THE PERIWINKLE. 345 



As in all plants of the family of the Apocynacece 

 (the Cantor tee of Linnaeus) the segments of the 

 corolla are slightly twisted, that is, they do not 

 stand at right angles from their centre a circum- 

 stance which may account for the confusion exist- 

 ing amongst the old herbalists with regard to the 

 plant called St, Catherine's wheel. The names, in 

 fact, applied indifferently to various members of 

 this family ; the greater part of whose members are 

 poisonous, though it numbers several which are 

 valuable astringent medicines, while a few yield 

 edible fruits, and others present an entire contrast 

 to their congeners in the character of their juices, 

 which instead of being virulently acrid, are soft and 

 bland. One instance of this may be pointed out in 

 the celebrated Hya-hya } the cow-tree of Demarara 

 (Taberncemontana utilis), the juice of which is used 

 as a substitute for milk. The vincas are acrid, and 

 so astringent that they have been successfully em- 

 ployed in tanning ; while amongst the French 

 peasantry they are extensively used, in the form of 

 poultices for contusions and swellings. Gerarde 

 tells us that the juice expressed when the leaves are 

 " stamped/' and mixed with " red wine/' never fails 

 to stop the spitting of blood ; and Culpepper men- 

 tions the same property ; and, after dwelling at 

 length on their "physical" qualities, declares that 

 " the leaves eaten together by man and wife causeth 

 love between them ;" an opinion thus expressed by 

 the "Stockholm MS.": 



" Zif [if] wyf et husbaude it drynke et mete 

 Et vsyn oftyn et not forgete ; [forget] 



Q 3 



