SALTCINE^. 365 



History, Uses, &C. — The willow tVca was well-known 

 lo the ancient Greeks, and the Greek name is considered to be 

 cognate to the Sanskrit Vitika, the old German Wida, and the 

 old English With or Withy. Herodotus (i.,194) mentions it, 

 and Theophrastus (H. P. iii^ 13) mentions two kinds, y^evKxi 

 and iiO^aiva, Dioscorides (i.,12]) notices its astringent pro- 

 perties, and the various medicinal uses to which the bark, 

 leaves, seed and Juice were put. Pliny (17, 20) describes the 

 cultivation of the willow, and (24, 9) its medicinal properties. 

 The ancients considered it to be very cooling, **Porroimpediunt 

 et remittunt coituni folia salicis trita et epota "; it was also 

 thought to occasion sterility in women. The concrete juice of 

 the plant mentioned by Greek and Latin writers is considered 

 bv Fee to have been a kind of manna. 



ft/ 



IbnSina, under the name of Khilaf, follows Dioscorides closely 

 in his description of the medicinal uses of the willow, but he 

 mentions the use of the flowers of 8. Caprea separately under 

 the name of Behraraaj, a corruption of the Persian Behrameh. 

 The Mahometan 2:)hysicians all mention the juice or gum ( ^-o ) 

 of the plant, and Haji Zein states that it exudes from the leaves. 



It is probably the substance" described by M* Raby {Union 

 Pharm,^ May, 1889), under the name of Bidengtiebine or 

 " willow honey," said to be derived from the leaves and 

 young branches of a willow, and to have a feebly saccharine 

 taste. 



In Persia S^ Caprea is known as Bid-i-Balkhi, and its flowers 

 as Bidmishk ; willow bark is still a popvilar febrifuge in that 



ntry 



followin 



occurring wild or cultivated in Persia : — S* pycnostachya^ 

 Anders., S. acmophylla^ Boiss., 8. babylonica^ Linn,, S. Daviesii, 

 Boiss., S. alhay Linn., S. songarica, Anders., and S. Caprea, 

 Linn . 



In China and Persia the tree is considered to be symbolic of 

 immortality. S. babyJonim is planted in burial grounds in 

 the latter country, and has been introduced into India by the 

 Moghals for this purpose ; among the Romans it was sacred to 



