which have but a weak tenacity, and the aspect of plumbago. It fuses at 170° c. (838 Fah.) and volatilizes at 175° (347° Fah.) forming a very beautiful violet-coloured vapour. This vapour, when enclosed in a receiver, re-condenses into crystalline scales. It has a pungent odour, an acrid taste, and stains the skin of a brownish-yellow colour. It is soluble in alcohol and ether (the latter taking up more or less, according to its degree of rec- tification) but sparingly so in water: its solutions have an orange-brown tint, destroying the vegetable colours. Iodine forms, with oxygen, the todic acid, and with chlorine the chloriodic acid. It has much affinity for hy- drogen, and takes it from a great number of bodies. It absorbs it in a gaseous state when the temperature is elevated ; and forms with this gas the hydriodic acid, which is composed exclusively of iodine and hydrogen. * Jodine has ben obtained from a great variety of marine plants; as the Fucus saccharinus, serratus, vesiculosus, Filum, nodosus, palmatus, digitatus ; Ulva umbili- calis, Pavonia, §c. It has also been procured from sponge, by Dr. Fyfe, and M. Straub of Hofwyl Vou. V. Q 114 ORD. LIV. Algez. FUCUS VESICULOSUS. * This acid presents itself under the form of a colourless gas, which has a very strong taste, a very penetrating odour, powerfully reddens the tincture of turnsol, and extinguishes burning bodies. This gas is very rapidly ab- sorbed by water, and is very largely dissolved in it. It gives out white fumes in the air by uniting with the aqueous vapour contained in the atmosphere. Starch is the most delicate test of iodine, forming a compound of a rich blue colour, when added to any solution which contains it in an uncom- bined state. The specific gravity of iodine is 4,941, and that of its vapour 8,678 ; 100 cubic inches weighing about 270 grains. Preparations of Iodine. Wollaston was the first who gave a precise for- mula for preparing it; he dissolved the soluble part of kelp in water, and after evaporating it as long as it continued to afford crystals, he added a little more sulphuric acid to the remaining liquid than was necessary to neutralize the free soda which it contained, and after all action had ceased, he added as much black oxide of manganese to the clear liquor which re- mained, and on the application of heat, iodine was disengaged. Dr. Ure recommends the following formula to beadopted. “Take eight fluid ounces of the brown liquid which drains from the salt which the soapmakers use, who ‘employ kelp, boil up and evaporate to dryness; heat it to 230° Fah. and add one fluid ounce of sulphuric acid diluted with its own bulk of water. When the mixture cools, separate the crystals of the salts which will form in it, by filtration through a woollen cloth, and add to the fluid poured into a matrass, 830 grains of black oxide of manganese in powder. A glass globe is then to be inverted over the mouth of the matrass, and the heat of a char- coal-chaffern being applied, iodine will sublime in great abundance. “Tt must be washed out of the globe with alcohol, then drained and dried on plates of glass, and purified by a second sublimation from dry quick-lime.” Medical Properties and Uses of Iodine. M.Coindet, a physician of Ge- neva, was the first who used iodine in medicine ; suspecting, from analogy, that this substance was the active principle in sponge, he was induced to try it in those cases for which burnt sponge was administered, and his treat- _ ment of goitre was remarkably successful. These trials were repeated by several practitioners in France, Italy, and in our own country, with undi- minished benefit; and their observations would seem to prove that we now possess a powerful remedy for the removal of a disease which has been FUCUS VESICULOSUS. ORD. LIV. Alge. 115 hitherto cured with great difficulty. Several instances are recorded, in which hard, old, and very large goitres, have yielded to this remedy: nevertheless, success is most commonly to be expected in recent cases, and in individuals who have not arrived at maturity. Iodine has been also employed for the cure of scrofula, and with seemingly equally beneficial results. M.Coindet recommends it as a powerful emmenagogue ; it has also been recommended in laryngeal phthisis,leucorrheea,* syphilitic enlargements, tabesmesenterica, chronic dysentery,+ scrophulous opthalmia, heemoptoe supervening to sup- pressed menstruation, and to hasten the cicatrization of venereal ulcers,} &c. The late Mr. Haden reports a case of phthisis supposed to have been cured by iodine. Preparations, and Mode of prescribing Iodine :— TINCTURE OF IODINE. Take of, Alcohol at 35°. . . lounce (7 dr. 52. 5 gr. troy) Iodine . . 46 grains (gr. 39. 36 troy) Mix.| Dose ten drops, three times a day, in a wine-glass full of sugared water, and gradually increased to twenty drops. Four cases of Bronchocele are said by Mr. Rickwood to have been cured or relieved by the tincture of iodine ad- ministered as above,§ and Mr. Calloway of the Borough has employed it with great success, in several cases of scrophulous enlargement of the glands, not only of the surface, but of the mesentary. ; SOLUTION OF HYDRIODATE OF POTASS. Take of Hydriodate of Potass . 36 grains (gr. 29. 52 troy) Seis Distilled water . . - lounce (7 dr. 52. 5gr.troy) Mix. This solution may be given in the same manner as the tincture, and for the same disorders. Dr, Gairdner, however, prefers this preparation to the tincture. | He usually begins with ten drops, and gradually augments the dose to twenty, and rarely to.twenty-five. _ By the use of this solution a soft bronchocele will be discussed in a month or six weeks; but those which are hard and of long standing, require a longer period. Weare told by Dr. Wagner, that he has employed with considerable success, an ointment com- posed of 18 grains of the hydriodate of potass to six drachms of lard, in tu- * M. Gimele. + Professor Brera. t Dr. Costor of Paris. || Twenty drops contain about one grain of iodine. § London Medical and Physical Journal, August, 1823. q 2 116 ORD. LIV. Alge. FUCUS VESICULOSUS., mours of the bronchocele kind, and in a cancerous tumour of the maxillary region. OINTMENT OF HYDRIODATE OF POTASS. Take of Hydriodate of potass . . . 4 gros.* Hog’s lard. . . . . : l$ounce. Mix. A small piece, (about half a arabia of this ointment may be rubbed, morning and evening, upon enlarged glands, and the quantity may be gra- dually increased, according to the age of the individual, and circumstances _ of the tumour. In very obstinate cases, it is necessary to give some prepa- rations of iodine internally, during the external application, the treatment by friction alone not being sufficient. It must not, however, be concealed, that very untoward effects have not unfrequently accompanied or followed the injudicious use of this powerful medicine. We are told by Dr. Gairdner,t+ that the symptoms usually produced, are, a peculiar, great, and persevering anxiety and depression of spirits, which are very different from hypochon- driasis, inasmuch as they dwell principally on the present, and have no re- ference to the future. The emaciation and cholera produced by it, are also stated as frequently extending to a dangerous, and even fatal result. When the patient is under the full influence of iodine, Dr. Gairdner has found a degree of tremor to come on, which he considers as a good guage of the ex- tent of the nervous excitement which has taken place, and is seldom or never absent, when that excitement has proceeded to any considerable degree. In the cholera induced by iodine, Dr. Gairdner has observed sedatives, such as hyoscyamus, opium, §c. to be more beneficial than any other class of medi- | cines; purgatives are said invariably to do harm. Iodine frequently stimu- lates the arterial system so much that it is necessary to discontinue its use ; and if it be administered in doses too large, or too often repeated, it is apt to produce inflammation of the stomach, attended by nausea, &c. We are told that it not unfrequently causes a remarkable wasting of the testes and mamme. * The gros is 59 grains. + Essay on the Effects a Iodine, &e, by W. Gairdner, M.D. 1824. ~ e CS, isiablbcs serrata. tance G, Spratt del ORD. TEREBINTHACE/:. BOSWELLIA SERRATA. SERRATED BOSWELLIA, or GUM- OLIBANUM TREE. ML _SYNONYMA. Boswellia serrata. Colebrooke in Asiat. Res. v. ix. p. 377. Class X. Decandria. Order I. Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Terebinthacez. Trib, IV. Burseracez, Decand. Gen. Char. Calyx inferior, five-toothed. Corolla of five petals. Nectary a crenulated fleshy cup, surrounding the lower part of the germen, with stamens inserted on the outside. Capsule three-sided, three-valved, three- celled. Seeds solitary, membranous, winged. Spec. Char. Leaves pinnate. Leaflets obtusely serrated, villous. Racemes simple, axillary. Petals ovate. Filaments inserted on the exterior mar- gin of the nectary.. “Stack. extr. bruce. p. 19. t. iii.” Decand. Prodr. v. ll. p. 76. THE Boswellia serrata is a native of the mountainous parts of India, in- habiting the forests between the Sone and Nagpar.* It is a large tree, with its foliage crowded at the extremities of the branches ; the leaves are impari- pinnate, consisting of ten pairs of sessile leaflets, each about an inch, or an inch and a half in length, obliquely-ovate, oblong, obtuse, serrated, villous, ‘ and supported upon short, downy petioles: the flowers, which are numerous, are produced in axillary racemes, shorter than the leaves, and accompanied ' * Asiatic Researches, Vol. ix. 118 ORD. Terebinthacez. BOSWELLIA SERRATA. by minute bracteas; the calyx is monophyllous, five-toothed,* and downy ; the corolla composed of five oblong, spreading petals, of a pale pinkish co- lour, externally downy ; the nectary is a fleshy, crenulate, coloured cup, ad-. hering to the calyx; the ten stamens are alternately shorter, and support ob- long anthers; the pistillum consists of an ovate germen, cylindrical style, and trilobate stigma; the capsule is smooth, three-sided, three-valved, three-celled, . each cell containing one perfect seed only, which is broad, cordate, and winged. Figure (a) the capsule, (4) transverse section of the same, (c) a seed magnified. The gum which exudes from this tree was noticed by Mr. D. Turnbull, (surgeon to the Residency at Nagpur) who accompanied Mr. Colebrooke (on his journey to Barar, in the year 1798); the former gentleman judged it to be olibanum, and so did several intelligent natives; “but,” says Mr. Cole- brooke, “the notion prevalent among botanists, that olibanwm is the produce of a species of juniper, left room for doubt.”+ I now learn from Mr. Turn- bull, that, since his return to his station at Mirzapar, he has procured .con- siderable quantities of the gum of this tree, which he has sent to Europe at different times; first; without assigning the name of olibanwm, and more lately, under that designation. It was in England recognized for olibanum, though offered for sale as a different gum; and annual consignments of it have been since regularly vended at the East India Company’s sales.t The olibanum of commerce is chiefly imported into Europe from India, but is also brought from the Levant in casks and chests. “It distils from incisions made in the bark of the tree during the Summer months, _ Sensible and Chemical Properties, Se. " Olibanum i is a ae brittle * «© The fructification is remarkably diversified on the same plant. I have found, even on the same raceme, flowers, in which the teeth or lobes of the calyx varied from four to ten; the number was generally five, sometimes six, rarely seven, more rarely four, and very rarely ten; petals as many as divisions of the:calyx ; stamens twice as many ; cap- sule generally three-sided, sometimes four, rarely five-sided, with: as many cells and as many valves; seeds generally solitary. : the dissection of the germen does indeed exhibit a few in each cell, but only one is usually mature fees Vide Dr. eat Description, Asiatic Researches, Vol. ix. p- 380. - + Asiatic Researches, Vol. ix. p. 381. ~ { Formerly, this gum was supposed to be the produce of a species of juniper, (Juni- peris Lyeia, vide Vol. i. p. 16. of this work) but Mr. Colebrooke has — proved an the tree we have described produces the olibanum which comes from Indi BOSWELLIA SERRATA. ORD. Terebinthacezx. 119 substance, of a pale yellow or reddish colour ; it consists of grains of various sizes, from that of a pea to a chesnut, and is generally covered with a whit- ish powder, produced by the friction of the grains against each other. It has a bitterish and somewhat pungent taste, and when chewed, sticks to the teeth, and renders the saliva milky. It is not fusible, but inflammable, burns brilliantly, with an agreeable odour, and leaves a whitish ash, composed of sulphate, carbonate and phosphate of lime, with muriate and carbonate of potass. Olibanum forms a milky solution, when triturated with water, and a transparent fluid with alcohol. When distilled alone, it affords a small portion of volatile oil; but distilled either with water or spirit, no oil comes over. Ether dissolves nearly three-fourths, and when evaporated on water, leaves a very pure transparent resin, while the part undissolved becomes white and opaque, and the greater part of it is soluble in water, forming a milky solution. Neumann got from 480 grains, 346 alcoholic, and 125 watery extract; and inversely, 200 watery, and 273 alcoholic. According to the analysis of Braconnot, 100 parts of olibanum contain 8 parts of a fragrant volatile oil, (which resembles that of lemons both in odour and colour) 56 resin, 30 gum, and 5,2 of a matter resembling gum, but insoluble in water or alcohol, The Medical Properties and Uses of Gum Olibanum have already been de- tailed under the article Juniperis Lycia; it is, however, now seldom em- ployed, but as a perfume to fumigate the apartments of the sick. ORD. RUTACE. BONPLANDIA* TRIFOLIATA, THREE-LEAVED BONPLANDIA. SYNONYMA. Bonplandia trifoliata. Willd. Act. Berol. An. 1802. p. 24. Humb. et Bonpl. Pl. Aquin. v. ii. p. 57. t. 96. Bonplandia angostura. Rich. Mem. de U Instit. An. 1811. p.82. t.x. Spreng. Syst. Veget. v. i. p. 780. . Bonplandia a trois feuilles. Rocg. Phytogr. Medic. v. ii. t. 148. Galipea officinalis. Hancock, in Trans. Med. Bot. Soc. v.i. t. 2. Galipea cusparia. St. Hil. Decand. Prodr. v. i. p. 731. Cusparia febrifuga. Humb. Tabl. Géogr. des Plantes. Angostura cuspare. Proem. et Sch. Syst. Veget. v. iv. p. 188. : Class V. Pentandria. Order I..Monogynia, Nat. Ord. Rutacee, Div. IJ. Cuspariew, Decand. Gen. Char. Calyzx five-partite. Petals five, somewhat cohering at the base. Nectaries ten, squamiform. Some of the stamens sterile. Anthers spurred. Capsule five-valved, one-seeded, Spr. Spec. Char. Leaflets ovato-lanceolate, entire, glabrous, dotted with glands. Flowers panicled, bearded. Spr. THIS elegant evergreen éree rises to the height of from sixty to eighty * Of Willdenow, not Cavanille’s, Botanists are not yet agreed as to the genus in which the present plant should be placed, as may be seen by the subjoined synonyms ; but St. Hilaire is decidedly of opinion, that both Bonplandia (Willd.) and Cusparia of Humboldt, should be united to Galipea. G Spradé del Lpenfilandea tifoliata BONPLANDIA TRIFOLIATA. ORD. Rutacez. , 121 feet.t The trunk is cylindrical, branching towards the top; the branches numerous, alternate, and the upper ones spread nearly horizontally; both trunk and branches are covered with a grey-coloured bark. The leaves arise alternately on the branches, are about two feet long, independent of the pe- tiole, and composed of three oblong, ovate leaflets, pointed at each extremity, and attached toacommon petiole, from ten to twelve inches inlength,and chan- nelled. The flowers are produced in terminal racemes, composed of alternate peduncles, bearing from three to six flowers each. The calyz is inferior, persistent, five-toothed, and tomentose ; the corolla funnel-shaped, composed of five petals, so united below, as to appear to form one tube, with a five- cleft, spreading border ; the nectary consists of five glandular bodies, cover- ing the base of the germen; the stamens are shorter than the petals; the filaments are white, and support yellow anthers; the pistil is formed of five oval, hairy germens, with a single style, supporting five, fleshy, green stigmas. The fruit consists of oval, bivalved capsules, each containing a single seed.+ Figure (a) represents the corolla spread open, (c) the style and stigma, (d) an anther, (e) the calyx and bractea, (g) the germen and style, (f) the germens further advanced to maturity, (2) a capsule, (é) a capsule open, (7) the elastic arillus, from a dried specimen, collected by Dr. Hancock. The Bonplandia trifoliata is a native of South America, growing abun- dantly in the woods, near the eastern bank of the Carony, at the foot of the hills that surround the Missions of Capassui, Alta Grecia, and Upata; it also grows west of Cumana, in the Gulph of Santa Fé, and Neuva Barcel- lona. The bark of this tree has been long known in commerce, under the names of cusparia and angustura ; the latter of which is derived from Angos- tura, and the former, probably, from Capassui, where it is collected. | * Pr. Hancock, who traversed repeatedly, and resided during several months, in the Missions of Carony, where he had an opportunity of seeing many thousands of the trees which produce the Angustura bark, says, “ that it seldom or never exceeds the altitude of twenty feet; the usual medium being about twelve or fifteen feet. The diameter of the trunk, which is tolerably erect, is from three to five inches. The parts of fructification also differ very materially from Humboldt's description.”"—Vide Transactions of the Medico-Botanical Society of London, Vol. i. parti. p- 17. + Weare told by Dr. Hancock, that the seeds are enclosed in an “ uncommonly This appendage is so elastic, that it is difficult to preserve the strong and horny arillus.” ens.—Transactions of the Medi- seeds, the capsule always bursting in the dried specim co-Botanical Society of London, Vol.i. part i. p. 25. Vou. V. R 122 ORD. Rutacez. BONPLANDIA TRIFOLIATA. Cusparia, or Angustura bark, was formerly supposed to be the product of a tree growing in Africa, or the Spanish West Indies, and the first parcels of bark were imported from St. Domingo; but the recent travels and dis- coveries of Baron Humboldt and Bonpland* have led to the knowledge of the true place of its growth. : Sensible and Chemical Properties, &c. Genuine Angustura bark,} as it comes to market, has a bitter, and somewhat aromatic taste, which is rather permanent, and when chewed, leaves a sense of heat and pungency in the mouth and throat: its odour is peculiar, but not very powerful. Externally, _ the pieces are covered with a greyish, wrinkled epidermis; internally, their surface is smooth, and of a yellowish brown colour: it breaks with a close, short, resinous fracture, and is easily pulverized. . The bark, when powdered, and triturated with lime or calcined magnesia, emits a smell of ammonia. It yields its active properties both to hot and cold water; the watery infusion precipitates infusion of galls and yellow cinchona, and is precipitated by, sulphate of iron, tartarized antimony, sulphate of copper, acetate of lead, oxymuriate of mercury, and pure potass; but it does not precipitate gelatin. Sulphuric acid gives the infusion a brown. colour, and gradually a lemon- coloured precipitate is deposited; nitric acid deepens the colour of the infu- sion to a blood-red, and, after some time, produces a lemon-yellow precipi- tate: the muriatic acid does not affect it, Sulphuric ether takes up one part from ten of the powder, and when evaporated on water, leaves a greenish- yellow, acid resin, and renders the water milky. The alcoholic tincture red- dens litmus paper, and becomes milky on the addition of water. By distil- lation with water, the bark yields a small portion of a white essential oil ; hence we may conclude that Angustura bark contains resin, a peculiar va- niety of extractive, carbonate of ammonia, and essential oil: A species of Angustura bark, in some respects resembling the genuine bark, has lately. been introduced on the Continent. The plant which affords it has not yet been ascertained ; at one time it was supposed to be the produce of the Bru- cea ferruginea, @ common tree in-Abyssinia: this, however is not the fact, as, instead of coming from the neighbourhood of the Red Sea, it is brought * The generic name given to this tree was imposed by Willdenow in honour of Bon- pland, and since adopted by Humboldt; but again, by the latter, changed to Cusparia. + The London College, in their Materia Medica, retain the name given to this tree by Humboldt, viz, Cusparia febrifuga. BONPLANDIA TRIFOLIATA. ORD. Rutacex. 123 from South America. _Planche, who chemically examined it, named it An- gustura ferruginea. This bark is possessed of very deleterious properties ; when chewed, it excites a highly acrid sensation, and Jeaves an extremely nauseous bitter taste in the mouth and throat. From experiments made by Orfila (Vide Toxicology, vol. ii.) on animals, it appears to be one of the most energetic of the vegetable poisons. The deleterious property of this bark is said to reside in a peculiar alkali (called Brucine). This bark may be dis- tinguished from the genuine Angustura bark, by its greater thickness and weight, and by the epidermis being warty and of a brownish olive colour. By macerating the powder in diluted muriatic acid, it becomes of a very beautiful green, owing to the iron contained in the cuticle of the bark. Medical Properties and Uses. Genuine Angustura bark is a valuable tonic and stimulant. It was originally introduced as a febrifuge in intermittents, and was supposed to be superior to the Peruvian barks; but subsequent ex- perience has proved it greatly inferior to the latter for the cure of intermit- tents, in this coudtry at least: it is, nevertheless, a medicine possessed of very considerable powers, and may be exhibited in most diseases where a general tonic is indicated. We are told by Dr. Hancock, that, “in the years 1816 and 1817, there prevailed, in the district of the Orinoko, and particu- larly at St. Thomas de Angustura, a malignant bilious intermitt t fever, which proved fatal to great numbers of the inhabitants, as well as to foreigners. In the latter, it assumed the form in many cases, of the true yellow fever, with vo- mito prieto. In March 1817, the mortality increasing, our stock of cinchona was expended, and we had no other resort but to the Quina de Carony (Angustura hark) of which there was a large supply in the town. It was prepared nearly as prescribed by those who were then termed Curiosos, or the native doctors. “Into a large jug, containing about six gallons, we put one pound of coarsely-powdered bark, with an equal quantity of brown sugar, filled it nearly with boiling water, and added about four ounces of wheaten bread to hasten fermentation. It was then stopped close, placed in the sun, and shaken frequently. As soon as fermentation began, it was considered fit for n the quantity of from four to six ounces in a dose, use, and administered i three or four times a day.” In the month preceding the adoption of the cortex Angusture, fifty-three persons died of fever; the month following, there were but fourteen, and R2 f 124 ORD. Rutacez. BONPLANDIA TRIFOLIATA. several of these were in a dying state when they began to use the bark. The Doctor further observes—“ I am fully convinced, from ample experience of the virtues of this bark, that it is one of the most valuable febrifuges we possess, being adapted to the worst and most malignant bilious fevers; while the fevers in which cinchona is chiefly administered are simple intermittents, for the most part unattended with danger.” Angustura bark is also a valuable tonic, in debilities of the stomach and intestinal canal, in chronic diarrhcea, dysentery and dropsy. It is best ex- hibited in powder or infusion ; of the former, the dose may be from twenty to sixty grains three or four times in the twenty-four hours: when given, however, in large doses, it is apt to produce nausea, in whatever form it may ~ be exhibited. Off. The Bark. Off. Pp. Infusum Cusparie, L. Tinctura Cusparie, E. D. ORD. DIPTEROCARPEA, DRYOBALANOPS CAMPHORA. CAMPHOR DRYOBALANOPS, or CAMPHOR TREE. SYNONYMUS. Dryobalanops Camphora. Colebr. in Asiat. Res. v. xii. - p. 539; Malay. Miscel.i. p. 5. Class X11. Polyandria.. Ord. Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Dipterocarpee,* Blume. * This Order has been established by Blume, and includes Dipterocarpus of Gertner as well as Dryobalanops ; if indeed this latter genus be really distinct. The individuals which compose it are described as graceful trees, inhabiting ths Indian Archipelago, and : Dayota ta = cam pheora CG Serate ded DRYOBALANOPS CAMPHORA. ORD. Dipterocarpex. 125 Gen. Char. Calyx of one leaf, permanent, the border divided into five long, ligulate, reflexed wings. Corolla five-petaled. Capsule superior, one- celled, three-valved.. Seed solitary. Embryo, inverse, without perisperm. Spec. Char: Leaves superior, alternate, inferior ones opposite, elliptical, ob- tusely acuminate, entire. Petioles short. Stipules in pairs, subulate, caducous. - ‘The Dryobalanops Camphora is a native of Sumatra and Borneo.* We are told by Mr. Prince} that it is to be found in great abundance in the forests, from the back of Ayer Bongey, as far north as Bacougan, a distance of two hundred and fifty miles. It is classed among the tallest and largest trees that grow on the coast, frequently measuring from six to seven feet in diameter, but they are many years of age before they acquire that size. The following description we have from Mr. H. T. Colebroke’s scientific paper on this subject in vol. xii. of the Asiatic Researches. He says: “The de- scription I shall offer of it is unavoidably imperfect, as the flower has not yet been seen by any botanist.” The trunk rises to a great height, is arbor- eous, and covered with a brownish bark; the leaves are from three to seven inches long, and from one to two broad, elliptical, obtusely acuminate, en- tire, parallel-veined, smooth, and standing upon short petioles, with subulate caducous stipules, in pairs; the lower leaves are opposite, the upper ones alternate; the perianth is persistent, one-leaved, divided at the border into five foliaceous, spathulate, rigid, reflexed wings; the capsule is superior, ovate, woody, fibrous, finely streaked with longitudinal furrows, embraced at the base by the calycine, hemispherical cup of the perianth, and sur- rounded by its enlarged Jeaflets ; one-celled and three-valved ; the seed is so- litary, conforming to the cavity of the capsule, and has a strong terebintha- abounding in resinous juice. The leaves, in all, one-petioled, alternate, entire, veined in a pinnated manner, jointed upon the stem with an involuted estivation. Oblong séi- pules are present, which are circumvolute about the young leaf, as in the fig-tribe, and deciduous, leaving a circular scar, which indicates their pre-existence. Peduncles ra- cemose and axillary near the extremity of the branches, or rarely constituting a terminal panicle.— Blume, Flora Jerve. * This tree is not known to exist in any other part of the world. + Asiatic Researches, Vol. xii. 126 ORD. Dipterocarpex. DRYOBALANOPS CAMPHORA, ceous fragrance.** Figure (a) the perianth and capsule, (6) transverse section of the capsule, (c) horizontal section of the same, (d) the embryo magnified. It has been supposed that the greater part of the camphor of commerce is the product of the Lawrus camphora.t Keempfer, indeed, had long ago re- marked, that the camphor which is found in a concrete state, and which oc- cupies large portions in the trunk of a tree, growing in the islands of Bor- neo and Sumatra, is not produced by the Lawrus camphora; but we are in- debted to Mr. H. T. Colebroke for the discovery of the species which yields it. The camphor yielded by the Dryobalanops camphora, is found occupying portions of about a foot, or a foot and a half, in the heart of the tree. The natives, in searching for the camphor, make a deep incision in the trunk, about fourteen or eighteen feet from the ground, with a billing or Malay axe; and when it is discovered, the tree is felled, and cut into junks ofa fathom long. The same trees yield a liquid, or oily matter, which has nearly the same properties as the camphor, and is supposed to be the first stage of its formation. The precise age when this tree begins to yield camphor, has not yet been satisfactorily ascertained, but the young trees are known to yield only oil. The method of extracting the oil, is by making a deep inci- sion, with a small aperture, into the heart of the tree, and the oil (if any) immediately gushes out, and is received in bamboos, &e. The product of a middling-sized tree is about eight China catties, or about eleven pounds, and a large tree will yield nearly double that quantity. It is said that trees which have been cut (for the purpose of extracting the oil) and left standing in that state, will often produce camphor in eight or ten years after;{ but it is of an inferior quality. * Specimens of the flowers were sent by Mr. Prince to Sir Stamford Raffles in 1 1819, from which a description was drawn up and published by Mr. W. Jack, in No. I. of the Malayan Miscellanies. According to Mr. Jack, the flowers are terminal and axillary, forming a kind of panicle at the extremity of the branches; the calyx is monophyllous, with five linear-lanceolate, spreading segments ; the corolla is five-petaled, longer than the calyx ; the petals ovate-lanceolate ; the stamens are numerous, and have their fila- ments united into a ring ; in which particular it differs from the genera most nearly al- lied to it; the anthers are nearly sessile on the tube of the filaments, conniving into a conical head round the style, and terminating in membranous points; the germen is su- perior, ovate, with a eGR filiform style, longer than the stamens, and crowned by a capitate stigma. + Vide vol. IV. p. 681, of this work. t+ Asiatic Researches, vol. xii. DRYOBALANOPS CAMPHORA. ORD. Dipterocarpez. 127 The camphor which is the produce of this tree, is little known in Europe : the greater part is said to be carried to China, where it fetches a very high price. Camphor is imported into this country in casks and chests, chiefly from Japan, and comes in small granular, or friable masses, which are after- wards purified by sublimation. | a tp Chemical Properties, &c. of Camphor. Pure Camphor has a strong, pecu- liar, fragrant and penetrating odour, and a bitter, aromatic, pungent taste, accompanied with a sense of coolness; it is white, pellucid, unctuous to the touch, and friable; breaking with a shining, foliated fracture, which dis- plays a crystalline texture; notwithstanding its friability, it is extremely difficult to be pulverised, requiring, for this purpose, to be slightly moistened with alcohol. It is not altered by exposure to the atmosphere, but if it be not kept in well stopped vessels, especially during warm weather, it evapo” rates completely. It is lighter than water, (sp. gr. 0,9887) and nearly inso- luble in that fluid, but communicatés to it a certain portion of its odour.* It melts at a temperature of 88°, (Fah.) boils at 400°, and sublimes in close vessels, crystallizing unchanged in hexagonal plates; or, according to Mr. W. Philips, into flat octohedrons. It readily ignites, burning with a brilliant flame, and giving out much smoke. Alcohol, ether, the sulphuric and nitric acids, a little diluted, and the muriatic, strong acetic, and fluoric acids, dis- solve camphor, as also the fixed and volatile oils: it is separated unchanged - from these solutions, by the addition of water. It is decomposed by the con- centrated sulphuric acid, forming artificial tannin ; and by repeated distilla- tion with nitric acid, it is converted into camphoric acid. It unites with the hardest resinous substances, converting them into soft, tenacious masses. The alkalies have but little action on camphor; when mixed with clay, and distilled in close vessels, it is decomposed into a volatile oil and charcoal ;+ from this, it would appear to differ from the essential oils, only in containing a larger proportion of carbon. Dr. Thomson gives its component parts as follows :—carbon 6,875; hydrogen 1,250; oxygen 1,000. Camphor was for some time supposed to be a resin, and was so designated by the Dublin College ; but chemists have now agreed that itis a vegetabl * According to Cadet, one French pint of water dissolves about 16 grs. of camphor, which are again precipitated by pure potass.—Ann. de Chimie, \xii. 132. + According to Bouillon la Grange, 45,856 of volatile oil, and 30,571 of charcoal. 128 ORD. Dipterocarpe. DRYOBALANOPS CAMPHORA. principle, swi generis; and the researches of modern chemists have ascer- tained that it is a principle found in many trees and shrubs, besides those- from which the camphor of commerce is obtained: viz. from the roots of galangale, zedoary, ginger, and the cinnamon, cassia, and sassafras laurels ; and from many of the verticillate tube of plants, as sage, rosemary, lavender» hyssop, &c. Zea describes a variety of camphor, procured from a tree in South Ame- rica, termed Caratte by the natives, the botanical characters of which are not known, and from the bark of which the camphor exudes in the form of* tears.* For the Medical Properties and Uses of camphor, see pages 686 to 694, Vol. iv. of this work. * An artificial camphor may be prepared by passing muriatic acid gas through oil of turpentine. . hMiameun Fuandra. C. Spratt ded. J: SE & ORD. POLYGALEZ. -* KRAMERIA TRIANDRA. TRIANDROUS, or PERUVIAN | , : MERIA. ., KRA SYNONYMA. Krameria triandra. Ruiz. Fl. Peruv. t.i. Icon. 93. Decand. Prodr.v,i. p. 341. Mem. Reg. Acad. Matrit. v.i. p. 364. Class TV. Tetrandria. Order I. Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Polygalex, Juss. Gen. Char. Calyx of four, rarely of five leaves, silky without, coloured with- in. Petals three; two orbicular, the third formed of two or three clawed petals, united at their base. Stamens three or four, somewhat, monadel- phous at the base. Anthers opening with a double pore. Fruit globose, indeluscent, aculeated with bristles, one-celled, one-seeded. Embryo straight, in the centre of a fleshy albwmen.—Decand. Spec. Char. Leaves oblong-ovate, rather acute, clothed with silky hairs, Pedicel somewhat longer than the leaf, with two bracteas, and forming a short raceme. Stamens three. THE roots of this shrub are very long, much branched, and spread in every - direction; externally of a dark reddish brown, internally red, and having an intensely bitter, styptic taste; the stem is procumbent, round, and much branched ; the branches, when young, white and silky; but, as they grow older, the lower part becomes naked, and acquires a blackish colour, The leaves are scattered, sessile, oblong-ovate, pointed, entire, and covered with s Vou. V. 130 ORD. Polygalez. KRAMERIA TRIANDRA. a white silky pubescence on both surfaces ; the flowers are terminal, solitary, and standing upon short peduncles. The calyz consists of four leaves of a deep crimson colour, the inferior ones somewhat larger than the others ; they are all smooth and glossy on their internal surface, but sericeous ex- ternally. The corolla is composed of four petals, the two upper being spa- thulate, the two lower (or nectaries of Ruiz and Pavon) roundish, concave, and scale-like. The stamens are three; the filaments flesh-coloured, and in- serted between the superior leaflets of the nectary and the germen ; the an- thers are small, urceolate, and terminated with a bundle of very short hairs, and perforated with two holes at the apex ; the germen is ovate; style awl- shaped, and of a red colour, supporting a simple stigma ; the germen be- comes a dry, globose drupe, covered with short, stiff, reddish hairs. Figure (a) the pistillum, (6) transverge section of the drupe, (c) leaves of the nectary, (d) a seed, (e) the stamens, (f) ?? This species of Krameria* is a native of Peru, delighting ina dry, argilla- ceous, or sandy soil. It is found growing in great abundance on the decli- vities of the mountains, (exposed to the intense heat of a vertical sun) in the provinces of [arma, Huanaco, Caxtambo, and Huamilies. It was first dis- covered by Don Hypolito Ruiz, in the ycar 1780, in the provinces of Tarma and Zanca. Humboldt found it in the province of Guancabunba. It grows also in abundance near the city of Huanaco, and in the vicinity of Lima. It flowers throughout the year, but is in the greatest perfection in October and November. The roots of this plant are gathered after the rains. As it comes to matr- ket, it consists of pieces of various sizes, but seldom exceeding half an inch in thickness. We are told that large quantities of this root are imported into Portugal, for the purpose of colouring, and improving the astringency of their red wine; and that a saturated tincture of the root in brandy is known by the name of wine-colouring. Some of this root and extract, form- ing part of a Spanish cargo, is said to have been taken by our cruizers, and afterwards sold in London ; so that Dr. Reece was enabled to enter upon an investigation of its nature and medicinal qualities: and, in consequence of the facts which he established, it became a favorite medicine, and was also admitted into the list of our Materia Medica. _* The roots are ~~ eens ~ the name of ————- derived from the creeping man- ner of their growth. _ KRAMERIA TRIANDRA. ORD. Polygalex. 131 x Sensible and Chemical Properties. Rhatany root is somewhat larger than a goose-quill, it breaks short, and exhibits a woody centre, surrounded with a fibrous red bark, of considerable thickness. The internal part of the root is woody, tough, and fibrous, and its flavour insipid and mucilaginous. The cortical part has a bitter, astringent taste; when first chewed, it is somewhat nauseous, but leaves a sweetish impression in the mouth. “The watery infu- sion is of a dark brown colour, with a very astringent bitter taste: sulphate of iron strikes a black colour, and acetate of lead throws down a pale brown _ _ «precipitate, leaving the infusion nearly colourless ; pure alkalies change the colour to a deep claret red. The mineral acids, when added to the infusion, throw down copious precipitates: but no precipitate is caused by either acetic, citric, or the oxalic acids. The cortical part of Rhatany root, when digested in alcohol or ether, yields a deep, reddish-brown tincture: the latter solution is not of so deep a colour as the former, which, when poured into water, lets fall a copious, pink co- loured precipitate. The ethereal tincture, when evaporated on water, leaves a pellicle of dark red resin on the surface, and a portion of extractive is dif- fused through the water, giving to it a pale brown colour. According to Vogel, the constituents of 100 parts of the root, contained 40,00 of a peculiar principle, 1,50 of mucilage, 0,50 starch, 48,00 fibrine, and 10,00 of water and loss. The extract of Rhatany root which is prepared in South America, by the natives, who inspissate the expressed juice of the root in the sun, to a proper consistence, we are told by Vogel, when heated, swells very much, and melts; and in this it differs from Kino, which becomes charred by heat, without producing any change in its form. From the above experiments, we may couclude that the cortical part of the root contains resin, gum, fe- cula, some gallic acid, and tannin—but Gmelin could not detect in it any gallic acid; and Peschier thinks it contains a peculiar acid, which he has calléd Krameric, and which forms crystallizable permanent salts with alka- lies. The ashes of Rhatany contain pure lime, carbonate of lime, sulphate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, and silex. Medical Properties and Uses. Rhatany root is a powerful astringent; it is also somewhat tonic, and corroborant, and may be given in many cases in - which medicines of this class are indicated. In Peru it has been long in use, and much esteemed as an efficacious remedy in dysentery, diarrheea, &c. We are told by Alibert, that it has been used with success in France, in oe s 2 132 ORD. Polygalez. KRAMERIA TRIANDRA. _ cases of leucorrheea, and Sir Henry Halford has prescribed it with beneficial effects, in passive uterine hemorrhage. It has also been given with advan- tage in the advanced stage of typhus fever, also in intermittents, chronic rheumatism, and many diseases arising from a debilitated state of the diges- tive organs. As a general tonic it has proved equally beneficial, and often more speedy in its effects than the peruvian barks; and also where the lat- ter disagree with the stomach, it will be found a valuable substitute. Asa styptic, it has been applied to wounds with good effects; it has also been employed as a detergent in ulceration of the gums, and for fixing the teeth, when they become loosened by the receding of the gums; and for the latter purpose, the tincture, diluted with an equal proportion of water, forms an admirable lotion. As a dentifrice, equal parts of Rhatany root and powdered charcoal, will be found more efficacious than probably any other in use ; es- pecially when the gums are in a soft and spongy state. Rhatany root may be given in substance, in doses of from ten to thirty grains, repeated three or four times in the day. It may also be administered in decoction or infu- sion, or in the form of tincture or extract. The tincture (which is the mode in which it is generally exhibited on the Continent) is prepared by digesting three ounces of the bruised root, half an ounce of Serpentaria root, one drachm of hay saffron, and two ounces of orange-peel, in two pints of proof- spirit: of this tincture, two or three tea-spoonfuls may be taken, diluted with an equal quantity of water, three or four times a day. The infusion is prepared by pouring eight ounces of boiling water upon half an ounce of the bruised root ; of which, from one to two ounces may be taken for a dose, and repeated every six or eight hours. The decoction is made by boiling two ounces of the bruised root in one pint of boiling water, and may be given in doses equal to the infusion, The extract, which is also much used, we have administered in doses of from ten to twenty grains, with much benefit. Al- though Rhatany root is not in general use in this country, we are warranted in saying it is a valuable addition to our Materia Medica. Off. The root Fashock, ov Gum AmmoniacHant. 6 Spratt dec ORD. UMBELLATA. HERACLEUM GUMMIFERUM. GUM-BEARING HERACLEUM. Class Pentandria. Ord. Digynia. Nat. Ord. Umbellate, Linn. Umbelliferz, Juss. Gen. Char. Fruit elliptical, emarginate, compressed, striated, margined. Corolla unequal, inflexed, emarginate. Jnvolucre caducous. THE London and Edinburgh Colleges, on the authority of Willdenow, have admitted this plant into their Materia Medicas, as the one which affords the Gum ammoniacum of the shops ; but it is doubtful if it really be the in- dividual vegetable. Willdenow reared a plant from. seed, found in the ammoniacum of the shops, and named it Heracleum gummiferum, and although he could not obtain any of the gum-resin from it, he entertained no doubt of its being the plant which furnishes the drug.* Mr. Jackson, in * The root is tapering, a span in length, fleshy, whitish, and twice divided at the apex ; the stem rises three feet in height, is branched, erect, about an inch thick at the base, deeply furrowed, and sparingly furnished with hairs. The branches are opposite and divaricated ; the radical leaves a span in length, cordate, three-lobed, toothed, pubescent on the under side, and supported on roundish, channelled, furrowed petioles; the stem- leaves are opposite, somewhat cordate, three or four inches long, toothed, on petioles, the margin of the base of which is leafy, ventricose, and sheathing. The umbels are large and faany Foye composed of many-flowered, convex cuthelaciae ; the involucre is poly- phylious, with linear, lanceolate, deciduous leaflets; the involucels are of the same form as the involucre, but permanent. The marginal flowers are hermaphrodite and rayed ; the central hermaphrodite, without the germen : the margin of the calyx is obsolete. The 134 — ORD. Umbellatz. WERACLEUM GUMMIFERUM. his account of Marocco, informs us that Ammoniacum, called Feshook in Arabic, is produced from a plant similar to European Fennel, but much larger. In most of the plains of the interior, and particularly about El traiche and M’sharrah Rummellah, it grows ten feet high. The Gum am- ,moniac is procured by incisions made in the branches, which, when pricked, emit a lacteous, glutinous, juice ; this being hardened by the heat of the sun, falls on the ground and mixes with the red earth below; hence the reason that Gum ammoniac of Barbary does not suit the London market. It might, however, with a little trouble be procured perfectly pure; but when a prejudice is once established against any particular article, it is difficult to efface it. The gum in the above-mentioned state is used in all parts of that country for cataplasms and fumigations. The sandy soil which produces the gum ammoniac, abounds in the north of Marocco. It is remarkable that neither bird nor beast is seen where this plant grows ; the vulture only ex- cepted. Itis, however, attacked by a beetle, having a long horn proceeding. from its nose, with which it perforates the plant, and makes the i incisions whence the gum ‘oozes out.* Qualities and Chemical Properties, §c. Gum “alae has a peculiar, faint odour, and a bitter, sweetish, and somewhat acrid taste, which is re- tained for'some time in the mouth. It comes to us inthe form of tears, yel- low externally, and white within; it is brittle, and breaks with a vitreous marginal flowers have a pentapetalous, unequal corolla; ihe two outer petals being large, dilated, and somewhat cordate ; and the three inner sities: cordate, aud half the size only of the others. The central flowers are pentapetalous, equal, with inflex, cordate petals; the filaments are five, cappillary, with roundish anthers. There is no germen in the central flowers ; but in the marginal it is oblong, inferior; styles inserted into a glandu- lar body, crowned with capitate stigmas. The fruit is Shiba. slightly emarginate, con- sisting of two striated seeds, convex on one side, on the other plane. * The plant we have figured was copied from Mr. Jackson’s drawing, published in his account of the Empire of Marocco. It will be seen to differ most essentially from Willdenow’s account of the Heracleum gummiferu Mr. Jackson had many opportunities of cede ficntfiad with the plant which yields the ammoniacum ; but unfortunately (not being a botanist) has neither given a scien- tific description, nor a correct botanical drawing; but unquestionably, his figure is cha= racteristic of the plant: hence, preferable to Willdenow’s figure and scientific description of a plant raised from a seed, as before stated, which might probably be the seed of a to- = different plant. HERACLEUM GUMMIFERUM. ORD. Umbellatz. gee by fracture, is adhesive in the warm hand, softens by heat, but does not melt. At a candle, it takes fire, softens, some of it drops, and throws out sparkles ; the flame is bright and smoky. In a ladle, it boils, takes fire from a flame brought near it, and leaves a hollow, black, shining, dry charcoal. It is partly soluble in water, the solution is milky, and deposits on standing, a resin. Alcohol dissolves about 50 per cent.; the tincture is very limpid, and smells but weakly of the ammoniac; on adding water it becomes milky, and the odour of the gum becomes more sensible, but very little is precipi- _- tated. Ether dissolves about 60 per cent. leaving a gum which possesses the taste of the ammoniac; the solution on evaporation, yields a yellowish- white, insipid resin. Distilled with water or alcohol, nothing comes over but the pureliquors. According to the analysis of Braconnot, 100,0 of gum am- moniac, contain 70,0 parts of resin, 18,4 gum, 4,4 glutinous matter, and 6,0 water, 1,2 parts being lost in the process.* Nitric acid converts the resin into a yellow matter, which imparts a permanent yellow dye to silk. Medical Properties and Uses. Gum-ammoniac is deobstruent, antispasmo- dic, diuretic, and stimulating. In large doses, it is purgative, excites per- spiration, and increases the flow of urine. As a deobstruent it is efficacious in visceral obstructions, hysteria, and chlorosis ; in long and obstinate cho- lies, proceeding from viscid matter lodged in the intestines, this gum has been administered with decided benefit, after other aperients and carmina- tives have been used without success. It is prescribed with advantage to pro- mote expectoration in some pulmonary diseases, especially asthmaand chronic catarrh; but, on account of its stimulating quality, it must be exhibited with caution, where any inflammatory action may be present. As a topical remedy, it is applied to promote the suppuration of hard tu- mours, and as a discutient in white swellings of the joints. In the form of plaister, or a solution of it in vinegar, it has been recommended for resolv- ing schirrous swellings. Internally it may be. exhibited in doses of from ten to thirty grains, in substance, or diffused in water in the form of emul- [t may also be given in combination, with ipecacuanha, tartar emetic, squills, &c. to promote its expectorant powers, as circumstances mag require ; or joined with bitters, iron, fetid gums, or myrrh, to increase its deobstru- ent and antispasmodic effects. | Of. The Gum resin. Ammoniac. * Thomson’s Chemistry. sion. ~ STRYCHNOS NUX VOMICA. VOMIC, or POISON NUT. THE figure of this plant, together with its botanical description, and me- dicinal properties, will be found in Vol. II. of this work; but the recent va- luable discoveries of the French chemists, render a particular account of the analysis of its seeds eminently interesting and important. From the recent experiments of M. Pelletier, it appears, that the nus vomica contains two very active alkaline substances, to which the names of Strychnine and Bru- cine have been given ; and to these —— nux vomica owes its delete- rious and medicinal properties. Strychnine. This substance is prepared as follows :—“ Add a solution of liquid subacetate of lead to a solution in water of alcoholic extract of nux vomica, until no more precipitate is-thrown down ; Separate the lead by sul- phuretted hydrogen; filtrate it, and boil with magnesia, which will unite with the acetic acid, and precipitate the strychnine. Wash the precipitate in cold water, re-dissolve it in alcohol, to separate the excess of magnesia, and by evaporating the alcohol, the strychnine is obtained in a state of pu- rity : if not perfectly white, it must be re-dissolved in acetic acid, or hydro- chloric acid, and re-precipitated by means of magnesia.”* When slowly crystallized, it appears under the form of microscopical crys- tals, forming four-sided prisms, terminated by pyramids, with four flattened or depressed faces. Crystallized rapidly, it is white and granular ; it is in- supportably bitter to the taste, has no smell, is not changed by exposure to the air, is neither fusible nor volatile, is decomposed by a degree of heat in- ferior to that which destroys most vegetable substances. Exposed to the na- ked fire, it swells, becomes black, and gives out an empyreumatic oil, a little _ Water, acetic acid, carbonic acid gas, and carbonated hydrogen; it is scarcely * Magendie’s Formulaire. NUX VOMICA. : 187 soluble in water, requiring 2,500 parts of boiling water. The principal cha- racter of Stryehnine consists in its forming neutral salts when united with acids; these salts are crystallizable, and for the most part soluble, and are much more active than the simple substance: it is therefore thought that when the system is habituated to the action of pure Strychnine, the salts may be substituted, without increasing the dose. Sulphate of Strychnine. This salt, if neutral, crystallizes in small trans- parent cubes, and in needles, if the acid preponderates ; it is soluble in less than ten parts of cold water, and decomposed by every soluble, salifiable basis. It consists of, sulphuric acid 9,5, Strychnine 90,5—100.* Hydrochlorate of Strychnine. ‘This salt is yery soluble, and crystallizes in needles, which, viewed through a lens, appear to be quadrangular prisms; when exposed to a temperature at which the base is decomposable, it gives off muriatic acid. Nitrate of Strychnine. This salt crystallizes in needles of a pearly aspect ; it is much more soluble in hot than cold water. It forms very soluble salts with the oxalic, tartaric, and acetic acids, susceptible of crystallization, es- pecially if the acid be in excess. The action of this salt (the nitrate) is more energetic than that of the strychnine itself. Phosphate of Strychnine crystallizes in four-sided prisms, and can only be obtained in a perfectly neutral state, by double decomposition. Subcarbonate of Strychnine is obtained in the form of white flakes. Boiled with iodine, it forms an iodate and hydriodate. ° BRUCINE. This substance is prepared by following the process already detailed for the separation of Strychnine; and when care is taken to crystallize the Strychnine several times in alcohol, it becomes pure, and free from Bru- cine; which latter being much more soluble in alcohol, remains in the alco- holic mother waters, from which this substance may then be obtained by farther evaporation.+ The presence of Brucine in Strychnine, M. Magendie says, is no great in- convenience ; as the Brucine is possessed of properties similar to those of Strychnine, only less active. “ In the St. Ignatius’ Bean, and in the Upas, Brucine bears the same relaticn to Strychnine, that Cinchonine does to Qui- * According to MM. Dumas and Pelletier, 100 parts of the base saturate, 10,486 of acid. + Brucine had been previously found in the Angustura Spuria. Vot. V. * 138 NUX VOMICA. nine in the Cinchonas. The most active Cinchonas contain the most Quinine, whilst St. Ignatius’ bean and the Upas, which are much more active than the nux vomica, contain little Brucine, and much Strychnine. The Strych- nine is almost pure in the Upas.”* Crystallized Brucine is a true hydrate ; its affinity for water is very considerable, whilst pure Strychnine is not sus- ceptible of passing into a state of hydrate. Brucine is extremely bitter, sparingly soluble in water, although more so than Strychnine ; when regu- larly crystallized, it is under the form of oblique prisms, with parallelogramic bases; it fuses at a temperature nearly equal to that of boiling water, and in cooling, assumes the consistence of wax. Like Strychnine, it combines with acids, and forms neutral salts. By analysis, it appears to consist of— Carbon) Os Petal eae ee Azote wielded Je gel Re Hydrogen ee ee OE ROM te oo Ade 100 SALTS OF BRUCINE. Sulphate. i salt —— in long — resembling four-sided prisms, termi iby extremely delicate pyramids. Itis very soluble in water and in alcohol; its taste is exceedingly bitter. It is decomposed by soda, ammonia, potass, baryta, lime, strontian, magnesia, strychnine and mot- phine. The super-sulphate crystallizes more readily than the. neutral salt, and is formed of sulphuric acid, 8,84,5, Brucine, 91,16,51,582. Hydrochlorate. This salt crystallizes in four-sided prisms, terminated by an oblique surface. It is not acted upon by the air, and is very soluble in water. It is decomposed by sulphuric acid, nitric acid destroys it. It con- sists of —Acid, 5,953-—4,575. Brucine, 94,046,72,5. The phosphate is also erystallizable, very soluble, and slightly efflorescent. The nitrate forms a mass somewhat resembling gum. The acetate, oxalate, and tartrate, may also be crystallized. _ Remedial Effects, Se. of Nux Vomica, and its Preparations —M. Magendie, having by a series of experimentst ascertained that the whole of the family of plants df the Strychni amari, had the singular property of acting imme- diately and powerfully on the spinal marrow, without affecting, except in- * Brucine is obtained in large quantities from the bark of the Brucea anti-dysenterica, by a process nearly similar to that directed for the preparation of Strychnine + Read before the French Institute in 1809. ee NUX VOMICA. 139 directly, the functions of the brain, thought they might be advantageously applied to the treatment of disease. He soon put his newly discovered re- medy boldly to the test, and his conjecture, he says, “was verified by nume- rous experiments made at the bed-side ;’—and he also adds, “I have seen the best effects follow the employment of the alcoholic extract of the nux vomica, not only in cases of both partial and general paralysis, but also in many other states of weakness of the constitution, both general and partial.”* Dr. Fouquier of the Hépital de la Charité at Paris, has tried the nux vomica very extensively, and in many cases, he says, with perfect success. He gives it in the form of powder or alcoholic extract; four of the former, or two of the latter, from two to six times a day. In half an hour after administration, the paralysed muscles have, in some cases, begun to evince contraction; sometimes, however, it produces a tremulent effect, stupor and a sense of intoxication—and when pushed too far, general tetanus, and other distress- ing symptoms. Dr. Good says, “like all other powerful medicines, in their first and indiscriminate application, the mua vomica appears sometimes to have been highly beneficial, sometimes mischievous, and sometimes to have produced violent effects upon the nervous system, without an important _ change of any kind.”+ A grain of the alcoholic extract, absorbed from any part of the body, or mixed with food, destroys a dog of considerable size,{ by inducing paroxysms of tetanus, which, by their continuance, stop the re- spiration, being enough to produce asphyxia; when the dose is much stronger, the animal appears to perish entirely, from the action of the sub- stance on the nervous system.|| The action of this extract on the healthy human body is precisely the same, and if the dose be sufficiently large, death soon follows with the same symptoms.{ The traces of the asphyxia, which * M. Magendie gives the following direction for preparing the extract :—‘Take a de- terminate quantity of rasped nwa vomica, exhaust it by repeated maceration in alcohol of 40° Baume, sp.gr. 817 British, and evaporate it slowly to the consistence of an extract.” + Good’s Study of Medicine. t The vomic nut, however, does not appear to be equally poisonous to all animals. Loss informs us, that a hog may eat a considerable quantity of the nuts, without suffering in the smallest degree. Desportes gave two very large doses of it to a goat, without doing it any harm. || Magendie’s Formulaire. § Marcet, in his Memoir on the action of poisons on vegetable substances, informs us, that a bean plant, watered with a solution of extract of nux vomica, was killed in a day and a half.—Journal of Sciences, Literature, and the Arts, No. xxxix. p. 194. T2 140 ; NUX VOMICA. caused death, are alone observable on dissection. On-man, when affected with paralysis, the effect is the same; but it is particularly manifested in the paralysed parts: it is there the tetanic symptoms occur, with a creeping sensation, which announces the action of the remedy. A local perspiration also breaks out im the same parts. In cases of hemiplegia, the halves of the body exhibit astriking contrast, one side being at rest whilst the other is violently agitated; tetanic shocks soon succeed, and an abundant perspi- ration breaks out. In one female, the affected side was covered with a peculiar eruption, when the opposite shewed no trace of it; a decidedly bitter taste was like- wise perceived on one side of me tongue, eh no such i occurred on-the other. Whenal th fthe body participate un- equally in the tetanic effect, so that the patient is sometimes thrown out of » bed by the violence of the paroxysm. When given in very small doses, the extract has not any perceptible effect immediately, and some days elapse be- fore its advantageous or noxious properties can be appreciated.* M.Magen- die says that this extract may be given in all diseases attended with debility, local or general, also in cases of weakness of the genital organs, incontinence of urine, sluggish digestion, and in states of extreme debility, attended by an irresistible disposition to sleep.. The extract is administered in the form of pills, containing a grain each ; one or two may at first be given daily, and gradually increased until the de- sired effect is produced; the medicine must then be discontinued to prevent accidents, and if it has been suspended for some days, it is necessary to re- commence with the smaller doses, gradually increasing them as before. When it is wished to produce only slow effects, one grain, or a grain and a half in the day, is sufficient. The action of strychnine on man and animals is exactly like that of the alcholic extract of nux vomica, but it is much more active. One-eighth of a grain is sufficient to kill a large dog; and one fourth of a grain often produces very marked effects on the human body when in health. M. Andral says that the action of strychnine is so violent, that it ought not to be employed, except with the greatest precaution ; its effects, likewise, he found to vary very considerably ; in one case, one-twelfth of a _ grain was sufficient to produce serious symptoms, whilst i in another, more * Magendie’s Formulaire. NUX VOMICA. 14) than a grain was given almost with impunity. Weare told by M. Magendie, that strychnine may be used in all cases where the resin of nux vomica would be serviceable. When employed in cases where paralysis is connected with an inflammatory condition of the brain or spinal marrow, it may probably aggravate the symptoms; we think, however, that it is one of those danger- ous and even uncertain remedies, which ought not to be resorted to except in the most desperate cases. It is said to be more especially useful in that kind of paralysis, the cause of which cannot be referred to any injury of the _ nervous centres; particularly to that species, to which persons are liable who meddle with preparations of lead. Some cases of cure by the use of Strychnine and Brucine, under these circumstances, are recorded.—Brucine appears to possess the same properties as Strychnine, but in a much milder degree; so that it may be given to the extent of two or three grains for a dose, in the same cases where Strychnine would be indicated. M. Magendie relates two cases of atrophy, in which he administered Brucine with suc- cess; one of the leg, and the other of the arm: the patients took six pills in the day, of one-eighth of a grain each. | : Mode of employing Strychnine and its Preparations.— _ PILLS OF STRYCHNINE. Take of very pure Strychnine . . . .~. . 2 grains Conserve of Roses’ 0.20500 2 gros Mix, and divide into 24 very equal pills. — MIXTURE OF STRYCHNINE. Take of Distilled Water. . . . . . . . ounces PRG NCRIUNO ows ane lig (47 A grmin UE ng i a ee Acetic Acid . . . 2 drops Mix.—Five grammes, or a dessert spoonful, to be taken morning and evening. : TINCTURE OF STRYCHNINE. Take of Aléohol at 36°... 20. 22.0... 1 oumee Strychnine 7 7°. ee er pe Mix. Dose from six to twenty-four drops, in draughts, or common drink, avoid- 142 NUX VOMICA. ing acidulated drinks, as Strychnine, united with acids, forms soluble salts, which are more active than Strychnine itself. The preparations of Brucine are similar to those of Strychnine : but as the former is more powerful than the latter, the preparations of Brucine may be exhibited in larger doses. ATROPINE. THIS substance was discovered by Brande, in the Atropa Belladonna, and it is in this peculiar substance, that he considers the medicinal and deleterious properties of the Belladonna to reside.* To obtain this principle, M. Brande boiled two pounds of the dried leaves of the Atropa Belludonna in a sufficient quantity of water, pressed out the decoction, and boiled the leaves again in some more water. The decoctions were mixed, and some sulphuric acid was added in order to throw down the albumen and similar bodies: the solution was thus rendered thinner, and passed more readily through the filter. The decoction was then supersaturated with potass; by which he obtained a precipitate, weighing, after having been washed with pure water, and dried, 89 grains. It consisted of small crystals, from which, by solution in acids, and precipitation by alkalies, Atropine was obtained in a state of purity.t Or Atropine may be obtained by digesting the decoction ef the herb of the Atropa Belladonna with magnesia; boiling the precipitate in alcohol, and filtering: the Atropine OS heres on cooling, in needles 0 or colourless transparent prisms.{ * The Atropa Belladonna, on analysis, yielded the following constituents :—Wax 0,7; resinous chlorophylle 5,84; acid malate of atropine 1,51; gum 8,03; fecula 1,25; woody fibre 13,7; phyteumacolle 6,9; a matter analogous to osmazome, with malate of atropine, oxalate, hydrochlorate, and sulphate of potass, 16,05; soluble albumen 4,7; hard albumen 6; ammoniacal salts and acetates, malate of atropine, oxalate, malate sul- phate, hydrochlorate, and nitrate of potass; oxalate malate (?) and phosphate of lime, and malate and phosphate of magnesia 7,47; water 25,8; loss 2,05. The ashes contain oxide of copper.—Brande and Vauquelin. Ure’s Chemical Dictionary, Art. Atr { Chimie Organique, par Léopold Gmelin, édition de Virey, p. 398. ATROPINE. 143 Properties of Atropine. According to M. Brande, Atropine varies in ap- pearance, depending on the method by which it is obtained, crystallizing only when perfectly pure. It is in the form of white crystals, more soluble in hot than incold alcohol ; almost insoluble in water, insoluble in ethera nd the oils. It forms, with acids, neutral crystallizable salts. Action of Atropine on the Animal Economy. When M. Brande was ex- perimenting on the alkali, he was obliged to desist, in consequence of the violent head-aches, pains in the back, and giddiness, with frequent nausea, which the vapour of the salt occasioned. It had, indeed, so injurious an effect upon his health, that he has entirely abstained from further experi- ments, and no one has hitherto repeated them. He once tasted a small quantity of the sulphate of.atropine; the taste was not bitter, but merely saline: there soon followed, however, violent headache, shaking in the limbs, alternate sensations of heat and cold, oppression of the chest, diffi- culty of breathing, and diminished circulation of the blood. The violence of these symptoms ceased in halfan hour. The vapour even, of the various salts of atropine, produces vertigo. When exposed for a long time to the vapours arising from a solution of nitrate, phosphate, or sulphate of Atropine, the pupil of the eye becomes dilated. This occurred frequently to M.Brande; and when he tasted the salt of Atropine, the dilatation followed to so great a degree, that it continued for twelve hours, and was not influenced by the — different shades of light* We have not learnt that the salts of Atropine have been employed medicinally. M. Brande has also succeeded in ob- taining from the seeds of the Hyoscyamus niger and the Datura stramonium | two alkaline principles of a similar nature to Atropine; to these he had given the names of Hyosciamine and Daturine. His account of these prin- ciples, however, is acai but on them the active properties of the plant depend. * Schweigger’s Journal, 28.i; Report. de Buchner, xi. 71; Ure’s Dictionary of Che- mistry, 1823; and Formulary of several new Remedies, by J. Haden, p. 119. VERATRINE. iris by this substance that almost all the individuals of the family of Veratrum exert their common action over the animal frame. For this dis- covery we are indebted to those indefatigable chemists, MM. Pelletier and Caventou, who, having observed that the whole tribe of plants belonging to this genus possess a very acrid taste, and produce similar effects, concluded that these properties depended upon a peculiar substance pervading them They first analysed the seeds of the Veratrum Sabadilla, which con- firmed their conjectures. ‘They isolated an acid alkaline principle, which they called Veratrine, from the name of the family to which it belonged. _ They ultimately discovered it in the root of the Colchicum autumnale, and in that of the white Helebore, (Veratrum album). The latter yielded to MM. Pelletier and Caventou—1, a fatty matter, composed of oil, adipocire, and an acid similar to the sevadic, but incrystallizable; 2, yellow extractive colour- ing matter ; 3, acid gallate of Veratrine ; 4, gum ; 5, fecula; 6, woody fibre— ashes containing carbonate of potass and lime, sulphate of lime and silica. The analysis of the Veratrum Sabadilla furnished the following constitu- ents :—1, a fatty compound, composed of oil, adipocire, and cevadic acid ; 2, wax ; 3, yellow extractive colouring matter; 4, Veratrine, forming with gal- lic acid an acid salt ; 5, gum: 6, woody fibre. The ashes, which were small in quantity, were almost wholly composed of the carbonate and phosphate of lime, with some traces Ao the hydrosulphate and carbonate of potass, and silica. The rootsof the Colchicum autumnale yield on analysis—1, a fatty matter, composed of oil, adipocire, and a volatile acid; 2, yellow extractive matter , 8, acid gallate of Varatrine; 4, gum; 5, Soule: with Inuline and woody fibre. It yields very few ashes.* * Pelletier and Caventou. VERATRINE. , ‘ 145 Preparation of Veratrine. They repeatedly digested the seeds of the Ve. ratrum Sabadilla in boiling alcohol. These tinctures, filtrated whilst almost» boiling, deposited, on cooling, whitish flakes of wax. They re-digested the matter which remained dissolved, after evaporating it to the consistence of ‘an extract, in cold water ; a small quantity of fatty matter now remained on the filter. The solution was slowly evaporated, and it formed an orange yellow precipitate, which possessed the characteristics of the colouring mat- tet found in almost all the woody vegetables. On adding a solution of ace- tate of lead to the liquor, which was still deeply coloured, a new and very abundant yellow precipitate was immediately formed, which was separated by means of the filter. The liquor, now nearly colourless, still contained, amongst other substances, the acetate of lead, which had been added in ex- cess; a current of hydrosulphuric acid was used to separate the lead. The liquor was then filtrated and concentrated by evaporation, treated by mag- nesia, and again filtrated. The magnesian precipitate was digested in boil- ing alcohol. The alcoholic liquors yielded, on evaporation, a pulverulent substance, which was extremely acrid, and possessed all the properties of the alkalies. This substance was at first yellowish; but by solutions in alcohol, ‘and subsequent precipitations, caused by pouring water into the alcoholic solutions, it was obtained in the form of a very white and perfectly inodorous powder.* Chemical Properties of Veratrine. Veratrine is scarcely at all soluble in cold water; boiling water, however, dissolves one-thousandth part of its weight and becomes sensibly acrid. It is very soluble in ether, and still inore so in alcohol. It is insoluble in the alkalies, and soluble in all vege- table acids. It saturates all the acids, and forms with them incrystallizable salts, which, on evaporation, take the appearace of gum. The sulphate alone affords rudiments of crystals, when its acid is in excess. Nitric acid combines with Veratrine; butif added in excess, especially when concentrated, it does not produce superoxidation, as in the cases of morphine and strychnine ; but very rapidly resolves the vegetable substance into its % M.Meissner, who discovered the Veratrine nearly at the same time as MM. Pelle- tier and Caventou, recommends the seeds of the Ceradilla to be treated with undiluted aleohol, the alcoholic infusion to be evaporated, the residuum treated with water, the li- quor filtered, and the Veratrine to be precipitated by the carbonate of potass ; it then only remains to wash the precipitate with water.—Chimie Organique de Gmelin, p. 400. VoL.¥. U 146 VERATRINE. elements, and gives birth to a yellow, —"'s matter, sae to the bitter of Welther. Veratrine restores the blue of turnsol paper, when reddened by abide, Ex- posed to the action of heat, it liquifies at a temperature of 50° (122° Fahr.) above zero, and has then the appearance of wax; on cooling, it forms an amber-looking mass, of a translucent appearance. Distilled on the naked fire, it swells up, becomes decomposed, and produces water, much oil, &c. A voluminous, carbonaceous mass remains, which, when incinerated, leaves only a very slightly alkaline residuum.* Action of Veratrine on Animals. A very small quantity of acetate of Ve- ratrine, thrown into the nostrils of a dog, instantly provokes violent sneez- ing, which sometimes continues for nearly half an hour. One or two grains (gr. 0.82 or 16,4 troy) placed in the gullet, immediately occasion copious sa- livation, which continues for some time. If a small qnantity be thrown into any part of the intestinal canal, and the body be opened to observe the effects, the intestine is found to become much indurated, and to relax and contract alternately for a certain time. The part of the mucous membrane which comes in contact with the Veratrine, is in- flamed ; the irritation spreads, and vomiting and purging are produced. In much larger doses, the substance induces a very great acceleration of the circulation and of respiration, which is soon followed by tetanus and death. The effects are still more rapid, if one or two grains be thrown into the pleura, or into the tunica vaginalis. In less than ten minutes death oc- curs, preceded by tetanic convulsions. The same quantity, thrown into the jugular vein, also induces tetanus and death in a few seconds. Dissection shews, even in this case, that the Veratrine has produced an effect on the intestinal canal; for the mucous membrane is found to be highly injected. The lungs also present signs of inflammation and of engorgement. _ Action of Veratrine on Man, in a state of health and disease. The effects of Veratrine in a large dose have not been observed on man; they would, however, doubtless be the same as those which are noticed in animals. The taste of Veratrine is very acrid, but without bitterness; it excites a very copious salivation, however small the quantity may be which is put into the mouth. Though Veratrine is absolutely inodorous, it is inconveni- ent to smell at it too closely, when in a state of powder ; for even this small * Magendie’s Formulaire, 4th edition. VERATRINE. . 147 quantity which is thus carried into the nostrils, is often sufficient to produce violent sneezing, which may become dangerous. A dose of a quarter of a grain (gr. 0,205 troy) rapidly induces very abun- dant alvine evacuations. If the dose be augmented, more or less violent vomiting is occasioned. M. Orfila lately gave it in the dose of two grains (gr. 1,64 troy) in the twenty-four hours, without producing too mapy alvine evacuations. The subject of this case was an old man, who had been struck with apoplexy some time previously. This circumstance forms an additional proof of the influence. which the nervous system possesses over the mode of action of medicines. After having cautiously tasted the mixture which con- tained the two grains (gr. 1,64 troy) of Veratrine, M. Orfila experienced, for se- veral hours, an almost insupportably acrid sensation in the mouth and pha- rynx, the impression of which had not entirely disappeared on the following day. ‘The patient felt no such inconvenience. Medical Properties of Veratrine. ‘Veratrine produces the same effects as the plants from which it is extracted ;* hence, it may be very advantageously substituted for them, because it permits the active substance used to be esti- mated, which the others do not. Veratrine is particularly applicable in cases where itis necessary to excite _quickly a strong action of the bowels, When given with this intention, it has answered very well in the case of old people, where an enormous accu- mulation of feces existed in the large intestines. * Vide Veratrum Album, vol. ii, p. 757 & seq. GENTIANINE. For the discovery of this alkali we are indebted to MM. Henry and Ca- ventou.* Gentian root, according to the analysis of the above-named gentle- men, contains—l, a very fugacious, odorous principle , 2, a yellow, crystal- line, bitter principle (gentianine); 3, a matter identical with bird-lime; 4, a fixed oil; 5, a greenish substance ; 6, a free organic acid; 7, incrystalliz- able sugar; 8, gum; 9, a yellow colouring matter; 10, woody fibre.+ Preparation of Gentianine. Digest powdered gentian-root in cold ether, which, at the expiration of forty-eight hours, furnishes a greenish-yellow tincture ; this being filtered, poured into an open vessel, and exposed to heat, (if the liquor be sufficiently concentrated,) upon cooling, settles into a yellow crystalline mass, possessing a decided smell and taste of gentian. This mass is to be digested in alcohol, until it ceases to give a lemon colour; the wash- _ings are to be added together and exposed to a slight heat: the yellow crys- talline mass then re-appears, which, towards the end of the evaporation, be- comes solid, This mass is very bitter. If re-digested in more weak alcohol, the whole will be re-dissolved, except a certain portion of oily matter. This last spirituous solution, besides the bitter principle of the gentian, contains an acid substance, and its odorous matter also. * A singular circumstance attended the discovery of this substance, which deserves to be recorded. Both these gentlemen were employed at the same time in this pursuit, without being aware of the coincidence. Their results were so identical, that it almost appeared as if they had acted in concert ; they therefore agreed to publish their labours conjointly—“A remarkable fact,” says M. Magendie, “ first, because it proves how per- fect the means of analyzing vegetables have recently become: and secondly, because it shows the change which the progress of science has made in those who follow scientific pursuits. One hundred years ago, such a coincidence would have produced a violent quarrel, whilst now it only induces a feeling of joy in those who find their discoveries confirmed by others.” + Schrader discovered a resinous and narcotic principle in it; M. Planche also as- serts that he found the latter. GENTIANINE. 149 Upon evaporating this liquor to dryness, washing the residue in water, adding a little well-washed calcined magnesia, boiling and evaporating in a water-bath, the greater part of the odorous matter of the gentian is driven off ; the bitter acid is also taken up by the magnesia, and the yellow bitter principle remains partly free, and partly combined with the magnesia, to which it gives a fine yellow colour. The greater part of the bitter principle may then be obtained pure and isolated, by boiling the magnesia in ether, _and evaporating the solution. If it be wished to separate the greater part of the bitter principle which remains in the magnesia in a fixed state, and which could not be taken up by the ether, we may treat it with oxalic acid, in a quantity sufficient to produce slight acidity. The acid unites with the magnesia; and the bitter principle, which is left free, may be obtained by the means pointed out above. 5 Properties of Gentianine. This substance is yellow, inodorous, possessing very strongly the aromatic bitter taste of the gentian, which is much increased by solution in an acid. It is very soluble in ether and in alcohol, and may be separated from them by spont 1s evaporation, in the form of very small, yellow, needle-like crystals. It is much less soluble in cold water, which, nevertheless, it renders extremely bitter; in boiling water it is more readily dissolved. Diluted alkalies deepen its colour very much, and dissolve rather more of it than water will alone. Acids weaken its yellow colour very sensibly ; its solutions in the phos- phorie and sulphuric acids, are even almost colourless. Those with the weaker acids, as the acetic, are yellowish. Concentrated sulphuric acid car- bonizes it, and destroys its bitterness. Exposed in a glass tube to the heat of boiling mercury, Gentianine sublimes in the form of small, yellow, crystalline needles, and is partially decomposed. It has no sensible effect on turnsol, either when blue, or reddened by acids. It appears to be neutral. Action of Gentianine on the Animal System. M. Magendie has ascertained by experiments that this substance has no poisonous quality: Several grains injected into the veins produced no sensible effect. M.Magendie himself swallowed twograins dissolved in alcohol, and was merely sensible of the ex- treme bitter taste, and a slight sensation of heat in the stomach. Medical Employment. M. Magendie prefers the tincture for general pur- poses, prepared according to the following formula :— : 150 GENTIANINE. awe of Alephol: at 249.08. t. 6 caccsi) eile. pl Onn Gentianine . . . 5 grains This may be substituted for the tincture 2 eran of the pharmacopeias. SYRUP OF GENTIANINE. Take of Simple Syrup. .°. . . . . . . Ipound Gentianine . o Welley sol6-prains :: Mix; This is probably one of the best bitters that can be = in scrophu- lous affections. Se DELPHININE or DELPHINE. Tuts vegetable alkali was discovered in 1819, by MM. Feneulle and Las- saigne, in the seeds of the Delphinium Staphisagria, (savesacre) who named it Delphine, from a supposition that the acrid properties of the whole tribe depended upon this principle. We have not learnt, however, that any other species of Delphinium have been chemically examined. To obtain the alkali, boil the seeds of the staphisagria, cleared of their husks and ground to a fine paste, in a little distilled water; pass the decoction through a linen cloth, and filtrate it. Add very pure magnesia, and boil for some minutes; filtrate again; wash the residue carefully, and digest in highly rectified alcohol. On evaporating the solution, Delphine is obtained in the form of a white powder, which affords some points of crystallization. It may be obtained also by acting with diluted sulphuric acid on the seed, unshelled, but well bruised: the solution is to be precipitated by subearbonate of potass, and the precipitate acted on by alcohol; but when obtained by this process, it is very impure. Properties of Delphine. Delphine, when pure, is in the form of a white powder, which, when wet, is crystalline, but becomes opaque on exposure to the atmosphere. It is inodorous, and has a bitter, acrid taste. Alcohol and ' ether dissolve it very = The alcoholic solution acts powerfully in turn- DELPHINE. : 151 ing the syrup of violets green, and restores the blue of turnsol paper, when reddened by acid. Delphine forms, with nitric, oxalic, acetic, hydrochloric, and sulphuric acids, very soluble neutral salts, the taste of which is extremely acrid and bitter. Alkalies precipitate it in the form of a white jelly. Del- phine exists'in the seeds of the Stavesacre, in combination with malic acid, and in company with the following principles:—1, a brown bitter matter, precipitable by acetate of lead; 2, volatile oil ; 3, fixed oil; 4, albumen; 5, animalized matter; 6, mucus; 7, saccharine mucus; 8, yellow bitter prin- ciple, not precipitable by the acetate of lead; 9, mineral salts.—Annales de Chimie, xii. p. 358. Action of Delphine on Animals. Orfila has recently made some experi- ments with this substance. In doses of six grains, (gr. 4,92 troy) it :proves fatal to dogs. Its deleterious effects are more speedily induced when it is dissolved in weak acetic acid ; the animal, we are told, in this case, dies in ’ the course of from forty to fifty minutes. It appears to exert its action prin- cipally on the nervous system. It likewise produces local irritation, giving rise to inflammation, when death has not immediately followed ; inflamma- tion, however, does not appear to be a necessary consequence of its noxious action on the stomach.* _ Delphine has not been employed medicinally. * Nonveau Journal de Médecine, x. 38. SOLANINE. THIS substance has been very recently discovered by M. Desfosses, an apothecary at Besangon, in two species of the genus Solanum,—viz. Solanum nigrum, (nightshade) and in the Solanum Dulcamera, (bitter-sweet). It has been found to exist in both these plants; in the latter, it is evidently con- tained in the leaves, but the leaves of the former afford no traces of it. It is found most abundantly in the berries of the nightshade, where it exists in the state of a malate. 152 SOLANINE, Preparation of Solanine. To obtain this substance, digest the filtrated juice of these berries in ammonia; a greyish precipitate falls, which when washed on a filter, and digested in boiling alcohol, gives, by evaporation, the Solanine in a state of sufficient purity, if perfectly ripe berries have been acted upon ; but if green berries have been acted on, the Solanine is mixed with a certain portion of chlorophylle, or green colouring principle, which cannot be separated without considerable difficulty. Properties of Solanine. This substance, when perfectly pure, is in the form of an opaque, white or pearly powder. It is inodorous ; its taste is nauseous and slightly bitter; and its bitterness is promoted by solution in acids, es- pecially the acetic. Its salts are incrystallizable; the solutions by evapora- tion give gummy, transparent masses, which may be readily powdered. It unites with acids; even in the cold and perfectly neutral, solutions may be obtained, if care be used. Its alkaline properties are slightly manifested by its action on turmeric, and it restores the blue of turnsol paper, when red- dened by acids. It is saturated by a very small portion of acid. Itis insoluble in cold water, and hot water dissolves one-eight-thousandth part only. Action of Solanine on the Animal Economy. From experiments made with this alkali on animals, it appears that a few grains excite violent vomiting, followed by a disposition to sleep. Four grains were introduced into the stomach of a dog, which produced violent vomiting, followed by a sleep of several hours. Eight grains were insufficient to cause death in a young cat. After vomiting violently, the animal slept soundly for more than thirty-six hours. On man, a very small quantity of Solanine occasions great irritation in the throat, and excites a nauseous bitter flavour in the mouth; which is more intensé, if the substance be dissolvedin a small quantity of acetic acid. It appears to resemble opium in producing vomiting and sleep; but whilst its emetic properties are more apparent than in opium, its narcotic effects “are evidently much less so. The acetate of Solanine is the only salt which has been tried on man, nor has it been administered in cases of disease, but it might probably be used with advantage, where the nightshade or Dulca-. mera are indicated. NARCOTINE. NO vegetable in the Materia Medica has occupied more of the attention of chemists than the somniferous poppy, and its product, opium. No accurate chemical analysis of this substance (Opium) was instituted till the year 1803, when Derosnes, Sertuerner, Seguin, and others, undertook the investigation.* To Derosnes we are indebted for the discovery of Narcotine. This active con- stituent of opium, is obtained by exhausting the crude opium in two parts of boiling ether, and repeating the operation five successive times. The solu- tion obtained by this process, is then mixed and filtered, and the ether vola- tilized, until the whole is reduced to three-fourths. The product consists of two distinct parts; of a saline crust, consisting of Narcotine united with an acid; and of a brown, bitter, acid liquor, also containing Narcotine; an acid, and a resin. To obtain the Narcotine from this liquor, it must be sub- jected to evaporation, the residuum treated with boiling water, and the Nar- cotine precipitated from the filtered liquor by ammonia. The Narcotine is afterwards to be separated from the resin and caoutchouc, by treating the sa- line crust, in which it is contained, with rectified oil of turpentine, and washing the residuum with cold alcohol. This residuum is then dissolved in hot alcohol, and the Narcotine precipitated by ammonia. The two pre- cipitates are then dissolved in the least possible quantity of hydrochloric acid, and again precipitated by ammonia. The Narcotine thus obtained, crystallizes in fine needles, or thomboidal prisms. It has no action on vege- * According to the analysis of Sertuerner, Robiquet, and Derosne, crude opium is composed of—1, a fixed oil; 2, a matter analogous to caoutchouc; 3, a vegeto-animal substance, not yet investigated ; 4, mucilage ; 5, feculent matter; 6, resin; 7, vegetable fibre ; 8, narcotine; 9, meconic acid; 10, another vegetable acid; and 11, morphine.— Annales de Chimie et Physique, vol. v. p. 276. Vou. V. = 154 NARCOTINE. table colours, is without smell or taste, slightly soluble in cold alcohol, while boiling alcohol dissolves one twenty-fourth of its weight. Hot ether dissolves it freely, und suffers it to crystallize on cooling. According to M. Magendie a single grain of pure Narcotine, dissolved in oil, and given to a dog, pro- duced a state of stupor, but very different from sleep, and death generally in twenty-four hours. Narcotine, combined with acetic acid, he found to occasion quite a different effect, twenty-four grains having been given to an animal without its perishing. While under its influence, he says, they are agitated by convulsions, similar to those produced by an over-dose of cam- phor: the same signs of fright, the same incapability of going forward, the foaming at the mouth, and convulsion of the jaws. The most interesting, and indeed, the most important experiment related by Magendie, was the action of the combined substances, morphine and Narcotine, on a dog. He dissolved a grain of each in acetic acid, and introduced the mixture into the pleura of the animal, which soon fell asleep; but he says avery remarkable struggle appeared to go on for an hour between the strangulating effects of the Narcotine, and the anodyne effects of the morphine; at last the animal slept, probably under the influence of the morphine. He adds, “ may it not be inferred from this experiment, which [ have often repeated in various ways, and with analogous results, that the variable effects of opium are to be attributed to their containing these so opposite principles?” From these experiments of Magendie, M. Robiquet was tempted to prepare an extract of opium which should be entirely devoid of Narcotine. For this purpose, he macerates bruised opium in cold water, filtrates and evaporates to the con- sistence of a thick syrup, which he digests in rectified ether, and after fre- quent shakings, decants the solution; the ether is then separated by distil- lation. This operation is repeated as long as any crystals of Narcotine ap- pear as the residue of the distillation. When the crystals can no longer be discovered, he evaporates the solution to a pilular consistence, which he con- siders as entirely devoid of Narcotine. ! M. Magendie, in recommending this new preparation of opium to the at- tention of physicians, says, “I have tried the extract, thus prepared, on ani- mals ; its action appears to be decidedly narcotic, and entirely like that of morphine, only weaker.” Mr. Haden, the able translator of Magendie’s work on these new preparations, very properly observes, that “ the freedom from Narcotine, which characterizes the extractum opii, (which is aqueous) NARCOTINE. 155 | ought to recommend it to medical men, as preferable to the tincture of opium: which contains narcotine in abundance, on account of its being a spirituous solution.”* We have ourselves known many persons who could not use any other preparation of opium but the watery extract; this new preparation of opium, therefore, deserves the attention of physicians. MORPHINE. This substance does not exist in opium in its pure alkaline state, but united to an acid, to which the name of meconic acid has been given. Ac- cording to M. Brande, the ultimate elements contained in pure morphine are— . CATO... 6: das & 156 f : MORPHINE. spirit rectified. The liquor being again filtered, while in a state of ebulition, the morphine separates as it cools. The colouring matter is afterwards got rid of by repeated crystallization. Dr. Thompson gives the following, which he considers an easy method of procuring morphine in a state of purity. He precipitates a strong infusion of opium, by means of caustic ammonia; this precipitate he separates by the filter; the infusion is then evaporated to one sixth its volume, and a new precipitate obtained, by again treating the in- fusion with caustic ammonia; this precipitate is morphine, mixed with co- louring matter: when sufficient time has been given for the deposit to form, he separates it by means of the filter, and washes it with cold water. After ~ it is sufficiently drained, he sprinkles it with aleohol, which passes through the filter, dissolving and carrying with it a large portion of the colouring matter, and a little morphine. The remaining morphine is then dissolved in acetic acid, and any ¢olouring matter removed, by treating the solution with a little ivory black: the mixture being often shaken during twenty-four hours, and then thrown on the filter. The liquid passes through perfectly colourless, and by treating it a third time with the caustic ammonia, the morphine falls down in the form of a white powder. By dissolving this base in alcohol, and allowing the solution to evaporate spontaneously, the mor- phine is obtained in the form of beautiful crystals, each a rectangular, four- sided prism.* i Morphine or Morphia, when in a state of purity, is in the form of brilliant erystals, possessing many characteristic properties of the alkalies; white, with a silky lustre, greasy to the touch, and friable. Its crystals are tetra- hedral prisms, whose bases are rhomboids, more rarely single or double py- ramids; sometimes it is found in slender prisms, collected into bundles. It is of greater specific gravity than distilled water ; it is inodorous; has an astringent and bitter taste. It is soluble in acids, ether, and alcohol, but scarcely so in water, four hundred parts of which, according to Derosnes,+ are required to dissolve one part. It unites with all the acids, except the carbonic, forming neutral salts. It restores the blue colour of litmus paper, forms an intense blue with the persalts of iron, and reddens with nitric acid. It decomposes the salts of mercury and lead, muriate of copper, and the sul- phate of iron; but forms a triple salt with acetateofcopper. It melts when heated, and crystallizes in cooling. It burns readily, and’ when heated in * Vide Annals of Philosophy, for June 1820. + Annales de Chimie, vol. xiv. MORPHINE. 157 ‘ close vessels, gives out carbonate of ammonia; and a solid, black, resinous kind of matter remains.* : The salts of morphine are more soluble than morphine itself. The sulphate and acetate are also generally employed in medicine. Magendie says “I employed the acetate, the sulphate, and the hydrochlorate of morphine, and found that these salts afford all the advantages which we can expect to meet in opium, without any of its inconveniences.” The acetate of morphine, which has been introduced into the Paris Pharmacopeeia, is prepared as fol- lows :—Take four parts of morphine, and of distilled water, eight parts; di- lute the morphine in a porcelain vessel, and add acetic acid of the specific gravity, 1,075, until turnsol paper is scarcely tinged red; evaporate the solu- tion, and continue the evaporation until the salt may be collected, and re- duced to powder. Morphine, as well as its acetate, is prescribed in doses of from one-eighth of a grain to a grain. In Paris it is usually administered in the form of a syrup, composed of the acetate and honey.t Dr. Thompson says, “ the combination of Morphia, its acetate, and citrate, may be used in the same diseases, and with the same intention, as opium. The result of my own experience inclines me to regard the acetate as well adapted for cases of phthisis and in inflammatory affection, where it is of importance to obtain the sedative effect of the remedy, free from the exciting quality. As the cordiate is the natural compound of Morphia in opium, it is likely to prove * still more useful.” { * * Our readers who may wish for further information on the various methods for ob- taining morphine, narcotine, and their combinations, and also their effects on the animal economy ; we must refer them to the essay of M. Derosnes, Annales de Chimie, vol. xiv. M. Sertuerner, on the same subject, Ann. de Chim. et Phys. vol. v. p. 21; on the action of morphia and narcotine, by M. Magendie, Journ. de Physiol. Expér.; a paper on the same subject, by M. Orfila, Ann. de Chim. et Phys. vol. v. p. 288; Report of M. Lodi- pert, Bulletin de la Société de Phar. vol. i. p. 875 and also to a paper by Dr. Ure in the Quarterly Journal of Science, for May, 1830. + Magendie’s Formulaire. t London Disp. GENERAL LATIN INDEX TO : VOUGV; A L ; Page. ; Aloe vulgaris . : ;. . 98 | Laurus. Cassia Avena sativa . 3 A - 107 | Linum catharticum nr Lythrum Salicaria Bonplandia trifoliata . : 120 HES : 4 Boswellia serrata : . 117 | Melaleuca Cajuputi C Myroxylon paeeierem Cephaclis Ipecacuanha : Sas Bals P Cinchona cordifolia . : Te apts Cub ti Cinchona lancifolia , 27 je tee so ct : Cinchona oblongifolia - 30] p eb PR er ‘lat inaceus Coculus palmatus : 2 eT yrota umbeltata Croton Tiglhum : ‘ ree 5 Quassia excelsa Pea cee D = eas Quercus Infectoria Thevabliiegs Camphora ; (7108 * Sesontas Mammal ES; : Rheum undulat tum. Euphorbia officinarum ; . 74 | Rhus Toxicodendron . F ' seville tinctoria Fucus vesiculosus 2 ; Faas © . Salix alba Salix caprea . Heracleum ewp osha é $39 Scrophularia nodosa Hordeum distichon ‘ - 105 | Solidago Virgaurea Humulus Lupulus . : - 90 | Stalagmitis Cambogioides K Krameria triandra ‘ - 129 | Triticum hybernum GENERAL ENGLISH INDEX VOL. V. A H Page. Aloe, yellow-flowered é 98 | Heracleum, gum-bearing Hop . ‘ : Balm of Gilead Fir 1 I Balsam-tree, sweet-smelling 48 | Ipecacuan = Bark, Peruvian 26 . K Barley, common 105 | Kino-tree, or African Pterocarpus Bladderwrack, or Fucus 111 | Krameria, Peruvian, or triandrous _ Bonplandia, three-leaved 120 . L — serrated, or, Gum-Olibanum- 119 Loose-strife, or purple willow-herb “ay Pa 57 Mill-mountain, or purging Flax Calumba-root, or palmated Soot 2 — 0 Camphor-tre, or Dryabalano 124 | Oak, staining . : Cassia:tree . gg | Oat, common . : Senate palmated, or Calumba-root . 22 | Orchal, or Dyer’s Rock-moss . Croton, in <1 Crowfoot, ae spearwort 54 | Pepper, Java, or Cubebs Cubebs, or Java-pepper 95 | Poison-oak, or pubescent Sumach Pterocarpus, African, or Kino-tree Diosma, crenated 5 Dryobalanops, or Cachinn 6s 124 | Quassia, lofty, or ash-leaved E R Euphorbium, officinal or spurge 74 | Rhubarb, Chinese, or waved-leaved F . Rock-moss, or dyer’s lichen, or Orchal Figwort, knobby-rooted 42 Fir, Saar ns Seog aa 1 ow, round-leaved or Mill-m 63 | Spurge, or officinal Euphorbium vecraidin bce ¢ or Biaddecuinek 111 | Sumach, or pubescent Poison-oak G Gamboge-tree 78 | Wheat, —— Golden-rod, common . 12 | Willow -white Gum um-tree, or serrated Bos- Willow lasts + soles or Loo 119 | Winter-green, umbel-flowered & INDEX, In which the Latin and English names of all the Plants contained in the Five Volumes, are arranged according to the NATURAL METHOD Of Jessixv, with the improvements of De Canvo.xe, and other succeeding Botanists. I. RANUNCULACEA, Juss. Vol, Fab Clematis recta, Linn. Virgin’s Bower, upright Anemone pratensis, Linn. 170 asque-flower, oP Se Ranunculus flammula, Linn. 6.5.15 Spearwort Crowfoot, lesser : Ranunculus acris, Linn. 3.4172 Crowfoot, upright meadow : Helleborus niger, Linn 3 169 Black Hellebore, or Chrismas ah, Helleborus feetidus, Lin 170 ~ Rear’s-foot, or Stinking anes 3 168 Delphinium Staphysagria, Linn. . 5 . Stavesacre, or palmated — ee Napellus, — 165 s-bane, or Mon “ih officinalis, me 3 173 Peony, common ll. MAGNOLIACEZ, sy Gane Wintera arometica, Sol. Winter's Bark tree 4s Eee MENISPERMACE, Juss. Cocculus palmatus, De Cand. 5 7 Calumba root, or wen ane Cissampelos Pareira, Lam. 1 “Pareira Brava Cissingeles IV. BERBERIDE, Vent. Berberis vulgaris, Vent. 3. 219 618 Sinapis nigra, Linn. Mustard, black V. PAPAVERACE, De Cand. Vol. /Fap\, Page. Papaver somniferum, Linn. Be 5.138) 376 . : i \ Papaver Rheeas, Linn. 2 139 378 Poppy, red, corn Chelidonium majus, Mill ‘2 140 388 Celandine, greater, or common VI. FUMARIACEA, De Cand. Fumaria officinalis, Linn. 3 164 Fumitory, officinal VII. CRUCIFERA, Juss. Sisymbrium Nasturtium, Linn. 3 144 (Nasturtium officinale, De Cand. Prodr. vol. i. p. 137) Water Cress Cardamine pratensis, Linn. 3 143 Lady’s-smock, or Cuckoo-flower Cochlearia Armoracia, Linn. 3 145 Horse-radish — Cochlearia officinalis, Linn. 3 142 Scurvy-grass, common Erysinium officinale, Linn, 3. 147 wane el eee De Cand, p- 191.) 4 Erysinium Alliaria, Linn. 3 145 (Alharia aficinli De a Prody. 1. p. 1 Sauce sin or ees Hedge Mustard i 3 146 458 398 396 400 394 406 403 6 and GENERAL LATIN AND ENGLISH INDEX. Vill. co abseegearsieimes Ro Tab. Capparis spinosa, Linn. * 141 391 Ca yper-bush, common IX. CISTINEA, Juss. Cistus, Creticus, Linn. 3 207 Cistus, Cretan 584 X. VIOLGERIEZ, De Cand. Viola odorata, Linn. 2.89. 251 weet Violet Viola Tricolor, Linn. 2. 90 254 Pansie, or three-coloured Violet XI. POLYGALEA, Juss. Polygala Senega, Linn. 3 162 452 a ae ae or Milkwort Krameria tri Rui 129 Pibashanige Triandrous Krameria XII. CARYOPHYLLEA, Juss. Dianthus Caryophyllus, Linn. 3 205 579 Clove Pink ; Saponaria officinalis, Linn. 3 206 581 2 XII. LINEA, De Cand. Linum Usitatissimum, Linn. 3 202 566 Flax, common Linum Catharticum, Linn. & 8 6s Mill-mountain, or Purging Flax XIV. MALVACEA, Brown. Malva Sylvestris, Linn. 3 199 554 Mallow, common Althea officinalis, Linn. 3 198 552 Marsh-mallow XV. DIPTEROCARPE, Blume. Dryobalanops Camphora, Gerin. 5 34 124 Camphor-tree XVI. TERUSTROMIACE, Mirbd. Thea viridis, Linn. 4 225 641 Tea-tree XVII. AURANTIACE, aot Tab. Page. Citrus Aurantium, Risso ’ 188 523 e-tree Citrus Medica, Risso 3 189 528 Lemon-tree XVIII. HYPERICINE., De Cand. Hypericum perforatum, Linn. 3 208 587 Perforated St. John’s-wort XIX. GUTTIFERA, Juss. ser RT Cambogioides, Murr. 5 23 78 Gamboge-tree Canella alba, Murr. Canella, laurel- las XX. HIPPOCASTANE, De Cand. sculus Hippocastanum, Linn. 3 217 613 Fforse-chestnut, common XXI. MELIACEAE, Juss. 4 237 694 Swietenia Mahogani, Linn. 3 220 620 Mahogany-tree XXII. AMPELIDE.E, Humb. et B. Vitis vinifera, Linn. 1 67 144 Vine, common : XXIII. TROPADEA, Juss. Tropezolum majus, Linn. 3 218 616 Nasturtium, or greater tan . Cress ; XXIV. OXALIDE, De Cand. Oxalis Acetosella, Linn. 3.201. 563 Wood-sorrel XXV. XYGOPHYLLEA, Linn. Guaiacum officinale, Linn. 3 200 Guaiacum, officinal . XXVI. RUTACEA, Juss. Ruta — Linn. 3.174 557 , common Dietarnmied albus, Pers. 3 166 —— Dittany, or White Fraz- GENERAL LATIN AND ENGLISH INDEX. Vol. Tab. Page. Diosma crenata, Linn. S14 22 Diosma, crenate Bonplandia trifoliata, H. § B. 5° 33 120 (Galipea ens wry De Cand. Prod. i. p. 731. pee three-leaved XXVII. SIMARUBES, Rich. Quassia Simaruba, Linn. 3 203 569° Simaruba Quassia Quassia Amara, Linn 3 204 574 Quassia, bitter Quassia excelsa, Swartz Se. 80 Quassia, lofty, or ash-leaved XXVIII. RHAMNE, Brown. Rhamnus Catharticus, Linn. 3 210 594 Buckthorn, purging XXIX. TEREBINTHACEA, Juss. Pistecia Leutiscus, Linn. 3 Mastich-tree Pistachia Terebinthus, Linn. 4 42 20 Turpentine-tree, Chian Rhus Coriaria, Li 3 213 601 Sumach, elm-leaved t Rhus Toxicodendron, Linn. 5. 20. 87 Poison-oak, or rane Sumach Boswellia serrata, Cole 117 Gum Olibanum-tree, or Serrated Boswellia Ampyris Gileadensis, Linn. 3 214 603 Balm of Gilead Amyris XXX. LEGUMINOSA, Juss. Myroxylon Peruiferum, Linn. 5 13 48 (MyrospermumPeruiferum,DeCand.) li 607 Toluifera Balsamum, Mill 3 215 Myrospermum Toluiferum, De Cand. Prodr.) Balsam of Tolu-tree Spartium scoparium, Linn 3 (Cytisus Scoparius, De Cand.Prod.) Broom, common 150 413 ¥2 XXXI. ROSACEA, Juss. 3 183 Amygdalus communis, Linn Almond. Amygdalus Persica, Linn. « 3 184 (Persica vulgaris, De Cand. Prodr.) Peach-tree, common Vol. Tab. Page. ere Fenum Grecum, Linn. 3 154 426 cumyre Glycyrthiza glabra, Linn. 3 152 420 Liquorice, commo cae Astragalus exscapus, Linn. 3 155 428 Milkvetch, stemless Astragalus T cantha, Linn. 3 149 410 Goat’s-thorn Milkvetch Dolichos pruriens, Linn. 3 153 422 Cowhage Pterocarpus erinaceus, Lam. 5 12 44 Kino-tree, or African Pterocarpus Pterocarpus Santalinus, Linn. 3 156 430 ‘aunder’s-tree, red Mimosa Catechu, Linn 3 157 433 (Acacia Catechu, De Ca ‘and. Prodr. v. li, p. 458.) Catechu Mimosa Mimosa Nitotica, Linn. 3 158 438 (Acacia vera, De Cand. Pr.v.ii.p 461) Egyptian Thorn, or Mimosa Geoffroya i inermis, Linn. 151 416 (Andira inermis, Bastard ab hapesienel or smooth Geoffroya HomatoxylonCampechianum,Linn.3 163 455 Lo. Tamarindus Indica, Jacq. 3 161 448 Tamarind-tree | Cassia Fistula, Linn. 3 160 445 Cassia, ing Cassia Senna, Linn. 159 442 (Cassia Lanceolata, De Cand. Prod. Senna, or Egyptian Cassia . Copaifera officinalis, Jacq. .3 216 609 Balsam of Copaiva-tree 507 511 GENERAL LATIN AND ENGLISH INDEX. Vol, Tab. Page. Prunus spinosa, Linn. 3 186 518 Sloe-tree . Prunus domestica, Linn. -3. 187. 520 Plum-tree, or common Prune Prunus Lauro-Cerasus, Linn. 3 185-513 (Cerasus Lauro-cerasus, De Cand.) Cherry Laurel, common Geum urb , Linn 3 181 502 Avens, common cre 8 Rubus Ideus, Linn. 3. 176 492 Raspberry-bush Pane Potentilla reptans, Linn. 3.175 490 Cingue-foil, common ormentilla erecta, Linn. 3 182 503 (Potentilla Tormentilla, De Cand.) Tormentil, common, or upright Septfoi Agrimonia Kupasataaas tom 3.» 180 500 Agrimony, com Rosa canina, Linn. Bas 3 177 493 Hep-tree, or Dog-rose Rosa, centifolia, Linn. - 3.178 495 Rose, Hundred-leaved Rosa Gallica, Linn. 3 179 498 Rose, red, officinal tus Cydonia, Linn. 3 182 505 Quince-tree Reyes vulgaris, De Cand.) XXXII. LYTHRARIEA, Linn. Lythrum Salicaria, Linn. & 1D > 65 Loose-strife, or purple willow deck XX XAT. GRANATER, Slee Punica Granatum, Linn. 3 190 531 Pomegranate-tree XXXIV. MYRTARE®. Melaleuca Leucadendron, Linn. 3 195 544 “ware or Aromatic Leuca- dendro Melaleuca. Seared, Roxb. "aG. 36... BF (Melaleuca minor, De Cand.Prodr.) Cajeput-tree, lesser Apium Petroselinum, Linn. 1 45 » Carraway, common agregadas Pimpinella Anisum, Linn. geo A Anise Vol. Tab. Page. Caryophyllus aromaticus, Zinn. 3 193 539 Clove-tree Myrtus pimenta, Linn. 3 194 541 (Eugenia pimenta, De Cand.) Pimenta, Jamaica pepper, or All- spice XXXV. CUCURBITACEA, Juss. Cucumis Colocynthis, Linn. 2 71 189 Coloquintida, or bitter C Bryonia alba, Linn. 2 73 194 Bryony, white : Momordica Elaterium, nie 22-72-1192 Cucumber, squirting, wi XXXVI. CRASSULACE, Juss. Sedum acre, Linn. 3 196 548 Stone-crop, or wall-pepper XXXVI. GROSSULARIEA, De Cand. Ribes rubrum, Linn. 3 191 534 Currant, red Ribes nigrum, Linn 3 192 536 Currant, black XXXVI. LAXIFRAGEA, Juss, Saxifraga granulata, Linn. 3 197 550 Saxifrage, white XXXIX. UMBELLIFERA, Juss. Eryngium maritimum, Linn. ee ae Eryngo, or Sea Holly . Cicuta virosa, Linn. 1 Sium nodiflorum, Linn. (Heliociadium nodiflorum,De Can a). ater-parsnep, creeping Carum carni, Linn. i GENERAL LATIN AND ENGLISH INDEX. Vol. Sex wes saxifraga, Linn. 1 Burne — age, sma small Cinan n. 1 pune water-hemlock Phellandrium aquaticum, Linn. 1 (a Phellandrium, De Cand.) Water-hemlock TO Anethum Feniculum, Linn 1 _ rege vulgare, De Cand.) Fennel, common Larue Seitalik: Linn. 1 ei a Cand.) Lova Asagélica ‘eylveszs, Linn. seuss as Angelica, wi Angelica Archangelica, Linn. 1 (Archangelica officin. De Cand.) Angelica, bee Pastinaca Opopon 1 (Opoponax Chiihiod Pe Cale ) ponax, or rsnep Ferula Assafeetida, Linn. 1 Assafetida, or gigantic Fennel Imperatoria Ostruthium, Linn. 1 er-wort, common Bubon Galbanum, Linn 1 Bubon, lovage-leaved Anethum graveolens, Linn. 1 Dill, common Heracleum’ gumniferum, Willd. 5 (Heraclewm pubescens, De C.iv. 193) Heracleum, gum-bearing Cuminum cyminum, Linn. 1 Cummin Daucus Carota, Linn 1 Carrot, wild, or Bird’s-nest Conium maculatum, Linn. ‘emlock, common Coriandrum sativum, Linn. 1 Coriander, common Tab. Page. 51 38 37 XL. ARALIACEA, Juss. Panax quinquefolium, Linn. 1 58 133 92 90 XL. LORANTHACE, Don. Vol. Tab. ee Viscum album, Linn. 1° 34 issletoe XLIT. CAPRIFOLIACEA, Juss. Sambucus Ebulus, Zinn. 3 212 599 Elder, dwarf Sambucus nigra, Linn. 3 211 596 Elder, common black XLIU. RUBIACEA, feng ee officinalis, Linn OT . 257. (Cinch ‘ondaminea, DeCi iv. Gast pss bark, grey bark, orange 5 27 Cinchona cordifolia, Mutis 5 yD (Cinchona pubescens, De C. iv. 352) Peruvian bark, yellow Cinchona oblongifolia, Mutis 30 (Cinchona cnaeden De C. iv. es Peruvian-bark, tex pst ie, ruber 92 267 Coffea Arabica, Linn. 170 ee Coffee-tree Cephaclis Ipecacuanha, Juss. ; : xe = : Ipecacuanha "Rubia tinctorum, Linn. sts? aes 46" Madder, dyer’s Galium Aphrinks List Fr 68176 Cleaver’s, or goose-grass : > XLIV. VALERIANE, De Cand. Valeriana officinalis, Linn. i: ae ee Valerian, officinal ; ; XLV. coMPOSIT-®, ome Cynara Scolymus, 28 «69 (Cynara ee var. Ons Syst. Veg. iii. aaibe Artichoke, common Arctium aes Linn. 1-33. Burdoek Centaurea Renedicta, Linn. 1 34 Thistle, holy or blessed a GENERAL LATIN AND ENGLISH INDEX. Vol. Tab. Page. Vol. Tab. Page. Tussilago Farfara, Linn. 1 18 45 Rhododendron Chrysanthum, Linn. 2) 1 Coltsfoot Rhododendron, yellow-flowered Tanacetum vulgara, Linn 1 27 66 Pyrola umbellata, Linn. 56 10 37 Tansy, common Winter-green es. . . j 1 57 ee ee ati XLVI. STYRACER, Rich. ugwort . . - Artemisia Santonica, Linn. ESS... Ol Styrax officinalis, Linn. 2 101 291 Southernwood, Tartarian | Storax, officinal Artemisia maritima, Linn. SO Styrax Benzoin, Dryandr. 2.102 294 Ww 2 Benjamin-tree_ Artemisia Absinthium, Linn. 1 22 54 ; XLIX OLEINE4, Juss Wi > common : ; Artemisia Abrotanum, Linn. 1 2 52 Olea Europea, Linn. 2 98 280 hern > common Olive, European Inula Helenium, Linn. 1 26 64 | Fraxinus Ornus, Linn. 3 209 589 Elecampane ? Solidago Bs cote Linn. oS oe L. ASCLEPIADE&, Br. saat gg a8 3 Asclepias Vincetoxi Linn. pres ‘mon Field £9 a epias ince xicum, Linn. 2 98. 268 7 icin (Cynanchum Vincetoxicum, (Pers.) Matricaria Parthen m, Linn. 30. 73 ow: ye, om: Lee (Hein Prthsniuen {Sei sli: » affict Syst. Veg. iti. 586) LI. APOCYNESA, Br. Anthemis nobilis Linn. 1 19 47 | Strychnos Nux-vomica, Linn. ; ie vives yee neti § Spain, or Spanish Vomie or Poison nut an ie I 1 20 50 LU. GENTIANES, Juss. Ca » common A ‘ 2 9 273 Achillzwa seeuiiems Linn, Weed Sugguecrcterrmede 3 5 148 Milfoil, or common Yarrow Gentian, yellow Leontodon Taraxacum, Linn. 1 16 39 | Gentiana purpurea, Linn, 2 94 271 Dandelion, common Gentian, Lactuca virosa, Linn. 1 31 7 | Chironia Centaurium, Smith 2:06. 275 , wild, strong-scented (Centaurium Erythrea, (Pers.) Spreng. Cichorium Intybus, Linn. aoe Syst. Veg. i. 579.) Succory, wild, or blue Ci Menyanthes trifoliata, Linn. 2 97 277 XLVI. LOBELIACEA, Juss. Water-trefoil, or Buckbean Lobelia siphilitica, Linn. «2-88 249 — rs ees eee. - Cardinal-flower, or blue Lobelia Peay Sr pmrenetel rene XLVII. ERICINEA, Dew. LUI. CONVOLVULUCEA, Juss. Arbutus uva-ursi, Linn. 2 100 287 | Convolvolus Jalappa, Linn. 2 87 246 Bearberry, or trailing arbutus Jalap Bindweed GENERAL LATIN AND ENGLISH INDEX. Lungwort, common Lithospermum officinale, Linn. 2 Gromwell, common LV. SOLANE.®, Juss. Atropa Belladonna, Linn. 2 ele deadly é Atropa Mandragora, Li 2 (fender ovat ne bert .) Spr. ‘eka Solanum Dulcamara, Linn. ; m Nightshade, woody : Solanum nigrum, Zinn. 2 Nightshade, garden Physalis Alkekengi, Linn. 2 Winter-cherry, common Capsicum Annuum, Linn. 2 Guinea pepper or annual Capsicum Hyoscyamus niger, Linn. | Henbane, black Nicotiana Tabacum, Linn. 2 Tobacco, Virginian , Datura Stramonium, Linn. 2 Thorn-apple, common Verbascum Thapsus, Linn. 2 Mullein, great, broad-leaved LVI. ANTIRRHINE. Gratiola officinalis, Linn. 2 Hedge Hyssop Tab. 86 106 Vol. Convolvulus Scammonea, Zinn. 2 Scammony Bindweed LIV. BORAQUIE, Juss. Anchusa tinctoria, Linn. - Alkanet, or Dyer’s Bugloss Anchusa officinalis, Linn. Alkanet, or officinal Bugloss Cynoglossum officinale, Zinn. ~ 2 tongue, common Borago officinalis, Linn. 2 age, common Symphytum officinale, Linn. 2 Comfrey, common . Pulmonaria officinalis, Linn. 2 82 131 Page. 243 314 Vol. Scrophularia nodosa, Linn. Figwort, knobby-rooted Digitalis purpurea, Linn. 2 Foxglove, com: Antirthinum Linaria, Linn. (Linaria vulgaris, (Bauh.) Spreng. Syst. ii. 796) -flax, common Tab. Page. ll 78 42 218 136 371 LVI. shiNANPACE De Cand. Veronica Beccabunga, Linn. 2 132 363 Brooklime, speedwell Veronica officinalis, Linn. 2 133 366 Veronica, officinal, or male Speed- well 134 117 Euphrasia officinalis, Linn. — 2 Eyebright, common LVIII. LABIAT A, Juss. Rosmarinus officinalis, Linn. 2 Rosemary, common Salvia officinalis, Linn. 2 Sage, garden Teucrium Marum, Linn. Herb Mastich, Syrian,or Marum Germander Teucrium Chamedrys, Linn, 2 G ', common Teucrium Scordium, Linn. 2 nder, wa: = Mentha Piperita, Linn. 2 Peppermint Mentha Viridis, Linn. 2 Spear-mint Mentha Pulegium, Linn. 2 Pi int se Hyssopus officinalis, Linn. - Se yssop, common Lavandula Spica, Linn. 2 Lavender, common . Glechoma hederacea, Linn. 2 Gill, or Ground I Betonica officinalis, oe 2 Betony, wood oo Marrubium vulgare, Linn. 2 Horehound, common white GENERAL LATIN AND ENGLISH INDEX. Vol. Tab. Page. 2 125 34 Thymus vulgaris, Linn. Tee | 7 Thyme, common garden Thymus cha Linn. 2 126 350 Mother yme, or wild Thyme Origanum vag, Linn. 123 344 Marjora Origanum Majoras, Linn. 2 124 345 Marjoram, sweet Origanum Dictamnus, Linn. 2 129 356 any of Crete : Melissa officinalis, Linn. 2.119334 Balm, common LIX. VERBENACEJ/E. Verbena officinalis, Linn. 2 133 364 Vervain com Vitex Agnus-castus, Linn. 2 137 373 Chaste-tree : LX. PLANTAGINE, Juss. Plantago major, Linn. | eager: Saba =: ‘aybread, or common Plantain : LXI. CHENOPODE, Juss. Salsola Kali, Linn. 4° 227 650 Saltwort, prickly Chenopodium Vulvaria, Linn. 4 228 656 (Chenopodium olidum, (Sm.) Spreng. yst. Veg. i. Orache, or stinking Goosefoot LXII. POLYGONEA, Juss. esos Bistorta, Linn. 4 232 668 nake-weed, or greater Bistort = uines Acetosa, Linn. 230 660 orrel, common = ee Linn. 4 229 658 ia tes Se Linn.* 4 231 662 Rhubarb, officinal Rheum undulatum, Linn. 5 81 Rhubarb, Chinese, or wave-leaved The Rheum Australe, Don. Prodr. Fi. of "Sweets nip onthe besos contra i. oh “Ahscd = iste is given) is now ascertained " Laurus Camphora, Linn. LXIT. LAURINEA, Juss. Vol. Tab. Page. 4 235 678 Laurus Hobilis, Linn. Sweet Bay, com Laurus Cinnamomun, Linn. 4 233 670 Cinnamon-tree Laurus Sassafras, Linn. Sassafras tree Laurus Cassia, Linn. PO... OS Cassia-tree 4 236 681 Camphor-tree LXIV. MYRISTICEA, R. Br. Myristica Moschata, Thunb. 4 238 698 Nutmeg-tree “LXV. THYMELEA, Juss. Daphne Mezereum, Linn. 4 245 717 Mezereon LXVI. SANTALACE, R. Br. Santalum album, Burm. 2 99° 280 Sirium my yrlifolium, Linn. Mant. § Roxburgh.Santalum myrtifolium, se ae syst. Veg. i. 489.) Saunders, white or yellow LXVII. re os USS. Asarum Europeum, Linn. 170 Asarabacca, c Aristolochia Serpentaria, Linn. 1, 59.158 irthwort, snakeroot Aristolochia longa, Linn. 2) 60: 15% Birthwort, long-rooted — Aristolochia Clematitis, Zinn. 1 61 159 irthwort, fares. EUPHORBIACE, ie uss. Euphorbia ennaicrs Linn. lutia Eluteria, Linn. 633 Cascarilla Cluti ascarilla, Linn. ‘x 222 629 Cascarilla, or willow-leaved Croton — Croton Tiglium, Linn. eDes 22.:,.73 Croton, purging GENERAL LATIN AND ENGLISH INDEX. Vol. Tab. Ricinus communis, Linn. 3 221 Palma Christi tree 4 Siphonia elastica, Pers 4 224 India-rubber, or elastic Resin-tree LXIX. URTICEA, Juss. Urtica Dioica, Linn. 4 241 Nettle, common _ Parietaria officinalis, Linn. 4 239 Pellitory of the Wall Humulus Lupulus, Linn. 5 26 Hop Ficus Carica, Linn. 4 244 Fig-tree, common Dorstenia Contrajerva, Linn 4 240 Contrayerva Morus nigra, Linn 4 243 Mulberry-tree, common LXX. PIPERACE. Piper nigrum, Linn. 4 246 bl. > Piper Cubeba, Linn 5 27 Cubebs, or Java pepper Piper longum, Linn. 4 247 Pepper, long LXXI. ULMACEA, Rich. Ulmus campestris, Linn. 4 242 Elm, common LXXIl. AMENTACE, Juss. Salix alba, Linn. 5 4 Willow, common white Salix fragilis, Linn. (Sir J. E. Smith suspects that this is the Salix Russelliana of English Botany, tab. 1808) 0 1 8 te Robur, Willd. Sk ee. , common “rie infectoria, Oliv. ~ 5 4 Oak, staining Page. 624 710 ~ Juglans regia, Linn. Walnut-tree, common LXXIil. eines oc Juss. Pinus eyhrestria, Linn. 1 Fir, Scotch Pinus Abies, Linn. 1 2 Fir, Norway Spruce Pinus Picea, Linn. ' 1 3, Fir, silver inus Larix, 1 4 Larch, common white Pinus Balsamea, Linn 5 1 Fir, Balm of Gilead Juniperus communis, Linn, 1 6 Juniper, common Juniperus Sabina, Linn. vin, common Juniperus Lycia, Linn. 1 7 Lycian Juniper, or Cedar LXXIV. ORCHIDEZ, IR 264 Orchis mascula, Linn. @~chis, male LXXV. IRIDEA, Juss. Tris Florentina, Linn. 4 262 Oris, Florentine Iris Iris Pseudacorus, Linn. 4 263 Flag, yellow water Crocus sativus, Linn. 4 269 Saffron Crocus LXXVI. SCITAMIN EX. Amonum Zinziber, Linn. 4 250 (Zinziber officinale, (Rosc.) Spreng. Syst. Veg. i. 12) Ginger, na eaved Amomum repens, Sonnerat, vel Car- damomum, 4 261 255, tab. 4,5. Alpinia Cardam. (Rozxb.) Spreng. syst. Veg. i. 14) Cardamom, officinal Vol. Tab, Page. 1s: 80-220 GENERAL LATIN AND ENGLISH INDEX. Vol. Tab. Page. Gessbnk ong, Linn. 4 252 737 Tu ¢, long-rooted & ites: otatide, Linn, 4 253 740 Zedoary LXXVIL SMILACEZ, R, Br. ' Convallaria Polygmatum, Zinn. 4 261 774 Solomon’s Seal, common Smilax Sarsaparilla, Linn. 1 62 161 Sarsaparilla Smilax Smilax China, Linn. 1 63 164 Smilax, Chinese Ruscus aculeatus, Linn 166 Butcher's-broom, or Knee-holly LXXVITI. LILIACEA, De Cand. Lilium candidum, Linn. 4 254 743 Lily, common white Allium sativum, Linn. 4 256 749 Garlic, common cultivated Scilla TE Linn 4 255 745 Squill, officinal, or sea-onion Aloe seifllata; socotorina, De Cand.4 260 767 (Aloe mia saree ) Spreng. syst. - g. ii. 73) Alve, Soco Aloe sap De Shue 5 28 98 Aloe, com LXXIX. COLCHICACEA, De Cand. Colchicum autumnale, Linn. 4° 258 769 Meadow-saffron, common Veratrum album, Linn. to - Veratrum, or white Hellebore LXXX. PALMA, Juss. Rotang, Linn. 4 265 785 (Calamus petreus, (Loureiro) Spreng . Veg. ~LXXXtI. AROIDEAS, Juss. Arum maculatum, Zinn. = 4.249727 Wake-Robin, or common Arum Vol. Tab. Acorus Calamus, Linn. 4 248 Sweet-flag, or Acorus LXXXITI. GRAMINEA. Juss. Triticum hybernum, Linn. 5 29 Wheat, Lammas, or Winter Hordeum distichon, Linn. 5-20 Barley, common Avena sects Linn. 62-329 Oat, ee at "plisioanen Linn. 4 266 Sugar-cane, éommon LXXXIIl. FILICES, Juss. Polypodium vulgare, Linn. 4 268 Polypody, common sft Polypodium Filix, mas. Zinn. 4° 267 (Aspidium Filia mas. (Sw.) Spreng. Syst. Veg. iv. 105) ~ Polypody male, or com. male Fern Asplenium Scolopendrium, Linn. 4 269 -Hart’s-tongue ; Asplenium Trichomanes, Zinn. 4 270 Spleenwort, or com. Maiden’s-hair Page. 725 795 799 801 LXXXIV. LICHENES, De Cand. Lichen Islandicus, Linn. (Cetraria Islandica, Acharius) Lichen, eryngo-leaved Lichen caninus, Linn 4 (Pettidea canina, Acharius} Liverwort, ash-coloured ground Roccella tinetoria, Achar. 5° Ss Orchal, or Dyer’s-moss : 4 271 LXXXYV. FUNGI, De Cand. Boletus igniarius, Linn. 4 273 Jouchwood Agaric, or Boletus LXXXVI. ALG. _ Fucus vesiculosus, Linn. 5 B . . ch, or Fucus. FINIS. 272 803, iil IN ONE VOLUME, ROYAL FOLIO, With 28 finely engraved plates by W. Hooker, from Drawings by F. Bauer, DIGITALIUM MONOGRAPHIA, SISTENS HISTORIAM BOTANICAM GENERIS, TABULIS OMNIUM SPECIERUM ILLUSTRATAM, AD ICONES FERDINANDI BAUERI, PENES GUIL. CATTLEY, ARM. CURA JOANNIS LINDLEY, SOC. LINN. ET HORT. SODAL. Price, plain 11. 11s. 6d., or beautifully coloured 31. 3s., being half the original ubseription Price.