118 



NAT. ORDER. AMADYLACEiE. 



may be excluded by nets, oi' enticed by honied bottle.s, and the la!'er 

 caught by the b.'ctlc-(rap, reeds or bjaii-s(al!:s hiid in behind the 

 leaves, and examined every morning. 



Gathcriiig. Gatlier one day or two before the fruit is to be 

 used, and before it be quite ripe, laying it on clean paper, in a dry, 

 airy part of the fruit-room. 



Use of hot icalls. Tiie ripening of the Peach may be accelie- 

 rated in the open air, when planted against a hot wall, by llie appli- 

 cation of gentle fires in cold moist weather, in August and Septem- 

 ber. This will ripen the fruit and wood ; but no attempt should 

 ever be made to accelerate the blossom early in spring, as withont 

 the protection of glass they are almost certain of being cut off. 



iMcdkal Properties and Uses. The fruit is known to be grateful 

 and whole.some, seldom disagreeing with the stomach, unless this 

 organ is not in a healthy condition, or tite fruit has been eaten to ex- 

 cess, when effects similar to those of the other dulco-acid summer- 

 fruits may be produced. 



The flowers, including the calyx, as well as the corolla, are the 

 parts of the Persica used for medicinal purposes ; these have an 

 agreeable but weak smell, and a bitterish taste. Boulduc observes, 

 " that when distilled without addition by the heat of a water-bath, 

 they yield one-sixth their Aveight. or more, of a whitish liquor, which 

 communicates to a considerable quantity of other liquids a flavor 

 like that of the kernels of fruits." 



These flowers have a cathartic effect, and especially to children 

 have been successfully given in the character of a vermifuge : for 

 this purpose an infusion of a drachm of the flowers, dried, or half 

 an ounce in their recent state, is the requisite dose. The leaves of 

 the Persica are also found to possess au anthelmintic power, and 

 from a great number of experiments appear to have been given with 

 invariable success both to children and adults. However, as the 

 leaves and flowers of the Persica manifest in some degree the ({uality 

 of those of the laurocerasus, they ought to be used with caution. 



