215 



Materia Medica, the Palapatta of the Hindoos on the Malabar coast, is the 

 produce of Wrii:^htia antidysenterica : it is a valuable tonic and febrifuge. 

 On the Coromandel side of India it seems chiefly to be given in dysenteric 

 affections. The milky juice of the tree is used as a vulnerary. Ibid. 1. 88. 

 The Wrightia tinctoria is extremely valuable as a dyer's plant, the blue 

 colour it yields equalling Indigo. The Sarsaparilla of India is chiefly the 

 root of Periploca indica : a decoction of it is prescribed by European prac- 

 titioners in cutaneous diseases, scrofula, and venereal affections. Ibid. 1. 

 382. An infusion of the leaves of Allamanda cathartica is a valuable ca- 

 thartic. Ibid. 2. 9. The leaves of Cynanchum Argel are used in Egypt for 

 adulterating Senna. A powerful poison is yielded by the kernel of the 

 Tanghin tree of Madagascar (Cerbera Tanghin), a single seed being suffi- 

 cient to destroy twenty persons: see the Botanical Magazine, folio 2968, 

 for an excellent account of this plant. The Strychnos colubrina is used in 

 Java in intermittent fever, and as an anthelmintic. According to Horsfield, 

 the Malays prepare from it an excellent bitter tincture. Virey says, 

 in an over-dose it occasions tremors and vomiting. Ainslie, 2. 203. The 

 St. Ignatius'.s bean (Strychnos St. Ignatii), called Papeeta in India, is pre- 

 scribed by the native practitioners of India in cholera with success : it is 

 mixed with Jehiree or Durreoaye Narriol (Cocos maldivica). If given in 

 over-dose, vertigo and convulsions come on ; but they are easily cured by 

 lemonade drank largely. Trans. M. and P. S. Calc. 3. 432. The seeds 

 of Strychnos Nux vomica are well known, under the latter name, for 

 containing a dangerous narcotic property, which modern chemists have 

 ascertained to depend upon the presence of a peculiar principle called 

 strychnia. Small quantities of the extract have been given with uncer- 

 tain success in cases of mania, gout, epilepsy, hysteria, and dysentery, and 

 also in paraplegia and hemiplegia. Ainslie, 1. 321. This strychnia is one of 

 the most violent poisons hitherto discovered : its energy is so great, that half 

 a giain blown into the throat of a rabbit, occasioned death in the course 

 of five minutes. Its operation is always accompanied with symptoms of 

 locked jaw and other tetanic affections. Turner, 651. A peculiar acid, 

 called by MM. Pelletier and Caventou the Igasuric acid, occurs in combina- 

 tion with strychnia in nux vomica and the St. Ignatius bean ; but its exist- 

 ence, as different from all other known acids, is doubtful. Ibid. 641. It is 

 remarkable, that one of the most valuable febrifuges of Brazil belongs to this 

 order. The bark of the Strychnos Pseudo-quina is fully equal to Cinchona 

 in curing intermittent fevers ; it appears to possess some of the dangerous 

 properties of nux vomica ; but according to the analysis of Vauquelin, it 

 contains no strychnia whatever. PL Usuelles, no. 1. The pulp of the 

 fruit of S. pseudo-quina, and even of S. nux vomica, is eaten without in- 

 convenience. Ibid. no. 1. M. Cailliaud found a species of Strychnos in 

 Nubia, the fruit of which is sweet and not unwholesome ; and M. Delile 

 remarks, that the venomous species are always bitter. Delile Cent. 11. 



Examples. Nerium, Wrightia, Apocynum, Taberneemontana, Cerbera, 

 Carissa, Gardneria. 



CXCVII. GENTIANEtE. The Gentian Tribe. 



GEXTiANEyE, Juss. Gen. 141. (1789); B. Broum Prodr. 449. (1810); Lindl. Synops. 

 177. (1829); Von Martins Nov. Gen. ^c. 2. 132. (1828.) 



Diagnosis. Monopetalous bitter dicotyledons, with regular flowers, a 



