CHAP. CV. CORYLA‘CE®. QUE’RCUS. 1931 
infusion, made with 2 drachms of bruised galls to 12 ounces of boiling water, 
may be used as an injection ; and, in conjunction with a small portion of spirits 
of wine, forms a good gargle for relaxation of the uvula.” (Stephenson and 
Churchill’s Medical Botany, vol. iv. pl. 
152.) M. Robiquet (as quoted in the 
Atheneum for April 15. 1837) has been 
making various experiments on the tan- 
nin and gallic acid contained in gall 
nuts. One of the most remarkable re- 
sults obtained by him is, a knowledge 
of the great difference of time which it 
takes to transform pure tannin into 
gallic acid, and to produce it from the 
entire nut. Eight months will not com- 
plete the former operation, while one 
month is sufficient for the latter; a 
proof that the gall nut contains princi- 
ples, perhaps gum or rather mucilage, - 
which facilitate fermentation. Another ~ es 
important result is a confirmation of the opinion of M. Polonger, that gallic 
acid is to be derived from tannin. 
The Dead Sea Apple. Olivier informs us that Quércus infectoria also pro- 
duces another sort of 
gall (fig. 1823. from 
copy furnished us by 
Mr. Westwood; and 
Jig. 1824. from the fi- 
gure given by Oliver, 
t.15.), ofa much larger 
size than the common 
gall nut, of a spongy 
substance, very light, 
of a brownish red 
colour, covered with 
a resinous coat, and 
furnished with a cir- 
cular row of tuber- 
cles, placed round 
the centre. Olivier 2 
does not, however, 
appear to have been 
aware of the identity 
of these galls with the 
far-famed apples of 
the Dead Sea, the 
nature of which has 
so greatly perplexed 
naturalists,and which 
are mentioned, both 
by Tacitus and Jose- 
phus, as being beauti- 
ful tothe eye, but crumbling at the touch to dust and bitter ashes. By some 
writers, the existence of these vegetable productions has been entirely doubted. 
Pococke supposes them to be pomegranates left for two or three years upon 
the tree; Hasselquist pronounced these “ Poma sodomitica,” as they have 
been called, to be the fruit of the Solanum Me/ongéna (the egg plant, or mad 
apple); Seetzen considered them to be the fruit of a species of cotton tree; 
Chateaubriand the fruit of a shrub; and Captains Mangles and Irby have no 
doubt that they have discovered them in the oskar plant. Mr. Conder, how- 
——=-- 1923 
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