' AMERICAN ROSE BAY. © 405 
certainly a poison.”—The result of my own 
attention to this shrub does not give reason for 
attaching to it suspicions of possessing a very 
‘deleterious nature. None of its external charae- 
ters would lead to apprehensions of this sort, 
particularly the taste, which is simply astringent 
and herbaceous, and much like that of a common 
oak leaf. I know not what quantity might prove 
injurious, but under the conviction that the plant 
was not particularly dangerous, I have swallowed 
a green leaf of the middle size, so large that it 
required some resolution to masticate so unpala- 
table a morsel, but have found no ill effect what- 
eyer to result from it. 
- Medicinally considered, I think it must be 
ranked among the astringents, a place which both 
its sensible and chemical properties entitle it to 
hold. If it have any narcotic powers, they will 
probably be developed only by an extraordinary 
dose, which few — will be likely to as to 
the test. 
