94 MALVACE^, 



been kept hng, or not very dry. Under such conditions, the asparagin 

 gradually disappears, and the root then yields a brownish decoction, 

 sometimes having a disagreeable odour of butyric acid. There is no 

 doubt that a protein-substance here acts as a ferment. The sections of 

 the root when touched with ammonia or caustic lye should display a 

 bright yellow, not a dingy brown, colour. 



The peeled root dried at lOO"" C. and incinerated afforded us 4'88 of 

 ash, rich in phosphates. 



Uses — Althsea is taken as a demulcent; it is sometimes also applied 

 as an emollient poultice. It is far more largely used on the continent 

 than in Enirland 



FRUCTUS HIBISCI ESCULENTI. 



Capsulae Hihisci esmlenti; Uehka, Ohro, 0km, Bendi-hai^; 



F. Gomho (in the French Colonies). 



Botanical Ovigm—Hihiscus esculentush, (Abelmoschus escitlentus 

 Quill et Pew.) an herbaceous annual plant 2 to 3 or even 10 feet higli. 

 indigenous to the Old World.^ It has been found growing abundantly 

 wild on the White Nile by Schweinfurth, and also in 1861 by Col. 

 Grant m Unyoro, 2^ N. lai, near the lake Victoria Nyanza, where it is 

 known to the natives as Bameea. 



The plant is now largely cultivated in several varieties in all tropical 



countries. 



History— The Spanish Moor 



tinted 

 name 



umt iL nas m Persian at the present da,Y—Bdmiyah. Abul-Abbas eJ- 



V n 1 .; r"" i'^*'^,^ "^ ^^^^"^ ^e^^nc'3 in plants, who visited Egypt /« 

 A.D lil{, descrihes^ in unmistakeable terras the form of the plant, its 

 seeds and fruit, which last he remarks is eaten when young and tender 

 with meat by the Egyptians. The plant was figured among Egytian 

 plants m lo92 by Prosper Alpinus/ who mentions its uses as an ex- 

 ternal emollient. 



.nrJ^'y P^'^^.^f ^d f^ui^^s as imported from Arabia Felix were kno^yn for 

 some time (about the year 1848) in Europe as Nafe of the Arabs. 

 They are noticed in the present work from the circumstance that they 

 nave a place m the P7;r/v....,.^..^."„ .i- r.. .7 • . 



.n ,"^^"/Ption--The fruit is a thin capsule, 4 to 6 or more inches long 

 vPcL r^ T T^ ^^ diameter, oblong, pointed, with 5 to 7 ridges co- 

 le ponding to the valves and cells, each of which latter contains a suig 



min.?f.r''l T'^i ^^ '^ ^^^^^^^ ^ith rough hairs and is green ^ 

 CXt r "" ^'"'^ ' '^ ^'''' "^ ^l^g^% sweet mucilaginous taste and 

 ::^:S:^r^^'f^:. ^ --y ^t^- P^- ts of ?he orde. imscus 



l^ insipid mncilage. 



SclSu'rth'^A't O/. '"'"'"'^^"S ^'^ '^'^S. Beiatley and Trhnen, ^^''• 



names for the" Dlanf in tK^"^ f*^''^*^™^" P?an^ part 35 (1878). ,.iou,'- 



o'ina,. .ji^rc;^ *e s»- ^- - -i,r- v»., >« cap. ^- 



