BOTANIC MATERIA MEDICA, 131 
petals, ten stamens, calyx five-parted; the style 
and stigma simple, fruit a fleshy capsule, of a 
red color and with five sides, each partition con- 
taining a seed. Guaiacum Wood, or Lignum 
Vite, as it is sometimes called, from its extreme 
hardness or from the virtues said to be hidden 
within its wood for the cure of disease. It oc- 
curs in commerce in chunks or logs; in the stores 
in chips or raspings left by the turners of the 
wood. When fortunate enough to find a billet 
or log, you can see with the naked eye the yel- 
lowish sap wood, many concentric rings or cir- 
cles of resin cells, also many narrow pith rays. 
There are several species of the Guaiacum tree, 
which are no donbt substituted for the officinal 
variety. The chips, as they occur in the stores, 
are of moderate weight, of green and bronze 
color, occasionally intermingled with some gray 
pieces of bark. The Guaiacum strikes a green 
color with the spirits of nitre or with nitric acid. 
The wood contains a large proportion of resin 
(which will be spoken of under the head of 
resins), gum and a bitter pungent substance 
which has not been isolated as yet. Its me- 
dicinal effects are alterative and diaphoretic, — 
rarely given alone, but enters into composition 
with sarsaparilla; decoction sarsaparilla co. and 
Syrupus sarsez comp., which are recognized offi- 
cinal p-eparations. 
Hematoxylon, Logwood, Hezmatoxylon 
Campechianum.—Natural order Leguminose 
Papilionacee. This forest tree is a native of 
Central America and naturalized in the West 
India Islands; found first on the shores of Cam- 
peachy and Honduras Bays in tropical America. 
