DIPTERACEiE. 



same effect as Balsam of Copaiva upon the mucous membranes. 

 Hence it is recommended in cases of secondary gonorrhoea, when all 

 symptoms of inflammation have gone off. 



Other species of Dipterocarpus and some Shoreas yield the substance 

 known in India as Wood-oil, a thin liquid balsam, much used in paint- 

 ing ships, houses, &c. ; but I do not find them spoken of medicinally. 



DRYOBALANOPS. 



Calyx leathery, 5-parted ; segments equal. Petals convoluted 

 in aestivation. Stamens numerous ; their filaments consolidated in 

 2 rows into a cylindrical fleshy tube longer than the ovary; anthers 

 almost sessile on the tube, linear, mucronate. Ovary superior, 

 3-celled ; ovules 2 in each celh, pendulous ; style filiform ; stigma 

 obscurely 3-lobed, papillose. Calyx of the fruit cup-shaped, 

 with the foliaceous permanent divisions equal, distant and much 

 shorter than the 3-valved nut. 



291. D. aromatica Gcertn. Blume Fl. Jav. sub Dipteroc. 

 p. 6. — Shorea camphorifera Roxb. Ji. ind. ii. 616. D. Cam- 

 phora Colebrooke As. research, xii. 535. Jiff. Jack in Comp. Bot. 

 mag. i. 264;. (Grimm, ephem. nat. cur. dec. ii. 1683 obs. 163. 

 p. 371. Houtt. verhandel. van. te holl. maatsch. te Haarl. 1784. 

 xxi. p. 266-274. t. 8.) — Sumatra and Borneo. 



A large tree. Upper leaves alternate, lower opposite, all elliptical, ob- 

 tusely acuminate, entire, smooth, with strong pinnated veins, 3-7 inches 

 long, 1-2 broad ; their petioles short. Stipules in pairs, deciduous. 

 Nut 1-celled, 3-valved, woody, fibrous, seated in a permanent hemi- 

 spherical calyx whose segments are enlarged, equal, spathulate, rigid, 

 reflexed, very distant at the base, and much shorter than the nut. — The 

 trunk contains both oil and camphor in a cavity or cavities occupying 

 the centre of the tree. The camphor-oil is supposed to be the incipient 

 condition of the camphor itself; the latter is found in pieces as long as 

 a man's arm, weighing from 1 1 to 12 lbs. 



This kind of Camphor is extremely valuable, bnt on account of its 

 high price, it does not find its way to Europe ; it is chiefly exported 

 to China and Japan, where it is highly valued for its stimulant tonic 

 properties. It is obtained from fissures in the bark and wood, as well 

 as by means of incisions; the texture is much firmer than that of com- 

 mon camphor, and therefore it is not volatilised by exposure to the air. 

 Hence it is much slower in its operation medicinally than common 

 camphor, but much more durable and certain. Blume. 



The botanical account of this rare plant is made up in part from the 

 writings of Gcertner, Blume and Colebrooke, and partly from dried flowers 

 given me by the late Mr. Colebrooke. It is no doubt a genus quite dis- 

 tinct from Dryobalanops, as Dr. Blume, who had not examined the 

 flowers, has rightly asserted. The figure in S. and C. iii. t. 170 can hardly 

 be intended for this ; I therefore do not quote it. 



292. Shorea robusta Roxb. yields the resinous substance 

 called Dammer in India, used for various economical purposes ; 

 not used so far as I know in medicine. 



146 



