Natural History, fyc. 639 



Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, attributes the 

 cause of apples becoming russet to the alternating temperature, light, 

 shade, dryness, and moisture, which occur many times in the course 

 of a day, when July or August are showery. Continued rain, pre- 

 ceded and followed by a cloudy sky, does not seem to produce the 

 same effect, but the sudden intense light which commonly succeeds 

 a shower at the time the fruit is wet, injures the skin, and occasions 

 small cracks, like the net-work upon a melon. 



7. MEDICINAL USE AND EFFECT OF THE AYA ROOT. 



The intoxicating property of the Ava root, the cutaneous eruption 

 which succeeds its use, and the renovating effect it has upon the 

 constitution, have been noticed ever since the discovery of the So- 

 ciety Islands. Mr. Collie, late surgeon of H. M. S. Blossom, in her 

 voyage to the Pacific, observes that * a course of it is most beneficial 

 in renovating the constitutions which have been worn out by hard 

 living, long residence in warm climates, without, however, affections 

 of the liver, and by protracted chronic diseases ; more especially, if 

 the disorder be such as by humoral pathologists would be attributed 

 to an acrid or attenuated state of the blood.' He had an opportunity 

 of seeing a gentleman, a foreigner, who had undergone a course of 

 it, to remove a cutaneous affection, said to have been similar to St. 

 Anthony's fire. It had affected, at different times, almost every part 

 of the body, going from one place to another, but had been particu- 

 larly obstinate in one leg. He took two doses a day, of half a pint 

 each, one before breakfast, and one before dinner, by which his 

 appetite was sharpened, and by the time he had finished his meal, 

 a most pleasing state of half intoxication had come on, so that he 

 was just able to go to his couch, where he enjoyed a sound and re- 

 freshing sleep. About the second or third week the eyes became 

 suffused with blood, and the cuticle around them began to peel ; and 

 then the whole surface of the body assumed the appearance above 

 described. The first dose is continued for a week, or so, according 

 to the disease, and then gradually left off. The skin clears at the 

 same time, and the whole system is highly benefited. 



Mr. Collie administered the ava, and had an opportunity of seeing 

 its first effects upon a man affected with chronic superficial ulcera- 

 tion, affecting the greater part of the toes, and the anterior part of 

 the soles of the feet ; and from what he observed, he had no hesita- 

 tion in saying, that if he could have procured and applied a suitable 

 dressing for the ulcers, with appropriate support to the cedematous 

 extremities, the plan which he adopted would have succeeded ; and 

 even with these disadvantages, he was inclined to think that a cure 

 would be effected if the man abstained from liquor*. 



* Beechey's Voyage to the Pacific and Behring's Straits, Part II. p. 434. 



