44 



CUCURBITACE^]. 



230. BRYONIA DIOICA, Jacq. (White Bryony, Mandrake Root.) 



a. Root. 



b. Ditto, preserved wet. 



Note. The root is sometimes used as an application to discoloured 

 bruises. It must not be confounded with Black Bryony (Tamus com- 

 munis, L.), an endogenous plant, which has dark, shining, heartshaped 

 entire leaves, nor with the true mandrake (Atropa mandragora, L.). Per. 

 Mat. Med., vol. ii., pt. ii., p. 227. White Bryony root is said to have 

 been substituted for Calumba. It may be distinguished by the action of 

 Iodine upon the root. Bent, and Red. Mat. Med., p. 294; P. J. [1], 

 vol. xvii., p. 5,42 ; for fig., Hist, des Drag., vol. iii., p. 258. 



231. CITRULLUS COLOCTNTHIS, Schrad. 



a. Fruit. (Hogador Colocynth.) 



&. Ditto, decorticated. (Turkey Culocynth.) 



c. Ditto, preserved wet. 



d. Pulp of fruit. 



e. Seeds, dark. 

 /. Ditto, pale. 



Note. The presence of seed in powdered colocynth pulp may be de- 

 tected by the dark colour and the fixed oil which can be extracted by 

 ether ; the pulp containing none, while the seeds contain 17 per cent. 

 Pharmacographia, p. 263. The pale seeds have lost their vitality ; they 

 occur in the fruit, mixed with the dark seeds. Bentley, Man. Bot., p. 521 ; 

 Per. Mat. Med., vol. ii., pt. ii., p. 210; Pharmacographia, p. 263; for 

 extract see P. J. [1] , vol. xii., pp. 376, 423 ; Pil. Coloc. Co., P. J. [1] , 

 vol. xii., pp. 271, 323, 495. For Colocynthine, P. J. [1] , vol. x., p. 239. 

 Bentley and Trimen, Med. Plants, No. 114. 



232. CUCUKBITA SPECIES. 



a. Oil. (Oleum Eguse.) 



Note. The oil is used in West Africa as a dietetic article and as an 

 application to certain skin diseases. P. J. [1] , vol. xvi., p. 307. 



233. ECBALLIUM OFFICINARUAI, Bich.; E. ELATERIUM, A. Rich.; Mo- 



MORDICA ELATERIUM, L. {Squirting Cucumber.') 

 a. Root, preserved wet. 

 1). Leaves and fruit, ditto. 



c. Elaterium. 



d. Ditto. Prepared at Mitcham, in 1836, by Messrs. 



Potter & Moor. 



e. Ditto. Prepared at Apothecaries' Hall in 1839. 

 /. Ditto. Maltese Elaterium. 



Note. The greenish colour of fresh Elaterium disappears after a time. 

 . The Maltese kind often contains starch. P. J. [1] , vol. x., p. 168 ; Per. 

 Mat. Med., vol. ii., pt. ii., p. 218. Bentl. <& Trim., Med. Plants, tab. 115. 



