28 FLORA HOMOPATHICA. 
mentioned by Serapion, Rhases, and Avicenna, to be the nut 
of the Semecarpus Anacardium, or the Marking-nut Tree ; 
whilst others suppose that it is the seed of the Avicenna 
tomentosa, a didynamous plant. If the former is correct, this 
plant is mentioned by Galen (De Comp. Med., sec. gen. vill.), 
under the name of xgu00 Badavws, and by Myrepsus and Actu- 
arius, under that of %av$o Bzdravs. Matthiolus (Comment. in 
Dioscor., 189) supposes that the Greeks were entirely ignorant | 
of this substance, but Adams (1. c.) comes to a different conclu- 
sion, 
Hahnemann, in his account of this medicine (Chronic Diseases, 
art. Anacardium) confounds Avicenna with Semecarpus Anacar- 
dium ; the two trees belong, in fact, to different natural orders, 
one to the Personate, and the other to the Terebintacee. The 
nut of the Avicenna or Malacca bean being kidney-shaped, that 
of the Semecarpus being heart-shaped. 
The Indians, after depriving the nut of its external rind 
and juice, roast and eat it with much relish. The juice, 
which is in the cells under the rind, is of such acridity, that it 
is used by the natives to burn off warts, condylomata, and other 
excrescences, and to keep down excessive granulation in ulcers, 
both in man and beast; they used it also mixed with chalk for 
marking their linen. Hamel tells us that an excellent ink is 
made from this nut, with the addition of ash-lye and vinegar. 
The ancient writers recommended it chiefly in mental diseases, 
particularly in loss of memory, paralysis, and spasms; and the 
Arabian physicians, who called the nut Balador, extolled its use 
in the same affections, and also as a 
disposed to paralysis. It was highly esteemed by the Telinga 
physicians as a remedy for nervous disorders. The natives give 
the kernel steeped in whey to those suffering from asthma; the 
Confectio Anacardium became celebrated under the name Con- 
fectio Sapientium, as a remedy against weakness of the mind; 
but Hoffman called it Confectio Stultorum, and condemns the 
internal use of it, as he says that « people have been made mad 
prophylactic in those pre- 
