648 
SIMARUBEZ. 
same property exists, but in a milder degree, in the rest of the 
order. 
Synopsis of the genera. 
1 Qua’ssta. Flowers hermaphrodite. 
into a tube. Stamens 10. Ovaries 5. 
2 Simarvu'Ba. Flowers monoecious. Petals 5, spreading. 
Stamens 5-10. Ovaries 5. 
3 Sma'sa. Flowers hermaphrodite. 
Stamens 8-10. Ovaries 4-5. 
4 SamMapERA. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals 4. Stamens 
8. Ovaries 4, seated on a stipe-formed torus. 
Petals 5, conniving 
Petals 4-5, spreading. 
+ Genera allied to Simaribee. 
5 Nima. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals 5. Stamens 5. 
Ovaries 5, joined. . 
6 Harrisdn1a. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals 4. Stamens 
8. Ovary simple, tapering to the base. 
I. QUA’SSIA (Quassi, the name of a negro slave who first 
used the bark of Q. amàra as a febrifuge). D. C. diss. ochn. 
mann. mus. 17. p. 423. prod. 1. p. 733. Andr. Juss. in mem. 
aa 12. p. 513. t. 27. no. 44. Quiassia, spec. Lin. Juss. Gert. 
ich. 
Lin. syst. Decdndria, Pentagynia. Flowers hermaphrodite. 
Calyx small, short, 5-parted. Petals 5, much longer than the 
calyx, connected into a tube. Stamens 10, longer than the petals. 
Ovaries 5, seated on a broader gynophore. Styles 5, rather 
distinct at the base, but connected in one towards the top, very 
long, terminated by a 5-furrowed stigma. Fruit 5, drupa- 
ceous.—A tree with alternate, impari-pinnate, smooth leaves, 
quite entire, opposite leaflets, and winged petioles. Flowers 
lar, ge; scarlet, disposed in simple or branched terminal racemes ; 
pedicels jointed a little under the apex, each bearing 2 brac- 
teas. 
1 Q. ama‘ra (Lin. fil. suppl. 235. Lodd. bot. cab. 172. 
Curt. bot. mag. t. 497. Woodv. med. bot. t.77. Lin. amæn. 
acad. 6. p. 421. t. 429.) h. S. Native of Surinam, Guiana, 
Cayenne, Antilles, and the island of Trinidad, in woods. Pe- 
tioles of leaves reddish. Flowers about an inch long. The 
bitter Quéssia is the produce of this tree, whose wood is more 
powerful than any of the other genera belonging to this 
order; but being very rare and of small bulk, its place is 
usually supplied by Simarùba eacélsa. The wood, bark, and 
root are all comprehended in the catalogues of the Materia 
Medica ; and itis observed that the leaves, flowers, &c. possess 
similar qualities. The roots, being perfectly ligneous, may be 
considered ‘medicinally in the same light with the wood, which 
IS now most generally employed, and seems to differ from the 
bark in being less intensely bitter, so that the latter is thought 
to be a more powerful medicine. Qudssia has no sensible odour ; 
its taste is that of pure bitter, more intense and durable than 
that of any other substance, and imparts its virtues more com- 
pletely to watery than to spirituous menstrua, and its infusions 
are not blackened by the addition of partial vitriol. When the 
infusion is evaporated to dryness, it leaves a brownish-yellow, 
somewhat transparent, brittle extract, which has been regarded 
as a vegetable constituent sui generis, and named the bitter prin- 
ciple. (Edinb. phil. trans. 3. p. 207.) 
Qudssia derived its name, as has been already observed, from 
a negro named Quassi (by Termin written Coissi, and by Ro- 
lander Quass) who employed the wood with uncommon success 
as a secret remedy in the malignant, endemic fevers, which fre- 
quently prevailed at Surinam. In consequence of a valuable 
VOL. I. 
I. Quassia. 
II. Simarvsa, 809 
consideration, this secret was disclosed to Daniel Rolander, a 
Swede, who brought specimens of the Quassia-wood to Stock- 
holm in the year 1756; and since that time the effects of this 
drug have been very gencrally tried in Europe, and numerous 
testimonies of its efficacy published by many respectable authors. 
Its antiseptic powers have been submitted to various trials, from 
which it has been concluded that it has considerable influence 
in retarding the tendency to putrefaction; which, in Professor 
Murray’s opinion, cannot be attributed to its sensible qualities, as 
it possesses no astringency whatever, nor to its bitterness, as 
Gentian is much more bitter, but less antiseptic. The medicinal 
virtues ascribed to Qudssia are those of a tonic, stomachic, an- 
tiseptic, and febrifuge ; it has been found very effectual in re- 
storing the tone of the stomach, producing appetite for food, 
assisting digestion, expelling flatulency, and removing habitual 
costiveness, produced from debility of the intestines, common to 
a sedentary life. Dr. Lettsom observes, that in hysterical 
atomy, to which the female sex is so prone, the Qudssia affords 
more vigour and relief to the system than the Peruvian bark, 
especially when united with the vitriolum album, and still more 
with the aid of some absorbent. In dyspepsia, arising from 
hard drinking, and also in diarrhoeas, he exhibited the Qudssia 
with great success. Although he does not concur in opinion 
with Linnaeus, who says, ‘ me quidem judice chinchinam longé 
superat,” yet he has met with several instances of low remittent 
and nervous fevers, the symptoms of which the bark uniformly ag- 
gravated, though administered in intermissions the most favourable 
to its success, in which Qudssia or Snake-root was successfully 
substituted. Dr. Cullen says (Mat. med. vol. 2. p. 174.) “I believe 
Quássia to be an excellent bitter, and that it will do all that any 
pure and simple bitter can do; but our experience of it in this 
country does not lead us to think that it will do more ; and the ex- 
traordinary commendations given are to be ascribed to the partiality 
so often shewn to new medicines.” It is said to have been given, 
combined with nitric acid, with evident benefit in typhus, and also 
in fluor-albus. It may be given in infusion or decoction, which 
is the best form of administering it; or in pills, made from the 
watery extract. The infusion is prepared by macerating for two 
hours, in a lightly covered vessel, a scruple of quassia-wood, 
chipped, in half a pint of boiling water, and straining it. In 
hysteria this may be combined with purgatives and tincture of 
valerian ; in atonic gout, with aromatics ; and in dyspeptic affec- 
tions with chalybeates, sulphate of zinc, or mineral acids. The 
dose is from f. 3j. to f. Ziij.. given twice or thrice a-day. The 
tincture is prepared by digesting for seven days an ounce of 
chips of quassia-wood in two pints of proof spirit, and then 
straining. This may be used in the same cases as the infusion. 
It is asserted that the brewers have, of late years, used quassia- 
wood instead of hops. Beer made with it certainly does not 
keep, says Thompson, but soon becomes muddy and flat, has a 
mawkish taste, and runs into the acetous fermentation. It is 
consequently less nutritious and wholesome than that which is 
properly hopped. Woodv. mat, med. Thompson's lond. disp. 
It subjects those brewers who employ it to a heavy penalty. 
Quassia-wood evidently has a narcotic power, from its being used 
to poison flies. 7 
Bitter Quassia. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1790. Tree 20 feet. 
Cult. Loam and sand is the best mixture for this tree, and 
ripened cuttings, with the leaves not shortened, will root in sand, 
under a hand-glass, in heat. 
II. SIMARU'BA (Simarouba is the Caribbean name of S. offi- 
cinalis). Aubl. guian. 2. p. 856. D.C. prod. 1. p. 733. Andr. 
Juss. in mem, mus. 12. p. 514. t. 27. no. 44. 
Lin. syst. Monoécia, Octo-Decdéndria. Flowers of separate 
5L 
