454 ERICACEAE. [Hypogynous Exogens. 



may be considered the representatives, in the stamens not growing upon the petals, 

 and in the cells of the ovary agi'eeing in number with the lobes of the calyx and 

 corolla. The genus Sam-auja among Dilleniads, has very much the structm'e of a 

 Clethra. In Horsfield's Plantce Javanicce, p, 86, mention is made of the peculiar 

 nature of the stigma m these plants, which Mr. Bennett justly compares to the indusium 

 of Goodeniads. I have endeavoured to show that this rim is nothing more than the 

 points of carpellary leaves separated from the stigma, wliich is itself a prolongation of 

 the placenta. See Botanical Register, 1840, t. 9, and some observations on Babing- 

 tonia in the same work. 



Heathworts are most abundant at the Cape of Good Hope, where immense tracts are 

 covered with them ; they are common in Europe and North and South America, both 

 within and without the tropics ; less common in Northern Asia and India, and almost 

 unknown in Australasia, where their place is supphed by Epacrids. Although found 

 in tropical countries, as for example, Java, it is only in their highlands. 



It is worthy of note that although Botanists do not now admit the two sections of this 

 Order to be of the same value as was assigned to them by Jussieu, yet that there is a 

 considerable difference in the natm-e of their secretions. Ericese are to a large extent 

 inert, there not being, in the whole of the vast genus Erica, a single instance of a medi- 

 cinal species, for Erica arborea, once held to be an alexipharmic, seems to have been a 

 merely superstitious medicine. Calluna \Tilgaris, the common Heather, is however 

 astringent, and is employed both by fullers and dyers ; its tough branches are the com- 

 mon material out of wliich brooms are made in tliis country, and the flowers are pecu- 

 liarly grateful to bees. We do, however, find among the Ericese species to which useful 

 qualities cannot be denied. Some are astringents ; as Arctostaphylos Uva ursi, beheved to 

 be a decided palhative in nephritic paroxysms ; it is also employed in dysm'ia, catarrhus 

 vesicae, leucorrhoea and gonoiThoea. Its action is slow, and it therefore requires to be 

 given for a considerable period ; although the effects are micertain they sometimes give 

 astonishmg rehef. — Pereira. The fruit of Gaultheria procumbens, a Uttle dwarf North 

 American evergreen, contains an aromatic, sweet, highly pungent volatile oil, which is 

 antispasmodic and dim'etic, A tinctm'e has been useful in diarrhoea. Coxe states that 

 the infusion is serviceable in asthma. It is used in North America as tea ; and brandy m 

 which the fruit has been steeped is taken in small quantities in the same way as common 

 bitters. The oil is known under the name of Oil of Wintergreen, and is used by 

 druggists to flavour syi'ups, and also by perfumers. 



The berries of the succulent-finiited kinds are usually grateful, and sometimes used as 

 food. G. procumbens and Shallon, Arctostaphylos alpijaa, and Brosssea coccinea, are 

 examples of this. In Van Diemens Land the G. hispida, or Waxcluster, bears snow- 

 white beri'ies, with a flavom' by no means mipleasant ; in taste it is said to resemble 

 the Gooseberry, but it is somewhat bitter ; but accordmg to some, the G, antipoda 

 is said to have more merit as a finiit. The Arbutus Unedo (Ko/xapos of Dioscorides) 

 bears a red fruit something hke a Strawberry, whence the plant has been familiarly 

 named the Straw-berry-tree ; its bark and leaves are astnngent. A wine is made from 

 the fruit in Corsica, but it is reported to be narcotic, if taken in quantity. A. Andraclme 

 is stated to have similar qualities. In some uistances this narcotic quality is so con- 

 centrated that the plants become poisonous. The shoots of Andromeda ovaUfolia poison 

 goats in Nipal. It is stated by Dr. Horsfield that a very volatile heatmg oil, with a 

 peculiar odom', used by the Javanese in rheumatic affections, is obtained from another 

 species of Andi-omeda. A. poUfolia, a small shrub, fomid wild in the bogs of the North 

 of Em'ope, is an acrid narcotic, and proves fatal to sheep. Similar properties have been 

 observed ui the United States in A. mariana, and others. It is however in the Rhodo- 

 dendrese that dangerous narcotic quaUties are most prevalent. The leaves of Ledum 

 latifolium and palustre infused in beer render it unusually heady, producing headache, 

 nausea, and even delirium. They have nevertheless been used, it is said, with advan- 

 tage m tertian agues, dysentery, and diarrhcea. The leaves of Kalmia latifoHa are 

 poisonous to many animals, and are reputed to be narcotic, but theii- action is feeble. 

 Bigelow states that the flesh of pheasants which have fed upon the yomig shoots is poi- 

 sonous to man, and some cases of severe ilhiess are on record which have been ascribed 

 to this cause alone. The flowers exude a sweet honey-hke juice, wliich is said when 

 swallowed to brmg on intoxication of a phrenitic kmd, which is not only formidable in 

 its symptoms but very lengthened in its dm*ation. — Burnett. Rhododendron chrysan- 

 thum, a Siberian bush, is one of the most active of narcotics. Pallas and Koelpiu assert 

 that a strong decoction of the leaves is of the greatest service in chronic, but dangerous 

 in acute, rheumatism. Its value as a means of remo%dng arthritic complaints has also 

 been highly spoken of. Finally, Pallas mentions an mveterate case of nervous sciatica, 

 which had brought the patient to a state of lameness and deplorable emaciation, which 

 was completely cured by perseverance in the use of the leaves for two years. No sub- 



