70 ARBUTUS UVA URSI. 
The Uva ursi was probably known to the an- 
cients, as it grows in all the southern parts of Eu- 
rope. Clusius thinks it was the apurov oraduay of 
Galen, celebrated by him as a remedy in hemop- 
tysis, and described as follows. “Uva ursi in 
Ponto nascitur, planta humilis et fruticosa, folio 
Memeecyli, fructum ferens rubrum, rotundum, 
gustu austerum.” But it is well known that the 
brief and imperfect descriptions of the ancients 
were productive of little else than uncertainty in 
Botany. 
In modern times the Uva ursi was brought 
into notice about the middle of the eighteenth 
century by De Haen, as an efficient remedy in 
nephritic and even in calculous cases. It had 
been previously in use for these complaints in 
Spain, at Naples and Montpellier, and as a gener- 
al astringent, at a still earlier period. Its reputa- 
tion was still further augmented by subsequent 
dissertations, published upon its properties, and 
different sets of experiments were instituted to 
ascertain if it were not actually capable of dissoly- 
ing the stone of the bladder. The results most in 
favour of its solvent power were those of Girardi, 
who diminished the weight and consistency of uri- 
nary calculi, by digesting them in a preparation 
of this plant. It appears however that the prep- 
