SIMARUBE/E. I. QUASSIA. II. SJMARUBA. 



809 



same property exists, but in a milder degree, in the rest of the 

 order. 



Synopsis of the genera. 



1 QUA'SSIA. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals 5, conniving 

 into a tube. Stamens 10. Ovaries 5. 



2 SIMARU'BA. Flowers monoecious. Petals 5, spreading. 

 Stamens 5-10. Ovaries 5. 



3 SIMA'BA. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals 4-5, spreading. 

 Stamens 8-10. Ovaries 4-5. 



4 SAMADE' KA. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals 4. Stamens 

 8. Ovaries 4, seated on a stipe-formed torus. 



f Genera allied to Simarilbeee. 



5 NIMA. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals 5. Stamens 5. 

 Ovaries 5, joined. 



6 HARRISONIA. Flowers hermaphrodite. Petals 4. Stamens 

 8. Ovary simple, tapering to the base. 



I. QUA'SSIA (Quassi, the name of a negro slave who first 

 used the bark of Q. amara as a febrifuge). D. C. diss. ochn. 

 in ann. mus. 17. p. 423. prod. 1. p. 733. Andr. Juss. in mem. 

 mus. 12. p. 513. t. 27. no. 44. Quassia, spec. Lin. Juss. Gaert. 

 Rich. 



LIN. SYST. Decdndria, Pentagynia. Flowers hermaphrodite. 

 Calyx small, short, 5-parted. Petals 5, much longer than the 

 calyx, connected into a tube. Stamens 1 0, longer than the petals. 

 Ovaries 5, seated on a broader gynophore. Styles 5, rather 

 distinct at the base, but connected in one towards the top, very 

 long, terminated by a 5-furrowed stigma. Fruit 5, drupa- 

 ceous. A tree with alternate, impari-pinnate, smooth leaves, 

 quite entire, opposite leaflets, and winged petioles. Flowers 

 large, scarlet, disposed in simple or branched terminal racemes ; 

 pedicels jointed a little under the apex, each bearing 2 brae- 

 teas. 



1 Q. AMA'RA (Lin. fil. suppl. 235. Lodd. bot. cab. 172. 

 Curt. bot. mag. t. 497. Woodv. med. bot. t. 77. Lin. amcen. 

 acad. 6. p. 421. t. 429.) T?. S. Native of Surinam, Guiana, 

 Cayenne, Antilles, and the island of Trinidad, in woods. Pe- 

 tioles of leaves reddish. Flowers about an inch long. The 

 bitter Quassia is the produce of this tree, whose wood is more 

 powerful than any of the other genera belonging to this 

 order ; but being very rare and of small bulk, its place is 

 usually supplied by Simaruba excelsa. The wood, bark, and 

 root are all comprehended in the catalogues of the Materia 

 Medica ; and it is observed that the leaves, flowers, &c. possess 

 similar qualities. The roots, being perfectly ligneous, may be 

 considered medicinally in the same light with the wood, which 

 is now most generally employed, and seems to differ from the 

 bark in being less intensely bitter, so that the latter is thought 

 to be a more powerful medicine. Quassia has no sensible odour ; 

 its taste is that of pure bitter, more intense and durable than 

 that of any other substance, and imparts its virtues more com- 

 pletely to watery than to spirituous menstrua, and its infusions 

 are not blackened by the addition of partial vitriol. When the 

 infusion is evaporated to dryness, it leaves a brownish-yellow, 

 somewhat transparent, brittle extract, which has been regarded 

 as a vegetable constituent sui generis, and named the bitter prin- 

 ciple. (Edinb. phil. trans. 3. p. 207.) 



Qudssia derived its name, as has been already observed, from 

 a negro named Quassi (by Terrain written Coissi, and by Ro- 

 lander Quass) who employed the wood with uncommon success 

 as a secret remedy in the malignant, endemic fevers, which fre- 

 quently prevailed at Surinam. In consequence of a valuable 



VOL. I. 



consideration, this secret was disclosed to Daniel Rolander, a 

 Swede, who brought specimens of the Quassia-wood to Stock- 

 holm in the year 1756 ; and since that time the effects of this 

 drug have been very generally tried in Europe, and numerous 

 testimonies of its efficacy published by many respectable authors. 

 Its antiseptic powers have been submitted to various trials, from 

 which it has been concluded that it has considerable influence 

 in retarding the tendency to putrefaction ; which, in Professor 

 Murray's opinion, cannot be attributed to its sensible qualities, as 

 it possesses no astringency whatever, nor to its bitterness, as 

 Gentian is much more bitter, but less antiseptic. The medicinal 

 virtues ascribed to Quassia are those of a tonic, stomachic, an- 

 tiseptic, and febrifuge ; it has been found very effectual in re- 

 storing the tone of the stomach, producing appetite for food, 

 assisting digestion, expelling flatulency, and removing habitual 

 costiveness, produced from debility of the intestines, common to 

 a sedentary life. Dr. Lettsom observes, that in hysterical 

 atomy, to which the female sex is so prone, the Quassia affords 

 more vigour and relief to the system than the Peruvian bark, 

 especially when united with the vitriolum album, and still more 

 with the aid of some absorbent. In dyspepsia, arising from 

 hard drinking, and also in diarrhoeas, he exhibited the Quassia 

 with great success. Although he does not concur in opinion 

 with Linnaeus, who says, "me quidem judice chinchinam longe 

 superat," yet he has met with several instances of low remittent 

 and nervous fevers, the symptoms of which the bark uniformly ag- 

 gravated, though administered in intermissions the most favourable 

 to its success, in which Quassia or Snake-root was successfully 

 substituted. Dr. Cullen says (Mat. med. vol. 2. p. 174.) "I believe 

 Quassia to be an excellent bitter, and that it will do all that any 

 pure and simple bitter can do ; but our experience of it in this 

 country does not lead us to think that it will do more ; and the ex- 

 traordinary commendations given are to be ascribed to the partiality 

 so often shewn to new medicines." It is said to have been given, 

 combined with nitric acid, with evident benefit in typhus, and also 

 in fluor-albus. It may be given in infusion or decoction, which 

 is the best form of administering it ; or in pills, made from the 

 watery extract. The infusion is prepared by macerating for two 

 hours, in a lightly covered vessel, a scruple of quassia-wood, 

 chipped, in half a pint of boiling water, and straining it. In 

 hysteria this may be combined with purgatives and tincture of 

 valerian ; in atonic gout, with aromatics ; and in dyspeptic affec- 

 tions with chalybeates, sulphate of zinc, or mineral acids. The 

 dose is from f. 3J- to f. Jiij.. given twice or thrice a-day. The 

 tincture is prepared by digesting for seven days an ounce of 

 chips of quassia-wood in two pints of proof spirit, and then 

 straining. This may be used in the same cases as the infusion. 

 It is asserted that the brewers have, of late years, used quassia- 

 wood instead of hops. Beer made with it certainly does not 

 keep, says Thompson, but soon becomes muddy and flat, has a 

 mawkish taste, and runs into the acetous fermentation. It is 

 consequently less nutritious and wholesome than that which is 

 properly hopped. Woodv. mat. med. Thompson's lond. disp. 

 It subjects those brewers who employ it to a heavy penalty. 

 Quassia-wood evidently has a narcotic power, from its being used 

 to poison flies. 



Bitter Quassia. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1790. Tree 20 feet. 



Cult. Loam and sand is the best mixture for this tree, and 

 ripened cuttings, with the leaves not shortened, will root in sand, 

 under a hand-glass, in heat. 



II. SIMARU V BA (Simarouba is the Caribbean name of S. offi- 

 cinalis}. Aubl. guian. 2. p. 856. D. C. prod. 1. p. 733. Andr. 

 Juss. in mem. mus. 12. p. 514. t. 27. no. 44. 



LIN. SYST. Monoecia, Octo-Decdndria. Flowers of separate 

 5 L 



