PHARMACOPCIAL VEGETABLE DRUGS. 
tion of a belladonna plaster that is exceedingly popular, as well as hav- 
ing a professional reputation. Johnson and Johnson, New Brunswick, 
U. S. A., now use more than 150,000 pounds of belladonna yearly in 
the making of plasters. 
BENZOINUM 
Benzoinum (from Styrax benzoin), curiously enough escaped the 
attention of the Greeks and Romans, nor, so far as is known, did those 
energetic tradesmen of the tenth to the thirteenth centuries, the 
Arabians and Persians, carry it to China. Ibn Batuta (333a) 
1325-49, mentions “Java frankincense,” which under the Arabian 
name became corrupted into Banjawi, Benjui, Benzui, Benzoé, Benzoin, 
and finally even Benjamin. After a hundred years the sultan of Egypt, 
Melech Elmaydi, sent it to the doge of Venice among other presents, 
and in 1490 a second doge of Venice was presented with a larger 
amount by the same sultan of Egypt. Considered still a precious bal- 
sam, in 1476 Caterina Cornaro, queen of Cyprus, received from Egypt 
15 pounds of “Benzui.” Thence travelers in Siam and the Malabar 
Coast, Venetian tradesmen, and others, gave it due consideration, dur- 
ing and after which time it became regularly imported into Europe. 
Being submitted to dry distillation in rude paper cones over a pan, the 
condensed distillate, or flowers, under the name of Flores Benzoés, in 
the 17th century, gave origin to the now familiar Benzoic Acid. Thus 
from the empiricism of the past this grateful flavoring agent and pre- 
servative was introduced to the medicine and. pharmacy of to-day. 
BERBERIS 
The berberis officially recorded in the Pharmacopeia of the 
United States, (Berberis aquifolium, or mahonia), was introduced to 
medicine by Dr. Bundy, an Eclectic physician of California, who 
brought it to the attention of physicians (467) through the manufac- 
turing establishment of Parke, Davis and Company, of Detroit, Mich- 
igan. This variety had previously been used throughout the Western 
States as a domestic remedy in the direction commended by Dr. Bundy, 
and in many respects it paralleled the domestic and official uses of its 
near relatives in the Orient and elsewhere. 
The Pharmacopeia of India recognizes three species of barberry 
under the common name berberis. These species of barberry have do- 
mestic records as tonics dating from the earliest times, being used in 
decoction or infusion in inflammatory discharges, as well as in appli- 
cations for various forms of ophthalmic inflammation. The Arabian 
physicians employed this plant. Dioscorides (194), Pliny (514), Cel- 
sus (136), Galen (254a), and others recognized it. It was one of the 
Indian drugs on which the Alexandrians levied duty, A. D. 176-180. 
Among Greek antiquities are preserved small vases of barberry, show- 
ing its value in ancient times. A certain Heraclides of Tarentum is 
mentioned by Celsus as having a reputation for treating diseases of the 
eye, and among the vases of barberry above referred to, is one bearing 
the label of this person. In formulas for eye diseases given by Galen 
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