SAURURACEA. 679 
effects thus administered are very feeble. Its action appears to be more 
especially mechanical, like lint, felt, &c. In Peru Matico is employed 
for the same affections as Cubebs. It should be noticed that the name 
Matico is applied by the inhabitants of Quito, &c., to Hupatorium glutinosum 
(see Eupatorium). Other plants are also similarly designated in different 
parts of South America. The dried fruits of Piper aduncum and other 
species are used in America as pepper; and its leaves, as first noticed by 
the author, are frequently substituted in this country for those of Piper 
angustifolium. The fruits of P. crocatum are employed for dyeing yellow. 
The dried unripe fruits of Piper Cubeba (Cubeba officinalis) constitute 
the official Cubebs of the British Pharmacopeeia. Cubebs are the produce 
of Java and the adjoining islands. They are extensively employed in 
affections of the genito-urinary organs, upon which they are generally 
supposed to have a specific effect. In the Kast they are used as a stomachic. 
Their properties depend principally upon two resins, but also to some extent 
upon the presence of a volatile oil. This oil is also official in the British 
Pharmacopeia. They are frequently distinguished by the name of Tail 
Pepper, from the dried fruits having a short stalk attached to them. The 
dried unripe fruits of Piper Clusii, African Cubebs or Black Pepper of 
Western Africa, are employed by the negroes of Sierra Leone, &c., as a 
condiment, and also in medicine. Their effects in genito-urinary affections 
do not appear to resemble those of the official Cubebs. According to Sten- 
house they contain Piperine, and not the peculiar alkaloid of Cubebs, which 
has been termed Cubebine—P. nigrum, Black Pepper. The dried unripe 
fruits of this plant constitute the Black Pepper of the shops, and that which 
is official in the British Pharmacopeia. White Pepper is the same fruit in 
a ripened state divested of its external pulpy covering. The former is the 
more acrid and pungent, as these properties are lost to some extent in the 
process of ripening. Both kinds are extensively used as condiments, and 
medicinally as stimulants and correctives. They are also regarded as some- 
what febrifugal. They contain an acrid resin and volatile oil, to which their 
acrid, pungent, aromatic, and stimulant properties are essentially due ; and 
Piperine which possesses to some extent febrifugal properties.—P. methy- 
sticum or Piper trioicum, and probably other species, also produce good 
pepper. The dried unripe spikes of fruit known in commerce as Long 
Pepper are chiefly imported from Singapore and Calcutta, and are the pro- 
duce of Piper officinarum or Chavica officinarum, and Piper longum or 
Chavica Roxburghii. Long Pepper contains an acrid resin, a volatile oil, 
and the crystalline alkaloid called Piperine. It resembles Black Pepper in 
its effects, and is used in similar cases. It is chiefly employed for culinary 
purposes. Dried slices of the root are in great repute among the natives of 
India under the name of Peepla Mool, as a stomachic. The leaves of P. 
Betle, Betel Pepper, and P. Siriboa are chewed by the Malays and other 
Eastern races, mixed with slices of the Betel Nut (Areca Catechu), and a 
little lime. SBetel as thus prepared is considered to impart an ornamental 
red hue to the lips and mouth, and an agreeable odour to the breath, and is 
also supposed to possess stimulant and narcotic properties, and to be a pre- 
servative against dysentery. (See Areca.)—P. Jaborandi is one of the 
plants vielding a kind of Jaborandi. (See Pilocarpus.) 
Macropiper methysticum.—The large rhizome of this plant is known in 
the South Sea Islands under the name of Ava, where it is largely used in 
the preparation of an intoxicating and narcotic liquor, called Ava or Cava. 
It is also employed medicinally in chronic rheumatism, erysipelatous erup- 
tions, and venereal affections. It has been lately tried successfully in France 
as a remedy in gonorrheea. 
Order 2. SAURURACE#, the Saururus Order.-—-Character. 
—Marshy herbs. Leaves entire, alternate, stipulate. Flowers 
