BOTANIC MATERIA MEDICA, 247 
- aromatic odor of the plant, and which is con- 
sidered a mixture of the many constituents of 
the fruit. When pure, apiol and apiin form in 
needle like crystals. The fruit of the parsley 
and its constituents are stimulating, diuretic. 
carminative and emmenagogue in their effects. 
Little used as a remedy except in form of Apiol, 
the dose of which is from 3 to 8 drops. The 
name is derived from the Greek petra, a rock, 
and se/ium, native place. 
Pimenta. Pimento, Pimenta Officinalis, or 
Eugenia Pimenta. Common names Allspice, 
Jamaica Pepper, etc.—Natural order Myrtacee. 
Native of the West India Islands. This ever- 
green and handsome tree attains the height of 
20 or 30 feet; adorned with a dense foliage, al- 
though the leaves vary much in size and shape. 
The majority of them are four inches long, el- 
liptical in shape and obtusely pointed at the 
apex; external surface of a handsome shining 
green and having many nerves or veins visible 
to the naked eye; flowers small and arranged 
in panicles; they are succeeded by a globular 
fruit or berry 4% inch in diameter, crowned by 
a persistent calyx. Allspice, as they occur in 
commerce, are of a dark-brown color, varying 
in size from a buckshot to a pea, with a peri- 
carp or woody shell, two-celled, each cell hold- 
ing a seed somewhat kidney-shape in outline. 
The fruit or berry of the Pimento contains gum, 
sugar, tannin, fat, resin, a volatile and a fixed 
oil. The medical virtues lie in the stimulant 
and stomachic properties. Rarely prescribed 
alone, but given in doses of 8 to 20 grains in 
