160-2 
The plant under consideration is the only one of the family represented in 
our Materia Medica; several other species, however, are sometimes used as 
remedies, especially in domestic practice, viz.: The American and European 
Sweet Gale (AZyrica Gale, Linn.), whose berries in infusion are said to be an 
efficient remedy for itch, and a vermifuge ; the leaves are said to be substituted 
for hops in Sweden, in the manufacture of beer. The other six American species 
of the genus J/yrica are often substituted for the species cerifera in domestic 
practice. The fruit of the Nepaul JZ, sagida is said to be pleasantly acid and 
edible ; while the Cape of Good Hope 1. cordifolia yields a wax, said by Thun- 
berg to be eaten by the natives. The American Sweet Fern (Comptonia asplent- 
Jotia, Ait.) is in constant domestic use in some localities for checking diarrhcea, 
and as a fomentation in rheumatism and bruises. 
History and Habitat—The Wax Myrtle grows in thickets near swamps and 
marshes in the sand-belt along the Atlantic coast from Florida northward, also on 
the shores of Lake Erie; it is, however, rare in the interior. It flowers from April 
to May, according to locality. In the South it is a small evergreen tree; in Dela- 
ware and Southern New Jersey, a tall, semideciduous shrub; and in the North, 
dwarfed and deciduous. 
Both the wax and root-bark have been used in medicine, the action of each 
being quite different, though both are astringent and stimulant to weakened 
mucous membranes, 
The Bark.—Dr. Charles A. Lee* sums up the uses of the bark of the root: 
“ Bayberry bark possesses tonico-astringent properties which entitle it to a very 
respectable rank among our indigenous astringents. Reduced to a powder, it is 
acrid and styptic to the taste, and in doses of one drachm causes a sensation of heat 
in the stomach, followed by vomiting and purging, and sometimes by diuresis. A 
decoction has been long used in diarrhea, dysentery, uterine hemorrhage, dropsies 
succeeding fevers, and as a gargle in affections of the throat and fauces.” When 
chewed it acts as a sialagogue, useful in toothache and to stimulate tender, spongy, 
or bleeding gums. In the Eclectic practice bayberry bark is a noted remedy in 
scrofulous sores and ulcers, used as a poultice; and for jaundice, especially the - 
form termed black jaundice. In the Botanic practice bayberry bark and lobelia — 
constituted almost a complete materia medica. 
Myrica Wax.—tThe use of this substance in medicine was first published by 
Alexandre (1722), who mentions a wax which he describes and says is used in 
Louisiana by the colonists in the manufacture of candles; and farther adds that 
the water in which the wax has been “ tried,” when boiled to an extract, is a certain 
cure for the most violent cases of dysentery. Dr. Wm. Fahnestock considered 
the wax to be, in direct Proportion to its viridity, astringent and plainly narcotic, 
and claims to have been eminently successful in treating with this substance many 
severe cases of typhoid dysentery. In Eclectic practice this wax (“ Myricin”) is 
* Four, Mat. Med., N. S., vol. i, 257. 
