﻿202 THE NATURAL HISTOR 



gardens, for the fake of their fruit, which is generally agreeable in moil of the forts, 

 especially the firfl five j but the lait of thefe thrives only in a few parts of the 

 illand : its fruit is very large and pleafant, and its feeds proportioned, and mode- 

 rately tumid, having feldom more than one or two that come to perfection. 



The bark of each of the firfl four fpecies is reckoned very altringent, and all 



indifcriminately now go by the name of Cortex famaicenfs-, their bitter aftringent 



taite having for a time impofed on fomc of the people, who thought either the one 





or the other to be the true Jefuits Bark, and on this account had frequently admi- 

 nistered them among the negroes, where they were often obferved to anfwer all the puf- 

 pofes of that medicine, as all bitter afcringents will do in robuft constitutions, when 

 the difeafe proceeds immediately from a weaknefs of the vifcera, and a grofs undi- 

 gested chyle : this brought them firfl into feme vogue, and they have been frequently, 

 fince that time, brought into England for further experiments; but are much more 



likely to prove fuccefsful here than in America, where thole fevers that generally 



f put on the appearance cf intermittents, are attended with nervous fymptoms, and 

 often mortal ; therefore muft require medicines that act more effectually on the 

 whole habit, and whofe active particles can ltimulate and provoke the ofcillations of 

 the nervous filaments in the more remote parts of the body. Thefe different barks 

 yield a large quantity of extract, which in tafle and appearance feems to be the fame 

 with that of the Jtfuits Bark, which has occasioned it to be frequently fuhflituted in 

 the room of that drug ; and this, I am perfuaded, coll many a life in thole colonies, 

 where remittent fevers are fo frequent and mortal. It is, however, an excellent 

 aflringent, and a very convenient and elegant preparation in that form, which may 

 be adminiflered with great propriety and fuccefs, whenever astringents of a long- 

 continued action arc properly required. 



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CORDIA i. Foil is amflioribus hirtis ovatis, tubo for is fubcsquali. 

 Cordia foliis ob/ongo-ovatis repandis fcabris. L. Sp. PI. 

 Cariophyllus fpurius inodorus, &c. Slo. Cat. & H. t. 164. 



The bufhy Cordia, with large fcarlet flowers. 



Penan tium Monopbyllum tnbuiatum flriatum cequale, ore tridentato ercBo. 

 Corolla Monopetala tubulata, fatis ampla, fere injundibuliformis :. tubus 



rectus cylindraceus fubjlriatus, vix ampliatus, calice duplo-lon- 

 gior; limbus amplus patens crifpatas, in fex fegmentas fubful- 

 catas obtufas ad trientem divifus. 

 Stamina. Filamenta fex tubo corollce ad faucem fere adnata, fupcrne libe- 

 ra ereBa, tubo foris paulo longiora ; antheras angufce ob- 

 longce. 

 Piilillum. Germen ovaium calice immerfum\ flylus ereclus, longitudim 



°re tubi corolla, fuperne bipartitus, laciniis remotis bifi- 

 dis -, fligmata oblonga, ex parte adnata, defluxa. 

 Pericarpium. Drupa ovata calice dijlento teffia fed non adnata^ nauco lignofo 



quadriloculari referta. 

 Semina Soli t aria, fed, prater unum vel alter urn, pier unique abort hint. 



This fhrub grows on the banks above the beech lying between the fmall 

 Lagoon eastward of Kingjlon, and Capt. Cornif/s j and is faid to grow in great 

 abundance on thofe little iflands about Old-harbour. It feldom rifes more than fe- 

 ven or eight feet above the root, and is furnifhed with rough oval leaves, and 

 adorned with large bunches of fine fcarlet flowers, the molt beautiful and agree- 

 able of any I have yet obferved in America ; but the form of them is quite different 

 from that delineated by Plumier, wherein the tube fwells above the cup, and con- 

 fequently mull be considered as a different fpecies. This would make a moil 

 agreeable flowering- fhrub in a garden or a foreft; and may probably be ufeful, 



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