240 MEDICINAL PLANTS OF JAMAICA. 



The cocoa nuts beinggently parched in an iron pot over afire, 

 the external covering separates easily. The kernel is levigated 

 on a smooth stone ; a little arnotto is added, and, with a few 

 drops of water, is reduced to amass, and formed into rolls of 

 one pound each. This simple preparation is the most natu- 

 ral, and the best. It is in daily use in most families in 

 Jamaica, and seems well adapted for rearing of children. 



84. Verbena Jamaicensis. — Vervain. 



This is a common weed about all cultivated places. The 

 leaves are serrated and pretty broad ; the flowers blue. 



A tea or a strong decoction of vervain is in frequent use as 

 a cooling laxative ; and a tea-cupful of the expressed juice of 

 bruised vervain leaves is a smart purge. 



85. Zanthoxylum clava Herculis. 



TRIFOL" iUM. 



The first of these is the prickly yellow wood, and is a lofty 

 and good timber tree. The second is called the tooth-ache 

 tree. It is frequent in gravelly places near the sea. 



The berries of both are somewhat peppery, and a bit of 

 the bark from the roots is a powerful sialogogue, and gives 

 that sort of sensation as if the mouth was full of blood ; hence 

 it is so serviceable in tooth-ache. 



(The leaves of the toothache tree are of a lively green. The 

 flowers grow in clusters ; the berries are small, and the ker- 

 nel is very hard. 



From an incision in the tree flows a clear amber-coloured 

 gum, which does not dissolve in water or spirits. 



The trunk is grey, and beset with prickles two inches long, 

 and at the base one inch in diameter. The prickles are easily 

 broken off.) 



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