SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. ROSACEA, 
10 
properties; and the bark of many species is bitter and astringent and has been used, particularly that 
of the North American Prunus Virginiana and Prunus serotina and of the Old World Prunus Padus, 
in medicine.” The aromatic leaves of the Caucasian Prunus Laurocerasus*® generate by distillation a 
volatile oil, and are used in making Cherry-cordial water.* The flowers of the Peach are sometimes 
used in Kurope and the United States as a mild purgative ;* 
sedative and serve as a vermifuge; in the same country the seeds are employed in the treatment of 
many diseases, and vinegar was formerly made from the pulp. The flowers of the Blackthorn or Sloe, 
in China they are considered laxative and 
Prunus spinosa,' ave purgative, and the fruit, which is astringent and austere until mellowed by frost, 
The seeds of Prunus Maha- 
leb, a native of the Caucasian provinces, and now naturalized in southern Europe and sparingly in 
is sometimes used in medicine for its refrigerant and styptic properties.® 
some parts of eastern North America, possess an agreeable flavor; and the oil pressed from them is 
used in perfumery,” and is valued by the Arabs as a cure against calculus of the bladder.“ Cordials or 
ratafias are made by steeping in spirits the fruit of Plums, Cherries, and Peaches, or the seeds of the 
Bitter Almond, the Cherry, and the Apricot; from the fruit of the European wild Cherry, Prunus 
Avium, kirschwasser and maraschino” are prepared, and from that of the European Plums, zwetschen- 
wasser and raki."° A limpid oil is obtained from the seeds of various species of Prunus in Europe and 
India ; “ and Plum-trees, the European Cherries, the Peach, the Apricot, and the Almond secrete from 
their trunks and branches a gum which was once employed in medicine, and is now used in France in 
various industrial processes.” 
Prunus Cerasus. The origin, however, of many of the varieties of 
cultivated Cherries is obscure, as species, subspecies, and varieties 
have crossed and recrossed in their production. 
1 Linneus, Spec. 473.— Koch, Dendr. i. 120.— Brandis, Forest 
Fl. Brit. Ind. 194.— Hooker f. Fl. Brit. Ind. ii. 315.— Maximo- 
wiez, Bull. Acad. Sci. St. Pétersbourg, xxix. 108 (M¢l. Biol. xi. 705). 
Cerasus Padus, De Candolle, Fl. Franc. ed. 3, iv. 480 ; Prodr. ii. 
539. — Nouveau Duhamel, v. 2, t. 1.—Boissier, Fl. Orient. ii. 650. 
2 B.S. Barton, Coll. ed. 3, i. 11.— A. Richard, Hist. Nat. Med. 
ed. 3, iii, 632.—Endlicher, Enchirid. 663.— Rosenthal, Syn. Pl. 
Diaphor. 978.— Porcher, Resources of Southern Fields and Forests, 
169. — Guibourt, Hist. Drog. ed. 7, iii. 317. — Baillon, Hist. Pl. i. 
454. — U.S. Dispens. ed. 14, 749. — Stillé & Maisch, Nat. Dispens. 
ed. 2, 1177. — Fliickiger & Hanbury, Pharmacographia, 223. 
3 Linneus, Spec. 474. — Koch, Dendr. i. 125. 
Cerasus Laurocerasus, Loiseleur, Nouveau Duhamel, v. 6.— De 
Candolle, Prodr. ii. 540.— Boissier, Fl. Orient. ii. 650. 
. * Lindley, Fl. Med. 232.— A. Richard, J. c. 632.— Rosenthal, 
1. c.— Baillon, J. c. 453.— Fliickiger & Hanbury, J. c. 226.— Gui- 
bourt, 7. c. 318, f. 678. — Jackson, Commercial Botany of the 19th 
Century, 81. 
5 Guibourt, l. c. 314. 
6 Smith, Contrib. Mat. Med. China, 168. 
7 Linneeus, 1. c. 475. — De Candolle, Prodr. ii. 582. — Guimpel, 
Willdenow & Hayne, Adbild. Deutsch. Holz. i. 87, t. 66.— Koch, 
Dendr. i. 98. 
® Linneus, Mat. Med. 79.— Woodville, Med. Bot. ii. 233, t. 84. 
From the green fruit of the Sloe, a strong astringent extract, known 
as acacia nostras, was formerly made in Germany (A. Richard, J. c. 
630). 
® Linneeus, Spec. 474. — Jacquin, Fl. Austr. iii. 15, t. 227. — Koch, 
TecotlG: 
Cerasus Mahaleb, Loiseleur, Nouveau Duhamel, v. 6, t. 2.—De 
Candolle, 7. c. 539. 
10 Loudon, Arb. Brit. ii. 708. 
u Le Maout & Decaisne, Traité Gén. Bot. English ed, 388, — 
Guibourt, 7. c. 316. 
#2 Kirschwasser is principally produced in the valley of the 
Rhine in Germany, France, and Switzerland. A wild black-fruited 
variety of Prunus Avium (var. macrocarpa, De Candolle, Prodr. ii. 
535) is thought to produce the best quality, which is made from 
carefully selected ripe fruit ; this is crushed over wicker strainers 
that separate the pulp and stones from the juice, which is allowed 
to flow into large tubs ; the stones are then collected and added to 
the juice which is fermented in tightly covered vats, and at the end 
of four or five days is drawn off and distilled. Kirschwasser of an 
inferior quality is made from cherries shaken from the trees and 
thrown into open hogsheads, in which the ripe, half ripe, and rotten 
At the end 
of twenty or thirty days, when fermentation is complete, the whole 
fruit is all crushed together and allowed to ferment. 
mass is distilled over an open fire. Made in this way, kirschwasser 
has a strong and disagreeable flavor, due to the mould developed 
during the process of fermentation. 
Maraschino is made from the Marasea Cherry, a variety of Pru- 
nus Avium with small acid fruit (Nouveau Duhamel, v. 21), by a pro- 
cess similar to that by which kirschwasser is prepared, except that 
honey or sugar is added to the liquor after it is distilled. Mara- 
schino is principally manufactured in Dalmatia, that made in the 
neighborhood of Zara being considered the best (Loudon, J. c. 697. — 
Spons, Encyclopedia of the Industrial Arts, Manufactures, and Raw 
Commercial Products, i. 224). 
18 Loudon, 1. c. 690. 
14 Le Maout & Decaisne, J. c. 388. 
In India, oil pressed from the seeds of the Apricot and the 
Peach is used for illuminating, in cookery, and on the human hair 
(Brandis, 7. c. 192. — Balfour, Cyclopedia of India, ed. 3, iii. 166). 
Cherry-oil is now manufactured in England from the seeds of Pru- 
nus serotina, imported from the United States (Spons, /. c.). 
15 See Trécul, Maladie de la gomme chez les Cerisiers, les Pruniers, 
les Abricotiers, et les Amandiers, Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. li. 624 ; Pro- 
duit de la gomme chez le Cerisier, le Prunier, ? Amandier, l’ Abricotier 
et le Pécher, Mém. Inst. xxx. 241. 
The gum which exudes from the bark of Prunus, known gener- 
ally as Cherry-gum, is only partially soluble in water, with which it 
