2U LAVRINE2E. 



spirituous and the watery extracts of the drug had the reactions 

 of lanrofetanine. The dried fruits left after ignition 4*77 per 

 cent, of mineral matter. 



LAURUS NOBILIS, Linn. 



Fig.—Bentl. and Trim., t. 221. Laurel Bay [Eng), 

 Laurier {Fr.). 



Hab. — Southern Europe. The berries. 

 Vernacular. — Hab-el-ghar [Ind. Bazars). 



History, Uses, &C. — Bay berries were introduced into 

 India by the Mahometans, and are still kept by their druggists 

 in all the larger towns. The Bay or ISToble laurel is the Daphne 

 {Sacfivrj'j of Dioscorides, which he describes as hot, demulcent, 

 astringent and stomachic, and recommends the berries in </>(5'o-« 

 and chest affections, and as a stimulant adjunct to wine and 

 ointments. This shrub was held in great esteem by the 

 ancients, who relate that the nymph Daphne, when pursued by 

 Apollo, and on the point of being overtaken by the god, prayed 

 for aid, and was changed into a Bay tree. Prof. Max Miiller 

 compares this Greek myth to the Vedic myth of Urvasi and 

 Pururavas. The Bay was also used in conjuration ; the young 

 girl, who had been forsaken in the second idyl of Theocritus, 

 says : 



AtPca. j(^ ft>j avTO. Xuxel /x/ya, KaTnTvpi<racra, 

 Kj^^airiVay a(f)6rj, Koiibe o-jroSof eibofjifs airas, 

 OvTco Tai KoX At\(f)is (PL 0Xoyl a-dpK dfiaBvvoi. 



The priestesses of Apollo consulted the tree and ate of its 

 leaves before delivering the oracles at Delphi. Hesiod tells u3 

 that the muses held branches of it in their hands, and poets 

 are stiU nominally crowned with a laurel wreath. It was also 

 an emblem of victory, and was used by the Romans in many of 

 their ceremonies. 



^ Uii of Bay berries, the 8ac^.Aa.o. of Dioscorides, is still used 

 m Wouthern Europe as a nervine stimulant. A medicinal oil is 

 also prepared with the leaves and olive oil, which is much used 



