230 



PAN 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



PAN 



Pallasia; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order Polygamia 

 Frustranea. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: common im- 

 bricate, many-leaved, permanent ; leaflets lanceolate, rather 

 acute, flattish, spreading; the interior ones longer. Corolla: 

 compound radiate; corollules hermaphrodite, in the elon- 

 gated disk numerous ; females about ten in the ray : proper 

 in the hermaphrodites long, funnel-form ; border five-cleft ; 

 divisions lanced, revolute ; female strap-shaped, unequally 

 bifid, trifid, or quadrifid ; divisions wide, reflex. Stamina : 

 in the hermaphrodites, filamenta five, capillary, very short ; 

 antherse cylindric, tubular, five-toothed. Pistil: germen 

 inferior, compressed, wedge-shaped, ciliated at the tip and 

 sides ; style filiform, the length of the stamina; stigma bifid, 

 thickish. In the females, germen as in the hermaphrodites ; 

 style none ; stigma none. Pericarp : none. Calix : tin- 

 changed. Seeds: in the hermaphrodites, solitary, wedge- 

 shaped, flat, compressed, two-horned, silky. In the females, 

 none. Receptacle: convex, punctate, tuberculated, chaffy; 

 chaffs concave, acute, shorter than the flower. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Receptacle : chaffy. Down : none. Seeds.- verti- 

 cal, flat; margin ciliated. Calix: imbricate. The species are, 



1. Pallasia Halimifolia. This is a shrubby plant, of about 

 two feet high ; the leaves are alternate, footstalked, obtuse, 

 or a little acute, downy on both sides, and whitish. The 

 ray of the corolla is of a deep yellow ; the corollules of the 

 disk yellow, and the antherse red. Native of Lima. 



2. Pallasia Grandiflora. Leaves bluntish, nearly entire, 

 glaucous, smooth ; radiant florets slightly three-notched, 

 thrice the length of those of the disk. Native of New Spain. 



3. Pallasia Serratifolia. Leaves pointed, serrated, hoary 

 beneath ; with winged serrated footstalks ; radiant florets 

 three-toothed. Stem three feet high, branched, leafy, downy, 

 ribbed. Native of Mexico. 



Palm-Tree, see Phoenix. 



Panax; a genus of the class Polygamia, order Dioecia ; 

 or, according to Swartz, of the class Pentandria, order Digy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. , Hermaphrodite Flowers. 

 Calix: umbel simple, equal, clustered; involucre many- 

 leaved, awl-shaped, very small, permanent ; perianth proper 

 very small, five-toothed, permanent. Corolla : universal, 

 uniform ; proper of five oblong, equal, recurved petals. 

 Stamina : filamenta five, very short, deciduous ; antherse 

 simple. Pistil : germen roundish, inferior ; styles two, 

 small, upright; stigmas simple. Pericarp: berry cordate, 

 umbilicate, two-celled. Seeds: solitary, cordate, acute, 

 plano-convex. Male fimvers, on a distinct plant. Calix : 

 umbel simple, globular, with very many equal coloured rays ; 

 involucre composed of lanceolate sessile leaflets, the same 

 number with the external rays ; perianth turbinate, quite 

 entire, coloured. Corolla : petals five, oblong, blunt, nar- 

 row, reflex, placed on the perianth. Stamina : filamenta 

 five, filiform, longer, inserted in the perianth ; antberee sim- 

 ple. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Umbel: of many rays. Co- 

 rolla: five-petalled. Stamina: five. Hermaphrodite. Calix: 

 five-toothed, superior. Styles: two. Berry: two-seeded. 

 Male. Calix : entire. The species are, 



1 . Panax Quinquefolium ; Ginseng. Leaves tern quinate ; 

 root fleshy, taper, as large as a man's finger, jointed, and 

 frequently divided into two branches, sending off many 

 short slender fibres. The stalk rises nearly a foot and half 

 high, and is naked at the top, where it generally divides 

 into three smaller footstalks, each sustaining a leaf composed 

 of five spear-shaped leaflets, serrate, pale green, and a little 

 hairy. The flowers grow on a slender peduncle just at the 

 division of the petioles, and are formed into a small umbel 

 at top ; they are of an herbaceous yellow colour, and appear 



at the beginning of June. The" berries are first green, but 

 afterwards turn red, and inclose two hard seeds, which ripen 

 in the beginning of August. This plant is a native of Chi- 

 nese Tartary, and also of North America. It is very abun- 

 dant in Canada in plain parts of the woods ; is fond of shade, 

 of a deep rich mould, and of land which is neither wet nor 

 high. It flowers in May and June, and the berries are ripe 

 at the end of August. It is not common every where, for 

 in some parts it is not to be found for several miles, but in 

 those spots where it grows it is always in great abundance. 

 When the French possessed Canada, they gathered great 

 quantities and sent it to France, whence it was, exported to 

 China, and sold there to great advantage at the first outset ; 

 but its price afterwards fell considerably, probably by over- 

 stocking the Chinese, or because that shrewd race of noto- 

 rious knaves could not fail to discover that the American 

 Ginseng was inferior to their own. The Canadian Indians 

 collect the roots in the woods, and sell them to the merchants, 

 who spread them on the floor to dry for two months, or more, 

 according to the season, turning them once or twice every 

 day. Osbeck informs us, that the Chinese hang the Ame- 

 rican roots over a boiling pot, that they may sweat, and dry 

 them afterwards. They are said to dip their own roots in 

 a decoction of the leaves of the plant." Others say, that 

 the Chinese, after having washed the roots, soak the'm in a 

 decoction of rice or millet seed, and then expose them to 

 the steam of the liquor, by which they acquire their firmness 

 and clearness. The Chinese and Tartars agree in ascribing- 

 extraordinary virtues to this root, and have long considered 

 it as a sove-reign remedy in almost all diseases to which they 

 are liable, having no confidence in any medicine except in 

 combination with Ginseng. Osbeck says, that he never 

 looked into the apothecaries' shops, but they were always 

 selling Ginseng ; that both poor people, and those of the 

 highest rank, use it; and that they boil half an ounce in their 

 tea or soup every morning, as a remedy for a consumption, 

 and other diseases. Jartoux relates, that the most eminent 

 physicians in China have written volumes on the medicinal 

 powers of this plant, asserting that it gives immediate relief 

 in extreme fatigue either of body or mind, that it dissolves 

 pituitous humours, and readers respiration easy, strengthens 

 the stomach, promotes appetite, stops vomitings, removes 

 hysterical, hypochondriacal, and all nervous affections, giving 

 a vigorous tone of body even in extreme old age. Jartoux 

 himself was so biassed by Eastern prejudice in favour of 

 Ginseng, that he seems to give their extravagant accounts 

 of its effects full credit, and confirms them in some measure 

 from his own experience. The French in Canada use this 

 root for curing the asthma, as a stomachic, and to promote 

 fertility in women. European physicians assert, that we have 

 no proofs of the efficacy of Ginseng, and that from it,s sen- 

 sible qualities it seems to possess very little power as a medi- 

 cine. Dr. Cullen says, " We are told that the Chinese con- 

 sider Ginseng as a powerful aphrodisiac ; but I have long 

 neglected the authority of popular opinions, and this is one 

 instance that has confirmed my judgment. I have known a 

 gentleman a little advanced in life, who chewed a quantity 

 of this root every day for several years, but who acknow- 

 ledged that he never found that it in any way improved his 

 faculties." These observations of the above celebrated phy- 

 sicians are however no proof that, after all due allowances 

 are made for popular prejudices, Ginseng may not be a good 

 medicine for many disorders in the country where it naturally 

 grows. It is commonly used in decoction, a drachm of the 

 root being long boiled in a sufficient quantity of water for 

 one dose. Lewis tells us, that a drachm of the Ginseng 



