504 SIMARTIBACEA, 
of earbon,.oxygen, and hydrogen, but devoid of nitrogen when pure, and 
which he has called Xanthoryline. It is probable that it also contains a 
resinous substance, to which its pungency is due. The fruits of X. hastile 
and X. Budrunga have similar properties. The seeds and fruits of the 
former are sometimes employed in India for the purpose of stupéfying fish. 
The seeds of X. Budrunga are aromatic and fragrant, like Lemon-peel ; 
and the unripe fruits and seeds of X. Rhetsa have a taste like that of orange- 
peel. The root of X. nitidum is used as a sudorific, stimulant, febrifuge, 
and emmenagogue by the Chinese. The bark of X. fraxineum is official in 
the United States Pharmacopeeia under the name of Prickly Ash Bark. It 
is chiefly used as a remedy in chronic rheumatism. It is also a popular 
remedy as a masticatory in toothache; hence the plant is also known 
under the name of the Toothache Shrub. The bark contains berberine. The 
barks of other species, as those of X. Clava-Herculis, Linn., and of X. caro- 
linianum of Lamarck, possess somewhat similar properties to the bark of 
X. fraxineum. 
Order 12.. SIMARUBACE, the Quassia Order.—Character.— 
Shrubs or trees. Leaves without dots, alternate, compound or 
sometimes simple, exstipulate. lowers regular and symme- 
trical, axillary, or terminal, perfect or unisexual by abortion. 
Calyx imbricate, in 4 or 5 divisions. Petals equal in number 
to the divisions of the calyx, with an imbricate cestivation, 
sometimes united intoa tube. Stamens twice as many as the 
petals, the filaments usually with a scale at their back ; anthers 
with longitudinal dehiscence. Disk conspicuous, hypogynous. 
Ovary stalked, 4- or 5-lobed, 4- or 5-celled, each cell with 1 
suspended ovule; style simple; stigma with as many lobes as 
there are cells to the ovary. Fruit usually consisting of 4 or 5 
indehiscent, 1-seeded, drupaceous carpels, arranged around a 
common axis,. or capsular or samaroid.. Seed with a membranous 
integument, exalbuminous; radicle superior, retracted within 
thick cotyledons.. 
Distribution and Nwmbers.— With the exception of one 
plant, which is a native of Nepaul, they are all found in the 
tropical parts of India,, America, and Africa. Illustrative 
Genera:—Quassia, Linn. ; Simaruba,,Aubl.. There are about 50 
species. . 
Properties and Uses.—A bitter principle is the most remark- 
able characteristic of the order; hence many of them are tonic 
and febrifugal.. 
Ailanthus.—The bark of .A. excelsz is regarded in India as a tonic and 
febrifuge. It may be used as a substitute for Quassia. The bark of A. 
malabariea, when incised, yields an aromatic gum-resinous substance, which 
is employed in dysentery, and as incense in the East Indies. The leaves of 
A. glandulosa are the favourite food of the silk moth (Bombyx Cynthia). 
The root is largely used in China as a remedy in dysentery. 
Brucex quassioides, a native of the Himalayas, has a very bitter root, 
which forms a good substitute for Quassia. 
Irvingia —I. Barteri, a native of the Western Coast of Africa, has edible 
seeds, from which.a kind of food, called Dika or Udika bread, is prepared. 
The fruits of species of Irvingia are edible, and are termed Wild Mangoes in 
tropical Africa. 
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