\t\ MOSCH ATA. 41 



I) 



opinion, and thinks that Comacum (of which there were two 

 kinds, one a fruit, and the other employed for mixing with the 

 most precious ointments) is the fruit of the cinnamon plant, and 

 the fatty oil expressed from it. Others have considered the 

 X§u<jo fizkxvos of Galen to be the Nutmeg, which Sprengel refers 

 to the nut of the Semecarpus Anacardium. The first authentic 

 account of the Myristica Moschata is in Avicenna. He describes 

 both mace and nutmegs (lib. ii. tract, ii. cap. 456, 503); he 

 calls it Jransiban, or Nut of Banda. In early times it was 

 used as a cosmetic to remove freckles from the face ; and 

 Gerarde states that it quickeneth the sight ; is good for feeble 

 livers ; it taketh away the swelling in the spleene, and is good 

 against all cold diseases of the body. Quincy {Eng. 

 1742, p. 77) says, that it is a great comforter of the head 

 and stomach, and likewise a good carminative, by its warm, dis- 

 cussing quality ; but it is to be used sparingly, for if in too 

 large a quantity, it will fume up too much and prove offensive, * 

 in the same manner as perfumes do to some particular consti- 

 tutions. Although it has been employed in earlier days for 

 various diseases, more particularly those of the nervous and 

 mucous systems, as in hysteria, spasms, nervous fever, amaurosis, 

 nervous headache, diarrhoea, palpitation of the heart, yet its 

 principal use at present is for dietetic purposes. It is, however, 

 an important ingredient in the confectio aromaticae, so frequently 

 employed in allopathic medicine as a cordial and antacid in bowel 

 complaints. 



Description.— This tree rises from twenty to thirty feet in 

 height, and in appearance resembles a pear-tree. The bark is 

 a dark greyish-green, smooth, with a yellowish juice. Leaves 

 aromatic. Bacemes axillary. Peduncles and pedicels glabrous, 

 the latter with a quickly deciduous, ovate bract at its summit, 

 often pressed close to the flower. Male foicers three to five, 

 en a peduncle. Calyx fleshy, pale yellow, with a reddish 

 pubescence. Female Jloicers scarcely different from the male, 

 except that the pedicel is frequently solitary (Pereira). 



¥ 2 



