. MEDICAL BOTANY. 
12. 
- 
form, and its size is that of a small pea. It bursts commonly so that one side is higher than the other, and the seg- 
age ga nape always of seven petals, which are oval, obtuse, concave, erect, white, have small veins, and 
are of an unequal size, the largest scarcely four lines long; they very soon fade, and drop off almost as soon as the 
Os denis are from fifteen to thirty, and are placed on the flat end side of the receptacle ; they are much 
shorter than the petals, and gradually decrease in length towards the sides. 
“The anthere are large, oval, longitudinally divided into two, or as if each was made up of two oblong antheras. 
“The germina are from three to six, placed above the receptacle, turbinated, or of the shape of an inverted fig, 
flat on the inside, and somewhat higher than the stamina; they have no styles, but terminate in a stigma, which js 
divided into two or three small lobes.” Soe ; 
The fruit was not seen by Dr. Solander ii a ripe state, but in the immature condition, is described as constituted 
of germs of a thick fleshy substance, becoming unilocular seed-vessels, and containing the rudiments of seeds, as in the 
generic account. 
Captain Wallis stated that the trees are of various sizes, according to the soil they grow upon, and their situation. 
Those near the sea and in rocky ground were scrubby, the bark sticking close to the wood, and having a dirty look; 
those on the plain ground, and sheltered, were straight and tall, rising to thirty or forty feet, and as thick as a middle 
sized man. The bark is smooth, and somewhat resembling the horse chestnut. In the neighbourhood of Port Famine 
it is abundant. It flowers in March, which is the commencement of the fall. 
The bark attracted the attention of navigators from its warm, spicy, aromatic properties, and in the treatment of 
scorbutic disease, which broke out in vessels going into the Straits of Magellan, was a valuable auxiliary. It is rarely 
brought into the market as a drug, but is sometimes confounded with the Canella alba, from which it differs in colour, 
as it is pale yellowish or dull reddish-gray, with elliptical dull brown spots externally, and brown internally. It has 
an aromatic odour, and a warm bitterish taste. | 
It contains resin, volatile oil, and tannin, which last serves likewise to distinguish between it and Canella, as the 
chemical evidences are present in one case and not in the other. 
The medical properties of it are those of an aromatic and tonic. From its sensible properties it was confounded 
with Canella alba. The medical uses are the same. 
_ Some confusion is apparent among the authors who have treated of the tree, with respect to its name; hence the — 
different appellations by which it has been described. The term Winterana Aromatica was bestowed by Linneus, in 
commemoration of its discoverer ; in so doing, however, he mistook it for the Canella Alba, and gave the account of 
the fructification of that plant. Browne, however, had stamped that genus with the name of Canella. Foster having 
obtained the parts of fructification, gave to the plant the name of Drimys Winteri, from its hot and pungent flavour. 
Murray, in his Linn. Syst. Veg., gave the generic name Wintera, which he preferred to the original Linnzan one, and 
finally De Candolle has adopted the name of Foster, in imitation of Lamarck. 
- Lamarck a species has been made which he calls D. punctata, but which by De Candolle is regarded as a— 
ety. 
PLATE V.—Represents the plant in flower. 
DRIMYS CHILENSIS. 
ae DE CANDOLLE. 
THE WINTER'S BARK OF CHILI. 
Sprcrr, a : 
st thee Leaves oblong, obovate, glaucous beneath ; peduncles crowded, one-flowered, or arising from @ 
nine, oblong sub-obtuse. Berries oval, subcompressed, obtuse. De Candolle, 
