TREES IN MEDICINE 



653 



is a bitter tonic, 

 and its infu- 

 sion is used to 

 kill intestinal 

 parasites. 



Cinnamon, 

 used more as a 

 flavor than as 

 a medicinal 

 agent, is the 

 bark of a tree, 

 the Ciniianio- 

 iiuiiii Zcylani- 

 cirm, found in 

 Ceylon. Ben- 

 zoin, a gum- 

 resin, used in 

 medicine as an 

 inhalant, and 

 containinjg va- 

 nillin and ben- 

 zoic acid, is ob- 

 tained by incis- 

 ing the bark of 

 the S t y r a x 

 benzoin, a tree 

 of considerable size, 

 native to Sumatra and 

 Java. 



Resin of guaiac, 

 used in gout, rheuma- 

 tism and sore throat, is 

 obtained from the heart- 

 wood of the Giiaiacum 

 officinale, or Lignum 

 vitcc, a native of the 

 West Indies and the 

 north coasts of South 

 America, which grows 

 to a height of 20 or 30 

 feet. One of the most 

 useful and delicate tests 



a gift to the 



Messiah by the 

 Magi. It was 

 valued by the 

 ancients as a 

 perfume, and 

 w a s used by 

 the Egyptians 

 in embalming. 

 Myrrh is a 

 gum-r e s i n, a 

 product of the 

 Balsaniod en- 

 dron Myrrh, a 

 small t r ee 

 which grows in 

 Eastern Africa 

 and Arabia. It 

 is little used in 

 medicine nowa- 

 days, except as 

 a n application 

 in certain con- 

 ditions of the 

 gums. A curi- 

 ous survival is 

 the ancient custom, dat- 

 ing back at least to the 

 time of Edward I, of 

 presenting to the King 

 of England on the feast 

 of the Epiphany, gold, 

 frankincense and 

 myrrh, the ceremony 

 taking place in the 

 Chapel Royal. 



These are some of 

 the medicinal uses of 

 substances obtained 

 from trees. Much re- 

 mains to be done in the 

 cultivation and con- 

 fer the identification of blood is performed with the aid servation of medicine-bearing trees, for there are many 

 of an alcoholic solution of guaiac. species whose existence is threatened by the present hap- 



Myrrh, with gold and frankincense, was brought as hazard and wasteful methods of obtaining their products. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY PRINT EXPLOITING QUASSIA 



The bark of the Quassia amara, a South American shrub which is now used as a bitter tonic and an infusion of 

 which is used to kill intestinal parasites, was believed in England in the eighteenth century to have almost every 

 medicinal property. The print indicates that it cured apoplexy, palsy, constipation, debility, colic, stupor, dropsy, 

 scurvy, dysentery, and other ailments. 



CRUSHING MEDICINAL TREE PRODUCTS 



In this etching of a drug store, in the year 1536, described by Otto Brunfels of Mayence, 

 Germany, in his book "The Reformation of Pharmacy," the drug clerk is seen crushing in 

 a large iron mortar some tree product used medicinally. 



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