430 ILLUSTRATION OF THE BOTANY OF [ Equisetacee. 
Though not possessed of any very marked properties, some have been used in medi- 
cine from very early times, as they are mentioned by Theophrastus and Dioscorides ; 
and it is curious to find many still so employed in India, no doubt owing, in a great 
measure, to the Persian translations, from the Arabic version of Greek authors being 
chiefly in use among the Mahomedan practitioners of India. This is evident from the 
names which are applied to the drugs procurable in the bazars, as Iskoolikundrion, evi- 
dently intended for Scolopendrium, Doonditarus for Dryopieris ; while others are known 
by their Asiatic names, as Surkhus and Bisfay ; the former having Bitarus or Pteris 
as its Greek synonyme, while the latter has budookunboon, much changed by the errors 
of transcribers, as its meaning is stated to be many-footed, and, therefore, no doubt 
intended a Polypodium. In properties the rhizomes of different Ferns resemble each 
sry considerably, and may be substituted one for the other; they abound in 
mucilage, s some in fecula, tannin, and volatile oil, on which their virtues principally 
depend, whence they are employed as mild astringents, tonics, and anthelmintics; 
and some, as Polypodium Calaguala, &c. as diaphoretics; others are fragrant, as 
Angiopteris erecta, and Aspidium fragrans, in Peru. In India the rhizomes, or the dried 
fronds, are given for the above-mentioned officinal Ferns of the Greeks. These are 
usually procured from Caubul, but they might be more easily obtained, and of as good 
quality, from the Himalayas. Some of the species indigenous in India are also 
employed in medicine, as Asplenium radiatum, called by the natives in Northern India 
Mor-punkhee, or peacock’s fan. It is curious also to find among the species empioyed, 
Adiantum Capilius Veneris, which we have seen is indigenous in the Himalayas, as well 
as in Europe, and that Shuer-al-jin, or fairy’s hair, should be one of its names ; 
though Mobarkha and Hunsraj are its common appellations in India, where it is employed 
asyan expectorant. Purescoshan and Bulootingen, names attached to it in the Persian 
works on Materia Medica, seem only to be corruptions of eer vin and Polytrichun, 
by which it was s formerly known, 
198. EQUISETACEZ.. 
The Equisetacee, named from the single genus which the order contains, are unde- 
termined with respect to their affinity to any existing families of plants, but form a 
gigantic tribe in the Fossil Flora. Dr. Lindley remarks, that in arrangement and 
appearance of reproductive organs, they resemble Zamia, and in general aspect Casua- 
rina; and that they approach Conifere more closely than any thing else, of which 
he considers’ them a degeneration, through Cycadacee. He accordingly places them 
following Taxacee, at the end of the class of Gymmnosperms. The Equisetacee are, 
however, usually placed among Cryptogamic plants, to the germination of which, 
approaching nearly to that of Aosses, theirs is similar. 
The Equisetacee, few in number, and small in stature, are distributed throughout 
many parts of the world, chiefly in the northern hemisphere, though FE. elongatum 
extends to Mauritius, Bourbon, and Southern Africa. A few are found in the hot 
parts, 
