12fc Medical Properties of the Passiflora. 



likewise states that "no species of the family of thePassifloretsh 

 employed in medicine." The P. laurifolia L. however, is 

 noted for being commonly used, among all the inhabitants of 

 the West Indies, as a most powerful vermifuge ; and several 

 physicians have spoken of its good effects in the highest terms. 

 The root only is considered efficacious. The blue Grenadil- 

 la, P. ccerulea L. is possessed of stomachic, antiscorbutic qua- 

 lities, according to the observations of M. Descourtils in his 

 Flore medicale des Antilles ; and the experiments on the P. 

 quadrangularis L. or Barbadine, which I shall presently re- 

 late, will sufficiently prove the inaccuracy of the distinguished 

 Professor of Geneva, when he asserts, " that the whole genus 

 Passiflora appears not to be endowed with any remarkable 

 properties." 



The Barbadine is cultivated without difficulty every where 

 on the island of Guadeloupe ; it is used to form delightful ar- 

 bours ; and nothing is more beautiful than this plant in full 

 bloom, bearing its golden fruit of the form and size of melons, 

 often weighing more than six pounds, and intermingled with 

 large flowers, whose brilliant colours are finely contrasted by 

 the deep and glossy green of its thick foliage. The leaves are 

 large, soft, and of great use in calming the irritation produced 

 by the application of cantharides. The root, upon which my 

 experiments were made, does not penetrate far beneath the 

 soil, but rather extends itself on the surface ; its epidermis is 

 blackish and easily peels off, leaving a bark of a vinous co- 

 lour, thick, and detached without difficulty from the ligneous 

 part, which is of a yellowish white, easily cut, and blackens the 

 blade of a knife. Its smell is somewhat like that of a beet, 

 and its taste sharp and astringent. The chemical analysis 

 furnished me with a substance resembling Morphine, to which 

 I have given the name of Passiflorine, and believe it to be as 

 active as that of the new principle extracted from opium, or 

 even more so. 



There is a variety of the P. quadrangularis, the fruit and 



