BOTANIC PHYSICIAN, 
|  Nurmae. Php fet. oe 
Nut _is used in medicine as a grateful aromatic, astringent 
c achic : hence it is often administered in diarrhoeas and 
2s, in doses from ten to twenty grains in powder, or in 
ger quantities when infused in port wine. In violent headachs 
sing from a debilitated stomach, small doses of this medicine ~ 
a quently been found of real service: but, if injudiciously 
ed, it is apt to affect the head not unlike opium. == 
Nanny Busn. The bark. 
fexa ¢ shrub known by this common name, grows in most parts of 
_ New York, and probably throughout the United States. I know 
of no other name than the above for it, except black haw. = = 
- It tises from five to eight feet high; bark very rough, and of a 
dark gray; leaves long; berries hang in clusters, and turn black. 
after frost. It grows in marshes and low pastures. 
The bark is an excellent tonic, isconsidered superior to the Peru- 
vian bark, and may be used for all the purposes to which that is 
applied. ; 
| Oax. Quercus.Robur. The bark. ee 
_ "The bark of this valuable tree is a strong astringent, and possesses 
tonic and antiseptic virtues. White oak bark exceeds in astrin- 
gency the Peruvian bark, and falls but little, if any, short of it, in its 
tonic powers. Hence we have a ——s cee substiuute for 
ravian bark, which is successfully emplo: in hemorrhages, 
but the last is preferable. It has been used successfully in mter-: 
mittents. ' 
In checking gangrene, it has succeeded when Peruvian bark failed. 
It was given in decoction in very large quantities, and the affected 
‘part was constantly kept wet with the same decoction. 
eee 
Oats. Avena Sativa. . 
‘When deprived of their husks and formed into groats, oats are 
converted into an excellent dish for the infirm and diseased. When. 
ground into meal, and boiled in water, they afford a thick and nou- 
rishing mucilage, which with the addition of a few currants, is very 
wholesome and produces a mildly laxative effect. Gruels ordecoc- 
tions of groats or oat meal, either plain, acidified or sweetened, form — 
an éxcellent drink in febrile diseases, diarrhoea, dysentery, &c. 
and from their demulcent properties, prove useful in inflammator 
disorders, coughs, hoarseness, roughness and ulceration of the fau- 
ces. 
