MEDICINAL PLANTS. 341 



as a remedy for macake, the thrush ulcerated tongue 

 and throat. The properties of the Sarsaparilla (Smilax 

 sp.), as a means of purifying the blood, are well known. 

 The creeper is found throughout the group, especially 

 on land that has at one time been cleared, and might 

 be gathered in quantities if there were any demand 

 for it. In the London market it w T ould at present be 

 unsaleable. It belongs to that section of sarsaparillas 

 distinguished by pharmacologists as the " non-mealy," 

 the most valued representative of which is the Jamaica 

 sort. Moreover, it has no "beard," or little rootlets 

 The natives of Ovalau, Viti Levu, and Vanua Levu, 

 name it Kadragi and Wa rusi ; those of Kadavu, " Na 

 kau wa," literally, " the woody creeper." I met with it 

 years ago in the Hawaiian group ; it is said to be also 

 common in the Samoan and Tongan groups, and pre- 

 pared sarsaparilla occasionally imported to the two last 

 mentioned has found no market, the indigenous being 

 preferred to the foreign production. Curious to add, in 

 Fiji it is not, as with us, the rhizome that is used, but 

 the leaves, which are chewed, put in water, and strained 

 through fibre, like the Yaqona or Kava (Piper methys- 

 ticum, Forst.), before being taken. Strong purgative 

 properties reside in the Vasa or Eewa (Cerbera lactaria, 

 Ham.), a sea-side tree, twenty-five feet high, with soft 

 wood, smooth shining leaves, and white scented flowers, 

 used for necklaces by the natives. The aromatic leaves 

 of the Laca (Plectranthus Forsteri, Benth.), a weed 

 abounding in cultivated places, and having purple bracts 

 supporting pale blue flowers, cure, it is said, " bad eyes " 

 and headaches on being brought in contact with the 



